First Argument

Social networking sites on the internet are damaging to today's teenagers because they are a venue for social humiliation and bullying. Adolescence is an age of precarious emotions and social standards, and what with social networking technology now enabling just about anyone to explicitly post humiliating or malicious information about someone else with a simple click of the mouse, the potential for degradation and "cyberbullying" is practically infinite. On many of these sites, an entire section of the user's profile is dedicated to the user's friends. A list, usually including pictures, presents the names of the user's friends. The user has the option to accept "friend requests," in which one user requests to be considered another user's friends. Once accepted, their name and picture becomes part of the other user's friend list. Normally, becoming a part of another user's list enables the other user to see information and pictures on the other user's profile that they would not have been able to see beforehand. However, a user also has the option to reject such friend requests, and with these sites completely transforming the traditional meaning of "friend" from a person one regards with affection and trust to simply someone on whose link they have clicked, the social implications of a friend request rejection are endless. Issues like self-esteem come to the fore and are intensified by features like the friend request on these sites. Additionally, posting and commenting, which form the foundation of social networking sites, lend themselves to endless possibilities for social bashing and gossip.

Taking Sides

After having completed a good deal of research on my topic, I have come to find a plethora of information in support of both sides of the issue: whether social networking sites, such as Facebook and Myspace, are beneficial or harmful to today's teenagers.

The pro side of the issue, which advocates teenage use of the sites, believes these online communities to be places where young people can not only interact with one another but also develop important social and technical skills online. Managing elaborate friendship networks and organizing and maintaining a public profile contributes to the growth of these skills. An unexpected argument from this side is that social networking sites boost self-esteem. Further research into this argument revealed that many of these sites' supporters believe that by being able to express oneself, either through pictures, graphics, or posting of personal information (such as background, interests, hobbies, preferences, etc.), teenagers are able to feel more comfortable with themselves and are able to find and connect with others that share the same interests and goals. The pro side mainly focuses on the fact that social networking sites connect people, creating a level of interconnectivity that most never deemed possible before the creation of the sites. Maintaining and strengthening relationships is easier than ever before, because teenagers are able to keep in touch and seek social contact with friends, relatives, and acquaintances on the Internet. This side does not believe that the Internet could ever replace face-to-face communication, as the con side would like to argue, but rather that it would only strengthen it, as social networking sites increase social investment in and commitment to our everyday relationships.

The con side of the issue, which deems teenage use of the sites harmful, has several valid arguments. For one thing, opponents of the sites consider them an additional forum for existing negative peer relationships. Malicious gossip and “cyberbulling” have found a niche in these sites, and teenage responses to such abuse have often been mentally and emotionally unfavorable and even suicidal. It would be difficult in today’s world to be unaware of the amount of sex offenders running rampant on these sites, attempting to abuse the services they provide in order to connect with and harm young people. Most importantly, the con side argues, these sites have made it increasingly difficult to become disconnected from others. Isolation has become a thing of the past, and teenagers have become too dependent on the connective power of the Internet to interact with each other. The world of person-to-person contact among teenagers has shrunk rapidly, and social skills have suffered as a result.

The side that I will be arguing is that social networking sites are harmful to teenagers. It will be an interesting and challenging undertaking for me to argue this side of the issue, because I am a frequent user of one of these sites. I have always believed that sites like Facebook and Myspace are beneficial in the sense that they connect us all in a convenient and useful manner, yet the risks of using these sites and the harm they have the potential to cause have led me to truly believe that they create more damage to today’s teenagers than they do benefits.

Overview

An issue that I have decided to explore is the concept of free-access social networking Internet sites, such as Myspace and Facebook, as applied to teenagers. These websites are extremely relevant to young people in today’s world, who use them to socially interact with relatives, coworkers, friends, friends of friends, and even complete strangers. What appeals to me the most about this subject is the fact that so much of young peoples’ lives has become engrossed in and dependent on the existence of these websites. They can be used to update social calendars, to notify friends and family about recent updates in our lives, to maintain relationships with others that we have not seen in a while, and to make new connections based on shared interests and pursuits. I use Facebook extensively myself as a way to interact with friends and family, so I find the controversy surrounding this subject particularly interesting. On one side, many supporters of such sites as Facebook consider them a catalyst for conveniently binding people with similar interests and goals together into a single community. Others condemn them as a source of exploitation and the violation of privacy. The question I will strive to answer in my research of this topic is whether these social networking sites are beneficial or harmful to teenagers today, and in what ways.