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Nancy Carroll Instructor: Malcolm Campbell English 1102 22 January 2014 Topic Proposal: Behavioral Changes due to Social Media Introduction/Overview Throughout this research project I ill be !iscussing ho social me!ia has change! the social beha"iors an! personal relationships o# teens in the 21st century$ It is har! to say hether social me!ia has ha! more o# a positi"e or negati"e impact on society to!ay$ %ocial me!ia has change! the ay people communicate all o"er the orl!$ In the past& you ere limite! to communicating only ith the people you 'ne in person$ To!ay& on T itter or (aceboo'& you can connect ith strangers hal# ay aroun! the orl! ith the clic' o# a button$ )s sai! in a blog post on *ub+ages& ,social net or'ing giants li'e (aceboo'& T itter& an! -oogle. ha"e contribute! to create a hole ne orl! here e are #ree to e/press our opinion an! share it

ith our #rien!s an! peers$ This orl! o# social me!ia gi"es scope to e"eryone to e/press an! share i!eas& thoughts an! #eelings& ho ant to be the part o# it0$ )lthough social me!ia has a##ecte! the a!ult population as ell& the majority o# younger generations are completely incapable o# carrying on a normal con"ersation or interacting ith people in person simply because they ha"e ne"er ha! to$ Most interaction& outsi!e o# school& occurs online in this separate , orl!0$ )ccor!ing to the 1ashington +ost& teens spen! 2 3 hours a !ay on social me!ia$ My preliminary research in"ol"e! online re#erences #rom ebsites on Moo!le such as +e an! +4%& but I also incorporate! articles ritten on blogs an! more #ormal sites li'e CNN

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an! the 1ashington +ost$ I ha"e yet to go to the library #or my research because it is easier to #in! the speci#ic in#ormation I am see'ing on the Internet$ )s I began my research& I as still unsure o# hat e/actly I oul! be riting about this semester& but as I rea! more about the age o# social me!ia I as able to #ocus in on a speci#ic in5uiry 5uestion$ %ocial me!ia is an e/tremely !ispute! topic as it continues to gro $ Many oul! say that social me!ia is an e##icient ay to sprea! ne s an! messages #arther an! #aster than your typical e"ening ne s coul!$ Most people ha"e their phones in han! all !ay: at or'& in class& at the gym$ I# you are in a meeting at or' an! !eci!e to get on (aceboo'& you may rea! about the ne s o# someone in the community& or orl! ne s #or that matter& that you oul! not ha"e hear! about until later that e"ening on the T6$ E"en so& some local ne s is not al ays broa!caste!$ I# a #rien! or relati"e passes a ay you are more li'ely to rea! about it on (aceboo' or T itter be#ore being tol! personally$ I7"e seen this topic con"erse! on numerous ebsites& such as the ones I use! #or my research& as ell as T6 ne s broa!casts such as (o/& CNN& C4%& ithin classrooms an! ith my peers$ E"eryone is passionate about social me!ia in one ay or another$ Initial Inquiry Question s! *as social me!ia change! the course #or personal relationships entirely or has it only a##ecte! simple con"ersations bet een t o or more people8 My Interest in this Topic 4eing that I am practically a social me!ia a!!ict& I am "ery intereste! in this subject$ I ant to 'no i# e"eryone has been a##ecte! by this age o# social me!ia or i# I am the only one$ %ocial me!ia has become the ay o# li#e in the past 10 years$ I cannot imagine ho people sur"i"e! 20 years ago ithout cell phones& te/ting& T eeting& Instagraming& Tumbling& an! so

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on$ The only time that elapses ithout my phone in han! is hen the battery is !ea!& an! e"en #or those short minutes I #eel li'e I ha"e lost a part o# me$ 1hat I 'no no is that social me!ia is a ay #or people :especially teens; to hi!e behin! a computer or cell phone an! become an entirely !i##erent person than hat they are in reality$ I hope to #in! out ho many people ha"e been a##ecte! by this epi!emic an! hat it means #or our #uture$ "e#t Steps In or!er to continue my research& I ill be as'ing mysel# many 5uestions contributing to my topic in or!er to get more !epth in my 'no le!ge an! research$ 1ith the help o# the librarian an! my peers& I ill be "isiting the library7s !atabase to loo' #or a "ariety o# sources other than the ebsites I ha"e been using& such as ee'ly maga<ines& journals an! papers$ I ill also be loo'ing into more reliable an! statistical ebsites such as N4C an! other nation i!e ne s sites$