Dina Marie Bisignano

Eng 101 - 3137

Instructor: Tom Connor
2nd paper/1st draft

Title goes here!

Technology and social media affect have affected the way people act,
think, process, and communicate with each other. There are both
advantages and disadvantages to being on social media, it couldwhich
can be either be pointless and toxic and pointless or knowledgeable
beneficial and used to ful in spreading knowledge, connection and
awareness. TI chose the two essays--, Kenneth Goldsmith's "Go Ahead:
Waste Time on the Internet” and Stephen Marche’s "Is Facebook Making
Us Lonely?" strive to which prove that s the Internet is can be both a
waste of time but and usefulvalueable, depending on how you use itit is
used, but that . I also chose, "Is Facebook Making Us Lonely?" By
Stephen Marche, which focuses on the fact that Facebook and other
social media platform only makemakes us even lonelier and depressed
than ever. 

    Over the years, technology has changed dramatically, leaving us

with many new ways to communicate and ways to spend our time. It’s
very interesting how much of an effect social media/technology has on
children. Of course, there are many negatives but is it necessarily
changing them in a bad way? The essay "Go Ahead: Waste Time on the
Internet", by Kenneth Goldsmith's essats, highlights these main points. A
The majority of people tend to think social media brings is only
baddetrimetal, but the internet is used for many different things. Even if
you're not big on social media, you use the internet more than you think.
Sitting on your phone all day is the same thing as staying in and
watching television or playing video games, it’s just different so people
are quick to judge/shut down the idea. “the way we once sat down and
watched three hours of cartoons on Saturday morning TV. But most of
us don’t do any one thing on the Internet. Instead, we do many things,
some of it frivolous, some of it heavy [<BEST TO AVOID WORDS LIKE
“HEAVY,” WHICH IS TOO CASUAL FOR AN ACADEMIC PAPER]. Our time
spent in front of the computer is a mixed time, a time that reflects our
desires — as opposed to the time spent sitting in front of the television
where we were fed shows we didn’t necessarily enjoy. TV gave us few
choices. Many of us truly did feel like we wasted our time — as our
parents so often chided us — “rotting away” in front of the TV.” This
quote from Goldsmiths essay shows how using our iPhone or the
internet in general is the same thing as sitting and watching television
for hours. It also mentions the fact that the internet is used for many
different things. Although it can be a waste of time, the internet could be
used as a tool for education and not for only school either. Despite the
toxic aspects of social media, you could learn a lot from it. You may not
know it, but it will always teach you something new, even if it is a
random fact. Goldsmith says some people believe we have “lost our
concentration” since social media has made a bigger name for itself but
really, we put more focus and engagement in our devices than anything
else. 
    Social media affects the way children grow up now, but that doesn't
need to mean it's bad. Communication ways have changed; kids can
connect with each other on every social media platform there is, even
video games. Goldsmiths does not agree with the fact that “the excessive
use of computers has led our kids to view the real world as fake”, as
stated in his essay because all that’s really happening is advanced
learning techniques. Having them sit in front of a computer rather than
having them sit in front of a black bored is way more entertaining. You
can learn more accurate information and way faster than you can from
books and blackboards. It’s also much easier to communicate. The
internet can be used as a gateway for children to find hobbies, who they
are and what they like/dislike. It’s not always a waste of time, kids are
more engaged in their devices than they would be in books. Taking
away these devices would create more issues than they bring, these
devices are key to communication. If you take away a kid/teens phone,
you're taking their entire life. Anyone they could call, or contact is in
that phone, any information they may need, schoolwork, exc. 
    There are many positives to social media but there are still many
negatives that affect each one of us. The essay "Is Facebook Making Us
Lonely?" Stephen Marche focuses on whether social media makes us feel
lonelier or less lonely. Although social media can be very empowering, it
could be very toxic as well. Social media prevents many social
interactions, which seems to be leading to a detached society. Marche
says “We have never been more detached from one another, or lonelier.
In a world consumed by evermore novel modes of socializing, we have
less and less actual society. We live in an accelerating contradiction: the
more connected we become, the lonelier we are.” The more we feed into
social media standards and the more time we spend glued to our
phones, the more we grow apart. Opening Instagram to see models and
people who have their lives perfectly put together isn’t healthy. It sets
unrealistic standards for men and women. It’s also much easier to say
something behind a screen, that makes bullying a lot easier and
sometimes more excessive. The whole idea of social media is what’s
trending, who has the most likes and who has the most views. It makes
you feel lonelier in the sense that you want the most likes, some people
choose their friends that way which is terrible. It also makes people feel
lonelier because we can distance ourselves from each other. Our devices
are everything now, if we don’t want to be found or spoken too, we
simply ignore the messages/calls. It’s very easy to isolate yourself and
stay on your phone for hours if you are depressed. If you're someone
who doesn’t socialize as much as others or aren’t as confident it could
be hard being on social media, it can be extremely toxic and distracting. 
    There are both advantages and disadvantages to social media, the two
essays I chose express that. I’ve experienced both the bad and good of
social media and it does worse than good. It’s extremely toxic and
should only be used a certain way. Social media is used to “monitor”
other people's lives. All you’re doing by checking Facebook, Snapchat,
Instagram, and Twitter is seeing what others are doing with themselves.
It makes you feel worse about your own life. Sometimes you start to
question yourself, especially when you see people doing or looking
“better” than you. It can also cause issues with relationships whether it
be friends or a romantic partner. The only advantages of social media
are empowerment and education. Education is way more efficient and
successful with computers than without. Social media also helps people
who may not typically have a “voice” be heard, standing up for the right
thing is much easier when it gets spread worldwide through technology.
You connect with others who share the same view as you and it makes
you feel a little less lonely. 
    Technology and social media has affected the way people act, think,
process, and communicate with each other. There are both advantages
and disadvantages to being on social media. Social media tends to make
some people feel lonelier and behind, while it makes others feel
empowered and educated. It’s role in society is very important now and
we couldn't live without it in some form. Social media is used for social
interactions, used to access the news, and used to impact other
opinions. 

...

[Message clipped]  View entire message