Problems With Social Networking and Teens

By: Sharon Hurley Hall There are many potential problems with social networking sites and the teenagers that use them. Social networking online involves using Web sites to share information with others and connect with them by creating a profile that may include a personal Web page and a blog. Social networking sites allow users to add friends, send messages and comment on others' profile pages. It is also one of the most popular Internet activities among teenagers. Recent research from the Pew Internet Project suggests that 93% of Americans from ages 12 to 17 use the Internet, and 55% of those teens use social networks. While most of this online interaction is just for fun, there are dangers that parents and teens Popular Social Networking Sites According to the Pew Internet Project, MySpace is the most dominant social network among teens, used by 85% of teenagers who use social networks. MySpace allows users almost unlimited flexibility to create and customize their profile pages, and to share their own content or that of others, including music, videos and writing. Many MySpace users register with aliases. The next most popular social networking site among teenagers is Facebook, which is used by 7% of teens who use social networks. Facebook, once a closed system limited to school and college communities, has recently become more open. Facebook puts a greater emphasis on actually knowing the people that you connect with. Other social networks used by teenagers include Xanga, Yahoo and Bebo. How Teens Use Social Networking Sites Most teens create at least a basic profile, with their name, age, status, photo and

interests, but many go much further. Many teens make regular visits to update their profiles and to visit others' profiles. Communicating with others is a key aspect of using social networks. Teens may post public messages or may use bulletins or private messages to communicate with those on their friends list. Most teens use sites such as MySpace and Facebook to stay in touch with their current friends. However, PEW reports that about 50% of teenagers also use the sites to make new friends. Teenagers use the sites to make social plans with their friends, and sometimes to flirt. Positives and Negatives Apart from the social benefits, social networking sites can be used to document school research, promote artistic talents and experiment with other forms of content creation. They provide a way to interact with others who share the same interests and to get constructive feedback on ongoing projects. Along with these benefits come some risks. Most social networking sites are open to all, especially MySpace, which means that your teen could be exposed to harassment, bullying or sexual advances. Cyber-bullying and harassment are most often perpetrated by other teens and tend to happen most to older girls and to teens of either gender who have a strong online presence. It may take several forms: publicizing private instant messages, text messages or e-mails posting threatening messages posting photos that will cause embarrassment spreading rumors It's rare for harassment to spill over into real-world conflicts, but it can still be a cause of emotional distress for teens. A greater danger is that teens may become targets of pedophiles. The anonymity of some social networking sites makes it easy for unscrupulous people to target young teens and engage them in harmful conversations. It's easy for predators to pose as teens and lure children into harmful real-world contact as well. Most social networking sites have privacy controls in place, but teens seldom use them. Active monitoring of profiles and behaviors catches some predators, but not all of them. Another risk is identity theft, which can occur when teens share too much information about their name, date of birth and location. Social Networking Safety It's up to parents to make sure their kids are safe when they use social networking. Many of the same rules that apply to online chat apply to these sites: Use an alias. Don't give out personal information to people you don't know. A last name and a town are enough for a predator to locate your child. Don't assume that people are who they claim to be. Immediately end any communication that makes you uncomfortable and report it to a parent.

For younger teens, you should investigate any sites they'd like to use. Find out what privacy protections are in place and insist that your teen uses them. For children under 16, that often means a private profile that can only be seen by approved friends. Older teens may want a public profile to promote a band or other creative work. In this case, have your child create a second, public profile for the project while still restricting the personal profile to family and close friends. It's best to set up these profiles with a free e-mail from Yahoo or Google using an alias that can't be traced back to find personal information. Encourage your kids to tell you if they're victims of cyber bullying or harassment. Many teens will try to deal with this on their own, which can have disastrous consequences. If your child knows who's behind the harassment, involve the other child's parents or school officials. If it's anonymous, remind your child that it's not personal; some people just think it's fun to say mean things about others.

Social Networkings Good and Bad Impacts on Kids

Psychologists explore myths, realities and offer guidance for parents WASHINGTONSocial media present risks and benefits to children but parents who try to secretly monitor their kids activities online are wasting their time, according to a presentation at the 119th Annual Convention of the American Psychological Association. While nobody can deny that Facebook has altered the landscape of social interaction, particularly among young people, we are just now starting to see solid psychological research demonstrating both the positives and the negatives, said Larry D. Rosen, PhD, professor of psychology at California State University, Dominguez Hills. In a plenary talk entitled, Poke Me: How Social Networks Can Both Help and Harm Our Kids, Rosen discussed potential adverse effects, including: Teens who use Facebook more often show more narcissistic tendencies while young adults who have a strong Facebook presence show more signs of other psychological disorders, including antisocial behaviors, mania and aggressive tendencies.

Daily overuse of media and technology has a negative effect on the health of all children, preteens and teenagers by making them more prone to anxiety, depression, and other psychological disorders, as well as by making them more susceptible to future health problems. Facebook can be distracting and can negatively impact learning. Studies found that middle school, high school and college students who checked Facebook at least once during a 15minute study period achieved lower grades. Rosen said new research has also found positive influences linked to social networking, including: Young adults who spend more time on Facebook are better at showing virtual empathy to their online friends. Online social networking can help introverted adolescents learn how to socialize behind the safety of various screens, ranging from a two-inch smartphone to a 17-inch laptop. Social networking can provide tools for teaching in compelling ways that engage young students. For parents, Rosen offered guidance. If you feel that you have to use some sort of computer program to surreptitiously monitor your child's social networking, you are wasting your time. Your child will find a workaround in a matter of minutes, he said. You have to start talking about appropriate technology use early and often and build trust, so that when there is a problem, whether it is being bullied or seeing a disturbing image, your child will talk to you about it. He encouraged parents to assess their childs activities on social networking sites, and discuss removing inappropriate content or connections to people who appear problematic. Parents also need to pay attention to the online trends and the latest technologies, websites and applications children are using, he said. Communication is the crux of parenting. You need to talk to your kids, or rather, listen to them, Rosen said. The ratio of parent listen to parent talk should be at least five-to-one. Talk one minute and listen for five. Plenary Session: 3378, 4:00 - 4:50 p.m., Saturday, Aug. 6, Walter E. Washington Convention Center, Street Level, Room 147 B. Presentation: Poke Me: How Social Networks Can Both Help and Harm Our Kids" Larry D. Rosen, PhD, California State University, Dominguez Hills Dr. Larry Rosen can be contacted at (714) 624-4333 (cell) or by email The American Psychological Association, in Washington, D.C., is the largest scientific and professional organization representing psychology in the United States and is the world's largest association of psychologists. APA's membership includes more than 154,000 researchers, educators, clinicians, consultants and students. Through its divisions in 54 subfields of psychology and affiliations with 60 state, territorial and Canadian provincial associations, APA works to advance psychology as a science, as a profession and as a means of promoting health, education and human welfare.

UNIVERSITY RESEARCH STUDIES CONFIRM HARMFUL EFFECTS OF EXCESSIVE TEXTING AND SOCIAL MEDIA ON TEEN BEHAVIORS

While social media is still too new to gauge its long-term effects on human psychology, a handful of studies suggest seem to confirm conventional wisdom to the effect that social media -- including online gaming -- can has addictive qualities that are harmful to vulnerable people who over-use the new technologies. In a recent study by Dr. Larry Rosen, a social media researcher at California State University, Dominguez Hills, surveyed more than 1,000 urban adolescents and found a number of negative effects from overuse of social media, varying by the type of activity.For example, teens who play online games all the time are more likely to experience physical and psychological symptoms including insomnia, agitation, depression, and stomach aches. Meanwhile teens who log into Facebook more

than average are also more likely to be "self-absorbed," "narcissistic," belligerent, paranoid, and -- ironically enough -- antisocial. "Obsessive" social media use can also result in truancy, lower test scores, and bad grades. One of the most interesting findings from Rosen's survey showed that teens and young adults who log into Facebook very frequently are more likely to abuse alcohol than others. I have no idea why this might be, since it seems equally plausible that alcohol abuse could just as easily be correlated with social behavior (binge drinking at parties) as antisocial behavior (binge drinking alone). Maybe it's a little of both. As a matter of fact this isn't the first study to suggest that apparently unrelated negative behaviors, like substance abuse, are correlated with excessive social media use. In November I wrote about a study from Case Western Reserve's School of Medicine, warning that excessive use of social media -- specifically, "hypertexting" (sending more than 120 messages per school day) and "hypernetworking" (spending more than three hours per day on sites like Facebook) -- is linked to dangerous health problems and antisocial behavior in teens. Among the Case Western findings about teens:

Teens who hypertext are: o Twice as likely to have tried alcohol. o 3.5 times more likely to have had sex. o 40% more likely to have tried cigarettes. o 41% more likely to have used illicit drugs. o 43% more likely to be binge drinkers. o 55% more likely to have been in a physical fight. o 90% more likely to report four or more sexual partners. Heavy social network users were: o 60% more likely to have four or more sexual partners. o 62% more likely to have tried cigarettes. o 69% more likely to be binge drinkers. o 69% more likely to have had sex. o 79% more likely to have tried alcohol. o 84% more likely to have used illicit drugs. o 94% more likely to have been in a physical fight.

All this may seem pretty damning at first glance. However, I would argue (as I have in the past) that excessive social media use and texting are just symptoms of longstanding social ills. It's well known that adolescents, struggling with unstable identities and mood swings, are more likely to engage in self-destructive behavior. I believe excessive social media use is closely related to the sense of incompleteness and insecurity which bedevils many teens (not to mention a good number of adults): like alcohol, tobacco, drugs and sex, it serves to occupy a restless, wandering, attention-seeking personality, which believes itself totally unable to find peace and tranquility on its own terms.

COMMENTARY: If parents are reading this, they should take careful note of those numbers, especially heavy teen usage of social networks like Facebook, MySpace or Twitter. Those are appalling numbers, but reflective of today's social media addicted society. At an early age children are exposed to bad social behaviors, too much sex, scenes of violent crimes and bad language on TV and films. Teens experiencing puberty go through a period where they are experimenting with not only sex, but smoking, drinking and drugs. Peer pressure is intense. Many find it cool, and enjoy that "hit" and "high" from smoking, consuming drugs and drinking. Even violent behavior offers a release, another psychological high, if you will. We all went through this in our youth, but it has gotten worse, perhaps even intensified through social networking because teens share information about their experiences and this is just as bad as negative word-of-mouth. Rosen said new research has also found positive influences linked to social networking, including:

Young adults who spend more time on Facebook are better at showing virtual empathy to their online friends. Online social networking can help introverted adolescents learn how to socialize behind the safety of various screens, ranging from a two-inch smartphone to a 17-inch laptop. Social networking can provide tools for teaching in compelling ways that engage young students.

For parents, Rosen offered guidance. If you feel that you have to use some sort of computer program to surreptitiously monitor your child's social networking, you are wasting your time. Your child will find a workaround in a matter of minutes. You have to start talking about appropriate technology use early and often and build trust, so that when there is a problem, whether it is being bullied or seeing a disturbing image, your child will talk to you about it. He encouraged parents to assess their childs activities on social networking sites, and discuss removing inappropriate content or connections to people who appear problematic. Parents also need to pay attention to the online trends and the latest technologies, websites and applications children are using, he said. Rosen said. Communication is the crux of parenting. You need to talk to your kids, or rather, listen to them. The ratio of parent listen to parent talk should be at least five-to-one. Talk one minute and listen for five. Courtesy of an article dated August 8, 2011 appearing in MediaPost Publications The Social Graf

Social Media Overuse Linked to Unhealthy Behaviors in Teens

by Erik Sass, Aug 8, 2011, 5:24 PM

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While social media is still too new to gauge its long-term effects on human psychology, a handful of studies suggest seem to confirm conventional wisdom to the effect that social media -- including online gaming -- can has addictive qualities that are harmful to vulnerable people who over-use the new technologies. In the most recent study, Larry Rosen, a social media researcher at California State University, Dominguez Hills, surveyed more than 1,000 urban adolescents and found a number of negative effects from overuse of social media, varying by the type of activity. For example, teens who play online games all the time are more likely to experience physical and psychological symptoms including insomnia, agitation, depression, and stomach aches. Meanwhile teens who log into Facebook more than average are also more likely to be "self-absorbed," "narcissistic," belligerent, paranoid, and -- ironically enough -- antisocial. "Obsessive" social media use can also result in truancy, lower test scores, and bad grades. One of the most interesting findings from Rosen's survey showed that teens and young adults who log into Facebook very frequently are more likely to abuse alcohol than others. I have no idea why this might be, since it seems equally

plausible that alcohol abuse could just as easily be correlated with social behavior (binge drinking at parties) as antisocial behavior (binge drinking alone). Maybe it's a little of both. As a matter of fact this isn't the first study to suggest that apparently unrelated negative behaviors, like substance abuse, are correlated with excessive social media use. In November I wrote about a study from Case Western Reserve's School of Medicine, warning that excessive use of social media -- specifically, "hypertexting" (sending more than 120 messages per school day) and "hypernetworking" (spending more than three hours per day on sites like Facebook) -- is linked to dangerous health problems and antisocial behavior in teens. Among the Case Western findings, teens who hypertext are twice as likely to have tried alcohol; 3.5 times more likely to have had sex; 40% more likely to have tried cigarettes; 41% more likely to have used illicit drugs; 43% more likely to be binge drinkers; 55% more likely to have been in a physical fight; and 90% more likely to report four or more sexual partners. Hypernetworkers were 60% more likely to have four or more sexual partners; 62% more likely to have tried cigarettes; 69% more likely to be binge drinkers; 69% more likely to have had sex; 79% more likely to have tried alcohol; 84% more likely to have used illicit drugs; and 94% more likely to have been in a physical fight. All this may seem pretty damning at first glance. However, I would argue (as I have in the past) that excessive social media use and texting are just symptoms of longstanding social ills. It's well known that adolescents, struggling with unstable identities and mood swings, are more likely to engage in selfdestructive behavior. I believe excessive social media use is closely related to the sense of incompleteness and insecurity which bedevils many teens (not to mention a good number of adults): like alcohol, tobacco, drugs and sex, it serves to occupy a restless, wandering, attention-seeking personality, which believes itself totally unable to find peace and tranquility on its own terms.

Read more: http://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/155523/#ixzz1xwNPVyLW

NBC Universal is looking for a Senior Manager, Social Media - Oxygen.

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Is Social Networking More Dangerous to Teens Than "Stranger Danger"?

Amy Summers on January 7, 2011 9:46 AM

In a world where words such as Facebook and Twitter belong to everyday vocabulary, it is no wonder that the traditional parental rules are taking on a modern twist. Long gone are the days when their biggest concern was the strange, old man hanging around outside the ice-creamery. Now, with instant access to strangers worldwide, stranger danger has taken on a whole new meaning. Educating children about strangers has always been on the agenda for parents and schools alike. I had to go through the process myself, having my bubble of naivety burst so I knew that there were people in the world who werent as nice and friendly as those my parents ensured I was surrounded by. In younger years at school, I distinctly remember spending whole afternoons on the topic, reinforcing the ideas and warnings that had already been planted in our minds at home. The sole message of these lessons was to avoid face-to-face interaction with people we didnt know. After all, back in the late nineties, a public physical place was the only place a five or six year old would meet a stranger: computers were still in their infancy, and youngsters were struggling to control a computer mouse.

Today, the tone has changed. Topics such as online protection and cyber bullying have even been included into high school curriculums. Children as young as three years old, starting their first year at kindergarten, are being warned of the dangers that exist over the internet. Being the eldest of four girls, I have experienced firsthand the difference in this education. My youngest sister, at twelve years old, has had constant warnings all through her schooling about keeping passwords a secret and not sharing personal information online. When I was five and in my first year of schooling, half of my class had never even used a computer until they got to school, let alone had one at home. I was one of the lucky ones who did have a family Windows 95 PC, which was relatively new at the time, but I was focused on playing The Lion King computer game, among various others based on cartoons and television shows. I had never even heard of social networking, let alone participated in it. Back then, this wasnt uncommon. In fact, it was quite the opposite. It wasnt that I had led a particularly sheltered life and without older siblings had been excluded from this particular social trend. No, it was just that children in their first year at school used the net to play games, generally at school and of the educational kind, not to communicate with people around the world. For those of you who are older than 15, like myself, and can remember the days before social networking was a part of everyday life, transport yourself back there. Remember your childhood. Remember the rules, the guidelines, your parents set in place. Top of the list was dont talk to strangers. When I was younger my parents werent worried about what sort of strangers were stalking me online, but more about that shifty looking teenager who was shuffling along the road. When I asked to go out they would tell me they werent worried about me, but of all the other people out there, those they didnt know. With my younger sister, these concerns remain, but they have been added to. My parents are definitely more aware of

Firewalls and pop-up blockers now than they ever were when I was that age.

In saying this, social networking is not a bad thing. Personally, I think its great. It allows us to communicate with friends and family all over the world; people who we may not get a chance to talk to otherwise due to time and cost restraints. In terms of stranger danger, however, it really has taken things to a whole new level. Now, people arent exposed to harmful characters that actually live in their area, they can be a target for the entire global population. Not only are there so many more stalkers and paedophiles that can come into contact with children, the house is no longer as safe as it once was. The concern for parents used to come when their children were about to leave their property, but with the number of hackers increasing, the exact location of todays children can be tracked right into the family home. We have all heard of the various deaths that have occurred from relationships that have been conducted through technology. While a large percentage of these have been suicides that have resulted from cyber bullying, we cannot let ourselves forget the murders that have occurred from young people giving out their personal details online. The scariest thing about this technology is that we never really know who we are talking to. My twelve year old sister might think she is talking to another young girl of the same age, when really it is a sick, twisted sixteen year old boy bent over the keyboard who could at any stage start sharing content that should never reach the ears or eyes of a primary school aged student. Even people my age who like to think that they would never be fooled by such covers, have been tricked into giving out personal details. I mean really, how can I possibly know if the surfer with the cute picture that I am chatting up online is eighteen or eighty?

The internet has given the tiny percentage of weird, psychologically damaged people in the world access to victims all over the world. Hidden behind a computer screen or that of a mobile phone, many of us are not aware of the dangers that exist out in the world wide web. We certainly dont feel that shiver down our spine that we do when we look around to see someone following us down a dark alleyway, even when it turns out they were just walking in the same direction. Strangers from all over the world can now be following not only children, but teenagers and mature adults from all over the world. Who can possibly argue that social networking is a safe alternative to a child meeting their friends down at the local ice-cream shop?

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Home Articles Wake Up The negative effects of social networking

We are all well aware of the social networking boom which has taken over the world. They say excess of everything is bad which is what we want to point out here. We have nothing against facebook, myspace or bebo however our point is that we should consider the excessive use of social networking websites, of-course there is always a way to use such sites in a healthy productive manner. Parents should especially pay attention to how their children are spending time on the internet. They should themselves be aware in order to guide their children much better and towards a better and healthy future. The following video puts it together very well.

The negative effects of a new technology are never fully visible in the initial stages due the hype and excitement involved. However with time we observe the more time we spend online the more connected we get hence the urge to not miss out on anything this induces an invisible layer of stress and pressure on the individuals. The very fabric of our societies are now beginning to take a new shape. Oprah.com website mentions,

It can be exhilarating, at least at first, to connect with long-lost friends, says network science expert Steven Strogatz, PhD, a professor of applied mathematics at Cornell University. But the downside, he worries, is growing confusion between our weak ties (people who might be useful in referring us to a good dentist or helping us find a job) and our strong ties (those were very close to). The distinction between genuine friends and acquaintances is becoming blurred. Users are spending time maintaining relationships with people they dont really care about. It takes a certain amount of time to fully experience complex social emotions, says the lead author, cognitive neuroscientist Mary Helen Immordino-Yang. Heavy reliance on the rapid intake of certain information especially in younger, developing mindscould have consequences on our morality. It could also be a whole new source of unhappiness, says Strogatz. On Twitter the conversation never stops. You start to feel that if youre not involved in it, youre missing out. Its enough to make you long for the good old days of connecting over a cup of coffee.

The concept of a personal private life is also at stake now. Even if people are not using these social networking websites there pictures might be on them without their knowledge, friends and relatives take pictures of each other and post them online in their albums on these websites.Which is indeed disturbing news.

A very comprehensive article Social websites harm childrens brains: Chilling warning

to parents from top neuroscientist was published on the daily mail website By DAVID
DERBYSHIRE

We would like to mention a few excerpts of the article here.

Social networking websites are causing alarming changes in the brains of young users, an eminent scientist has warned. Sites such as Facebook, Twitter and Bebo are said to shorten attention spans, encourage instant gratification and make young people more self-centered parents and teachers who complain that many youngsters lack the ability to communicate or concentrate away from their screens. More than 150million use Facebook to keep in touch with friends, share photographs and videos and post regular updates of their movements and thoughts. A further six million have signed up to

Twitter, the micro-blogging service that lets users circulate text messages about themselves. But while the sites are popular and extremely profitable a growing number of psychologists and neuroscientists believe they may be doing more harm than good.Baroness Greenfield, an Oxford University neuroscientist and director of the Royal Institution, believes repeated exposure could effectively rewire the brain. Computer games and fast-paced TV shows were also a factor, she said. We know how small babies need constant reassurance that they exist, she told the Mail yesterday. My fear is that these technologies are infantilising the brain into the state of small children who are attracted by buzzing noises and bright lights, who have a small attention span and who live for the moment. Her comments echoed those she made during a House of Lords debate earlier this month. Then she argued that exposure to computer games, instant messaging, chat rooms and social networking sites could leave a generation with poor attention spans

It should be noted that everything has its positives and negatives. We should be aware of these harmful effects and use these websites accordingly. This would enable us to guide our children better and live a healthy productive life. We would not want to end up like the picture below.

Stay wise and live healthy.

Social networkings dangerous side for parents and teens

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Facebook is a huge part of teens' and parents' lives today. We use Facebook and Twitter to chat with friends, play games, share videos and photos and keep in touch with people near and far. As of February 2012, Facebook has more than 845 million active users. Facebook allows anyone to join as long as they declare themselves at least 13 years old. But in May 2011, Consumer Reports found that there are 7.5 million children under the age of 13 using Facebook today. Teens' willingness to share information can often surprise - and even shock - parents who aren't used to such public disclosure. Combine a teen's high tech skills with the trend of turning to Facebook for much of their socializing and it is not surprising that parents are often left out of the loop. For parents and adults whose growing friends list often include the teens in their lives, the slippery slope of having teens "in the room" has often created embarrassment and even dangerous role modeling for the teens in their lives.

Facebook is a big part of teens' real-world lives - and any indiscriminate posting (such as racy photos, hurtful or inappropriate comments or relationship status updates) can lead to drama in high school hallways and even land youth in the principal's office or worse. In a recent Facebook scandal, a father shot her daughter's laptop because the daughter complained about her parents' publicly on Facebook. It is important for all to remember that whatever you post online can never be taken back and is out there for the world to see. The flip side of this social media indiscretions coin is also true. Consider adults who may inadvertently post a photo on Facebook and tag a group of adults holding beer cans at last weekend's big adult night out. Next, another adult tagged in the photo comments in detail about an adult-themed conversation that had also transpired. Within moments, adults have unwittingly

condoned drinking to all the teens on their friend's list and exposed teens to an adult world that was not meant to be shared with them nor is healthy for them. Teens and adults need to understand what information should be private. Tell them why it's important to keep some things - personal details and information about themselves, family members and friends - to themselves. Consider choosing a screen name that does not give away too much personal information and do not list cell number and addresses on Facebook or other sites. Teens and adults should post only information that both adult and teen are comfortable with others seeing. Even if privacy settings are turned on, some - or even all - of your child's profile may be seen by a broader audience than you're comfortable with. Remember that screenshots can be taken from social media sites and passed through e-mail and other sources to anyone and that employers, college admissions officers, coaches and teachers may view your postings, so be careful what you post. Privacy setting can be a parent's biggest ally in the cyber world and also their biggest challenge. Using privacy settings to restrict who can access and interact with you and your children on all social media accounts is very important. Adults and teens should know that every site has unique settings meant to keep users safe. Explore them, understand them and use them. One caution to parents: teens are always one step ahead. Take for example that privacy settings on Facebook are so sensitive that anyone can limit what each person can see - from photos to posts and more - and a parent may be seeing little of what your teen is really posting. New geo-tagging technology has made it possible for pictures and other posted data to be instantly traced via GPS technology to the exact location (even with a map) to where the photo was taken. Facebook posts can also use geotagging to show where a person has "checked-in" minute by minute. Every adult and teen should consider the negative effects this can have on safety and consider turning off GPS functions or geotagging options on smart phones, iPads, iPods, cameras and even on Facebook. Even the old adage "Do you know where your child is?" needs a tech update to include "Do you know how your kids are getting online?" whether it is on the computer, tablet or via a Smartphone. Are they accessing social media through a local shop or a library's Wi-Fi or are they using a friend's home computer or smartphone? Have the computer in a family setting where you can monitor what they are searching or posting on the internet. If you really want to know what your children are doing online, parents should consider joining the social networking sites that they are on and require that you are also in their friend's list or Twitter list so that you can monitor what they are posting and with whom they are interacting. On a regular basis "search" you and your childrens' names and monitor what the search results show. Lastly, parents should talk to their kids about cyberbullying. Online bullying can take many forms, from spreading rumors online and posting or forwarding private messages without the sender's knowledge. Tell kids that the words they type and the images they post can have realworld consequences including punishment from authorities. Encourage your kids to talk to you or another adult if they feel targeted by a bully. Social networking sites are a great tool to keep in touch with friends and family, so enjoy them. Just remember to be careful where your children are spending their cyber time as well as what you and your children post because posts are permanent and there are many social, emotional and even legal consequences that can follow

To learn more about staying safe online check out these websites: www.getnetwise.org/ www.connectsafely.org/ www.consumersearch.com/parental-control-software www.cyberbully411.org/ Becca Anderson is a member of The Durham Middlefield Local Wellness Council. She is also a math teacher at Coginchaug Regional High School and co-advisor of the student EDGE (Excellent Decisions Guiding Everyday) Group whose purpose is to promote healthy decisions for high schoolers and provide awareness on important safety and health topics to the community. The Durham Middlefield Local Wellness Council is a coalition of local volunteers engaged from every sector of the community in an effort to educate, implement strategies to prevent and reduce substance abuse and other risk taking behaviors. The council works to promote programs that build positive assets in youth and healthy lifestyles through community collaboration.

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The Negative Impact Of Social Networking Sites On Society [Opinion]

April 12, 2012

By Dave Parrack

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I have accounts on several social networking sites, and spend far too long on them writing my own updates and reading the updates of others. I enjoy doing so, being able to interact with friends, family, and random strangers online in a controlled environment. For someone who works at home, this is a big positive.

However, social networking sites arent a wholly positive influence on the world. In fact, if you delve just a little into how they have changed the world you find there are some potentially negative impacts social networking sites are having on society as a whole and each of us as individuals.

Friends?

The idea of friends was once very simple. If you knew someone, hung out with them regularly, and liked their company then they were a friend. While the people who still fit that description are still your friends, so are the people you have connected with on social networking sites apparently. Whether you talk to them, care about what theyre up to, or have any interest in them whatsoever, theyre still listed as friends. This has muddied the waters considerably. I know several people who have thousands of friends on social networking sites. Do they really? Or do they in fact have a dozen real friends and hundreds of people they have met once and then added to their Facebook or Google+? I suspect future generations will be unable to distinguish between meaningful relationships and casual acquaintances.
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Self-Centered Attention-Seeking

We all like to talk about ourselves or the things which interest us, which is the most basic reason social networking sites work. Those who shy away from doing so are unlikely to be onFacebook or Twitter, or if they are, their accounts will likely be sitting unloved and untouched. But there is passing on important news and telling anecdotes that will interest people, and then there is detailing every single aspect of your life, no matter how dull or uninteresting it may be.

Social networking sites bring out this side in many people, turning them into crashing bores who will detail what they ate for breakfast and the manner in which their body expelled it several hours later. Youngsters especially could become convinced that they are more important than anyone else, and that what they have to say should be read and responded to by a wider audience. There is also vaguebooking, which is a crime in its own right.

Short Attention Spans

If youre anything like me you will have noticed your attention span shortening in recent years. I can safely say that since the arrival of the Internet, and of social networking sites in particular, my mind flits between things at a faster rate than it once did. There is so much information to consume that we rarely spend any time exploring any of it in great depth. All social networking sites add to this information overload to a certain extent but Twitter is the main culprit. People are condensing everything down to 140 characters or less, so when it comes time to actually read anything longer than that, it takes a change of pace and a change of mindset to do so. I suspect youre even skim-reading this article. Im not offended, we all do it, but its another way in which social networking sites have had a negative impact on society.

Causing Distraction & Harming Productivity

I work from home as a freelance writer. I love my job, but sometimes its hard to stay focused and on track. Especially when you work on the Web and cannot help but be surrounded by sites trying to seduce you into wasting time. Social networking sites are some of the worst offenders. Purely because theyre a constant stream of news and views from people who, for the most part, you want to listen to. Then there are the games, such as Angry Birds, Facebook Scrabble, and Zynga Poker, which tempt you into playing for five minutes and end up consuming your whole afternoon. If you have a whole afternoon to spare then great, no harm done. But what about those working or studying? The distraction is harmful to productivity, and isnt going to do society any good in the long term.

Breaking Up Relationships

Reconnecting with old friends from school may seem a nice idea, and in many ways it is. You have a lot to talk about, stories to tell, reminiscences to bond over. But you may reconnect with someone you once adored from afar. And now that youre all grown-up you may get the urge to explore feelings that went unrequited 20 or 30 years ago. If youre already in a relationship this could spell disaster. It isnt just old flames, either. People use social networking sites to hook up. Even if its a hook up of the extra-marital variety. I hate to think of the number of relationships and even marriages that have ended as a result of social networking. And when they do, where is the first place people share the news? On that same social networking site, of course.

Over-Sharing & Loss of Privacy

This is perhaps the biggest impact for the worse that social networking as a whole is having on society. The very concept of privacy seems to be inexorably eroding, and at a fantastic pace. Those of us who are connected to the Internet are connected 24/7, and we have immersed ourselves in an extension of society in which privacy is not treated with the high regard it is offline. It isnt just social networks that are to blame for this, but Facebook has led the way in showing how powerful a tool it can be in coercing people to happily give up personal information. Most of us list our full name and birthday, reveal who our family members are, share our work history, our hobbies and interests, and even what we like and dislike. And were doing so without any kind of prodding or pushing. Most people would rightly refuse to walk around with a billboard attached to their front revealing all and sundry to the world. Yet we do just that on social networking sites. A dream for advertisers and marketers, but a nightmare for the rest of us.

Conclusions
Do you still think social networking sites are, at worst nothing to worry about, at best wholly positive influences on humanity? If so then Ill be amazed, but I would love to hear your reasoning about these negative impacts of social networking sites. Will any of this make me delete my Facebook and Twitter accounts? Of course not, but it does make me a little more cautious about how (and how often) I use them.