Social networking sites (SNS) are defined as web-based services that allow individuals to construct a public or semi-public profile within a limited system, articulate a list of other users with whom they
share a connection, and view and traverse their list of connections and those made by others within the system.
This article will focus on Facebook as the example of social networking site. Today, Facebook is the largest social network in the world. It started as a website limited to Harvard students only, but quickly expanded to additional colleges in the Boston area, other Ivy League schools, then eventually
just about every University in North America, up till now where 1 out of every 7 people on earth is on Facebook. It was founded by Mark Zuckerberg and some of fellow college roommates at Harvard University, including Eduardo Saverin, Dustin Moskovitz, Andrew McCollum and Chris Hughes (Daniel Zeevi, 2013).
Positive:
1. Social networks help the businesses in a variety of ways. Traditional marketing mediums such as the radio, TV commercials and print ads are completely obsolete now and demand for thousands of dollars. However, with social media the businesses can connect with their targeted customers for free, the only cost is energy and time. Through Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn or any other social site you can lower your marketing cost to a significant level.
2. The increasing popularity of social sites like Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn, social networks has gained attention as the most viable communication choice for the bloggers, article writers and content creators.
3. These social networking sites have opened the opportunity for all the writers and bloggers to connect with their tech savvy clients to share your expertise and articles. Your audience will further share your articles, blog or expertise in their social circle which further enhance your networks of the followers.
4. Social networks have removed all the communication and interaction barriers, and now one can communicate his/her perception and thoughts over a variety of topics. Students and experts are able to share and communicate with like-minded people and can ask for the input and opinion on a particular topic.
5. Another positive impact of social networking sites is to unite people on a huge platform for the achievement of some specific objective. This is very important to bring the positive change in society.
Negative:
1. One of the negative effect of social media or network is it leads to addiction. Spending countless hours on the social sites can divert the focus and attention from a particular task. It lowers the motivational level of the people, especially of the teenagers and students. They mainly rely on technology and the internet instead of learning the practical knowledge and expertise of the everyday life.
2. Kids can be greatly affected by these social networking sites if they are allowed to use them. The reason is that sometimes people share photos on social media that contains violence and sex, which can damage the behavior of kids and teenagers. It put the negative impact on overall society as these kids and teenagers involve themselves in crime related activities.
3. Another downside of the social media is that the user shares too much information which may pose threats to them. Even with the tight security settings your personal information may leak on the social sites. Downloading your videos or pictures and copying your status is an easy task and can be done within few clicks.
4. Poor academic achievement
Excessive use of social media without connecting with others is more likely to make you miserable, a study showed, according to China's Xinhua news agency.
The study, published recently in the journal Cyberpsychology, Behavior and Social Networking, was conducted by researchers at the University of Copenhagen on over 1,000 participants, mostly women.
The results indicated that regular use of social networking like Facebook can "negatively affect your emotional well-being and satisfaction with life."
Spending too long looking at other people's social media posts can create "unrealistic social comparisons", which induce a deterioration of mood and a sense of envy, it suggested.
Instead of lurking on social media, researchers encourage people to actively engage in conversation and connect with other people, which seems to be a much more positive experience.
The study suggested taking a short break from social media, a week for instance, which could help improve mental well-being.
