I Hope This Paper is Instagram-matically Correct

In recent years, the saying “The world at your fingertips” has taken on an almost literal meaning. With the spread of social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat, and Instagram, people are able to interact with each other more. A social networking site (a.k.a social networking service or social media) is an online platform used by people to have social relations with others who share common career or personal interests, backgrounds, or real life relationships. These sites are beneficial because they allow us to obtain information about anything and connect with anyone we want. Because of this, social networking sites are more helpful than harmful.

One reason is because they create opportunities. This is evident in the case of Youtube - a video sharing website. It’s likely that everyone has seen a Youtube video - whether it was shown to them by a friend or something they couldn’t avoid seeing because it went viral. Users of Youtube can create original content and upload it for the world to see. Users that have gained large followings can elevate from solely being on Youtube, to being in movies, television shows, writing books, or getting record deals. An example of this is Miranda Sings, a user who has over seven million subscribers. She stars in her own show called “Haters Back Off.” Another is an acapella group called Pentatonix, with over 12 million subscribers. Initially the group posted videos of them singing together for, but as of 2017 they have won two Grammy Awards and is signed by RCA Records.

Social networking sites can also be helpful in our personal lives. For me, they are helpful when it comes to talking with my family. The majority of my family live outside of the United States, in Barbados or New Zealand. And unless I buy a plane ticket every single week of my life to go visit them, I have no way to contact them. I would call, but the expense of international long distance calls isn’t something my parents are willing to pay for. Through social media, I can see what my family. In fact, we have a Facebook group page we update with various events in our lives.

Furthermore, the availability of these sites is also helpful. The convenience of being able to interact with someone whenever, wherever is comforting. Many sites function on multiple devices e.g. phones, computers, tablets. Some even work on televisions. The fact that we can mingle with anyone we want with almost any electronic is amazing. We’re no longer confined to only talking to people through email or phone calls.

  While social networking sites are a blessing, some people may say they’re more harmful than helpful. This can be true, but only when people use these sites with malicious intentions. These can include: asking people for, and later publishing, lewd pictures, cyber bullying,  hacking another person’s account and catfishing - luring someone into a relationship by using a fake persona. However, these things can be avoided by people securing passwords to their accounts and making sure that they report anything they find harmful or suspicious.

Regardless of the possible problems one can have with them, social networking sites do more good than bad. These sites work best when we use them for their intended purpose of sharing things. They allow us to use the Internet as new means of communication; why shouldn’t we embrace that?