Positive and Negative Implications of Social Networking (Essay Sample)

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Positive and Negative Implications of Social Networking
Social networking entails the incorporation of internet oriented services to connect with families, friends, clients, customers and other parties. Notably, the communication channel has substantially changed the manner in which people interact. According to a study executed by Zhu et al. (387), the origin of social networking can be traced back to the 1970’s where it began through the exchange of emails. What is more intriguing is that the social media has undergone numerous revolutions that have consequently introduced new activities such as the sharing of photos, videos, and stories. Moreover, messaging is also an essential element of social networking that facilitates the communication of individuals through texts. However, there are positive and negative implications of social networking as discussed in this article.
Intriguingly, the channel facilitates communication between individuals and at the same time helps them to maintain contact with each other. Furthermore, it also creates conduits where people can make new friends. According to Oh et al. (71), social networking also facilitates the discussion of educative issues. As a result, schools are adopting the forum to help their students to develop new technical skills while at the same time exposing them to various ideologies on particular matters of interest in the society such as politics. Besides, social networking also creates a forum for businesses to make advertisements that can reach broad markets.
On the other hand, some of the negative implications of the practice include reducing face to face interactions and consequently replacing them with online interactions that have proven to weaken relationships between individuals (Griths et al. 120). Likewise, there are security issues associated with the rampant cases of cybercrimes. Hackers can exploit social network channels to obtain sensitive information that can lead to identity theft. Furthermore, cell phones are the primary gadgets that facilitate social networking and are said to emit electromagnetic radiations that have negative implications on the human brain. Once absorbed into the mind, the emission...