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Some People Think that Social Networking Sites Have a Huge Negative Impact on Both Individuals and Society

Some People Think that Social Networking Sites Have a Huge Negative Impact on Both Individuals and Society

Some people think that social networking sites have a huge negative impact on both individuals and society. To what extent do you agree or disagree?


Social networking platforms take up a considerable part of our lives, and we depend solely on these sites to connect with family and friends nearby. On the other hand, the negative impact of it on both individuals and society is increasingly worrying. This essay will discuss why these platforms lead to negative and catastrophic situations.

To begin with, social stigma is inevitable. Many young people, the majority of whom are encountering problems such as mental illness, racism, and physical deformities, turn to these platforms to post their problems, seeking solace and advice from both friends and strangers, leading to the wrong, harmful direction and ridiculing, which pushes them to have low self-esteem that may lead to suicide or unnecessary mass shootings. For instance, in the year 2020, a Colorado University student who had for six months been ridiculed by friends and strangers on Facebook for posts about not finding a purpose of living after his father rejected him and left their mother suffering resulted in suicide a few days before his graduation from elementary school.

Secondly, negative individual characteristics can be observed. A lot of peer pressure is ever-present on social media platforms, especially with teenagers seeking attention while using it to expose themselves to and understand the outside world. This leads them to drug cartel traps and sex trafficking rings. For example, in a study done in Malaysia, 60% of young people aged between 9-16 years disappear to sex trafficking rings every year, and the majority are BEA members. This group recruits young individuals primarily through a WhatsApp group called MEET YOU.

On the other hand, social networking as a business is rewarding. Many people use such platforms to post content such as videos and live streams to advertise their businesses, educate the masses or entertain viewers. In addition, jobless individuals can earn from such sites as youtube due to the majority of subscribed viewers. A good example is Chef Raphael’s youtube channel, which has over 4.5 million viewers and earns him a minimum of Ksh.2,000 daily, making him one of the most renowned and successful chefs in Kenya.

All in all, governments need to educate people on the negative impact of these social sites while at the same time putting barriers that mitigate the usage of these sites as much as they are essential to us. It is also the responsibility of family members/parents to keep contact and a watchfully eye on their kin/children to identify any possible behaviours that may lead their children/relatives to seek solace from the wrong people.

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