Social Media Influence - Free Essay Sample

Communication can be defined as the act in which information is passed from the sender to the envisioned receiver through the use of a medium. It can also be demarcated as an ongoing procedure which entails participants who inhabit diverse but coinciding environments to build affiliations through the exchange of information which are affected by physiological and psychological noise. Communication can be intended or unintended, and once it has occurred, it cannot be reversed (Adler et al. 14).

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Effects of social media

It is important for individuals to communicate to satisfy their physical needs, social needs, identify needs, and achieve their goals. Lack of developing social relations may cause coronary effects that are similar to those that are brought about by smoking including high blood pressure. Social needs can be realized through the creation of affections, pleasures, companionships and relaxations. Moreover, realistic goals are achieved when an individual meets what they desire for example in the workplaces. These four reasons for communication fall in place in Maslow's five categories including Self-actualization, self-esteem, love and belonging, safety and lastly physiological needs.

According to Adler et al.(19), more certainly than not, social media affects the way individuals communicate with each other regardless of the age limits. Today, most people prefer mediums that are fast to talk and they can receive immediate feedbacks rather than using the face to face medium of communication. First and foremost, through the use of social media, it has been incredibly easy to communicate with our loved ones, bosses around the sphere through the use of Skype, WhatsApp, Facebook, emails, Twitter, Myspace, among others. Information can be relayed very fast.

Social media has made things very easy for companies and entrepreneurs in that they can easily market their products online. Besides, due to the high cost that revolves around hiring a physical store to facilitate the selling of commodities, individuals that do not have a startup capital prefer to sell their available merchandise online and deliver to their clients. This has enabled profits to be realized.

Social media influence on society

Also, social media has facilitated the increase in knowledge. According to Bryfonski and Dedria (18), Students can access and share materials regarding a particular subject through social media. We have also witnessed individuals asking for advice through social media platforms, and this has helped so many people to rise back to their feet. In the world, athletes, such as Julius Yego is celebrated for his javelin skills. Social media has helped athletes improve their talents through the use of YouTube. Also, individuals can learn how to bake cakes and cook various types of food by communicating with others using different sites hence promoting self-development in different areas.

Social media is often praised for what it has helped individuals achieve. In contrast, social media has its negative influences. For example, if a person strolls in any restaurant, he will find people having coffee and talking. It is not by surprise to find some chatting and texting with their phones yet having a conversion with another person in the restaurant. Also, during meetings in companies, some individuals will be seen texting and using their phones when the meeting is on progress (Trenholm et al. 12).

Moreover, social media has weakened the ties that have been created over time in the manner that when communicating with another individual whom one is not physically with, we do not feel as personally connected as we should be. Hence, even though we do communicate regularly with other people, we may not necessarily be building the relationships firmly. Social media has also enabled individuals to follow and interact with those who are in agreement with their points of view hence allowing us not to get differences in viewpoints as we used to get in the past.

Social media effect on youth

Social media has ruined relations that have been formed (Trenholm et al. 16). For example, in my neighbourhood, Mr. Jules and his wife got separated by the effect of social media. Mr. Jules got a wrong message through social media, and since he used to spend most of his time online, this created suspicion and insecurity arose from his wife. Through the wrong message sent to Mr. Jules, the wife thought that he was cheating on her and this led to their divorce.

Also, through social media, cyberbullying has been witnessed by most people. The effect that cyber bullying brings is just the same as that of bullying a child in school. It brings about behavioural, emotional, and operational significances (Bryfonski and Dedria 20). For example, when a black African child is sent to messages discriminating his or her race, the child may carry this to his or her adulthood and may experience issues to do with self-esteem and even mingling around with the whites.

The piece of advice that I would like to offer to my younger siblings is that they need to handle information received with high integrity and also be very vigilant with the individuals that they communicate with to avoid being victims of cyber bullying. Furthermore, they need to be well aware under the circumstances to use a smartphone and when not to use. For instance, when interacting with individuals around them, they ought to focus more on the individual and less on the smartphone. Having too much interaction with a smartphone may lead to a mental illness that may be caused by an emotional shutdown, lack of concentration and having withdrawal symptoms.

I would also advise them to keep their personal information out of the social media since regardless of how incredibly high the private settings are set, it is always possible to retrieve that information. For cases where the information being shared is private, I would advise them not to share it via social media but instead, they would look forward to meeting the individual face to face and give out that piece of information.

In conclusion, due to the way social media relates to my interpersonal relationship, I would like to advance my relationship with other people by focusing more on the conversations that we hold rather than chat with my smartphone which is a nuisance and shows levels of rudeness. I would also want to change the fact that I focus more on other individuals which make me compare myself more to them due to the number of followers that they have and the attention they receive. I plan on starting to focus more on self-development and actualization.

Works Cited

Adler, Ronald B, and Russell F. Proctor. Looking Out/ looking in. Australia: Wadsworth/Cengage Learning, 2011. Print.

Bryfonski, Dedria. The Global Impact of Social Media. Detroit, MI: Greenhaven Press, 2012. Print.

Trenholm, Sarah, and Arthur Jensen. Interpersonal Communication. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2013. Print.