The Role Of Social Media In The Long Run

As technology progresses, the dynamics in how people interact change, and eventually leads to a new way of life for society. Having the current uprise of social media, it is close to impossible not to engage on any social networking sites. As Marshal McLunan said, “First we shape our tools, thereafter they shape us” (Marshal McLunan) Due to how rapidly everything is currently changing in social media and our society for that matter, it is important to consider both the positive and negative aspects of social media in the long run. Social media has many positive outcomes that will be touched on throughout this essay such as, the development of social capital, the profile work put into these sites, as well as the quick and easy access to information. …show more content…
This information is convenient because it makes it easier to meet up and communicate with others. The only issue with this much information is why we share so much about our personal lives online as well as the normalization of stalking and passive following. I think that the the reason we share so much information about ourselves on social media because it is always asking for it. For example Facebook asks you to “Share what 's on your mind” (Facebook) to upload a status. Facebook also asks you questions about your education history, work history, your birthday, the places you have lived as well as a few of your interests. This is how they get there information about you to suggest friends for you to add and widen your social capital, however this information is out for everyone to see not only for facebook 's personal use. This overload of information and, “our using the internet is turning us into a species of shallow thinkers” (Nicholas Carr) Due to the fact that we are constantly posting things about yourself online there is no surprise to people having stalkers, that are in disguised as creeps. The definition of face stalking is, “actively reviewing in detail someone profile to follow their activities without necessarily engaging with them.”(Naveen Joshi) By having social networking sites that continuously ask for your information it makes the job of the face stalker extremely easy. There is also another way to approach online privacy, you could rarely post any information about yourself, but then you are thought of as the odd one out because you won 't share your personal daily activities with everyone on your friends list, you are breaking social norms, and there is also the argument that if you don’t post anything personal on these social media sites, then you are the creep yourself. In terms of privacy another thing to take into consideration is how