Causes And Effects Of Social Media

Social Media is something that many of us have allowed into our lives either out of necessity or desire. Since the website Myspace became popular with the elder youth of my generation, social media has become a part of our western culture. As the popularity of social media quickly grew, people like Mark Zuckerberg wanted to take advantage of the opportunity for the betterment of the university he was attending. Zuckerberg presented the idea of a website that would connect students on the Harvard campus to promote activities and raise awareness of happening events. When Harvard refused any connections with Facebook, Zuckerberg continued the site independently, opening it to anyone with access to the World Wide Web, and thus Facebook was born. Is social media a sign of progress? Will things like …show more content…
Due to the lack of responsibility required and the means of entertainment, child obesity (12-18 years of age) is higher than ever and continuing to rise. I believe that social media is largely to blame for this national epidemic. It is undeniable that scrolling through Twitter or Facebook after a hard day of school or work is easier than flipping the pages of a classic novel because social media does not exercise the brain the way it was intended to operate, therefor promoting memory loss and even weight gain. Young people today have the option that no other people have, we can either plop ourselves on the couch and fiddle with our phones or do something productive. When comparing the two options, it is much more leisurely to not use our brains at the capacity we are capable of because it feels like work. Also, there are social ramifications suffered by over using social media, such as “cyber bullying” and staying home and communicating with groups of people via Facebook, as opposed to physically gathering with friends for a recreational activity. This stagnant behavior is literally killing our