The Negative Effects of Facebook and Its Impact on Future Generations

Facebook has become one of the fundamental social networking services that has changed the course of social interactions on a individual and global scale. The social media site, created by a college student Mark Zuckerberg and his roommates, contains over a billion users worldwide which provides connections to families, friends, schools, organizations, businesses and more. It is still a growing force that has become apart of the growing process of the youth across the nation and the world. Facebook has created a link between the virtual and real worlds in peoples lives and gives the actions committed on Facebook real life value. This gives way to new problems that have developed with the rising usage of the site which is depression and obsession. Younger generations are growing up with social media juggernauts such as Facebook and greatly impact their psychological growth and socialization skills.

Facebook studies reveal negative psychological effects.

According to a study by Larry Rosen, a psychology professor at California State University, “excessive indulgence in social media portals–especially Facebook–leads to increased antisocial behavior and hampering psychological disorders”. In Rosen’s study, students who frequently used Facebook during studying resulted in worse grades than those students who didn’t use it. Also, it cause “sleeping problems” and increased “anxiety and depression”. Younger generations are exposed early to social media sites and are on these sites for long periods of time. Social interactions in-person are replaced by those online interactions that impact the self-esteem and communication patterns of the younger users. How you are viewed online affects your self-image and those interactions online, such as likes and comments, effect how you view your self-worth. A video from an ABC affiliate details the experiences of students and adults and the negative impact it can have on their lives including depression and overall emotion.

 Facebook linked to depression rise

The negative impacts are clear but the key need for Facebook can not be ignored.

Dr. George Gates explains that the new social media frontier is challenging to define and deal with because it is being used by so many so fast. Personal negative effects cannot be ignored but usage is the key to prevent these issues. Facebook helps connect and create mass amounts of information that is needed for the growth of our society. The internet is key for educational and social development as well. It is up the people to know their limits within using this new technology so it helps their lives rather than create new problems. Dr. Gwenn O'Keeffe, a Boston-area pediatrician and lead author of new American Academy of Pediatrics social media guidelines, agrees that benefits should not be overlooked in this MSNBC article. “Benefits of kids using social media sites like Facebook shouldn't be overlooked, however, such as connecting with friends and family, sharing pictures and exchanging ideas. A lot of what's happening is actually very healthy, but it can go too far." Awareness needs to be made to identify these problems and teach old and new users of social networks how to properly use these sites so they can benefit rather than hinder.

Facebook has personally affected my emotional and informational ties.

It may be easy to dust off the effects stated above. Some may say, “These are just extreme cases, they don’t pertain to me.” I disagree. The number of friends you have, the number of likes and comments directly impacts your self-esteem and self-worth. If I lost friends on Facebook, whether they are “real” friends or not, I would feel less connected to the world and less important than before when I had that large friend counter on my profile. It provides a comfort knowing that you are known and loved. The point of posting a “status” in the first place is to receive feedback and attention from others that you could not get in your personal lives. Whether we like it or not Facebook and other social networks have a direct impact on our personal lives and our psychological state. It is a phenomena that has been entrenched into our globalized society and it is our duty to use this as a tool for the better rather than an addiction or obsession. Too much of anything is never a good thing.

The Television Revolution: Ratings vs. Sharing and the Impact of New Technologies on Programming Views

Ratings vs. Shares

Television viewing is measured within the Nielson Cross-Platform scale that measures who is watching T.V. and on what device. The program used single source measurement data to produce ratings and shares of what programs are being watched at a given period of time. Ratings and share percentages differ mainly on the amount of televisions included in the measurement. Ratings how the size of a viewing audience to a specific program over all of the televisions in households, either on or off. However, shares only incorporate televisions that are currently turned on during the program. So, it is the percentage of audience members to the show over the total televisions in use at that time. The graphic to the right further shows the difference between the two.

NFL Sports Dominate Sunday Night Programming

You can see the differences in ratings and shares in shows based on the time of day they are shown. In comparing the CBS overrun football game and Sunday Night Football to the rest of the programs, Football heavily dominates the ratings and shares. The NFL overrun into 7pm destroyed the ratings of the Emmy's Red Carpet live by over 5 points. The statistics also show that ratings of these programs increase in overall audience after 8pm to 9pm.

Television Sparks the Rise of Multi-Screen Interactivity

According to Pew internet, new trends have emerged from viewers of these programs. They call this the rise of the "Connected Viewer". According to the site, 52% of viewers use a mobile device while they watch programming. These are used during breaks, even during the program, to check factual claims, social media sites and other apps. A question could be raised is if new multi-media devices such as phones are taking over the place of TV's, which are less stimulating devices. An interesting note from the study was that 81% of people from 18-24 used mobile devices during programs. Could this mean a decrease in ratings and shares in programs or a new form of interactivity with the TV shows. This article expands on the argument that TV is becoming an irrelevant medium.