Pros and Cons of Social Networking

One pro of social networking is that the sites can increase voter participation. According to www.pewinternet.org, “Facebook users who visit the site more than once a day were 2.5 times more likely to attend a political rally or meeting, 57% more likely to persuade someone about a vote, and 43% more likely to say they will vote”. This is very important because visiting social networking sites like Facebook, might get/encourage more of the younger generations to vote. This is beneficial because then the elected government officials will represent a wider range and more diverse people, thus affecting public policy in a more reflective way of the general population. Having social networking sites like Facebook definitely have effected me just like the statistics show. This election season, I actually found out about a political rally near me due to an event that I saw when I checked my Facebook. My boyfriend, our roommate, and I went, and we loved the experience. I am now more political then ever before. I feel like the source of pewinternet.org is reliable because it is a research center that does not take policy positions. 

One con of social networking is that is can cause people to spend less time interacting face-to-face. According to www.annenberg.usc.edu, a Jan. 2012 center for the Digital Future at the USC Annaberg School study found that the percentage of people reporting less face-to-face time with family in their homes rose from 8% in 2000 to 34% in 2011. This is bad because that number is rising fast, and I’m sure in 2016 today, that number is a lot higher. These numbers rising can cause stress within relationships, and I definitely feel like this impacts me. Whenever I go over to my parents house,  I find myself and my parents constantly checking our phones. Also, the same thing happens when I’m with my boyfriend. It’s a lot easier to look at our phones and connect with the online world then make actual conversation, and this is a problem. If our younger generation doesn’t know how to actually have a conversation without our phones, then how are we going to survive in the actual world where it is mandatory that we do so? I definitely trust the source of www.annenberg.usc.edu, because it is an educational website for the School for Communication and Journalism.