This is the topic we’ve chosen for our next CLASS DEBATE. It’s gonna be fun and since I always enjoy researching and updating my knowledge – it’s called long life learning 🙂 -I’ve created this post.
First of all I’d like you to answer the questions of this POLL.
When you hear the word “Social network” does your mind immediately think of Facebook? How many social networks do you know? Look at the frst video. Are you ready to enter the world of Social Media 2014? TAKE DOWN SOME NOTES while watching (ROI = return of investment redditività del capitale investito) we’ll share in class.
The second video is about the world of social media 2013. Did you notice any new information?
This is the lesson on Blendspace I created for you:
About 70% of American adults used social networking sites like Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Classmates.com in 2013. On social media sites like these, users may develop biographical profiles, communicate with friends and strangers, do research, and share thoughts, photos, music, links, and more.
Advocates (sostenitori) of social networking sites say that the online communities promote increased interaction with friends and family; offer teachers and students valuable access to educational support and materials; facilitate social and political change; and disseminate useful information rapidly.
Opponents of social networking say that the sites prevent face-to-face communication; waste time on frivolous activity; alter children’s brains and behavior making them more prone to ADHD (attention deficit disorder= iperattività) ; expose users to predators like pedophiles and burglars; and spread false and potentially dangerous information.
Look at this video. Is it so for you? Take notes of some data you find relevant.
These are the pros of Social Networks:
- Social networking sites spread information faster than any other media.
- Law enforcement uses social networking sites to catch and prosecute (perseguire) criminals.
- Social networking sites help students do better at school. 59% of students with access to the Internet report that they use social networking sites to discuss educational topics and 50% use the sites to talk about school assignments.
- Social networking sites allow people to improve their relationships and make new friends. 70% of adult social networking users visit the sites to connect with friends and family. 52% of teens using social media report that using the sites has helped their relationships with friends, 88% report that social media helps them stay in touch with friends they cannot see regularly, 69% report getting to know students at their school better, and 57% make new friends.
- Social media sites help employers find employees and job-seekers find work.
- Being a part of a social networking site can increase a person’s quality of life and reduce the risk of health problems. Social media can help improve life satisfaction, stroke ( ictus) recovery, memory retention, and overall well-being by providing users with a large social group. Additionally, friends on social media can have a “contagion” effect, promoting and helping with exercise, dieting, and smoking cessation goals.
- Social networking sites facilitate face-to-face interaction.
- Social networking sites increase voter participation.
- Social media facilitates political change. The 2011 Egyptian uprising (part of the Arab Spring), organized largely via social media, motivated tens of thousands of protestors for eighteen days of demonstrations and, ultimately led to the resignation of Egyptian President Mubarak on Feb. 11, 2011.
- Social networking is good for the economy. Social media sites have created a new industry and thousands of jobs in addition to providing new income and sales.
- Social networking sites help senior citizens feel more connected to society.
- Social networking sites help people who are socially isolated or shy connect with other people.
- Social media allows for quick, easy dissemination of public health and safety information from reputable (affidabili) sources. The World Health Organization (WHO) uses social media to “disseminate health information and counter rumours,” which was especially helpful after the Mar. 2011 Japanese earthquake and nuclear disaster when false information spread about ingesting salt to combat radiation.
- “Crowdsourcing“( the practice whereby an organization enlists a variety of freelancers, paid or unpaid, to work on a specific task or problem) and “crowdfunding” on social media allows people to collectively accomplish a goal. A mother was able to find a kidney donor for her sick child by posting a video on her Facebook page. Crowdwise, a social network devoted to crowdsourcing volunteers and crowdfunding charity projects, raised $845,989 (as of Nov. 20, 2012) for Hurricane Sandy victims.
- Social networking provides academic research to a wider audience, allowing many people access to previously unavailable educational resources. I
- Social networking sites offer teachers a platform for collaboration with other teachers and communication with students outside the classroom. More than 80% of US college and university faculty use social media; more than 50% use it for teaching; and 30% for communicating with students. Educators from around the world interact with each other and bring guest teachers, librarians, authors, and experts into class via social networks like Twitter and social networking tools like Skype. Edmodo, an education-specific social networking site designed for contact between students, teachers, and parents, reached over ten million users on Sep. 11, 2012.
- Social networking sites offer a way for musicians and artists to build audiences even if they don’t have a corporate contract. For example, pop star Justin Bieber was discovered on YouTube when he was 12 years old, and, in 2012 at 18 years old, Bieber’s net worth was estimated at $80 million.
- Colleges and universities use social media to recruit and retain students.
(adapted from SocialNetworkingProCon.Org)
These are the Cons of Social networks:
- Social media enables the spread of unreliable and false information. 49.1% of people have heard false news via social media.
- Social networking sites lack privacy and expose users to government and corporate intrusions. 13 million users said they had not set or did not know about Facebook’s privacy settings and 28% shared all or nearly all of their posts publicly.
- Students who are heavy social media users tend to have lower grades. Two-thirds of teachers believe that social media does more to distract students than to help academically.
- Social networking sites can lead to stress and offline relationship problems. A University of Edinburgh Business School study found the more Facebook friends a person has, the more stressful the person finds Facebook to use.
- Social networking sites entice people to waste time. 40% of 8 to 18 year olds spend 54 minutes a day on social media sites.
- Using social media can harm job stability and employment prospects. Job recruiters reported negative reactions to finding profanity (61%), poor spelling or grammar (54%), illegal drugs (78%), sexual content (66%), pictures of or with alcohol (47%), and religious content (26%) on potential employees’ social media pages.
- The use of social networking sites is correlated with personality and brain disorders, such as the inability to have in-person conversations, a need for instant gratification, ADHD, and self-centered personalities, as well as addictive behaviors. Pathological Internet Use (caused or exacerbated by social networking use) is associated with feelings of loneliness, depression, anxiety and general distress.
- Social media causes people to spend less time interacting face-to-face. 32% of those surveyed were on social media or texting during meals (47% of 18-34 year olds) instead of talking with family or friends. 10% of people younger than 25 years old respond to social media and text messages during sex.
- Criminals use social media to commit and promote crimes. Offline crime, like home robberies, may result from posting personal information such as vacation plans or stalkers gaining information about a victim’s whereabouts from posts, photos, or location tagging services.
- Social media can endanger (mettere a rischio) the military and journalists.
- Social networking sites harm employees’ productivity.
- Social networking sites facilitate cyberbullying. 49.5% of students reported being the victims of bullying online and 33.7% reported committing bullying behavior online.
- Social networking sites enable “sexting,”(is the act of sending sexually explicit messages or photographs, primarily between mobile phones.) which can lead to criminal charges and the unexpected proliferation of personal images.
- People who use social networking sites are prone to social isolation. Social networking can exacerbate feelings of disconnect (especially for youth with disabilities), and put children at higher risk for depression, low self-esteem, and eating disorders.
- Social networking sites encourage amateur advice and self-diagnosis for health problems which can lead to harmful or life-threatening results.
- Social media aids the spread of hate groups. A Summer 2012 Baylor University study examined Facebook hate groups focused on President Barack Obama and found a resurgence of racial slurs and stereotypes not seen in mainstream media in decades like blackface images and comparisons of President Obama to apes.
- Children may endanger themselves by not understanding the public and viral nature of social networking sites.
- Social networking enables cheating on school assignments.
- Social media can facilitate inappropriate student-teacher relationships.
- Unauthorized sharing on social networking sites exposes artists to copyright infringement, loss of intellectual property, and loss of income.
- Using social media can harm students’ chances for college admissions. College administrators scan Facebook profiles for evidence of illegal behavior by students.
- Social media posts cannot be completely deleted and all information posted can have unintended (indesiderate) consequences.
- Social networking site users are vulnerable to security attacks such as hacking, identity theft (furto di identità) and viruses.
As you probably know, I’ve decided not to accept underage (minorenni) students as friends on Facebook. That’s because I don’t want to interfere with your personal life & I want to keep my “private” life as such (although I never put very personal photos or info on FB ). I’d like to know what you think about it. Should teachers and students be friends on Facebook? Answer the poll and if you have something to add say it in the comment.
I’d like to end this post with a useful message. As we are in 2012 and we cannot live outside the world of media as hermits nor without the net, the next video shows you the DO and DON’TS when using Social Networks. At least if you cannot survive without social networks at least use them correctly 😉
Dear students of 2B & 2F first of all thanks a million for having joined our debate by adding your kind, honest, thoughtful and wise comments. It’s been a pleasure to read them all and somehow you’ve fulfilled one of my dreams: of a school without walls but conceived as an open space full of glass windows always “open” onto the outside world. I’ve just realized that here we’ve succeeded in creating an OPEN CLASS and blended different ages (my students are 14/15 and you are 17/18), different interests (my students focus on scientific subjects, you on classical studies) and different levels of language competence. The result being … real communication and exchange of ideas, that is to say … MAGIC, MUSIC TO MY EARS! I really hope this is just the beginning of a cooperation that your dear teacher NELLA and I cherish and have been advocating for years. Technology and this blog have made it possible therefore, as some of you highlighted, there’s nothing wrong in Social Networks themselves, it all depends on the USE we make of them and if the purpose is enriching our knowledge and developing our critical skills then …let’s use them wisely! Last but not least, you’re ALWAYS WELCOME to give your precious contribution to any of the posts in this Blog and, should you have any idea for a topic or to improve it, do not hesitate to let me know.
Prof. Laura Cimetta also known as cimy
I have carefully read all the students’ posts, finding a variety of remarks, opinions and details that have offered me a more complete insignt into the topic of social media.
.At the end of this exchange I feel good in front of the evidence that sharing via the internet can be very enriching if is is done with constructive purposes. Thanks a million to Laura and all the contributors!
Nella Maccarrone
English teacher – Liceo Leo-Major
I can’t agree with you Giulio, even though you are a nice classmate. I see what you mean, but I can’t share it at all!
Actually I think that our life is becoming so sad, just because of social networks. I can say this because I see how people would rather say many things, also very important things, right on facebook instead of speaking face to face. For this reason it becomes very harder to deeply understand what somebody wants to say. In fact, while you said that feelings are more powerful and authentic whether shared, I would say that they are not! On the contrary, sometimes people, by sharing a picture or writing something on facebook, pretend to be someone else, so it is cleare that what they pretend to be are not what they are, consequently their feelings are not supposed to be thrut anymore.
Sorry, but this is my opinion!
Giulia P., IIBc
Thank you Mrs Lacimetta for your post. I would like to share my opinion about it.
First of all, let me say that not everybody uses social networks in a superficial way. Indeed, having fun doesn’t mean being superficial.
I spend on social networks, especially on facebook, more than one hour a day. I like it because it just allows me to chat with my friends, see what they write, enjoy their pictures, even if they are not next to me. In this way, when we meet for a coffe, we have one more thing to talk about: for example “Have you seen who likes your new picture?”, or something like that. I think it’s just funny. Nevertheless, I always find that, like Giulia P said, most important things must be said face to face.
Angelica 2Bc
As far as I am concerned, social networks are not so important in my life. By the way Angelica, I can garantee that ther are many other ways to have fun, which are actually much much better than wasting our time on facebook (I said waste because I believe that being in front of the computer for all the day is not the best way to spend our time)
In spite of that, I sometimes use facebook to keep myself into contact with some friends of mine. For example when I travel and I can’t meet them face to face.
Moreover, you said that not everybody is superficial on social networks… Don’t you think to seem a little bit superficial by saying that you base conversations with your friends on likes on facebook? Maybe you should think it over.
Thank tou mrs. Lacimetta for giving me the possibility to take part of such a great debate!
Elizabeth 2Bc
I think that you chose a very nice topic!
As almost everybody said, I feel social networks as something very close to me and my life, by the way, I spend more than one hour a day on facebook. I personally believe that social networks have brought more pros than cons.
“Happines is only real when shared”, was used to saying the main character of “Into the wild”, a film that I really like. I just wondered if this sentence could be used to describe social networks as well, to sum up why we use them and why we like them so far.
Social networks maybe increase our feelings, which become, in this way, more authentic and more strong.
Finally, we don’t have to forget how they can help us to communicate! We must not take for granted the fact that they can actually brake every distance among people who live all over the world! For this reason, I would say that social networks are not only pleasant, but also useful…
Giulio, IIB classico
I really appreciated the post about various social networks.
in particular I like the way you share it, a bit “impersonal”, aseptic, so everyone can judge and express his personal idea.
looking at the videos I ask myself “how much social networks, and more in general internet, influence my (and our) life?”
I agree with the people who said that s. networks are not the real problem, the problem consists in how we use them..and I think that nowadays is very important to make especially young people conscious about pros and cons of using social networks.
Thank you for the post!
Francesco
II F cl
liceo leopardi (PN)
Hello! I very appreciate the debate about social networks because today internet is an important element of our life, we couldn’t live without it.
We all know social network as Facebook or Twitter made a big revolution in the life of people of all the world. But, they have their pros and cons. For exemple, Facebook gave to people the opportunity of chatting with friends or family or it help to found a worplace. But Facebook created war and cyber bullism, many teenager committed suicide for cruel comments and bad jokes. Moreover people seems mad for social networks, they stay on Facebook many hours and they losted the sense of misure and the pleasure of stay with friends in the reality.
I think social networks are a very big arm and it must to be use with moderation.
Gloria, 2b classico.
I agree with the pros and cons of social networks mentioned so far, though I think there is another crucial issue to be considered: expectations.
Once you know someone in real life, meeting face to face, spending time to develop a relationship of any kind, you have an occasion to test that person’s attitudes, tastes and qualities.
In this case, what you will expect from that person depends on real life experiences.
Social networks can not only kill your expectations (you can access anybody’s public profile once you’re “friends”), but also lead you to have a false opinion about the people you meet (they might be too shy to fully display their interests, or they may want to mislead you).
Thus, I think social networks are a good way to keep in touch with your friends, but friendships (and relationships in general) should be built in real life first.
Francesco,
II B classico
Liceo Leopardi-Majorana (PN)
Thank you Mrs. Cimetta for your contribution about social networks; I read the texts that you have shared, I watched the videos and I thought about the pros and cons that you have developed. I personally am in favor of social networks, even though I agree with the negative aspects that you have well highlighted.
I think the most fascinating thing about social networks is the fact that you can find relatives who live in distant places in the world, old friends or new people who may live in your city and that you have never met.
At the same time, however, I think that people should not focus their lives on social networks; they are means to facilitate communication at distance, but should in no way take precedence over real life.
To sum up I certainly think that this could have negative outcomes if you don’t use social networks in an intelligent way.
Valeria
IIB classico
Liceo Leopardi-Majorana (PN)
Hello! Thank you for deal with this topic. I believe it’s a topic of great interest for us and for younger generations.
I don’t really think social networks are something wrong and “evil”.
Sometimes people depict them as a total negative tool, but forget to mention all the positive sides they can bring to our globalised society.
We just have to be careful on using it. As an example, some people use facebook without really thinking that an enourmous number of people are aware of what they post.
So posting everything about our own life (pictures, status, events, thoughts…) is probably not very wise.
But I definetely agree on those who say that thanks to facebook we can stay in touch every day with those persons we care a lot about and live very far from us.
Cheaper than telephone, faster than mail…probably the best tool for communication nowadays.
Anyway I think that everybody should have a ‘designated time’ for social networking.
Clara, IIBc
Liceo classico Leopardi – Majorana
Thank you, Mrs Cimetta for the very interesting material you posted on your blog, I found out many things I could not even imagine.
I think that nowadays Social Networks are a really hot topic, and often not for good reasons. Sometimes happens that people abuse of them and so we forget that they can be really useful.
I would like to bring my personal experience. I have some relatives who live far away from Italy, in the U.S. and I used to see them once every five or more years. When I signed up on Facebook, I found out they were too, so we started writing to each other, or doing video chat to keep ourselves in contact. That would not be possible in the past.
But, as many people said before me in these comments, Social Networks are not always as good as they seem. We started to abuse of them and in some case they became the reason of our lives. Once at the restaurant we used to see people talking to each other, now we see them checking their Facebook, or Twitter, or posting on Instagram the photos of what they are eating. I think this is awful and pretty sad.
Sometimes we should remember that Social Networks are not the real life.
Giulia
II B Classico
Liceo Leopardi – Majorana (PN)
I really appreciated this research about social network, and after reading all the pros and cons and watching the videos posted, I think there must be a balanced use of social networks to avoid being involved in the risks you mentioned.
Internet is the most revolutionary invention of the last decades. Thanks to internet you can go everywhere, develop or increase you knowledge, be updated about whatever involves you. It’s the real life reflected in a digital world.
It is the individual who chooses how to use it and how to adapt it to everybody’s needs.
That’s why I think this is the reason why most of the people involved in several social networks often make a bad use of it.
There are a lot of cons that induce people to hate and disapprove social networks, and of course there are so many tragic news related to social networks every single day. At the same time, in my opinion, keep in touch for example with your relatives who live abroad in the real time means distances and barriers can be overcome.
At the end I totally support social networks because I think the problem relies on the way people use them: there must be a balanced approach to them.
Giulia, IIBc Liceo Leopardi – Majorana (PN)
In my opinion social networks are such a common reality nowadays that we can’t deny the fact that we all are curious about them. We all know at least one social platform, and they are becoming famous not just among teens, but also among adults.
They are a great way to keep in touch with relatives that may live far away or with friends abroad, but they also offer the opportunity to meet new people and make new friends.
I would consider all these issues above as positive sides of using a social network but we must admit they have their limits and their lacks.
In fact we also keep in touch with relatives that live right next to our house, and we chat with friends that we used to see in the afternoon. They turned us into lazy people!
These platforms are such part of our everyday life that as soon as something happens we take a picture and upload it on Facebook, we write a new status, we upload a new post, we let people know about something they probably don’t care about. But we do it, for many of us this has become a normal routine.
Despite all of that we like them, we keep on joining them, and we contribute to their development.
We are ready to find their cons, but regardless of that we keep on using them.
Alessia
II Bc
Liceo Leopardi – Majorana
I think that social network are become an important part of today’s society, in particolar of young people.
They use social networks to communicate with friends and the entire world.
At the same time they use it for study, fun or to meet new friends.
But there are also cons.
Indeed people must be careful about what they write on social networks.
Indeed it could happen that what they wrote is used against them and damage their social and economic position.
I perceive the power of social networks but in my opinion, in this way people (in particular teenagers!) will start to lose the beauty of the world around them.
Giulia Girardi
II B classico
Liceo Leopardi Majorana (PN)
We believe that social networks could be a wonderful innovation, but, as every innovation, their success or failure depens on the use we make of them.
On one side, social networks could become the first step to a global communication platform which can prevent war and conflicts by unifying people all around the planet.
On the other side, social networks are already used by big businesses to develop unmoral marketing strategies strongly influencing kids and by goverments to violate the privacy of their citizens.
We believe that most of the people haven’t realized both the negative and the positive potential of social networks, yet.
Even though we are aware there are so many economic interests, we hope that governments will develop appropriate legislation in order to prevent the negative applications of social networks.
Alberto Truccolo
Paola Falcomer
Sara Presotto
Unfortunately we are now accustomed to living each day sharing on any social platform our choices and thoughts. You can rightly say that social networks are a very useful way to keep in touch with friends, not to mention the great solution that these sites offer to people who live a certain political or cultural situation, and that, thanks to these, have the opportunity to share with the world.
We could consider them beautiful and incredible, but we have to remember the price we must pay to have these faculties: our freedom, our ability to remain hidden at the eyes of the world, our ability to interact with humans who are not cooped up in a monitor!
I can seem exaggerated but I think we should learn to appreciate our daily lives, or, better, to live them.
Alina Carrozzini, II Fcl
Liceo Leopardi-Majorana, Pn
Thank you, Mrs Cimetta, for your interesting materials about social networks! They really stimulated our minds about this topic.
I often imagine the world of social networks as a huge square as big as the entire world. In the afternoon, instead of going out in their town squares, people can accede to facebook to meet their friends. But in this square, there are no differences among your social friends, there are not different degrees of friendship. You have the impression to know people just because they write everything they do or they think in the social medias, even if you have never talked to them. Certainly, with these ways of communication we can keep in contacts with everybody in this large square, even with the ones who don’t live close to us. It is so easy to be reached by people, it is so easy to have relationships with others that the words “relationship” and “friendship” are losing their meaning.
I can perceive the power of these inventions that are provoking great revolutions in the world, both in metaphorical and literal sense; but I’m also scared of them, because of their tendency to substitute the real life, and one “like” on facebook becomes more important than your imagine in the real world.
Caterina
II B Classico
Liceo Leopardi – Majorana (PN)
Thank you for this useful blog about social networks. It’s a theme very close to our personal experiences, to our lives. We were suprised by some aspects that you remarked with the support of videos and images, we didn’t know all the pros and the cons of this means of global communication but now surely we’re more aware and we’ll share this informations with our friends.
It has been also a nice way to compare ourselves with our classmates: the questions that you have asked and the videos gave us the possibility to reflect on these current themes and to discuss.
At the end we didn’t arrive at a solution, but certainly now we will continue to ask ourselves these questions: “How much our lives are influenced by the social networks? How much we are addicted to them? How much different would be life without them?”. Perhaps the most important thing that we have to remember is that social networks are born as a support to real life: if they become more important of our true relationship, it could be something that should worry us.
Benedetta Rombolà
Sefora Spagnol
Anna Zerbini
II F Classico
Liceo leopardi – Majorana (PN)
I would like to focus on the “personality and brain disorders” point in your cons list: I think that the most dangerous problem regards the way we know people. With social medias, you are what you post on Facebook, or Twitter, or Instagram,.. People do not consider that you may have secrets or thoughts you don’t want to talk about in public: if you post this, then you are this kind of guy; if you post that, then you are that other kind of guy, and so on. There’s no space for intuition or shades, there are only stereotypes, and there’s much more comfort in “knowing” people in this way. Social networks makes us needy not only of instant gratification, but also of instant friends, and this makes us impatient and unwilling to know people deeply.
Riccardo
II F Classico
Liceo Leopardi – Majorana (PN)
The rise of social networking sites have been phenomenal partly due to the immense freedom it affords. While Internet made the world a Global village the social networking sites brought the world within four walls. Our question is, “Have we teenagers been taught about the risks, for example , of online bullying? Have we been coached on how to use Facebook or YouTube? Who should guide us?” The vast landscape of online social networking can be a little intimidating. There are so many options available, so many things to take into consideration before signing up. Yet today it is rare to find someone who has not heard of Facebook, Twitter or other social networks.
Information technology has allowed us to contact friends and schoolmates at the click of a mouse. We can now gather information, manage our bank account or shop without having to step outside our home. This tends, in our opinion to lead more isolated lives than our parents did, with less concern for other people. Are we only “Facebook friends” or acquaintances or friends? The resulting breakdown of traditional social ties, face to face communication, for example, can leave the elderly and other vulnerable people without the support they need. This is also an important question for us teenagers to face.
To sum up, we have made progress over the years and above all thanks to people like yourself who have taken teaching us teenagers to socialize safely and in a World of Mouth with a lot of dedication and passion. We feel, as two teenagers, there are still many important issues to tackle. This may well be a better time to live than any previous age but hopefully the future will be better.
Thank you, Mrs. Cimetta for your precious contribution!
Giorgia and Beatrice
II F Classico
Liceo Leopardi – Majorana (PN)
i personally enjoyed the post about social networking, finally something far from prejudices and from a narrow minded point of view. as a 17 year old boy, i could understand the real power of social networking underlined in the post, which is able to consider a wide range of sources.
by giving a large quantity of data, it is able to make us think about the issue from a objective and, for some of us, new point of view, which is not the one given by medias or by our daily experience.
this aseptic post can underline the idea which looks to be behind your whole vision about social networks; Facebook (or Twitter, or LinkedIn) are not to be considered the real problem, because the users and their “social diseases” are the only source of issues.
Giovanni
II F Classico
Liceo Leopardi – Majorana (PN)
The part of the blog I like most is the video “DO and DON’TS when using Social Networks”, because I think that social networks could be very important instruments to comunicate with other people, but we must pay attention when we use them, because there are lot of risks. Often people do not think about this, but we must not underestimate the power of social networks in our times, the picture “Signs of social networking times” shows it very well.
Chiara
II F Classico
Liceo Leopardi – Majorana (PN)
We really appreciated this post about pros and cons of the various social networks. In class we watched some videos, and we found really interesting the one about cyber bullism. Nowadays a big part of our life is on the net, so it is natural that some aspects of our real life are mirrored in our virtual life. The problem is that on the net there aren’t all the social restrictions we have in real life, so being a bully on Facebook, Twitter ecc. is a lot easier than being a bully at school. It is probably this the biggest cons of the social networks and the net in general, the lack of a well-defined identity. Anyway we should also consider the various pros of being on a social network. Having a Facebook account makes it possible to get in touch with people that are far from us, using Twitter makes it possible to be informed in almost real-time about what’s happening in the world, posting a video on Youtube gives voice to yourself and your ideas ecc. As with many other things, the problem isn’t the social network itself, but the good or bad way in wich we use it.
Elena, Lucia, Ignazio
2F Classico
Liceo Leopardi – Majorana (PN)
THANKS a million for your interesting and wise comment. As you said there’s nothing wrong in social networks, what’s wrong may be the way we use it. I’m extremely happy that also students from a differnt school are using my Blog and improve it by adding a different perspective and new comments.
About the social networks I think there are many positives sides:
-you can chat with you’re friends and parents, even if they’re far from home;
-some social networks can inform people about evrything!!
Of course there are too many negative sides:
-some people can visit you’re profile and inquire about me;
-in some social networks people I don’t know can contact me;
I think social networks are a very big thing for the world, they’re fantastic.
of course I think in a social network a person should add to “friends”(in example in Facebook)only people that he knows.
The people HAVE TO KNOW the risks of this social networks and they must pay attention at the risks.
Personally I love the social networks, they’re really useful, I can serach all I need.
After watched some videos and analized some data, I am really impressed.
I am an advocate of Social Network, because I think that Social medias make the world better, because even if you’re on the other side of the world you can know what happen at your friends and family.
I don’t know why a lot of people complain about social network, I think that if you want to stay on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube or something else; you can do it, it’s your business.
(If you know how to behave).
When you subscribe at one social network, you perfectly now what happens on it, and you accept the consequences.
I think that one of the most important things on Social Networks is HOW YOU BEHAVE, you must know what you can or you can’t do it.
For example, Facebook has really impressionant data, but, it has because it’s (for my opinion) one of the best inventions of ever. It connects you with all people you want.
I don’t think that Social Networks reduce human rapports, because if you want to see or meet someone, you do it. Social Networks only help you in staying connect with other people.
So, I approve social networks.
The social network in these last 5/6 years are becoming very common and the almost of the population have one of it; the most important are Face book, Twitter and Instragam. Usually people use the social network to communicate with their friends, share some news, images. It looks like that if you use these type of communication you are in the word, if you don’t use the social network you are out.
So I think the social network are useful for many reasons; the people who are alone or old can have many opportunities to communicate, or if you have someone who lives far away you can feel closer to him. In my opinion the social network has a lot of cons. In internet and social network there are many false things and rules so the people maybe will learn about this thing and became more uninformed.
For me the social network are very important, without these I’d feel a little bit alone, because there are many news and I can communicate with my friends. Than I can have information, news, photos etc without spend money and I enjoy this thing. But the thing I don’t like, especially in Facebook, is when someone who you don’t know ask you the friendship’s request; it can be very dangerous especially for the young people.
I really like debate these proof because it’s very current and we can see much better the problem that the social network will can cause and maybe we can be more careful; when you know you are more free.
Social networks. It’s a very big topic.
I am in favor of technological development, so I am also in favor of social networks.
I mean… be in favor of something it’s a big word. I like social networks because you can express yourself to the whole world. You can share with your thoughts with your friends, you can post a nice picture of a good time spent with friends, you can share your life, your moments.
it’s such a good thing, you only need to be a little bit reserved when you write something… your friends do not care if you have to go to the bathroom. You don’t need to post an info like this, no one cares! Unfortunately these things happen.
Here starts the weird and bad part of socials networks.
There are many people who complain about the privacy of a social network without even reading it. I am of the opinion that if someone really interested in privacy, can find it and read it.
But maybe it’s better not to read it to not scare yourself, in fact I decided to do not read it :’)
The problem is that everyone can subscribe himself to a social network, from president of the US to my neighbor’s dog. That means that can join also an a**hole or a criminal. And these two guys might see your sweet “shared” moments you had spent with your friends.
Fortunately, you can easily change the sharing settings. Currently I’m member of more than six social networks, i feel safe, i’ve managed my privacy settings.
I am disappointed by the people who look at social networks to make your business, like my parents, that’s beacuse I decided to block them. I agree with the fact that social networks are dangerous for academic productivity, but if you really want to study you drop the social networks and you think about them after. But this never happens, for example now I have two more tabs open, one on facebook and the other on youtube.
Really, I don’t use too much facebook to read “news”. I usually use the chat heads of the social network, to stay in touch with all my friends (i can use the mobile phone also, of course, but it’s free, like whatsapp) and with people who are too far and I cannot see them everyday.
I’d like to share a website that contains various direct links to delete your account from websites, it might be useful:)
Note that in some websites it is impossible to delete the account, so be careful when you subscribe somewhere.
Link: http://justdelete.me/
Don’t forget to protect yourself with privacy settings!
What a great website link, thanks. Outstanding comment Giovanni. I just want to add that if parents join your social network it’s not to snoop into your business but may be , to know you better and if necessary … Help you and protect you 😉
When I watched these videos I had the chills! Is incredible how is change the population in the last century! I think the media revolution upset our lives, making these frenetic without leave time to stop and reflect how involves the use of internet. Most of teenagers use internet incorrectly and spend their time stay on social networks or surfing innapropriate websites. The use of internet to communicate I think is positive but reduces the relations face to face, making difficult to talk with a person because you forget how relate.
http://www.pianetaebook.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/app-bambini-e1381839489416.jpg
These picture is very significantly, it’s reflects the new generetions that are becoming dependent on technology since they are kids. I think is very important to speak with your family, your friends and other persons not behind the monitor!
That photo makes me think but unfortunately it happens too often these days.
I don’t think that social network are necessary to live. I’m in facebook and in google plus and I use them rarely may only for the class group and some news. Live a life like watch every moment if someone posted somethink is not the real meaning of the world that we live on. On this way we loose more that we can imagine because we’re gonna live in a world where one new photo on the profile is the most exciting think in a day.
I think that social networks have become an important part of today’s society.
There are many positive aspects of the use of social networks but unfortunately of course there are also negatives. I personally use, for example facebook,that as Susanna reported it’s the most popular social network known and used in the world, to communicate with friends,to study, for fun and to get in touch with relatives or friends overseas. However, I am also aware of all the dangers that this social network can bring. But I think know the dangers to which we expose ourselves will lead to greater security, knowing what you may or may not make preserves us from unpleasant consequences.
Fortunately, I already knew the dangers that social networks can bring, but I did not know some of these benefits, for example political ones.
The social networks have led to tragedies also and especially in the teenage world, through which cyberbullying is own born from them.
I really liked also find information I did not know with the first video, those numbers are so large that they don’t seem real.
Now we live in a world which we have become accustomed to everything, now we don’t think, we use social networks every day but for many they have become a habit so ordinary that you almost don’t feel need to know the important things, such as the dangers , benefits, statistics.
Social networks can make a lot people very superficial. That’s a shame.
From what I’ve read so far I can say you and your schoolmates don’t look that superficial which means that with education … There’s hope for the future generations!
I think that social networks are a good way to comunicate and research. You can meet new people, know what si happening in the world..
But recently the people do a wrong use of social networks.
On facebook for example most of the users don’t have eighteen years old and they don’t know the risks if they post a photo or a video. Everyone can use your informations or your photos/videos and do what he/she wants.
These videos show that now se don’t search a product or an information but they fine us. Most of the relationships were born on a social network. Meeting people face to face become a rare activity. With this I don’t say that we stay all days on internet but there are some people who do that and they exclude themself from their social life.
An other intresting topic was in the third video I saw were they explaned you why is dangerous leave our private informations on internet. They rest on it and everyone can find them.
But social networking facilitate cyberbulling and we saw for example that a girl suicide herself because she was a victim of cyberbulling.
I don’t think that se mustn’t use social network but we have to use them responsibly. We can have virtual friends or do a videocall but we necessary know them risks abuot our actions.
I finsh my comment with saying that parents nave to control more their children and talk much with them.
Social network is something I couldn’t live without for these reasons:
– I get updates from my friends and relatives that don’t live in Italy
– I follow my idols e.g. on Twitter so I know when they makesomething new! I also feel near them whatching their photos and knowing what they’re doing.
– I know people with my same interests.
But I’m very responsable when I accept new friends, before accepting I look at their timeline and know what they’re interested in.
Between January and February I tried to give up using facebook for 2 weeks: I felt like I had a lot of free time and wasn’t forced to read all the updates from some “friends” I hate, I felt a bit more relaxed. This doesn’t mean I’ll feel better if I give up using every kind of social network, I only need some pauses during the year.
I don’t think social network is bad also because I’m not in the situation of having real-life-social-problems because I Always have something to say looking people into their eyes, not only behind a screen. One of my favourite songs say “If you really believe in the words that you preach, get off your screens, and onto the streets”: this sentence, I think, is full of meaning and tells us that people think of making a revolution only tweeting/posting their thougths, but it’s not this way that you’ll change something.
I am a plentiful “customer” of social networks, but I think it is a world aside from reality that we created giving it too much significance, so it influenced people.
Now some of people think that if you aren’t on facebook (or whatever) you’re not up to them.
About bullying:
Cyber bullying was born with social media, from small jokes to forcing people to kill themselves. And this happens because people give too much importance to other’s opinion and think that is the truth! I think it’s something we cand avoid with a bit of common sense, giving up using sites where we are threatened and insulted, if we cannot react in a good way. I Always react in a good way so I don’t think it is a problem for my sensibility, I am strong and I think, if someome thinks I’m ugly or whatever, he must tell me in front of me, and then we’ll solve the problem in another way, pheraps talking.
Adele, your comment is fantastic, the perfect profile of the Z Generation! You definitely are strong, wise, sensible and hope you’ll also,protect your “sensitivity” by being wise and thoughtful 🙂
For me, social networks are a good and speed way to comunicate, but today teenagers chat to much time with facebook/twitter/whatsapp or other social platforms. I think that the true beauty of communication is to be able to spend time with your friends/your family. I’m not against social networks, but we(young people) can send less messages and spend less time chatting with friends. It’s really annoying to see teenagers (for example at school) who spend all the time with their mobile phone instead of working in pairs or in a group. Sometimes it seems that the virtual profile of a person is more real than the person himself. Is it more important what we are on social networks or what we are in the real life?
Real life with sounds, colors, touch, smells, eyes, gestures! Nevertheless, if used in a moderate way, social networks can improve all that 😉
I’m absolutely in favor of Social Networks, I think they’re a perfect way to communicate with friends abroad, to remain connected with persons you can’t see every day, to discuss about assignments and also an useful way to find a job for employed persons. There’re many pros of Social Networks, but unfortunately also many cons.
Recently there’re more and more sad stories about suicides and discrimination and most of them are caused by the Social Media.I think Social Networks can be a weapon for many forms of bullying.
It’s really sad that for many persons Facebook and others Social Networks become a dependence, and cause them social isolation, depression and problems with face-to-face conversations.
In my opinion everything should be done in the right way. We must be aware of the risks, we must be well informed and we must reflect with our head, just with our head.
I think awareness makes difference, Social Networks are a good innovation and we have to use them serenely.
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As we can see in our society, social media have changed our lives. Now, more than in the past, we always got a Smartphone, a tablet or a computer with us. That’s a positive thing because we can see that technical knowledge’s surveys are improving.
I don’t know if I’m an advocate or an opponent about social networks, because there are lots of pros but also lot of cons; I think that the cornerstone is how we use these new technologies.
Taking advantage of them to improve our work, to stay connected with people who aren’t near us (like relatives in other countries), it’s completely different from using them just to waste time surfing the net (as I read, two-thirds of teachers believe that social media does more to distract students than to help academically).
I’m a member of two social networks, but I think that I’m able to spend the right time using them, but statistics reveal that 40% of 8 to 18 year olds spend 54 minutes a day on social media sites, and that’s not the right way to use new technologies.
It’s also distressing to find out in Internet that we are classified as the Millennial (or Y generation) and most people disapprove our affinity with new technologies.
In June 2009, Nielsen released the report How Teens Use Media which discussed the latest data on media usage by generation. In this report, Nielsen set out to redefine the dialogue around media usage by the youngest of Generation Y. The research was published in 2010 in the Elon Journal of Undergraduate Research which declared that students who used social media and decided to quit, showed the same symptoms of a drug addict who stops using their stimulant.
I finish saying that we mustn’t stop doing things like talking with friends, going out and having fun with them just because we have already texted them or had a video call. There are safe ways to use the net and these new technologies.
In my opinion there should be more awareness campaign to inform people and to sensitize on every pro and con.
Very wise Giorgia and this awareness campaign is just what we are doing RIGHT NOW 🙂
Mind that people born from 1991 to 2000 are already GENERATION Z not Y anymore and they are defined as “They are a generation for whom a hyper-complicated and connected world is normal. Digital natives – the generation of social networks – Social interaction have a technologic meaning.Great individuality.
Diminishes academic effort in winning career. In a world with so diverse stimuli and that develop with breakneck speed, everything becomes obsolete in a short time.”
Nowadays we all have an account on Facebook but we don’t know the risks that it could cause in our future. For example, when you sign up, you don’t read all the terms and, in this way, you don’t know what the site will do with you data.
When we’ll go to a prestigious university or you will look for a job maybe the job recruiters will check your profile and decide if you are suitable for the school or the job.
Social networks are a good opportunity to meet new friends but you should pay attention to who you are chatting with. Sometimes teens post inappropriate photos where they are in intimate moments or naked, because they think they are cool but they are not!
In this period, for example, the site Ask.fm had a big increase of members because you can ask private question by anonymous or not. There is somebody who took advantage of insulting others and, as we know, some boys and girls committed suicide because of this.
At the same time we are obsessed by the new world we created on the web and the offline realationships are changing.
http://www.mamieyoung.com/dailydawdle/social-network-prequel.jpg
At the end, we can sayt hat social networks may be great if they are used in the appropiate way.
LOL great pic! As regards what you say on anonymous materials I’ve just watched a powerful & dramatic movie.
In my opinion the social network in this society aren’t much important but the progress will never go back and we will lead to new inventions. When I read the pro and the con I think that the con was really dangerous for ours security but I think that if we know the risks we live in pace. So I’m really enjoy to speak about this because I’m really curious to know how to use the proper way for the new technology. The videos are so much shocking for the data that are always greater increase. In my opinion the people can live with the social network but they must be aware of the risks and the social network shouldn’t become a dependence. So if you have education purpose or useful for everyday life I’m favorable but if they cause health problems and people prefer stay on facebook to go with friends or walk I’m contrary.
I think social networks are a great way to meet people and stay connected with them, but everyone should know how they work, or at least what they can do with you and what you publish.
For example Facebook and Twitter use tracking technologies, like cookies or pixel to recrod all the things you do un them, such as researches, Likes, Shares, Comments and even every link or button you click, to create new functions and ads that can be better for us.
Even if I’m not on Twitter, I just read the privacy policy and some others infos about the rights of the social networks about us.
A lot of these functions can be turned off or at least modified to make them less aggessive, but we can do it just if we know they exist, and a lot of people don’t.
So the rules made by social network are not all against us, but we must know them to use them at the best and, if they’re not good for us or we just think they’re not correct we can try to change them.
At the end, I say that I’m absolutely in favor of social networks, but we must be well informed about them and it won’t happen just scrolling the Facebook home or the newest Twitter news.
I think that social networks, especially in recent years, has had an important and fast expansion all over the world. These many social networks have changed our lives, even if we do not realize it.
In Italy, 92% of people have at least one profile on a social media!
http://www.agoravox.it/Social-media-in-Italia-e-nel-mondo.html
Facebook is certainly the most popular social network known and used in the world, with over one billion subscribers around the way.
http://www.ansa.it/web/notizie/videogallery/economia/2014/02/04/Facebook-compie-dieci-anni_10011195.html
Now social media are part of our daily lives without us realizing it.
I agree that these social networks have many positive aspects, but also many negative aspects. They are very useful to know how other people, communicate with friends or family far away or know what is happening in real time and many others! But they have as much dangers!
For not to come across the dangers of social network the greatest solution is to know its dangers!
Just by knowing the dangers you can be prevent or fight the dangers.
Thanks for your links Susanna. I hope you read & watched all the materials in English before looking for the ones in Italian 😉
SaferInernet day video “Condividi Chi?”
http://youtu.be/1sJ-zcm01Fc