Entry 3

Its week 3 of COM 125 and this week we learnt about what SOCIAL NETWORKING was all about and how it became an asset in our lives. As time passed, social networking sites evolved, overtaking one another (For eg; Facebook took over Friendster) and coming out with all sorts of ideas to put themselves in the "social networking" market.

Ever wondered which are the Top 15 most popular networking sites?! According to Top 15 Most Popular Networking Site , the results are as follows:

After chancing upon this website, I was enlightened that Facebook was Number 1! All these while I have always thought that Google would be the Number 1 social networking site due to Google+ and all the functions of what Google+ has to offer in hopes of bringing people from different geographical areas closer.

Indeed, social networking sites has brought us many positive effects in our lives, but the question is, what are the cons about social networking? Many would believe that social networking sites would probably not cause any harm because well, social networking is technically socialising which is a positive thing right? However, upon searching on the negative effects of social networking, it has been brought to light that it sometimes isn't quite ideal as it seems.

Adapted from this website, Social Networking Pros&Cons , it displays the downside of social media and how people should be aware about. Here are a few cons about social media:

Shocking? The list goes on to say more about how people who spend time networking on social media tend to commit more crime and how it leads to social ISOLATION instead! I must admit it was really interesting to find out these issues that the social media causes to one's life and some of which are happening right now to people whom I know. Thus, it is happening in our society today and somehow, in my opinion, though social media can be a positive asset in networking, it can be a detriment to our lives and people should have the discipline to know when to draw the line. Being an addict to social media is not ideally a good thing and one must be able to understand on what is merely "surfing" social networking sites and what is "obsessed".

Upon reading this website, I have also learnt something new! Have you ever wondered why your test grades do not improve no matter how much effort, revision and time you put into studying for it According to the website above, it is said that "Students who used social networking sites while studying scored 20% lower on tests and students who used social media had an average GPA of 3.06 versus non-users who had an average GPA of 3.82." SO..... now we know what is the core problem do we my fellow friends? In all honesty, I have to admit that I am 100% guilty of this action. Personally, I usually have to work on my laptop and when I get a little bored and tired from studying, I would just click on the tab and go to Facebook/Tumblr/Pinterest etc. to "de-stress". Conversely, if I am working on a report on paper, my phone is beside me and the thought of having to "update" myself with Instagram/ Whatsapp/ Twitter is undeniable an inevitable action. Thus, after reading the article, I understand clearly that I do not have to change the way I study, instead, try kicking the habit of constantly checking my social networking sites every other second. Let's all try this and see if it will reflect positive results! :D

Hence, I would like to enlighten all of you that social media is sometimes not what we think they are and though it is a good thing to have, we must be aware of the dangers it pose and how we should maintain a healthy social media relationship. I end here with a video on these couple explaining the different types of photos people take on Instagram. Enjoy!