In class earlier this week Andrew talked to us about if males were toxic. We looked into fruit flies and how the males are so selfish and pretty much use the female fruit fly just to carry his children. In the end, we did find out that the male fruit fly can be pretty toxic to female fruit fly. Very interesting right? Now, do we college students ever step back and think what can be toxic to us? Usually we are so busy we don’t think of the little things that are hurting us.

Recently I began to think that something superficial is very toxic to our generation. That happens to be social media. That ranges from Twitter, to Instagram, to Facebook, to Yik Yak. We spend so much time on these networks but do we ever think about the negative effects it has on us? I mean of course there are positives for we can always stay in touch with those we may not get to see anymore but studies are showing that there are more negatives than positives.

According to Chrone.com, Steven Strogatz from Cornell University concluded that, “social media sites can make it more difficult for us to distinguish between the meaningful relationships we foster in the real world, and the numerous casual relationships formed through social media. By focusing so much of our time and psychic energy on these less meaningful relationships, our most important connections, he fears, will weaken.” In this theory, if we continue to dedicate so much time to social media we will eventually forget the basics in life and the things that actually matter the most. These social media outlets are becoming big distraction in our everyday lives. It brings out the procrastination that us college students are already so prone to.

It is even said that the average person age 18-32 spends about 3 hours per day on social media. That’s 28 hours a week. So within a week you have wasted a whole day on social media.

I personally see those statistics and become alarmed but yet I still engage in these social media outlets. To me it seems to be a stress outlet where I can just relax and surf. Sometimes I even catch myself finding it hard to log out. That brings me to the theory that maybe I am a bit addicted to social media. I’m not the only one who thinks these networks are bringing out an addiction in the user. Harvard University conducted a study to see the addictiveness of social media. They concluded that while their subjects were talking about social media sites such as Facebook their brain experienced the same pleasurable feeling one may experience while having sex or eating or even receiving money. This is said to be why one is so ready and happy to get on websites such as Facebook or Twitter.

Toxic may be an understatement to label these social media outlets. Coming closer to home, Yik Yak made quite a bit of a stir at Penn State University. When people have a surplus amount of free time they result to social media, and that’s exactly what a student did when he made a threat that leaded to his arrest and charges. A student anonymously posted a threat to shoot up the Hub earlier this week. His claim was that it was “just a joke.” We seem to not realize how serious and dangerous these websites and apps can be. We also are quick to forget that once we post something it can always be traced back through out an investigation or screenshots.

In the end, I believe social media is ripping our society apart yet helping it grow at the same time. Technology is a great thing but only when used in moderation. If used responsibly I could see social media taking a turn for the best. In the comments I would be curios to see if people view social media as a good or bad thing.

http://smallbusiness.chron.com/negative-effect-social-media-society-individuals-27617.html

https://www.google.com/?gws_rd=ssl#q=define+yik+yak

http://mashable.com/2012/11/28/social-media-time/

http://www.marketingcharts.com/online/social-networking-eats-up-3-hours-per-day-for-the-average-american-user-26049/