Shua McLean Mr.

Ferrise English 10 12/18/11 Pros of Social Media At the turn of the century, so ething loo ed o!er the hori"on #hich threatened to co $letely ecli$se co for unication as #e then %ne# it. Social net#or%ing #as &orn in the unities' de!elo$ed under certain esta&lished na es on a

of generali"ed online co

still &urgeoning #orld #ide #e&. A ong these originators #ere (ahoo)s *eocities and Friendster. +oday, the scene is do inated &y giants, +#itter and Face&oo%. As this year dra#s to a close, ,-. of A ericans ad it they ha!e a hand in this $heno enon. /0oss an1 A de&ate has e erged as a contingent of luddites ha!e dared to insinuate that social edia, in any rites, has set &ac% the hu an race. 2o#e!er, through the analysis edia, the o$$osite #ill &e fir ly

of the social and $roducti!e effects of social esta&lished. +he social 2o#e!er, social

edia re!olution is often characteri"ed as a 3$eo$le)s4 re!olution. edia is sha%ing u$ the #orld of the cor$orate and the e!ery an ali%e. ay find an online storefront offering the ser!ices

5n this $ost6industrial #orld, one re7uired to

eet any need i agina&le. 5n 2008, the Pe# 5nternet and A erican Life illion A ericans had any essential life needs such as

Pro9ect esti ated that 80

e $loy ent, trans$ortation, and healthcare,

Internet Ties)

et through social net#or%ing. /The Strength of to li&erally

+hose #ho argue a&out the ti e #asted on social net#or%ing see

gla"e o!er the fact that its $roducti!ity $otential is 9ust as great. *oogle, through their

free :ocs ser!ice, along #ith !arious other co $anies ha!e redefined colla&orati!e #or%. According to a *runs#ald Associates study, ;<. of students #ith access to internet 3re$ort that they use social net#or%ing sites to discuss educational to$ics including career and college $lanning, and ;0. use the sites to tal% a&out school assign ents.4 /=ational >oards Association School1 Also, any teachers and $arents argue that it fosters a steady ensity of social net#or%ing in a

i $ro!e ent of !arious cogniti!e s%ills. +he i co

ercial res$ect is clearly solidified &y these statistics. +he father of analytical psychology, ?.*. @ung, once said that 3Loneliness

does not co e fro co

ha!ing no $eo$le a&out one, &ut fro

&eing una&le to holding

unicate the things that see

i $ortant to oneself, or fro

certain !ie#s #hich others find inad issi&le.4 /Me ories, :rea s, 0eflections1 +he slogans of each of the social net#or%ing !anguard all channel the conce$t that they are &ringing the #orld together. =e!er &efore has it &een so easy for those #ith co on interest to clea!e together &ased on their

shared $assions. Ahether those $assions are si ilar trade, artistic tastes, or social/$olitical interests, social net#or%ing has a%ing these connections' finding co ade the hardest ste$ in

on ground, a $u""le #hich sol!es illion

itself. 5n @anuary of 2010, *oogle #as esti ated to ha!e indeBed 820

Face&oo% grou$s 3out of an a$$roBi ate 1.<8 &illion $ages across all of Face&oo%.4 /C)neill1 +his figure does not ta%e into account the nu &er of coo$erati!e efforts or fruitful relationshi$s for ed and u$held inde$endent of

Face&oo%)s 3*rou$4 la&el and features. Further ore, the internet &eing the #orld#ide infor ation conduit it is, these connections are not confined &y the li its of &orders or oceans. @ustin S ith, of 5nsideFace&oo%.co esti ated in
2010 that #ell o!er ,00 illion of Face&oo%)s constituency originated fro outside of

the Dnited States. At the ti e, this nu &er re$resented -0. of the Face&oo% $o$ulation. Social scientists ha!e long o&ser!ed that it is the lac% of eB$osure to alternati!e cultures and $ers$ecti!es that has caused us as hu ans to so easily disregard the hu anity of those foreign to us at so any $oints in history. ar%ets aside, Social edia has anaged to &e a &lessing in

5ts a&ility to o$en u$

itself. E ail, #ith a deli!ery ti e of seconds, has largely re$laced a D.S $ostal syste #here 1st class ail still ta%es 2 to 8 days to reach its destination. According to a 0adicati edia

*rou$ esti ate, 2<, &illion e ails are sent $er day. Assu ing that in a $re6social #orld, each of these essages #ould &e $rinted and

ailed on a standard 8B11 inch sheet unicate #ould &e

of $a$er, the ecological cost to $rint, trans$ort, and effecti!ely co

su&stantial. Further ore, in @a$an, #here internet s$eeds are re$ortedly E0 ti es faster than that of the D.S, a noticea&le dis$arity in efficiency has e erged. So ?o uch so, 3the

unication Aor%ers of A erica /+hangha 1 are no# #arning the D.S. to i $ro!e edia &eco e a

s$eed or lose &ig in the glo&al econo y.4 =ot only has social co odity &ut co +hough any

unication has &eco e a !ital industry &ecause of it. ay not li%e the fact, social edia is a runa#ay train #ith an

endless trac% $ointing to#ards the future. 5n the $eriod of a year, co Score re$orts that Face&oo% acti!ity has gro#n &y 10.. /Aorth an1 As these figures %ee$ $ace #ith an increasingly large audience, it is uncertain #hat the future holds. 2o#e!er, as things

stand, social unity, and co

edia a$$ears to &e doing eBtraordinary good in the real s of $roducti!ity, erce.

Aor% ?ited 0os an, Fatherine. GEat (our Hegeta&les, and :onIt Forget to +#eet 6 (ahooJ Finance.G Yahoo! Finance - Business Finance, Stock Market, Quotes, News. 18 @une 2011. Ae&. 1< :ec. 2011. Khtt$L//finance.yahoo.co /ne#s/$fMarticleM112<;2.ht lN PEA 5nternet and A erican Life Pro9ect, G+he Strength of 5nternet +ies,G $e#internet.org, @an. 2;, 2008 =ational >oards Association School, G?reating and ?onnectingL 0esearch and *uidelines on Cnline Social 6 and Educational 6 =et#or%ing,G =S>A.org, @uly 200Jung, C. G., and A. Jaffe. Memories, Dreams, Reflections. New Yor , NY! "ando# $ouse, %&'(. )rint. *+Neill, Nic . ,Google Now Inde-es ./0 1illion 2ace3oo Groups., All Facebook - The Unofficial Facebook Blog - Facebook News, Facebook Marketing, Facebook Business, an More! % 2e3. /0%0. 4e3. %& 5ec. /0%%. 6 6http!77www.allface3oo .co#7google8now8inde-es8./08#illion8face3oo 8 groups8/0%080/9. ,:S)S 8 2re;uently As ed <uestions., 4e3. %& 5ec. /0%%. 6 6http!77fa;.usps.co#7eCusto#er7i;7usps7re;uest.do=create> 3!:S)S2A<9.

Thangha#, Chris. ,Japan+s Internet Access Speed (0 ti#es 2aster than Connections In :.S., Digital "ournal# A $lobal Digital Me ia Network . /' June /00'. 4e3. %& 5ec. /0%%. 6http!77digital?ournal.co#7article7/00(0@7JapanAsAInternetAaccessAspeedA( 0AAti#esAfasterAthanAconnectionsAinA:ASA9. 4*"T$A1, JBNNA. ,Shunning 2ace3oo , and CiDing to Tell A3out It 8 YahooE 2inance., %ahoo! Finance - Business Finance, &tock Market, 'uotes, News . %( 5 5ec. /0%%. 4e3. %& 5ec. /0%%. 6http!77finance.yahoo.co#7news7shunning8f face3oo 8liDing8tell8000/0F&'..ht#l9