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Samuel Nash

Professor M alcolm Campbell

UWRT 1104

2/10/17

Topic Proposal: S ocial Media Kills

Introduction/Overview

Has social media increased the suicide rate in the United States? Within the past 10 years,

the United States has had a technological boom, propelling the nation forward. Increased

connection with one another through text messages, phone calls, and social media has allowed

individuals to be connected with one another like never before. This sentence is redundant. Formatted: Font color: Red

Social M edia can be used as an incredible tool for doing good in the world, but what about the

damages it is capable of? Doing good? Explain Social M edia has been a huge contributor in Formatted: Font color: Red

increased suicide rates in the past decade. Expound on this. M ore detail, sources, evidence Formatted: Font color: Red

I will be examining the potential risk of increased suicide rates among heavy users of

Social M edia.

While Social M edia may seem to be a harmless way to connect with friends and see what

is going on in one anothers lives, it can also be a verbal war zone for others. While some may

think that social media plays little to no influence ono typo suicidal behavior, PM C suggests that Formatted: Font color: Red

victims of cyberbullying are 2 times as likely to commit suicide than those who were not. M ore Formatted: Font color: Red

likely? According to lead biblical counselor, Adam Donyes, his findings are shocking. Worded Formatted: Font color: Red

weird The more time I spend with young people, the more I see social medias impact on rising

rates of depression and suicide.

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I conducted my initial research using search engines to get a basis of knowledge about

my topic. After scratching the surface, I went more in depth into my topic by reading scholarly

articles that I had found online. Worded weird I did not find any books but there were a few Formatted: Font color: Red

magazine articles that were worth noting and potentially using in my final paper. Name the Formatted: Font color: Red

articles. I sought out the help from a librarian during the class session we had with him. He was

very helpful and engaging which really helped me being able to navigate the Atkins Library

website to find scholarly peer reviewed articles. I discussed my topic among my peers (Group

15) and they seemed very interested in the topic so I feel confident about my decision of

choosing it. I also discussed the topic with my parents because we have had several family

members commit suicide so I really valued their opinion regarding the topic. I believe that this

process really did help me focus and figure out exactly what I wanted to do my EIP on and

helped me better understand my initial idea.

There are multiple stances regarding the effects of social media on suicide. It is very

evident that social media has negative effects and can lead to suicide. According to World teen

health, between 2007-2012 suicide rates in young teens using social media rose from 2.2 to 3.4

per 100,000 in women and 10.7 to 11.9 per 100,000 in men. These statistics show how as we

progress into the technological age, the number of those taking their own lives are increasing.

The opposing view to social media increasing suicide rates is that it actually decreases suicide

and can help teens that are coping with suicidal thoughts. Dr. M elinda Ring wrote an article with

CNN about her son M atthew who told her he was dealing with depression and suicidal thoughts.

She worked with M atthew and his therapist to use social media in way to gather support and also

help others going through similar situations. The major groups contributing to the topic

conversation are individuals and family members that have someone they have lost to suicide or
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someone that has overcome suicidal thoughts and behavior positively through social media.

CNN health report, Framing Health M atters, World Teen, and Archives of Suicide Research are

major groups contributing to the conversation of social medias influence on suicide.

Initial Inquiry Question(s)

Do frequent users of social media run a heightened risk of suicide? What effects does

social media have on suicide in todays society? Do the positives of social media outweigh the

negatives?

My Interest in this Topic

I am interested in the increased risk of suicide with heavy users of social media because I

have two close family members that have taken their own lives. The cases of my family

members were drastically different but I am intrigued to learn more about how social media is

playing a part in the increase of suicides nationwide. I know that growing up in grade school, we

were always talked to about cyber bullying and how it can lead to suicide. Take out the word

were Unfortunately, I have witnessed cyber bullying first hand so I can vouch for the negative

affects it has on ones self esteem and mental wellbeing. I hope to learn how about how social

media has played such a large part in increased suicide rates and how it is effecting users.

Remove the first how Formatted: Font color: Red

Next S teps

To further my research, I will be visiting the Atkins Library to look for any hard copy

books with information regarding social media related suicides. I will also continue to search for
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scholarly articles on reliable data bases such as the one from the Atkins Library and Ebscohost.

In addition to my other sources, I will look for reliable journalistic sources such as The New York

Times and CNN, where they analyze studies that have been conducted to provide factual

evidence to support either side regarding the issue of social media related suicides.

Overall its a good proposal. I would just work on a few sentences that had some weird wording

and when you fix those sentences. The paper will flow better. There were only a few

grammatical errors here and there and fixing those will also help the flow of the paper. You have

some good sources and statistics and I believe that you will have a strong paper if you continue

to use them. I think your interest is strong enough in the topic to make you want to research it,

and I believe that it is broad enough to get a substantial amount of information. Formatted: Font color: Red