History of Social Media

(click to enlarge image)

Map of the world showing the most popular social networking site in each country.
Source: Vincenzo Cosenza, "The World Map of Social Networks," Vincos Blog, www.vincos.it, Jan. 2018

Around seven out of ten Americans (69%) use social networking sites such as Facebook,
Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Pinterest, as of 2018, up from 26% in 2008. [26][189] On
social media sites, users may develop biographical profiles, communicate with friends and
strangers, do research, and share thoughts, photos, music, links, and more.

Proponents of social networking sites say that the online communities promote increased
interaction with friends and family; offer teachers, librarians, 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; expose users to predators like pedophiles and burglars; and spread false and
potentially dangerous information.
History of Social Networking Sites

SixDegrees.com, which existed from 1997-2001, is considered the first social networking site
because it allowed users to create personal spaces and connect to friends online. Friendster,
created in 2002, popularized social networking in the United States but was quickly outpaced
by other social networking sites such as MySpace (2003), Facebook (2004), Twitter (2006),
Pinterest (2009), and Google+ (2012).

Facebook reached one billion monthly users worldwide on October 4, 2012, making it the
most popular social networking site with one in seven people on the planet as
members. [142] 71% of online adults in the United States use Facebook. Every day, Facebook
manages 4.5 billion "Likes," 4.75 billion content shares, and over 300 million photo
uploads. [175][176] As of Sep. 2014, 51% of US adults use YouTube, 28% use Pinterest, 28%
use LinkedIn, 26% use Instagram, and 23% use Twitter. [177] Twitter has 288 million monthly
active users and over 500 million tweets are sent daily. [178] Among online adults, use of more
than one social networking site increased from 42% in 2013 to 52% in 2014. [26][174]

User and Advertiser Demographics

As the sites have become increasingly popular, the user base has expanded from teenagers and
young adults to include more people over the age of 50. Although Facebook began in 2004 as
a site for college students with log-ins restricted to those with .edu e-mail addresses, in Sep.
2006 it opened registration to everyone and as of Jan. 15, 2014, 23.3% of users were 18-24
years old, 24.4% were 25-34 years old, 31.1% were 35-54, and 15.6% were 55 and
older. [26][179][180] According to a Dec. 2012 Nielsen "Social Media Report," 20% of time spent
on a home computer is on social media while 30% of mobile Internet time is spent on social
networking sites. Total time spent on social media via mobile and home devices totalled 121
billion minutes in July 2012 (compared to 88 billion minutes in July 2011). In July 2012
Americans spent 74.0 billion minutes on social media via a home computer, 40.8 billion
minutes via apps, and 5.7 billion minutes via mobile web browser for a total of 121.1 billion
minutes on social networking sites. As of Feb. 2014, nearly two-thirds of social media users
accessed sites from their computers once a day and nearly half of smartphone owners visited a
social networking site every day. Two in five Americans have used social media at work,
while one in five admits to having logged into social media while in the bathroom. [147][181]
 (click to enlarge image)
Facebook profile of Mark Zuckerberg, Founder and CEO of Facebook.
Source: www.facebook.com/zuck (accessed Nov. 9, 2012)

Social media's largest source of revenue is advertising. Twitter, YouTube, and Facebook
profit from advertising while LinkedIn profits from ads, subscribers, and selling data to third
parties. [148] Social media ad revenue is expected to reach $8.8 billion in 2012, an increase of
43% from 2011. [149] Gaming also accounts for a large portion of social networking revenue,
with an expected $6.2 billion in 2012. Predictions place overall social media revenue at about
$34 billion by 2016, an increase from $11.8 billion in 2011 and the projected $16.9 billion in
2012. [150]

Role of Social Networking in Politics and Social Change

Social networking sites play a large role in shaping the political landscape. More than a
quarter of US voters younger than 30 (including 37% of those 18-24 years old) reported that
they obtained information about the 2008 Presidential campaign from social media. [151] On
Nov. 3, 2008, the day before the US Presidential election, Democratic candidate Barack
Obama had 2,379,102 Facebook supporters, 38% more than Republican candidate John
McCain who had 620,359 supporters. [152]

On June 12, 2009, the White House announced, via the White House Blog, that it was joining
Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, YouTube, and Flickr in order to "create… unprecedented
opportunity to connect you to your government in order to obtain information and services
and to participate in policymaking.” [153] Joining the social media sites was part of the
administration’s efforts to meet President Obama’s call to "reform our government so that it is
more efficient, more transparent, and more creative." [154] On Sep. 16, 2009, The Washington
Times broke a story that the White House had begun collecting and storing comments and
videos posted on social networking sites, bringing invasion of privacy criticism. Defenders
stated that the White House was simply complying with the Presidential Records Act, which
requires the preservation of all presidential records. [155]

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"Election 2012 Social Media Rankings: How the 2012 Presidential Candidates Stack Up in the World of Social Media"
Source: Overdrive Interactive, www.ovrdrv.com, Jan. 3, 2012

Twitter CEO Dick Costolo dubbed the 2012 election the "Twitter election." [156] All of the
main 2012 presidential candidates had Facebook and Twitter accounts. Barack Obama and
Mitt Romney maintained MySpace accounts, and Obama also has a Pinterest account. As of
Sep. 8, 2011, 35 global heads of state had Twitter accounts; every US federal Cabinet agency
and 84% of state governors were active on Twitter; and more than 40% of global religious
leaders like the Dalai Lama and the Pope were on Twitter. [157] The 2012 presidential election
set the record for most-tweeted event with more than 327,000 tweets per minute being sent
when Barack Obama was announced the winner. The image of him and his wife that Obama
posted upon his reelection with "Four more years" became the most re-tweeted tweet with
over 816,883 re-tweets as of Nov. 19, 2012 (breaking Justin Beiber’s record of over 200,000
re-tweets). [158][159]

The protests in Tunisia, which spawned the Arab Spring, were fueled and organized by social
media [160] as were protests in Egypt and Iran. The governments of those countries censored
and attempted to shut down the social media sites. [160][161] In response to the censorship,
Hillary Clinton, US Secretary of State, said, "The United States believes passionately and
strongly in the basic principle of free expression... And it is the case that one of the means of
expression, the use of Twitter is a very important one, not only to the Iranian people but now
increasingly to people around the world, and most particularly to young people..." [162]

Social media site growth has sometimes outpaced the development of rules, laws, and
etiquette regarding their use. For example, in Feb. 2009 Congressman Peter Hoekstra (R-MI)
tweeted his whereabouts as he traversed war zones in Iraq, which gave rise to security
concerns about the use of social media to post real-time locations. [163]
 (click to enlarge image)
Twitter page of Jack Dorsey, Creator, Co-founder, and Chairman of Twitter.
>Source: www.twitter.com/jack (accessed Nov. 19, 2012)

Loss of Productivity and Security Concerns

Companies worldwide struggle to balance employee social network access at work for
business purposes, which could raise revenue and the company image, versus employee
access for personal use, which could lead to lost revenue from decreased productivity and
security breaches. In 2012, 64% of employees reported visiting non-work related websites,
41% visited Facebook, 37% visited LinkedIn, 28% visited Google+, and 8% visited
Twitter. [164] Two-thirds of businesses fear that social media endangers corporate security and
one in four social networking site users unwittingly exposes him/herself to crime by revealing
personal details. Seven million households that use Facebook reported problems in 2012,
ranging from someone using a log-in without permission to being threatened online or in
person, a 30% increase from 2011. Phishing, the act of attempting to acquire personal
information for identity theft, increased 240% on social networking sites from 2008 to
2009. [81]

Illinois passed a law in Aug. 2009 banning registered sex offenders from using social
networking sites. [165]However, a Dec. 31, 2008 Internet Safety Technical Task Force report
presented to the US State Attorneys General found that adults lying about their ages to initiate
relationships with minors are a rare occurrence; 43% of online sexual predators were
identified as minors, 30% were adults between the ages of 18 and 21, and 9% were adults over
the age of 21. [166]

On May 2, 2012, Maryland became the first state to pass a law prohibiting employers from
asking current or prospective employees for their user names or passwords for social
networking sites. [167][168] Governor Jerry Brown of California announced via Twitter on Sep.
27, 2012 that he signed two bills into law to prohibit employers and universities from
demanding passwords. [169] Other states have followed suit and have passed social media
protection laws or have laws pending. [168][170][171]

A Jan. 2015 study published in the Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology found that
college freshman averaged over two hours a day on Facebook, a habit that harmed their
grades. Sophomores and juniors only experienced a negative impact on their GPAs when they
used Facebook while studying. By senior year, students were using Facebook less and had
gotten better at multi-tasking, so the time spent on social media was not impacting their
grades. [182]
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg was called to appear before a panel of Senate committees in
Apr. 2018 to address how the social media company mishandled user data, which were used
by a consulting firm to create targeted political advertisements during the 2016 presidential
election. He stated in prepared testimony, "We were too slow to spot and respond to Russian
interference, and we're working hard to get better... We didn't take a broad enough view of our
responsibility, and that was a big mistake. It was my mistake, and I'm sorry." Lawmakers
indicated that they might enact privacy rules and regulations in the wake of the recent
scandals.[284][285]

Social media is now pervasive in our world with existing social networks expanding, niche
social networking sites being created for educators, medical professionals, and other groups,
and new social media sites popping up regularly, all accessible 24 hours a day via computer,
tablet, smart phone, and Internet-enabled devices.

Proponents of social media cheer on the benefits and possible advances to society, while
dissenters worry the dangers and wasted time far outweigh any benefit.

[Editor's Note: Chat rooms and instant messaging (IM) are excluded from this discussion
because they lack key characteristics of social networking sites, such as the ability to create
 profiles about backgrounds and interests, and to share thoughts, photos, Internet links, music,
and more.]
Top Pro & Con Arguments
Social media spreads information faster than any
other media. 78.5% of traditional media reporters
polled used social media to check for breaking
news. [190] 59% of Twitter users and 31% of Facebook
users polled followed breaking news on these
sites. [191] Social media sites are one of the top news
sources for 46% of Americans, compared to 66% for
television, 26% for printed newspapers, and 23% for
radio. [192] Social media users have been responsible
for reporting events before traditional media outlets,
including the Paris attacks in France on Nov. 13, 2015
(Twitter, Facebook, and Vine), [193]the Ebola outbreak
in Nigeria and Sierra Leone in July 2014
(Twitter), [194] the Boston marathon bombing on Apr.
15, 2013 (Twitter), [195] and the Aurora, CO, theater
shooting on July 20, 2012 (Twitter and
YouTube). [3] President Donald Trump said that the
immediacy that Twitter affords him is the reason why he
tweets, noting that press conferences and press
releases take too long to reach the public. [271]
Law enforcement uses social media to catch and
prosecute criminals. 73% of federal, state, and local
law enforcement professionals surveyed think "social
media helps solve crimes more quickly." [196] A survey
by the International Association of Chiefs of Police
found that 85% of police departments use social media
to solve crimes. [199] The New York Police Department
was one of the first forces to add a Twitter tracking unit
and use social networking to arrest criminals who have
bragged of their crimes online. [6] Social media sites
have helped in the prosecution and conviction of a
number of crimes, including: a professional soccer
player charged with inappropriate activity with a minor
in the UK in 2016, [197] a gang charged with the
beating of a gay couple in Philadelphia, PA, in
2014, [198] and rioting hockey fans in Vancouver
(Canada) in 2011. [7][8]
Social media enables the spread of unreliable
and false information. 64% of people who use
Twitter for news say that they have encountered
something they "later discovered wasn't true," and
16% of Twitter news users say that "they had
retweeted or posted a tweet they later discovered
to be false." [227] A study published in the
journal Science found that lies spread six times
faster than the truth on Twitter, and "fake news" is
retweeted more often than true news. [278] In the
three months prior to the 2016 US presidential
election, false news stories about the two
candidates were shared a total of 37.6 million
times on Facebook. [269] A federal grand jury
indictment announced in Feb. 2018 by special
counsel Robert Mueller said that a Russian group
created phony social media accounts "to reach
significant numbers of Americans for purposes of
interfering with the U.S. political system." [279] A
University of Michigan study found that even when
false information is corrected, the number of
people who see or share the correction via social
media is lower than number who saw or shared the
false information in the first place. [272]
Social media lacks privacy and exposes users
to government and corporate intrusions. 81% of
people surveyed feel "not very" or "not at all"
secure when using social media sites to share
private information. [228] 48% of people reported
some difficulty in managing their privacy
settings. [229] 13 million users said they had not
set or did not know about Facebook's privacy
settings. [81]The US government submitted 36,812
requests for data from Facebook and 7,036
requests from Twitter in 2015, approximately 80%
of which were honored at least in
part. [230][231] The National Security Agency
(NSA) can monitor social media activity and read
 the content of private social media messages
simply by entering a person's username into their
system. [232]Contego Services Group, which
Social media sites help students do better at specialize in worker compensation claims, has a
school. 59% of students with access to the Internet unit dedicated to social media monitoring to detect
report that they use social media to discuss educational fraud. [233]
topics and 50% use the sites to talk about school
assignments. [9] After George Middle School in
Portland, Oregon, introduced a social media program to
engage students, grades went up by 50%, chronic Students who are heavy social media users
absenteeism went down by 33%, and 20% of students tend to have lower grades. 31% of teens say that
school-wide voluntarily completed extra-credit using social media during homework reduces the
assignments.[10][11] A Jan. 2015 study published in quality of their work. [235] Students who used
the Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology said social media had an average GPA of 3.06 while
college freshman should use social networking sites to non-users had an average GPA of
build networks of new friends, feel socially integrated at 3.82. [84] Students who used social media while
their new schools, and reduce their risk of dropping studying scored 20% lower on tests. [84] College
out. [182] students' grades dropped 0.12 points for every 93
minutes above the average 106 minutes spent on
Facebook per day. [85] One study found that in
schools which introduced a ban on cell phones,
Social media allows people to improve their student performance improved
relationships and make new friends. 93% of adults 6.41%. [234]Another found that grades began a
on Facebook use it to connect with family members, steady decline after secondary school students
91% use it to connect with current friends, and 87% use reached 30 minutes of daily screen time. After four
it to connect with friends from the past. [274] 72% of all hours, average GPAs dropped one full grade. [184]
teens connect with friends via social media. [200] 83%
of these teens report that social media helps them feel
more connected to information about their friends' lives,
70% report feeling more connected to their friends' Social media can lead to stress and offline
feelings, and 57% make new friends. [200] relationship problems. 31% of teens who use
social media have fought with a friend because of
something that happened online. [236] A 2016
study found that overuse of social media as an
Social media helps empower business adolescent may decrease success in relationships
women. Being able to connect on social networking later in life as online communication hinders the
sites gives business women a support group not readily development of conflict management skills and
found offline, where female CEOs of Fortune 500 awareness of interpersonal cues. [247] One study
companies are outnumbered by male CEOs 474 to found that the more Facebook friends a person
26. [201] Many social media sites are dominated by has, the more stressful Facebook is to
women: 80% of Pinterest users, [202] 70% of Snapchat use. [87] Researchers have found that "active
users, [204] 68% of Instagram users, [203] 64% of Twitter use leads to greater amounts of Twitter-
Twitter users, and 58% of Facebook users, are related conflict among romantic partners, which in
women. [205] Business women use Twitter chats to turn leads to infidelity, breakup, and divorce." [238]
support each other, give and receive peer knowledge,
and have guest "speakers" share expert
knowledge. [17] One.org helps African women
entrepreneurs connect on social media to grow their Social media can entice people to waste time. A
businesses. [18] survey of internet users aged 16-64 found that the
average daily time spent on social media is 1.72
hours, which accounts for 28% of total time spent

Social media sites help employers find employees
and job-seekers find work. 96% of recruiters use
social media in the recruiting process; 87% use
LinkedIn, 55% use Facebook, and 47% use
Twitter. [206] 48% of job-seekers credit social media for
helping find their current job. [207] 67% of job-seekers
use Facebook for the job search, 45% use Twitter, and
40% use LinkedIn. [208] 69% of students use social
media when finding internships. [209]
online. [239] 36% of people surveyed listed social
media as the "biggest waste of time," above
fantasy sports (25%), watching TV (23%), and
shopping (9%). [90] When alerted to new social
media activity, such as a new tweet or Facebook
message, users take 20 to 25 minutes on average
to return to the original task. In 30% of cases, it
took two hours to fully return attention to the
original task. [91]

Using social media can harm job stability and

Being a part of a social media site can increase a employment prospects. Job recruiters reported
person's quality of life and reduce the risk of health negative reactions to profanity (63%), poor spelling
problems. Social media can help improve life or grammar (66%), sexual content (70%), and
satisfaction, stroke recovery, memory retention, and references to illegal drugs (83%), guns (51%), and
overall well-being by providing users with a large socialalcohol (44%) on potential employees' social
group. Additionally, friends on social media can have a media. [241] 55% of recruiters report reconsidering
"contagion" effect, promoting and helping with exercise, hiring applicants based on social media
dieting, and smoking cessation goals. [22] activities. [241]Anthony Weiner, former US
Representative, was forced to resign after a Twitter
sexting scandal. [93]Curt Schilling, former All-Star
pitcher, was fired from ESPN for his Facebook
Social media facilitates face-to-face comments about transgender people; he had
interaction. People use social media to network at in- previously been suspended for a tweet in which he
person events and get to know people before personal, compared radical Muslims to Nazis. [242]
business, and other meetings. [23] Pew Research
Center's Internet and American Life Project found that
messaging on social media leads to face-to-face
interactions when plans are made via the sites and The use of social media is correlated with
social media users messaged close friends an average personality and brain disorders. A University of
of 39 days each year while seeing close friends in Pittsburgh study found that social media use was
person 210 days each year. [24] "significantly associated with increased
depression" amongst adults aged between 19 and
32. [243]Another study found that addictive social
media use reflected increased narcissistic
Social media increases voter participation.Facebook personality traits. [244]Researchers have found
users reported they are more likely to vote if they see that "interruptions due to phone notifications can
on social media sites that their friends cause inattention and hyperactivity in the general
voted. [25] Amongst students who are somewhat, not population." [246] A UK government study found
sure, or unlikely to vote, 35% stated that social media that 41% of children who spend over three hours
was most likely to influence them to vote in the 2016 on social media on a normal school day reportedly
presidential election; this was higher than all other suffer from mental health difficulties compared with
mediums including television (30%), radio (14%), print 21% who spend no time on the sites. [245]
(9%), and direct mail (6%) or email (5%). [210] During
the 2012 presidential election, 22% of registered voters
posted about how they voted on Facebook or Twitter,
30% were encouraged to vote by posts on social Social media causes people to spend less time
media, and 20% encouraged others to vote via social interacting face-to-face. A USC Annenberg
networking sites. [27] School study found that the percentage of people
 reporting less face-to-face time with family in their
homes rose from 8% in 2000 to 34% in
2011. [98] 32% reported using social media or
Social media facilitates political change.Social texting during meals (47% of 18-34 year
media gives social movements a quick, no-cost method olds) [99] instead of talking with family and friends.
to organize, disseminate information, and mobilize 10% of people younger than 25 years old respond
people. [28] Students at Marjory Stoneman Douglas to social media and text messages during
High School in Parkland, Florida, used social media to sex. [100][173]
mobilize a gun control movement following a deadly
shooting at their school. The student activists used
Twitter to promote nationwide protests on Mar. 24,
2018 that drew over one million participants and Criminals use social media to commit and
registered thousands of new promote crimes. Gangs use the sites to recruit
voters. [280][281][282][283] The 2011 Egyptian uprising younger members, coordinate violent crimes, and
(part of the Arab Spring), organized largely via social threaten other gangs. [101] Sex offenders use
media, motivated tens of thousands of protestors and social media sites to find victims for sexual
ultimately led to the resignation of Egyptian President exploitation. [248][249][253] 78% of burglars
Mubarak on Feb. 11, 2011. [29] A July 4, 2011 tweet "admitted they use Facebook, Twitter, Foursquare,
from @Adbusters with the hashtag #occupywallstreet and Google Street View to select victims'
started the American Occupy movement. [30][211] In properties," and 54% said that "posting status and
2015, the Black Lives Matter grassroots campaign whereabouts on social media is the most common
addressed racism and police brutality in the United mistake made by homeowners." [251] Social
States and successfully pressured the 2016 presidential media has also led to the phenomena of
candidates to publicly address the issue. [212] "performance crimes," so called as participants film
their crimes and upload them to social media. [250]

Social media is good for the economy. Social media

sites have created a new major industry and thousands
of jobs. [31] A McKinsey Global Institute study projected
that the communication and collaboration from social
media added between $900 billion and $1.3 trillion to
the economy through added productivity and improved
customer service. [32] A report by Deloitte found that
"Facebook added $227 billion and 4.5 million jobs to
the global economy in 2014." [214] Facebook posted
$5.38 billion for first quarter 2016 revenue, up from
$3.54 billion for first quarter 2015
earnings. [213] Snapchat was valued at $24 billion the
day its stock began trading on the New York Stock
Exchange. [270]
Social media sites empower individuals to make
social change and do social good on a community
level. Social media shares popularized nine-year old
Scottish student, Martha Payne, and her blog, "Never
Seconds," which exposed the state of her school's
lunch program prompting international attention that
resulted in changes to her school and the formation of
Social media can endanger the military,
journalists, and activists. The US Army notes
that checking in with location based services on
social media like Foursquare or Facebook could
expose sensitive whereabouts and endanger
military personnel and operations. [104] In 2015 a
freelance journalist and activist was executed by
the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) for
reporting on life under the regime via
Facebook. [252] In 2015 and 2016, a number of
Bangladeshi bloggers who posted their thoughts
on atheism on social media were killed by religious
fundamentalists who opposed their
postings. [254] In 2011, a blogger was found
murdered by a Mexican cartel with the note "this
happened to me for not understanding that I
shouldn't report things on the social
networks." [106][140]
Social media harms employees' productivity. A
global online survey found that 50% of workers
"Friends of Never Seconds" charity to feed children
globally. [35][141]Jeannette Van Houten uses social
media to find owners of photographs and mementos
strewn from houses by Hurricane
Sandy. [36] Hillsborough, CA, freshman varsity soccer
goalie Daniel Cui was blamed for and bullied about a
losing season until over 100 of his teammates and
classmates changed their Facebook profile photos to
one of Cui making a save, silencing the bullies and
building Cui's confidence. [37][38]
check or use social media at least once a day
during work hours. [256] A survey of Irish workers
found that 78% use a personal device to access
social media at work. [257] Two-thirds of US
workers with Facebook accounts access the site
during work hours. [107] Even spending just 30
minutes a day on social media while at work would
cost a 50-person company 6,500 hours of
productivity a year. [108] A Pew Research Center
study found that 56% of workers who use social
media for work-related purposes think it distracts
them from the work they need to do. [255]

Social media helps senior citizens feel more

connected to society. According to a 2015 Pew
Research Center study, the 65 and older age group is Social media facilitates cyberbullying. 52% of
one of the fastest growing demographic groups on students have reported being the victim of
social media sites, with usage rising from 2% of seniors cyberbullying with 84.2% naming Facebook as the
in 2008 to 35% in 2015. [215] Seniors report feeling site through which they have been bullied, followed
happier due to online contact with family and access to by Instagram (23.4%), Twitter (21.4%), and
information like church bulletins that have moved online Snapchat (13.5%). [259] 17.5% of male students
and out of print. [39][40] and 21.3% of female students have admitted
committing bullying behavior online. [259] 54% of
teens have witnessed cyberbullying including on
sites such as Facebook (39%), Twitter (29%),
Social media helps people who are socially isolated YouTube (22%), and Instagram
or shy connect with other people.More than 25% of (22%). [258] Middle school children who are
teens report that social media makes them feel less victims of cyberbullying are almost twice as likely
shy, 28% report feeling more outgoing, and 20% report to attempt suicide. [46] Adults can also be victims
feeling more confident (53% of teens identified as of cyberbullying, with social, familial, or workplace
somewhat shy or "a lot" shy in general). [14] Youth who aggression being displayed on social media. [111]
are "less socially adept" report that social media gives
them a place to make friends [43] and typically quiet
students can feel more comfortable being vocal through
a social media platform used in class. [44] Shy adults Social media enables "sexting," which can lead
also cite social media as a comfortable place to interact to criminal charges and the unexpected
with others. [45] proliferation of personal images. Almost 40% of
teens report "sexting" - posting or sending sexually
suggestive messages - with 22% of teen girls and
18% of teen boys posting nude or semi-nude
Social media allows for quick, easy dissemination photos. [261] As a result, teens and adults are
of public health and safety information from being charged with possessing and distributing
reputable sources. The US military and Department of child pornography, even when the teen took and
Veterans Affairs use social media to help prevent distributed a photo of him/herself. [113] 88% of
suicide. [46] The World Health Organization (WHO) private self-produced sexual images posted to
uses social media to "disseminate health information social media are stolen by pornography websites
and counter rumours," which was especially helpful and disseminated to the public, often without the
after the Mar. 2011 Japanese earthquake and nuclear subject's knowledge. [114]
disaster when false information spread about ingesting
salt to combat radiation. [47] The Boston Health
Commission used social media to get information to its
4,500 Twitter followers about clinic locations and wait
times for vaccines during the H1N1 outbreak. [48]
Social media can help disarm social stigmas. The
Sticks and Stones campaign uses Twitter to reduce
stigmas surrounding mental health and learning
disabilities. [49] The Stigma Project uses Facebook to
"lower the HIV infection rate and neutralize stigma
through education via social media and
advertising." [50] Gay people speaking openly on social
media, like Facebook site Wipe Out Homophobia, help
achieve a greater social acceptance of
homosexuality. [51][52] Jenny Lawson, author of the
blog "The Bloggess" and New York
Times bestseller Let's Pretend This Never Happened,
has made public her struggles with OCD, depression,
and anxiety disorders, which has lessened the stigma
of the diseases for others. [53]
"Crowdsourcing" and "crowdfunding" on social
media allows people to collectively accomplish a
goal. A mother was able to find a kidney donor for her Department. [263] The Christian Identity, a faction
sick child by posting a video on her Facebook
page. [54] Planethunters.org, a science social media
site, have discovered new planets via
crowdsourcing. [55][216] Crowdrise, a social network
devoted to crowdsourcing volunteers and crowdfunding each other on social media. [264]
charity projects, raised $845,989 in the 18 days
following Hurricane Sandy. [56][57] The Ice Bucket
Challenge fundraising campaign for amyotrophic lateral
sclerosis (ALS) went viral on social media, raising
$100.9 million in donations in one month
alone. [218] Pencils of Promise used social media for
crowd funding, which has helped the non-profit build
329 schools and educate 33,000 children. [217]
Social media provides academic research to a
wider audience, allowing many people access to
previously unavailable educational
resources. Information previously restricted to
academia's "ivory tower" can now be shared with the
public who do not have access to restricted journals or
costly databases. Researchers from a wide variety of
fields are sharing photos, providing status updates,
collaborating with distant colleagues, and finding a
People who use social media are prone to
social isolation. Social media can exacerbate
feelings of disconnect (especially for youth with
disabilities), and put children at higher risk for
depression, low self-esteem, and eating
disorders. [42]The "passive consumption" of social
media (scanning posts without commenting) is
related to loneliness. [115]
Social media aids the spread of hate groups. A
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. [119] A
study of English-language Twitter posts found that
around 10,000 tweets per day contained racial
slurs, 30% of which were deemed
derogatory. [264] Social media can create a
"'radicalization echo chamber' where followers
reinforce for each other extremist propaganda and
calls for violence," says John Carlin, JD, Assistant
Attorney General at the Justice
of the white supremacist group Aryan Nations,
uses social media to recruit members [121], and
Die Auserwahlten, a skinhead crew founded in
Nebraska, was created by people who had met
Children may endanger themselves by not
understanding the public and viral nature of
social media. The 2012 film Project X, about an
out of control high school house party due to social
media promotion, prompted copycat parties across
the US resulting in arrests for vandalism, criminal
trespassing, and other offenses. [122] Up to 600
Dutch riot police had to be called in to break up a
teen's birthday party to which about 30,000 people
were accidentally invited after a Facebook post
thought to be private went viral. [123] A similar
incident happened in Los Angeles and resulted in
the teen host beaten and hospitalized. [124]
Social media enables cheating on school
wider variety of subjects via social media, making the assignments. Students in California, New York
research process and results more transparent and City, and Houston posted photos of standardized
accessible to a larger public. [59][139] tests to social media sites, allowing students who
had not yet taken the tests to see the questions
(and potentially find answers) ahead of
time. [82] The SAT has had similar problems with
Corporations and small businesses use social students posting parts of the exam to social
media to benefit themselves and consumers. 85% of media. [125][126] In Mar. 2015, two students in
fans of brands on Facebook recommend the brand to Maryland were accused of cheating on the 10th
others and 71% of internet users are more likely to grade Common Core tests by posting questions on
purchase from a brand that they are following on social Twitter. Pearson, a company that administers
media. [220] Almost 90% of big companies using social standardized tests, identified 76 cases of students
media have reported "at least one measurable business posting test materials online spanning six states in
benefit." [61] In 2015, 98% of Fortune 500 companies the first three months of 2015. [185]
used social media. [219] Amongst these corporations
the most popular sites were LinkedIn (used by 93% of
companies), Glassdoor (87%), Twitter (78%), Facebook
(74%), and YouTube (64%). [219] Benefits for the Social media sites' advertising practices may
consumer often include special promotions, product constitute an invasion of privacy. An
information, technical support, and customer ExactTarget marketing report tells companies,
service. [221] "When a user clicks on a [Facebook] like button
belonging to your brand, you're immediately
granted access to additional information about this
customer, from school affiliation and workplace
Social media offers teachers a platform for information to their birthdate and other things they
collaboration with other teachers and like… [M]arketers can access and leverage data in
communication with students outside the ways that will truly alarm customers." [127] From
classroom. More than 80% of US college and social media sites, simple algorithms can
university faculty use social media; more than 50% use determine where you live, sexual orientation,
it for teaching; and 30% for communicating with personality traits, signs of depression, and alma
students. [66] Educators from around the world interact maters among other information, even if users put
with each other and bring guest teachers, librarians, none of those data on their social media
authors, and experts into class via social media sites profiles. [128]
like Twitter and social networking tools like
Skype. [67][68] Edmodo, an education-specific social
networking site designed for contact between students,
teachers, and parents, reached over 65.5 million users Social media can facilitate inappropriate
in 2016. [222] student-teacher relationships. The Texas
Education Agency (TEA) opened 222 cases about
"inappropriate relationships" between educators
and students in the 2015-16 school year; 86 cases
Social media offers a way for musicians and artists were investigated in 2007-2008 and education
to build audiences even if they don't have a experts blame the rise of social media for this
corporate contract.[70] 64% of teenagers listen to increase. [124][265] Pamela Casey, a District
music on YouTube, making it the "hit-maker" for songs Attorney in Alabama who has prosecuted teachers
rather than radio (56%) or CDs (50%). [71][72]Pop star who had relationships with students, says that
Justin Bieber was discovered on YouTube when he social media adds to the problem: "We say and do
was 12 years old. In 2016 at 22 years old, Bieber's net things on social media and cell phones that we
worth was estimated at $200 million. [73][223] The wouldn't say and do in person... As a result, there's
National Endowment for the Arts found that people who a wall that's been removed." [130][186]
interact with the arts online through social media and
other means are almost three times more likely to
attend a live event. [75]

Unauthorized sharing on social media exposes

artists to copyright infringement, loss of
Colleges and universities use social media to intellectual property, and loss of
recruit and retain students. 96.6% of four-year income. According to Business Insider, "illegally
institutions use Facebook to recruit students, 83.4% uploaded videos routinely clock up tens of millions
use Twitter, and 79.3% use YouTube. [183]Colleges of views, and hundreds of thousands of shares"
and universities use Facebook apps and other social with profits going to those who shared the content
media tools to increase student retention. [77] Social rather than those whose created it. [275] YouTube
networking sites are also being used to give students a vloggers report that unauthorized sharing of their
support system at community colleges that consist videos on Facebook is costing them millions of
mostly of commuter students. [78] dollars in lost profits with one reporting $20,000 in
lost profits from just one video. [277] Photographer
Daniel Morel was awarded $1.2M in damages after
Getty Images and AFP were found to have willfully
Social media allows for rapid communication infringed his copyright by selling photos he had
during crisis events. Over one-third of federal, state, posted on social media without his
and local law enforcement professionals surveyed say permission. [276]
that they use social media to notify the public of
emergencies or disasters. [196] Facebook allows users
in a crisis region to mark themselves as safe and check Using social media can harm students'
to see that friends and family are safe, [224] such as chances for college admission. College
after the Apr. 2015 Nepal earthquake, the Sep. 2015 administrators scan Facebook profiles for evidence
Chile earthquake, and the Nov. 2015 Paris terrorist of illegal behavior by students. [134][135] A 2016
attacks. [225] During the Paris terrorist attacks, Kaplan Test Prep survey found that 35% of college
Parisians tweeted their personal address alongside the admissions officers checked an applicant's social
hashtag #PorteOuverte (French for "open door") to offer media to learn more about them, up from 10% in
shelter to people who were stranded. [225] In the 2008. 42% of these admissions officers discovered
aftermath of the Sydney café hostage situation in information that had a negative impact on
Australia in Dec. 2014, local residents tweeted their prospective students' admission
routes to work with the hashtag #IllRideWithYou to offer chances. [76][266] In 2014, only 3% of students
support to Muslims in fear of an Islamophobic surveyed believed the content of their social media
backlash. [226] presence could hurt their prospects of
admission. [76]

Social media posts cannot be completely

deleted and all information posted can have
unintended consequences. The Library of
Congress has been archiving all public tweets from
Twitter's Mar. 2006 inception
forward. [267]Information about an affair posted on
Facebook, for example, can lead to and be used
against someone in divorce proceedings because
the information, once posted, can never be
completely deleted. 81% of members of the
American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers
(AAML) said that they have seen in a rise in the
 use of social media as evidence in divorce
proceedings with Facebook being cited as the
primary source in 66% of divorce cases. [268]

Social media users are vulnerable to security

attacks such as hacking, identity theft, and
viruses. Social media sites do not scan messages
for viruses or phishing scams, leading to large-
scale problems like the virus Steckt.Evl spread
from Facebook's chat window. [138] 68% of social
media users share their birth date publicly, 63%
share their high school name, 18% share their
phone number, 12% share a pet's name; each of
those pieces of information is frequently used for
account security verification and can be used for
identity theft. [103]

Footnotes & Sources

The background and pro and con arguments were written by ProCon.org staff based upon input from
the following footnotes (directly referenced) and sources (used for general research and not directly
referenced):

Footnotes:

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1. Social networking sites are a top news source for 27.8% of Americans, ranking below
newspapers (28.8%) and above radio (18.8%) and print publications (6%). [1]

2. 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. [84]

3. 35 global heads of state, every US Cabinet agency, 84% of US state governors, every
major candidate for US President, and more than 40% of top global religious leaders are
on Twitter. [157]

4. 10% of people younger than 25 years old respond to social media and text messages
during sex. [100] [173]

5. In July 2012 Americans spent 74.0 billion minutes on social media via a home computer,
40.8 billion minutes via apps, and 5.7 billion minutes via mobile web browsers, a total of
121.1 billion minutes on social networking sites. [147]