BUS101 - Analyzing the Impacts of Social Media on Our Lives Today

This report analyzes the multifaceted impacts of social media on our lives, structured around the 4Ps framework: Present Situation, Problem, Possible Solutions, and Proposal. It highlights the benefits of social media in connecting people and facilitating information flow, while also addressing the negative consequences such as the erosion of privacy, increased cyberbullying, and the blurring of lines between meaningful and casual relationships. The report identifies the problem as a lack of awareness regarding the exploitation of personal information and the potential for misuse by companies and malicious actors. Possible solutions include stricter regulations by social networking sites, community awareness initiatives, and government intervention to control the misuse of gathered information. The proposal suggests further research to measure the degree to which social media affects individual lives, mandating the reading of user agreements, and creating awareness in schools and colleges. The report concludes that while social media cannot be eliminated, mitigating its negative impacts is crucial for ensuring a positive and beneficial experience for users.

PROBLEM ANALYSIS
FOUNDATIONS OF ACADEMIC SUCCESS 3
INSTITUTIONAL AFFILIATION(S)
STUDENT NAME

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ONE OR MORE IMPACTS OF SOCIAL MEDIA UPON OUR LIVES
INTRODUCTION
Social media plays an important role in today’s world to empower people’s
understanding through gathering of unrestricted flow of information. Social media can also
be defined as a new forum where people are invited to share, connect and exchange their
ideas. While mobilising any cause or seeking advice to others, they have removed all kinds of
communication barriers from society. Social media have enabled collaboration and creativity
by engaging commentators who reviews posts and messages shared in social networking
sites. Although social media has brought many advantages to society by connecting people all
over the world and breaking international and cultural borders, it has made people pay price
for it. Impacts on our lives by combining seclusion and global reach have also eroded our
privacy and culture (Amedie, 2015).
PRESENT SITUATION
According to a recent article, social media’s have made difficult for people
distinguish between meaningful relationships and casual relationships formed through
networking sites. Loosing self control and independent thinking is also serious impact of
social Medias that makes people gullible to connect to groups that amuses to their ears or
through peer pressure (Bank, 2015). Preferring text over face-to-face connections has reduced
human interaction along with making people more self content. Cyber bullying has also
impacted people especially kids who are vulnerable to the way in which executors
intentionally or unknowingly makes them build fear and terrorize in front of others. Theses
devastating attacks leaves deep mental wounds which have even resulted to suicides.

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According to CBS News report, around 42% people reported that they have been victimised
from cyber bulling attacks (Jung, 2018).
Businesses nowadays have also engaged themselves in social Medias to get connected with
customers. This creates pressure on the employees who are working for those companies that
are not active in social Medias. Friends and peers working with more socially connected
firms thinks themselves in superior position and thus creates a low productivity among
employees working for socially disconnected firms. This states that technology has evolved
the working principles in firms but effects of it have to be compensated by society.
Encouraging people to become more public has risked privacy of individual’s lives also.
People who posts photos and share their locations in social sites are vulnerable to crimes and
misuse of posted information’s. Many social sites permits their users to control seeing of
other posts without limiting their access which again lead to threat for society (Roy, n.d.).
PROBLEM
Problems related to social media impact can be identified by those who have
understood negative and positive sides of it. Although people are taking social media
platform for engaging themselves in positive manner, its negative impacts also requires to be
studied. The problem lays here is that not many people are aware of the current situation
where their interests are been used and exploited by others. Study shows that students in
schools and colleges who are more engaged in social Medias suffer poor results as compared
to those who are less engaged (Verma, 2015). Most of the people who uses or gets connected
with social sites do not read long and hefty agreements and contracts and thus falls into the
prey of networking sites. Here they become exposed to company’s interest in their personal
information’s and can even get tracked by them. For example, any post relating health

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condition can be used by Insurance companies to determine their policy rates and eligibility
(McGillivray, 2015).
Unauthorised copyrights and sharing also threatens intellectual property and thus creates lot
of incomes for the companies from users. Hacking and theft along with phishing crimes have
also increased in past years which again show negative impact of social media. Spreading of
humours and false information are also dangerous effects which can be observed in social
sites. One of the most recent scandals of social networking sites is Facebook’s Analytica
scam. Here the information gathered by the site was misused by other software developing
company in misleading people politically (Madrigal, 2018). This shows how social media have
impacted the nation politically.
POSSIBLE SOLUTION
Possible solution for eliminating social media impacts can be undertaken by
individuals so that they can benefit utmost out of it without getting exploited. Legal
authorities of social networking sites can make laws under which foreign user cannot not get
access to data’s fed by individuals or at least limit their access for certain groups added by
individuals. Community as a whole can also influence individual’s interest by making them
aware about good and bad effects of social networking. Social gatherings can be formed
where social media impacts can be discussed and perceive more people to make use of their
quality time in more productive work. Thirdly, government also needs to take actions against
these social networking sites that misuses gathered information and leads people accordingly.
If the government supports here, scandals and phishing activities can be controlled effectively
as compared to other efforts as they can get access to all sites easily while having regulatory
decree. Mass media can also take part in solving the issue by protesting against social

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networking impacts through billboards and making advertisements in radio, television,
newspapers, etc. (Chandra et al., 2017)
PROPOSAL
After making a research on the topic, many gaps in current literature have been
identified that requires taking necessary steps to analyse the problem more strategically.
Firstly, understanding and measuring the degree to which social media can affect individual
life is important. This means that evaluation of past data can be made to make necessary
changes in all networking sites. This includes gathering the amount of data used by
networking sites, information shared by networking sites to other companies and what kind of
data is used by those sites. Currently, none of the networking sites discloses their agreement
with mass public while joining with them through networks. Mandate readings of agreements
can be made along with making verbal communication from individuals so that clear vision
of networking sites can be made out. Thirdly, creating awareness of social media impacts can
be made in schools and colleges so that youth can take precautionary measures in their early
stage of life regarding social networking.
CONCLUSION
On concluding note it can be said that using social media cannot be diminished from
society as it has created a long lasting effect on the mindset of people. But, making a change
in it regarding impacts and bad effects is necessary so that in coming year’s people can enjoy
them in positive manner. Impacts of social media upon our lives can be subsided only if we

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want to; or else increase in exploitation of individual thoughts and interest in future is
predictable.

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REFERENCES
Amedie, J., 2015. The Impact of Social Media on Society. [Online] Available at:
https://scholarcommons.scu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1002&context=engl_176
[Accessed 17 April 2018].
Bank, V.D., 2015. The impact of social media: advantages ordisadvantages. [Online]
Available at: http://www.ajhtl.com/uploads/7/1/6/3/7163688/article_17_vol4(2)july-
nov_2015.pdf [Accessed 17 April 2018].
Chandra, K. et al., 2017. The Unethical Practices on Social Media. [Online] Available at:
http://www.iosrjournals.org/iosr-jhss/papers/Vol.%2022%20Issue7/Version-6/
G2207064654.pdf [Accessed 17 April 2018].
Jung, B., 2018. The Negative Effect of Social Media on Society and Individuals. [Online]
Available at: http://smallbusiness.chron.com/negative-effect-social-media-society-
individuals-27617.html [Accessed 17 April 2018].
Madrigal, A.C., 2018. Zuckerberg Offers the Bare Minimum on the Cambridge Analytica
Mess. [Online] Available at:
https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2018/03/zuckerberg-facebook-cambridge-
analytica-statement/556187/ [Accessed 17 April 2018].
McGillivray, N., 2015. [Online] Available at: https://turbofuture.com/internet/effects-of-
social-media-on-our-youth [Accessed 17 April 2018].
Roy, A.N., n.d. IMPACT OF SOCIAL MEDIA ON SOCIETY. [Online] Available at:
http://employmentnews.gov.in/final%20editorial%20eng24sep15.pdf [Accessed 17 April
2018].

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Verma, A.K.a.J., 2015. IMPACT OF SOCIAL NETWORKING SITES ON SOCIAL
INTERACTION – A STUDY OF COLLEGE STUDENTS. [Online] Available at:
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/273144885_IMPACT_OF_SOCIAL_NETWORKI
NG_SITES_ON_SOCIAL_INTERACTION_-_A_STUDY_OF_COLLEGE_STUDENTS
[Accessed 17 April 2018].