Social media and the Internet are constantly developing. The big argument is whether this development is for the better or worse of individuals. While the Internet may be seen as a useful outlet for communication, research, etc, it can also be seen as harmful due to effects such as isolation, depression, and anxiety. Social media can become addicting to the point where it's causing sleep deprivation and damaging relationships. The addiction can sometimes even be so severe that it may lead to withdrawal symptoms when one goes without the Internet for longer than usual. Besides the problem of addiction, another main concern with the Internet has been its facilitation of bullying. Cyberbullying has been found to be even more severe in many cases than the physical, personal bullying that existed pre-Internet era. There are many negative social and personal effects that come along with the Internet and the social media, but a few of the biggest problems are that of cyberbullying, addiction, psychological/behavioral disorders, reduced face-to-face interaction, and the ability of people to fake identities.

Some may argue that, although there are many negatives to the Internet and social media, the pros outweigh the cons. Many people are against the Internet due to the fact that they believe the type of communication that occurs over the Internet is "only a very limited and superficial form of human interaction" (Hooghe & Oser para 3). In contrast to claims as such, researchers have more recently conducted studies that suggest that "Facebook and other social media are effective tools for political communication and mobilization" (Hooghe & Oser para 17). It's true that social media is in fact a great outlet for posting information that you'd like to spread to a large crowd, or for broadcasting your opinions. Therefore, it's understandable that this may be a counterargument to the theory of negative effects. 

There's further arguments that say that the Internet makes communication and organization easier in the way of addressing many people at once. When attempting to organize activities, sending out a mass notification on social media will likely prove to be much easier than sending out letters or flyers to each individual person. In contradiction to the claim that communication over social media isn't of the same caliber as face-to-face interaction, there's the counter-argument that "social networking services can provide young people with opportunities to learn how to function successfully in a community, navigating a social space and developing social norms and skills" ("Benefits of Internet and Social Media). Although it may be true that communication over the Internet could encourage new social skills to be developed, that type of impersonal communication shouldn't be the primary source of contact for anyone. There is still much value to be found in face-to-face interactions and that is something social media cannot substitute for nor replace. 

One of the biggest problems people have seen arise with the development of social media is cyberbullying. Cyberbullying is defined as "the use of Internet, cell phones, or other electronic communication devices to spread harmful or embarrassing information about another person" ("Cyberbullying" para 1). This type of bullying may include threats, sexual remarks, offensive language, posting bad, unwanted photos of individuals, or spreading false lies or rumors about someone. Before the times of Internet and social media, bullying took the form of verbal or physical aggression in person. This made it much easier to catch bullies and put a stop to their behavior. Now, however, bullies can hide behind a screen or behind an anonymous account, making it much harder to find and stop the bullies. Also, bullies are able to gain much more confidence when hiding behind a screen, making it easier for them to make much meaner remarks to victims. "In a 2010 survey of students ages 11 to 18 administered by the Cyberbullying Research Center, 20 percent said they had been cyberbullied at some point in their lives" ("Cyberbullying" para 3). Girls and individuals of the LGBT community are more likely to fall victim to cyberbullying and they're also more likely to engage in cyberbullying behavior ("Cyberbullying" para 5&6). Girls are more likely to fall victim to or partake in cyberbullying due to the nature of their being. Girls always have a tougher time getting along than boys do and there's always more drama and fighting, so it makes sense that they would have more problems with cyberbullying. As far as LGBT members, kids are cruel. Kids scrutinize anyone and anything that is different from that which is considered "normal." Therefore, members of different sexual orientation are looked down upon and made fun of for being different from the rest of the crowd. Due to this fact, members of the LGBT community are naturally going to be a target for cyberbullies. 

There are countless amounts of cyberbullying cases that can be drawn from newspapers, articles, the Internet, etc. It's incredibly sad how easy it is to find stories as such. In this one particular case, a 19-year-old student attending Washington College committed suicide due to being bullied on an app called Yik Yak. Yik Yak is a "social-media platform used to post anonymous messages [and] has exploded in popularity on college campuses" ("Bullying on social media.." Para 2). Jacob Marberger was bullied in person and he responded by waving around a gun while he was intoxicated. He was suspended from school, but was allowed to return at a later date. Upon his return, he was bullied over the Yik Yak app, seeing "'people saying he should have been kicked out (of school)'" ("Bullying over social media.." Para 16). Later on, it got more personal and Jacob returned home to get a gun, but was never seen after that. Police issued an arrest warrant, but didn't find Jacob until six days later. When they found him, all they found was a dead body and "police say he died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound" ("Bullying over social media ... " Para 5). This case wasn't even that severe compared to some others that can be found. Some kids experience extremely bad cyberbullying and this, unfortunately, was only one of many hundreds of cases that have ended in suicide. This goes to show that social media can have extreme effects on the personal lives of many people.

In addition to cyberbullying, another huge problem with the Internet and social media is addiction. One may think being addicted to the Internet couldn't possibly be nearly as severe nor detrimental as an addiction to drugs or alcohol. However, addiction to social media and/or the Internet "can lead to sleep deprivation and can damage real-life relationships with coworkers, friends, or family" (Rosen, Carrier, & Cheever para 2). Besides sleep deprivation being a problem in and within itself, this lack of sleep then causes other problems with daily functioning. People will not perform their best in school or at work if they are sleep deprived and they won't be as alert, so they won't be themselves. This sleep deprivation can lead to deterioration of relationships, such as a significant other being disturbed by the other being awake, or friends and family getting fed up with the lack of effort in conversations. As another argument against Internet addiction not being as serious as drug addiction, it may be brought to one's attention that Internet addicts may, in fact, experience withdrawal symptoms, just as if they were withdrawing from a drug. Withdrawal symptoms "might include agitation, depression, anger and anxiety" (Rosen, Carrier, & Cheever para 9). These psychological symptoms then have the potential to turn into physical symptoms such as "rapid heartbeat, tense shoulders, and shortness of breath" (Rosen, Carrier, & Cheever para 9). The reason drugs are illegal is because of their negative effects and the damage they inflict upon on our bodies, minds, and overall lives. Looking at it from this perspective, why then aren't the Internet and social media illegal as well? One may make the argument "well only some people get addicted, but other times people can control themselves and use the Internet and social media solely for good." However, the same argument can be made for drugs. Only some people will become addicted, while others can use strictly recreationally, and others can even benefit, hence the creation of "medical marijuana." However, this fact has not led to the legalization of drugs, at least not all of them and not across all state borders. It can therefore be seen as slightly hypocritical that drugs should remain illegal, while the Internet and social media remain perfectly legal. 

Internet addiction, referred to as IA, is an actual illness that can be defined as "the excessive, obsessive- compulsive, uncontrollable, tolerance-causing use of the Internet, which also causes significant distress and impairments in daily functioning" (Kalaitzaki & Birtchnell para 1). Doctors and researchers have focused a lot on what specifically causes this severe addiction to social media. One of the leading factors was found to be "one's self-perception of social incompetence" (Kalaitzaki & Birtchnell para 3). When one feels as though they're maybe socially awkward, social media acts a safety shield for them to turn to. Many people feel like it's easier to communicate with others from behind a screen and it's true that socially awkward people become less awkward when not participating in face-to-face conversations. However, becoming too comfortable with communicating over social media will only worsen social awkwardness, when really individuals need to be exercising personal communication in order to make it become more natural. Other causes of excessive Internet include "social withdrawal/isolation, low social self-efficacy, and loneliness" (Kalaitzaki & Birtchnell para 3). Spending too much time on the Internet subtracts away from time individuals will spend with others in real life, which eventually just naturally leads to isolation. Being isolated then naturally leads to loneliness, which proves why Internet Addiction is not a desirable illness to acquire. Addiction can be seen as having both negative social and personal effects on an individual. The social effects are seen in the inability of addicts to communicate with others in person and the personal effects can be seen in the psychological disorders that addicts suffer from. 

An additional problem with social media and the Internet is that you never truly know who you're talking to. It may seem like a great way to get out there and meet people, but a profile picture or nice conversation isn't always a truthful exhibition of who's behind the screen on the other side of that conversation. For example, "a pastor lost charity funds he had received from abroad when a conman emailed him, using the identity of the pastor's benefactor, demanding that the funds be returned" ("Antisocial Media..." Para 12). All the conman had to do was make an email account in the benefactor's name to trick the pastor into thinking it was truly him. The conman didn't even have to hack into the real email account of the benefactor. People have unfortunately become too trusting of people they communicate with over the Internet, which is why this type of communication is so dangerous. 

One of the biggest psychological disorders associated with overuse of the Internet and social media is depression. One way in which social media causes people to become depressed is by "decreasing the amount of time they spend with others and decreasing the amount of personal interaction people have with others" (Bargh & McKenna). People often believe in the misconception that staying connected will prevent loneliness and depression due to the fact that they're always in contact with others. However, humans weren't meant to sit behind a computer screen all day. Humans are supposed to engage in social interaction, which explains biological features and capacities that we contain that other animals do not. If the need for these social capacities is not met, then it take a psychological toll on our minds. There's actually a specific type of depression to describe "depression that develops when preteens and teens spend a great deal of time on social media sites, such as Facebook, and then begin to exhibit classic symptoms of depression" (O'Keeffe & Clarke-Pearson para 16) and this type of depression is called Facebook depression. The fact that there's a type of depression that has been named specifically after a social media site just goes to show what a detrimental effect some of these social media sites have really had on the psychological mind of so many individuals. 

Another example of social media having negative psychological effects can be seen in how it's related to low self-esteem in women. "Media provides images and advertisements of an unattainable "ideal" that makes women feel bad about themselves" (Henderson-King & Henderson-King). When social media portrays women as looking a specific way, women think that that's exactly how they have to look too and if they don't, then they surely must be unattractive. This messed up impression is what leads to eating disorders such as anorexia and bulimia. Social media that conveys messages such as these is directly associated with lower levels of confidence in women and higher conformity rates as far as women attempting to attain these ideals. 

There are so many examples of the negative effects of social media, but some of the main ones that I feel have proven to be especially detrimental are cyberbullying, addiction, psychological/behavioral disorders, reduced face-to-face interaction, and the ability of people to fake identities. Some people may question why this is even an important subject to touch upon. Technology surrounds every single one us, all day every single day. Many people don't understand nor are they even aware of the dangers they could possibly encounter when using social media. If you asked people what the consequences may be of snorting coke or shooting up heroin, addiction would probably be one of the first concerns brought up. However, addiction isn't one of the primary thoughts to come to mind when the Internet or social media is brought up. However, the addiction and withdrawal symptoms associated with the Internet can be just as bad as those associated with drugs. I believe this is something extremely important for people to understand. People also don't seem to realize that communication with others online is drastically different than communicating with people face-to-face and many people don't realize that face-to-face interaction is essential to our psychological well-being. Additionally, people are too trusting of the other people they meet online. They automatically assume that the profile picture and name is accurate, not aware of how easy and common it is for people to create and hide behind fake profiles. Social media and the Internet are an extremely relevant part of our lives and I do not believe that will ever change. I think they will continue to develop and as they do, they will become an even larger force in our lives. I do not believe there's any way to stop or prevent this, but I feel it's important to create an awareness of what's out there. That way, as the Internet continues to expand, we all know how to navigate and behave safely in order to have the best experience possible. 

