SOCIAL NETWORKS

“I fear the day when technology surpasses our humanity. The world will only have one generation of idiots ”Albert Einstein.

Social networks are becoming increasingly important in our lives. Surely you will agree with this statement, not only has allowed us to reduce distance and time by the rapid transfer of information, networks make us keep up to date with what is happening not only in our country, but throughout the world, establish communication with different people, open groups for educational purposes, break down barriers that grant us the opportunity to obtain information of our interest. As a company, we can make ourselves known by this means since it is a way of looking for employment since most establishments as well as companies have a profile on social networks.

Social networks have brought to society many advantages but also a large number of disadvantages and risks.

The most important risks of social networks are, in addition to addiction, access to inappropriate content, cyberbullying or the violation of privacy. In this way, in the networks you can access pornographic or violent content, denigrate people, transmit racist messages, encourage anorexia or incite suicide.

In vulnerable people there is a risk of creating a fictitious identity, enhanced by a factor of deception, self-deception or fantasy. For example, there are people who link quite virtually because they cut less in front of a screen than in real life. However, there are those who do not distinguish between the intimate, the private and the public (which can favor the misuse of private information by unknown persons) and who exhibit histrionic and narcissistic behaviors, when not deforming reality (for example, brag about the number of friends added).

In turn, instant messages from smartphones (especially WhatsApp) can facilitate controlling behaviors because it is known if a person is online and at what time they were last connected, which leaves an easy track to follow. There is also the risk of hitching (favored by gratuity) because it is often not disconnected by habit (when looking at the time, it is already known if there are messages and even the entry of messages) or do not want to disconnect (if used , for example, as a work tool).

This messaging system can create problems in communication, for example of social exclusion (if a person is not integrated into a group), of violation of privacy (due to the possibilities of copy and paste) or even of misunderstandings. Thus, discussions can be reached and even angered by not understanding the ironic or controlling tone of a message.

Another of the great risks of social networks is the addiction they create.

Any excessive inclination towards some activity can lead to an addiction, without necessarily having a drug involved.

Addiction can be present in social networks when extreme misuse is made of them. Thus, an addiction is established when the use of social networks implies a loss of control, a mental level absorption and a negative alteration of the daily life of the affected person. In these cases the behaviors become automatic and emotionally activated and the affected subjects have little cognitive control over the success or error of the decision. The addict weighs the benefits of immediate gratification, but does not notice the possible long-term negative consequences. Therefore, the abuse of virtual social networks can facilitate isolation, poor performance, disinterest in other issues and behavioral changes (for example, irritability).

The dependence of social networks is already installed when there is an abusive use associated with a loss of control, withdrawal symptoms (anxiety, depression, irritability) appear before the temporary loss of connection, tolerance is established (that is, the need increasing the time of connection to social networks to feel satisfied) and hence derive negative consequences for the daily life of the affected person (health, family, school and social relationships).

Therefore, as a conclusion, I think that social networks have more disadvantages than advantages, and that misuse of them can lead to many problems.

At the beginning I put this quote in which he says “I fear the day when technology surpasses our humanity. The world will only have one generation of idiots ¨ and I think that at the point where we are today, technology will continue to grow until it reaches that horrible point.