The Digital Social Gathering by Isaac

Teenagers alone in their room like hermit crabs dwelling in their shells, refusing to leave what it calls home. This is the current state of teenagers and many parents have been linking their behaviour to the internet and thus create barriers that don’t allow teenagers to be on the internet and instead socialise. Teenagers say that they are communicating and socialising over the internet but the question is : Who is right?

To start we need to define the word “Socialise” and the word is defined in the dictionary as: “Mix socially with others” which at a first glance matches the activities that teenagers perform over the internet but word “Socialise” has been forgone by many people in exchange for a more widely accepted, new definition which is “Go outside do something physical with friends”. This definition doesn’t seem to be an issue for many people except the people who use the internet frequently however times are changing and with new technology comes new language and redefining words. When you get together with friends over the internet and play video games, Are you socialising? Most people say no but by definition, Yes you are socialising, However most parents refuse to accept this definition as it doesn’t involve direct physical communication but the internet also allows for direct instant communication using programs like Skype or even Social media. Which is where the problems and debates start arising.

Many people will say that the internet is an amazing place to access and information travels almost instantly which gives you new possibilities to connect to people like talking with your families overseas or sharing photos with your friends. The internet allows for all of that and more so people have created programs specifically to share photos and communicate, All of those programs fall under the term “Social media”. In January of 2015, as many as 2.1 billion people are active social media users who all share their experiences and culture over the internet allowing people to expose themselves to information they never would’ve been able to get if they didn’t socialise over the internet. Furthermore, because of the speed that information travels you don’t have to coordinate social gatherings as carefully than Physical social gatherings. In addition to that, Almost every way to communicate with family and friends are cost free and only require an internet connection and a device that can access the internet.

Inversely, The internet is also one of the most dangerous places because of everyone’s anonymous profiles and connectedness. One concern that is relevant to the topic is psychological threats and issues. Cyberbullying like real bullying can have huge repercussions on the victim as it can lead to depression or in extreme cases, Suicide. But that is not the bottom of the barrel as the internet is now creating some psychological disorders, One of the big disorders is named “Facebook addiction disorder” Which increasing amounts of people are being diagnosed with the disorder. This disorder is so large that approximately 350 million people have been diagnosed and has been compared with gambling addictions. It’s characterized by not spending time with friends and family to go on facebook and can get so extreme to the point that people have dates over facebook or, In the wider picture. The internet. This suggests that people are more and more concerned over how they look over the internet rather than their physical being. Another consequence of everyone’s faceless identity is sharing and exploiting other people’s personal data over the internet which can be used in different ways, most of them being dangerous to the person who that personal data belongs to.

In the end the internet is a double edged sword : It cuts both ways. The internet is great and makes communication easier but it also makes you vulnerable to the negatives and dangers of the internet. Most parents will say that the negatives outweigh the positives but the choice is there, If you want to access the internet it’s your choice but if you are accessing it you need to be aware of your surroundings and just like the hermit crab, You need to peek out of your shell to see the outside world.

Sources

Summers, Amy. "Facebook Addiction Disorder — The 6 Symptoms of F.A.D." Http://www.adweek.com/. N.p., 02 May 2011. Web. 7 Dec. 2015.