Are social networking sites more beneficial or harmful?

About 901 million people in this world use Facebook very actively.  Facebook, Myspace, and Twitter are different kinds of social networking sites and other sites of this kind of site continue.  Is social networking good or bad for us? In some ways, it can be very helpful and a good way to communicate with people but however, studies show that social networking sites like Facebook is very addictive and harmful in many different ways.

Social networking sites such as Facebook and Myspace made communication a lot easier.  Therefore, many people use these various sites instead of using the phone because communicating over the phone is costly.  Also, you can ask your friends about school assignments and talk with different people about educational topics and learn new things about the world. Also, social networking sites help low-income kids to become more familiar to computers and technology which may help in the later life.  These sites also help people to enjoy their time by talking with friends and sharing ideas without meeting people physically. 

Even these social networking sites have these good and helpful features, it causes lots of problems.  Most common problem is that these sites have created cyber-bullying. It made some big problem such as committed suicides, drop in grades, and depression.  Also, many people are spending way too much time on these sites instead of using their precious time that never comes back in more productive activities such as playing sports.  Average teenagers spend about 9 hours per week on social network sites.  When they are on these sites, they give away personal information, pictures and this is dangerous because a sexual predator may go after you and your employers could find bad things about you and you lose your job. 

Social networking sites could very helpful and harmful to you.  For example, social networking sites like Facebook is a great site to communicate about homework and other important things.  However, social networking has caused many different problems over the years.  It made some people to commit suicide, waste their time, and to lose their jobs.  Therefore, it is your risk that you are taking so use it right way and keep yourself safe from other people.  

Sources

http://socialnetworking.procon.org/

http://webupon.com/social-networks/the-good-and-bad-of-social-networking/

http://www.economist.com/debate/days/view/806