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Are social networking sites good for our society? -‐‑ Social Networking -‐‑ ProCon.org
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Are social networking sites good for our society?
General Reference (not clearly pro or con)
Martin Baily, PhD, Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution, stated the following in a Feb. 15, 2008 entry
titled "Is MySpace Good for Society? A Freakonomics Quorum," from the "Freakonomics" blog hosted by
the New York Times:
"Powerful new technologies provide great benefits, but they also change the way we live, and
not always in ways that everyone likes. An example is the spread of air conditioning, which
makes us more comfortable, but those who grew up before its invention speak fondly of a time
when everyone sat on the front porch and talked to their neighbors rather than going indoors to
stay cool and watch TV. The declining cost of information processing and communication
represents a powerful new technology, with social networking as the most recent service to be
provided at modest cost. It can be expected to bring pluses and minuses...
But will social networking sites really improve the quality of people's lives? The pluses include
easier contacts with friends, and increased chances to make new friends and create a
community, as well as find romantic relationships. Even the advertising may be a plus,
because it is targeted to the particular interests of the user.
The minuses are that all of this sharing can be dangerous, through gossip and potential abuse
of the services. Examples include reported suicides linked to malicious gossip circulated on a
social network. Some people become addicted to life on the computer screen, and withdraw
from personal contact — it's a long way from people sitting on the porch talking to friends and
neighbors...
I am by inclination a technology optimist, believing that the bad things will be filtered out over
time and net benefits will emerge. But in the early stages of any new technology, the buyer
must beware."
Feb. 15, 2008 -­ Martin Baily, PhD David DiSalvo, freelance writer for Scientific American Mind, stated the following in his Jan./Feb. 2010 article
titled "Are Social Networks Messing with Your Head?," published in Scientific American Mind:
"These days people toss around the term 'addiction' as casually as they would a Frisbee. But
whatever you call an unhealthy attachment, people are spending ever more time on social
networks, and some are getting into trouble over it. For context, Nielson Online reports that the
70 million Facebook members in the US spent 233 million hours on the site in April 2009, up
from 28 million hours by 23 million members the previous April -­-­ a 175 percent increase in per
capita usage. And according to a study by Nucleus Research in Boston, the most avid users
are spending two hours a day on the site while they are at work -­-­ helping to cost companies
whose employees can access Facebook 1.5 percent of total office productivity...
Most people will not imperil their psyches if they spend a little more time on social-­networking
sites. For them, two hours a day on Facebook may simply mean two hours less in front of the
TV. But for people who bring a compulsive personality to the keyboard, those hours can grow
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Are social networking sites good for our society? -‐‑ Social Networking -‐‑ ProCon.org
rapidly, setting off a cascade of bad consequences at home and work... In the US, the group at
risk is pretty big: one in 50 adults has some degree of obsessive-­compulsive disorder."
Jan./Feb. 2010 -­ David DiSalvo Are social networking sites good for our society?
PRO (yes)
CON (no)
Nicole Ellison, PhD, Assistant Professor of
Telecommunication, Information Studies, and Media
at Michigan State University, stated the following in
a Feb. 15, 2008 entry titled "Is MySpace Good for
Society? A Freakonomics Quorum," from the
Freakonomics blog hosted by the New York Times:
Tom Hodgkinson, writer for the Guardian, stated the
following in his Jan. 14, 2008 article titled "With
Friends Like These...," published in the Guardian:
"I believe the benefits provided by
social network sites such as Facebook
have made us better off as a society
and as individuals, and that, as they
continue to be adopted by more diverse
populations, we will see an increase in
their utility. Anecdotal evidence of
positive outcomes from these
technologies -­-­ such as political
activities organized via Facebook or
jobs found through LinkedIn -­-­ is well-­
known, but now a growing corpus of
academic research on social networks
sites supports this view as well...
Social technologies never have
predictable and absolute positive or
negative effects, which is why social
scientists dread questions like these.
In considering the effects of social
network sites, it is clear that there are
many challenges to work through -­-­ the
increasing commercialization of this
space, the need to construct strong
privacy protections for users, and
safety issues -­-­ but I believe the
benefits we receive as a society
provided by these tools far outweigh
the risks."
"I despise Facebook. This enormously
successful American business
describes itself as 'a social utility that
connects you with the people around
you'. But hang on. Why on God's earth
would I need a computer to connect
with the people around me? Why
should my relationships be mediated
through the imagination of a bunch of
supergeeks in California? What was
wrong with the pub?
And does Facebook really connect
people? Doesn't it rather disconnect us,
since instead of doing something
enjoyable such as talking and eating
and dancing and drinking with my
friends, I am merely sending them little
ungrammatical notes and amusing
photos in cyberspace, while chained to
my desk?...
Clearly, Facebook is another uber-­
capitalist experiment: can you make
money out of friendship? Can you
create communities free of national
boundaries -­-­ and then sell Coca-­Cola
to them? Facebook is profoundly
uncreative. It makes nothing at all. It
simply mediates in relationships that
were happening anyway."
Jan. 14, 2008 -­ Tom Hodgkinson Feb. 15, 2008 -­ Nicole Ellison, PhD Brendesha M. Tynes, PhD, Assistant Professor of
Educational Psychology at the University of Illinois
at Urbana-­Champaign, stated the following in her
Nov. 2007 article titled "Internet Safety Gone Wild?,"
published in the Journal of Adolescent Research:
"Online social networking can facilitate
identity exploration, provide social
cognitive skills such as perspective
taking, and fulfill the need for social
socialnetworking.procon.org/view.answers.php?questionID=001614&print=true
Susan Greenfield, DPhil, Professor of Pharmacology
at the University of Oxford, stated the following in
her Feb. 12, 2009 speech to the UK House of Lords:
"Social networking sites might tap into
the basic brain systems for delivering
pleasurable experience. However,
these experiences are devoid of
cohesive narrative and long-­term
significance. As a consequence, the
mid-­21st century mind might almost be
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Are social networking sites good for our society? -‐‑ Social Networking -‐‑ ProCon.org
taking, and fulfill the need for social
support, intimacy, and autonomy.
Whether constructing their profiles in
MySpace, creating a video and posting
it on YouTube, or talking in chat rooms,
teens are constantly creating,
recreating, and honing their identities -­-­
a primary goal of adolescent
development. This requires constant
reflection on who they are, on who they
want to become, and on their values,
strengths, and weaknesses.
As teens prepare to enter the adult
social world, online social environments
provide training wheels, allowing young
people to practice interaction with
others in the safety of their homes."
Nov. 2007 -­ Brendesha M. Tynes, PhD Christine Greenhow, EdD, Educational Researcher
and Research Fellow at the Institute for Advanced
Studies at the University of Minnesota, stated the
following about her research in a July 10, 2008 news
release titled "Educational Benefits of Social
Networking Sites," posted on the University of
Minnesota website:
"What we found was that students
using social networking sites are
actually practicing the kinds of 21st
century skills we want them to develop
to be successful today. Students are
developing a positive attitude towards
using technology systems, editing and
customizing content and thinking about
online design and layout. They're also
sharing creative original work like
poetry and film and practicing safe and
responsible use of information and
technology. The Web sites offer
tremendous educational potential."
July 10, 2008 -­ Christine Greenhow, EdD Michael Marshall, MSc, Writer and Online Editorial
Assistant for the New Scientist, stated the following
in his Mar. 6, 2009 article titled "Why Facebook Is
Good for You," published in the New Scientist:
"Using the internet and social
networking sites actually appears to
reduce loneliness and improve well-­
being, as was reported as long ago as
2002 in the Journal of Social Issues.
People who have difficulties with
conventional socialising, such as those
socialnetworking.procon.org/view.answers.php?questionID=001614&print=true
mid-­21st century mind might almost be
infantilised, characterised by short
attention spans, sensationalism,
inability to empathise and a shaky
sense of identity."
Feb. 12, 2009 -­ Susan Greenfield, DPhil Himanshu Tyagi, MRCPsych, MBBS, Specialist
Registrar in Psychotherapy at the Springfield
University Hospital in London, UK, stated the
following in an address to the Annual Meeting of the
Royal College of Psychiatrists, as quoted in a July
3, 2008 press release from the Royal College of
Psychiatrists:
"It's a world where everything moves
fast and changes all the time, where
relationships are quickly disposed at
the click of a mouse, where you can
delete your profile if you don't like it and
swap an unacceptable identity in the
blink of an eye for one that is more
acceptable. People used to the quick
pace of online social networking may
soon find the real world boring and
unstimulating, potentially leading to
more extreme behaviour to get that
sense.
It may be possible that young people
who have no experience of a world
without online societies put less value
on their real world identities and can
therefore be at risk in their real lives,
perhaps more vulnerable to impulsive
behaviour or even suicide."
July 3, 2008 -­ Himanshu Tyagi, MRCPsych,
MBBS Sophos, a company that develops and sells
computer security programs, stated the following in
its Feb. 1, 2010 white paper titled "Security Threat
Report: 2010," posted on sophos.com:
"Although productivity continues to be
the dominant reason for companies to
block social networks (a third of
companies say this is the reason they
block Facebook), there has been a
dramatic rise since April 2009 in the
number of businesses who believe
malware [malicious software] is their
primary security concern with such
sites.
It seems these malware concerns are
well justified, with a 70% rise in the
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Are social networking sites good for our society? -‐‑ Social Networking -‐‑ ProCon.org
conventional socialising, such as those
with Asperger's syndrome, experience
great benefits. As for social networking
sites being a poor alternative to real-­
world socialising, surveys reported at a
conference in 2006 indicate that
Facebook users mostly use it to
maintain relationships with people they
meet offline."
Mar. 6, 2009 -­ Michael Marshall, MSc The National School Boards Association (NSBA)
stated the following in their July 2007 study titled
"Creating & Connecting: Research and Guidelines on
Online Social -­ and Educational -­ Networking,"
posted on nsba.org:
"Almost 60 percent of students who
use social networking talk about
education topics online and,
surprisingly, more than 50 percent talk
specifically about schoolwork...
With words, music, photos and videos,
students are expressing themselves by
creating, manipulating and sharing
content online...
Only a minority of students has had
any kind of negative experience with
social networking in the last three
months;; even fewer parents report that
their children have had a negative
experience over a longer, six-­month
period."
July 2007 -­ National School Boards Association
(NSBA) Ben Parr, Co-­Editor of Mashable, stated the
following in his Jan. 20, 2010 article titled "Social
Media's True Impact on Haiti, China, and the World,"
posted on Mashable.com:
"With the Iranian government clamping
down on information and enforcing
censorship [during protests of the
Iranian presidential election in June
2009], Twitter, Facebook, Flickr, and
YouTube became the primary mediums
for bringing information out of the
conflicted nation and spreading notes
between dissidents... Twitter's role was
so important in fact that the US
government got involved in scheduling
Twitter's downtime...
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well justified, with a 70% rise in the
proportion of firms that report
encountering spam and malware
attacks via social networks during
2009. More than half of all companies
surveyed said they had received spam
via social networking sites, and over a
third said they had received malware.
Furthermore, over 72% of firms believe
that employees' behavior on social
networking sites could endanger their
business's security. This has increased
from 66% in the previous study."
Feb. 1, 2010 -­ Sophos Michael Bugeja, PhD, Director of the Greenlee
School of Journalism and Communication at Iowa
State University, stated the following in an online
debate on social networking conducted Jan. 15-­25,
2008 and sponsored by The Economist:
"Facebook or MySpace are
programmed for revenue generation,
especially the vending of marketing
data and the advertising base that can
be established because of that data. To
do so, those networks rely on
technology developed by military (to
surveil) and industry (to sell). The fact
that both happen simultaneously is no
fluke because the programming is
designed to amass psychographics on
users too busy depicting each other
like products to notice the
surveillance...
To rebut examples of proactive use of
social networks, I could counter with
tragic ones, including a recent hoax by
an adult 'neighbour' that triggered the
suicide of 13-­year-­old Megan Meier."
Jan. 15-­25, 2008 -­ Michael Bugeja, PhD Christopher Wolf, JD, former Chair of the
International Network Against Cyber-­Hate (INACH),
stated the following in his opening remarks at the
Nov. 8, 2007 Berlin meeting of INACH:
"On MySpace, as well as on the social
networking site Facebook.com, there
are hundreds of groups featuring the
words 'Hitler' or 'Nazi,' many
established to promote neo-­Nazism and
other anti-­Semitic feelings...
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Are social networking sites good for our society? -‐‑ Social Networking -‐‑ ProCon.org
After a magnitude 7.0 earthquake (and
multiple aftershocks) devastated the
nation of Haiti [on Jan. 12, 2010],
social media became the medium in
which everybody spread the word.
Dramatic Haiti earthquake Twitter
pictures swept across the web, while
tech giants mobilized. The most
impressive part of social media's
impact on Haiti has to be the charity
text message campaign that has
already raised more than $10 million for
Haiti victim relief. Social media spread
the word, technology made it
possible...
In the Internet era, it appears there are
more people interested in spewing hate
than in countering it. On the social
networking sites and on YouTube,
inflammatory, hate-­filled content
overwhelms the limited efforts to
promote tolerance and to teach
diversity. And, as we have seen, hate
speech inspires violence."
Nov. 8, 2007 -­ Christopher Wolf, JD Real-­time communication platforms like
Twitter and Facebook have spread the
word about what's happening within
these nations, long before the
mainstream media prints the story.
These tools have also created a level
awareness we've never seen before."
Jan. 20, 2010 -­ Ben Parr ©ProCon.org, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit
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