Nadendla1

SaiNadendla
Ms.Gardner
English10H/6
18November2015
TheTruthBehindSocialMedia
Theaveragekidinhighschooltodayisusingsomeformofsocialmediathisequatesto
nearly90percentoftheyoungadultpopulation(Giacobbe).
Issocialmediareallybenefitingthe
livesofthoseteenagers
(rhetoricalquestion)?Thetypicaluseroftheseapplicationsisintendedto
seeitasatoolthathelpsthemconnectwithotherpeople.
Contrarytotheintendeduse,itis
harshlyabusedservingasaplaygroundforbullying,comparison,andembarrassment
(metaphor).AccordingtoGiacobbe,socialmediaallowsustohavea:...
verypublicoutlettoair
ouropinions,withouttheworryoffacetofaceconfrontation.
Beforenearlyeveryteenagerwascarryingaroundsomeformofsocialmediaintheir
pocket,peoplehadlittleplacetoopenlyvoicetheiropinions,comparethemselvestoothers,and
criticizetheactionsofothers.Whenpeoplewantedtosaysomethingtheyhadtointeractwiththe
persondirectlyfacetoface,andtheyhadtomeetanyconsequencesthatmightfollow.Inthose
timespeoplesopinionsweremorerespected,peoplecouldnotcomparetheirlivestothebrief
perfectmomentsofothers,andbullyingcouldbepreventedmoreeasilyasthesourcewouldbe
identified.Peoplecouldnotbeasharshtoeachother,astheyhadnothingtomasktheiractions
with.
Thesocialmediathathasarisentodayseemsessentialtoourlives,butithasbeenonlya
platformforabuse.Theintentbehindtheseplatformsseemshonestenough,buthowdoesone

Nadendla2

expectitnottobemisusedinanyway.
Socialmediahasreignedthroughthesmallestofsuburbs
tothelargestofcities

(antithesis).
Itseffectisthesame
(shortsentenceafterseverallongerones).
Peoplefromallpartsofsocietyareexpectedtousethisplatform,andactasgoodSamaritans
withonlypureintentionsinmind
(allusion).
Despitethesemotivesnearly70percentofyoung
adultsarevictimstotheabuseontheseplatforms(Pao).
Recently,manyeventshaveoccurredbringingnegativepresstosocialmedia,andthese
typeofeventswillcontinuetohappentillthereischange.Forexample,AliciaLynch,agirlin
Michiganhadherlifeturnedupsidedown,whenshepostedapictureofherHalloweencostume
thatwasconsideredoffensive.Shewasthreatenedonline,shelostherjob,andherfriendswere
hatedbecauseofherpost(
Giacobbe).Aliciaslifewaschangedforeverbecauseofhersplit
seconddecisiontoconnectwithsocialmediawhereas,ifsheneverpostedthatpictureherlife
wouldhaveremainednormal.
Inatimewhereoursocietyissojudgingandcritical,andhating,anddiscriminating,
socialmediaonlyservesasfuelfortheassessmentofothers
(polysyndeton).Wewillmakea
change.Socialmediashouldnotdictateourlivesorinfluencethechoiceswemake.These
decisionsshouldbeuptoyou,andnotthecriticalpeoplearoundyou.Theharshjudgmentof
otherscouldeasilybesuppressedwhileleavingbehindtheplatformthatservesasanimportant
tool.Asystemofidentificationwhereeveryone'snameisdisplayedandcarefullyverifiedcould
takesocialmediatoanewheight.Everyonewouldbeabletoseeeachotheraspeopleandnot
justblankprofilescreens,andtheinteractiononthesesiteswouldbewithpeopleyouknowand
trust.Ifsomeoneabusedtheplatformtheycouldbeinstantlycaughtandremovedhelping
maintainasafeenvironmentfortherestoftheusers.

Nadendla3

Manypeoplearguethathavingeveryonecommunicatewithjusttheirfriendsstopsthem
frommeetingnewpeople.Itistruethatpeoplewillnotbeabletomeetonlineeasily,butmaybe
thisforthebestaspeopleshouldmeetinperson.
Peoplewhomeetonlinecancreatean
inaccurateimpressionintheirmindsinsteadofarealisticone
(alliteration).
Socialmediacancausedepression.Socialmediacancauseinaccuratecomparisons.
Socialmediacancausebullying
(anaphora).
Totheusersofsocialmedialetushelpmakea
change
(directaddress).
Letuspreventthecountlesspeoplefrombeingattackedonthese
websites.Talktoyourfriends,andensuretheyareinteractingwithonlytrustedonesonline.Let
peopleknowofthetragediesthathappenduetothisdeadlytool.Spreadtheword,andifenough
peopleknowmaybetheseplatformswillmakeachange
(imperativesentences).
Rememberyou
canletsocialmediachangeyou,oryoucanchangesocialmedia
(chiasmus).

Nadendla4

WorksCited
Giacobbe,Alyssa."WaysSocialMediaCanRuinYourLife."
BostonGlobe.com
.N.p.,21May
2014.Web.10Nov.2015.
Pao,Ellen."TheUglySideoftheInternet."
WashingtonPost
2015July17:A.21DBSIRS
IssuesResearcher.Web.10Nov.2015.