Brandon Dong 1Brandon DongInstructor: Karen HuangENWR 1510-7423 September 2019Essay 1- Rough DraftIn today’s digital society, there are hundreds of different types of social media outlets with a reported 72% of the public being registered to at least one platform compared to only 5% being registered in 2005. The overwhelming amount of the general population being connected online comes with differing opinions of people on its positive or negative influence on kids and adults alike. There are hundreds of articles written on its impact on society and even television shows reenacting what the producer thinks about the matter. Take for example Black Mirror’s Nosedive episode in which they explore how readily people are willing to conform to social norms to achieve high ratings from others in their community. However, as with any other television show, It was exaggerated and did not represent the people in the real world. For example, characters in the Nosedive episode were seen to always berating each other and only posting on social media and talking to others about their latest posts without having a real conversation about their lives. Boyd’s article, “Participating In The Always-On,” explains the opposing view of how “being always-on is not just about consumption and production of content” (73). Social media platforms main usage is to stay connected to friends and family through “a variety of microdata” whether next door or across the globe in a more simplified manner (73). Aaron Edwards talks about this is his article, “Long Live the Groupchat.” “In the moments when I’ve felt like curling into myself and shutting down.. The cadence of an active group chat filled with people you love is a form of resuscitation.” This for a fact has positivelyBrandon Dong 2affected me. All but one of my closest high school have gone to different universities in the different areas of the United States. I have been able to stay in contact with them and have someone to turn to if I need someone to talk to, or when im just missing everything back at home. Regardless, it all boils down to how an individual uses these platforms as it can be detrimental to one’s lifestyle but it can also definitely improve on it if used correctly. You just have to find that fine line between obsession and productiveness. Online networking is everywhere with everyone connected to it in some shape or form. I’m even more connected to online networking through my university as I find out about certain events through social media pages of groups and even through the University of Virginia’s page as well. I am also empowered to express myself about certain issues that occur on grounds if I wanted to whether I choose to anonymously or known. “They are taking advantage of the affordances of these technologies to connect with others in a way that they feel is appropriate (75). School and college understudies invest a great deal of their energy in online networking. Why is this the case? This is because there is an enormous amount of opportunities in the platforms as people can make new friends, explore new ideas, express their perspectives and sentiments and create new identities for themselves if they wanted to. Aside from being connected on social media, it has also created new jobs and opportunities for people as well. Corporations can publicize their products more easily through the various platforms and more widespread because of the widespread usage of social media. This is through paying big names or even sponsoring young social media influencers to promote their products. For example, famous YouTuber David Dobrik promotes the usage of SeatGeak to his viewers, and through thatpartnership, the young content creator gets rewarded by the company with luxurious gifts which are usually expensive cars. Individuals do not even have to be directly paid to promote aBrandon Dong 3company, viral content are often made about a particular product or brand that can also make a company more popular. Another example is the Vine, “Damn Daniel”, where Vans were their shoes were the object the video was on or even the Hydro flask trend. I used to see Yeti cups everywhere I went but now all I see is Hydro flasks instead because of that trend, and no one wassponsored to create those videos. This can also result in more jobs being possibly being created for that time being because of the higher demands for the products. Boyd also talks about this in her article, “We’re passionate about technology because we’re passionate about people and information” (73).This, however, is not the case for everyone. There are negatives to everything no matter how positive they may seem and social media platforms are no exception. Being on social media takes a ton of one’s time. With all the new entertainment that individuals are engrossing, social media is taking up peoples’ time and life. Usually, people unconsciously reach out to check their phones for any new notifications they may have and tell themselves they will only be on for a couple of minutes before they will go back to do their work. Those couple of minutes then transform into 10 and before you know it, an hour has passed by because you were enjoying yourtime talking to your friends on your various social media apps you have downloaded on your devices. Individuals are so centered around checking their notifications that they are squanderingaway their life staring at their phones or computers, looking down at that pixelated screen. They’re letting their time waste away just so they can scroll through their friends feed, or even a random stranger they found to be interesting. Even now in writing this essay I am having a difficult time resisting the urge to reach over to check my notifications. I had to even go the extralength to put my phone across the room just so I wouldn’t check it. It is not even only just us young adults that are so seemingly addicted to these platforms. I have seen doctors on TikTokBrandon Dong 4posting videos daily for their audience, and some teachers reposting political news on Facebook every 10-20 minutes. Even the President with his constant daily politically questionable tweets. All of these examples share a common theme in that they all depict humans slowly distancing themselves from face to face communication and instead rely on information being exchanged between their devices. People are not as much socializing