Social Media Debate

Overall, I think that our debate went very well. My group's topic was Social Merits Affirmative. There were many pros and cons of our topic. Some cons were that from T.V. and advertisements through Facebook, Youtube and other sites can make violence almost seem acceptable. People see videos or pictures of riots or actions being committed that can make people think that these actions are okay to commit. An example that they used was the G20 and the riots downtown. There were Facebook pages, videos on the news and on Youtube that displayed people lighting cars on fire, smashing windows and more. Many people saw these sites and thought that because it was chaos and not disciplined, it wouldn't make a big deal if they contributed. I found that there were many benefits to our topic including technology, charities and campaigns and revolution. Our group believed that a main aspect of our topic was technology, constantly improving, allowing more and more ways to get a message across to a big group of people. Through social networks like Facebook, Twitter, MySpace and more, we are able to form groups and opinions. Charities such as Movember have been advertised through social networking sites or even your own television, getting people involved while informing people. A campaign called "It Gets Better", encouraging people to feel comfortable with their sexuality, has been advertised and promoted by their own website, television shows, and more. Without the media, it would be harder to get messages out to many people. An example of this is global change. We create awareness with so many people, becoming more powerful than the actual government. To be honest, I don't think of these issues when I am using these social media outlets. I see them often, and I definitely look into them when I do see them, but they don't seem to be my main priority when using social media outlets. There are certain pages on Facebook that have to do with charities, campaigns, or even just a company that I will like on Facebook to show my support or interest in. I think that all of my peers will always have an issue with privacy but some more than others. I see some of my friends updating their status about themselves everyday, even talking about personal matters. I also have friends who are very private but upload a few pictures once in a while. What I don't agree with are the people who allow everyone to see their profile, even if you are not friends with them on Facebook. There are certain security options that can allow people to search your name but not see your profile until you accept them and some people unable that so that anyone can see everything they have on their profile. 

Another group's debate I was really interested in was the Facebook debate. I think that their debate went very well and both the negative and positive side had good points. I think that some of the advantages of Facebook include keeping in touch with friends and family, finding old friends, sharing our interests with others, creating discussions with others and you can promote business. Though these are only a few benefits, they really contribute to the many users of Facebook. You can upload photos, videos, notes, and update people of your choice on your life no matter where they live. Though this seems worth it, there are a few disadvantages to Facebook. When I think about the cons of Facebook, I think of two main things; security and cyber bullying. If you don't set up your security settings carefully and properly, anyone can see every picture, video or piece of information you upload about yourself. This can be very dangerous and people must be aware of their settings as well as who they accept as a friend. Cyber bullying has played a huge aspect in Facebook as well. Kids being made fun of, through pictures, statuses, videos and more. For example, when I was in grade eight, there was an application on Facebook called "Bathroom Wall". This was probably the most ridiculous application that put up a discussion topic where anyone could comment. The most viewed discussions were things like "Ugliest Girls at Windfields" or "Sluttiest Girls at Windfields" and obviously every girl, being so obsessed with drama at that age, visited each discussion and gave in their opinion, knowing it was anonymous. Many girls from my school were hurt by what others said about them and created more tension at school. This is only one example of cyber bullying as these types of situations happen daily and cannot be erased by the person being bullied. People believe they have more power while on their computer, posting things they wouldn't always say in person and having more courage to say it to a computer screen. Unfortunately, there are both positive and negative influences from this site but I believe that if you use it properly, it can be a great site.