Question: Are social networking sites good for our society?

Title: Social networking sites are good for our society! Content: Social networking sites are good for our society!

Title: Social networks are beneficial to our society! Content: I am for social networking sites and I think that they are good for our society. Con must argue against. Acceptance first.

Title: social networking is bad Content: Today social networking and internet has become one of the most important part of our life. But is it reakky good for us. I dont think so. According to me social networking has caused many problems in our life. It has harmed a lot than helping us.

Title: Social Networking is Causing More Harm than Good Content: I am here to affirm and convince that "Social Networking is Causing More Harm than Good" in today's society. Social networking websites such as popular Facebook and Twitter cause issues with occupations and careers, relationships and marriages, education of our future leaders, and a total breakdown in communication. This is going to be a 5-round debate, and I look forward to challenging my opponent in this controversial topic. May the debate begin!

Title: On Balance, social networking websites do more good than harm Content: Alright, thanks radicalguy for posting an interesting topic, and lets get this started! As a sidenote, I am a bit pressed for time these days, so i'm apologizing in advance for the inevitable brevity of my case. I affirm the resolution resolved, "On balance, social networking websites do more good than harm" I'll start off with definitions. Social Networking Site: "A social network service focuses on building and reflecting of social networks or social relations among people, e.g., who share interests and/or activities. A social network service essentially consists of a representation of each user (often a profile), his/her social links, and a variety of additional services." My value for judging 'good' and 'harm' will be utilitarianism, a value which we can both meet common ground with. My criteria will be social connectivity/harmony and the spreading of information, both of which are values intrinsic to the betterment of the human race. Without strong communities, and without common knowledge being spread amongst the people, we never could have achieved he technological and sociological wonders that we cherish today. Contention 1: Social networking strengthens social bonds, leading to a myriad of positive outcomes. Sub Point A: The strengthening of social bonds aids the development of social harmony. Sites such as Facebook and MySpace are used as means to build up friendships, have conversations, and compete in small games in a positive atmosphere. This new vehicle of interacting with other people inevitably leads to making better friends and having more people to interact with, allowing people to exchange ideas even when they cannot meet in person. They also make the process of forementioned socialization streamlined and expedient. Sub Point B: These sites allow for international correspondence, leading to international fraternity. Years ago, the standard means of distant communication was by letter. Of course, the obvious flaws were the time involved and the need for a specific address. The advent of the e-mail made messaging instantaneous, but a specific destination was still requisite. With the creation of Facebook and Myspace however, it is possible to link to and find people from all across the globe and communicate in a streamlined manner. Really, all these sites are trying to do is simplify and improve the capability of communication around the globe. The implications are staggering. Bonds of friendship crossing borders, even continents is something our predecessors would not have dared dream of. But it most certainly exists. Also, it provides a medium for communication for distant people who already know each other. For example, I recently moved from MA to CA, and wanted to stay in touch with my network of friends. Would e-mail have been functional? Of course. But Facebook allowed me to stay in touch with friends with unparalleled proximity. In the negatives world, I would have been confined to stiff e-mails instead of Facebook's fluidity. In their world, NO SOCIAL NETWORKING WOULD EXIST. Contention 2: Social Networking Sites Aid in spreading information and current events. Through being updated constantly through the thoughts and musing of others on a live basis, it leads to the assimilatiof knowledge of current events. How I learned about MJ's death? Facebook. Chilean Earthquak? Facebook. Now, while the negative would say that sites like Google News or the New York Times could be used, people go to Facebook much more often just because it has a positive atmosphere. Long have educators attempted to educate the masses while simultaneously entertaining, them, and these sites do just that. They make events which would once have been nerdy to orate about socially relevant and requisite to prosper in the comments section. Sub Point A: Social Networking Sites help spread different opinions and thoughts about an issue, leading to mental diversity. By allowing near instantaneous response and analysis of world events, fresh perspectives and vantage points can be seen, allowing for lively debate and introspection. For example, I have a friend of mine who converted from Christianity to Atheism after a long and philosophical theological discussion. Contention 3: Social Networking Allows and Encourages the creation of grassroots clubs and movements. With the feature of easily being able to find mutual friends and send out messages with intuitive responses, Facebook allows for the expedient creation of clubs and organizations joined together with mutual goals such as spreading political awareness or fund raising. The expediency of recruitment and the ability to organize events and hierarchy are once again improved by social networking. For all these reasons, you must affirm. I am now ready for Cross Ex.

Title: On Balance, social networking websites do more good than harm Content: Hey guys. I am radicalguy44 and in this debate I will prove that social networking websites do more harm than good. I would like the PRO to start, and please make this an LD style debate! Good luck PRO!

Title: Social Networking is Causing More Harm than Good Content: My position should be obvious. I am here to negate the resolution, and prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that social networking does not cause more harm than good.My opponent may begin their argument.

Title: Social networking sites boon. Content: Con has failed to continue this debate and explain as to why social networking is bad. Therefore I have explained in great amount why it is good. Thanks for the debate!

Title: Social networking sites boon. Content: In my argument I as (Con) will tell you how social networking is good and beneficial. You stated that "Social networking sites nowadays are used for stalking, committing cyber crimes and other frauds" Now sites such as Facebook, twitter and instagram have privacy settings. This is where you can choose what information about yourself can be publicized. Some people choose to give out there personal info, this is there fault, not the social networking's fault. How is it beneficial? People use allot of social networking sites to connect with people. I will be giving you some examples. *Social networking sites spread information faster than any other media. *Law enforcement uses social networking sites to catch and prosecute criminals *Social networking sites help students do better at school *Social media sites help employers find employees and job-seekers find work These are just a few beneficial examples.

Title: Resolved: That, on balance, social networking Web Sites have a positive impact on the United States. Content: Social Networks are basically things like: FACEBOOK, MYSPACE, TAG, ZANGA... - They are good because they increase communication opportunities Nowadays, just calling and text messaging is not enough. There has to be some sort of quick communication occurring online, and that is what social networking does. - They stimulate our economy Social networking websites are able to advertise to their users based on what it looks like they or their friends would like. That comes in handy because it saves consumers money and increases production opportunities. - They allow idividuals to expand their social horizons Normally, becuase we are human, we would want to stick with our "cliques" or circle of friends. Social networking sites reccomend individuals that you are not "freinds" with yet in an effort to increase your friends.

Title: Social media does more harm than good Content: I believe that social media does more harm than good for our society. It is supposedly makes us more connect; however, I argue that it actually is making us more anti-social.

Title: Resolved: That, on balance, social networking Web Sites have a positive impact on the United States. Content: Social networking has a POSITIVE impact in the United States. Without it, -our economy would not be where it is today -communication opportunities would be smaller -socially we would be closed to trying new things Going on to refute my opponent.. - although social networking sites are just a tool, without them.. businesses would not be able to assemble as they wish advertisements would not be able to appeal to consumers the general public would be unable to communicate as efficiently - because social networking sites promote people who have brains and can think independently, it can still have a direct effect Although the person has the impact, they would be unable to achieve what they planned to if the tool was not present As a result, PRO should recieve the winning vote

Title: Social networking sites are harmful. Content: Hello and welcome back to the debate; Social Networking Sites are Harmful. EleaDEVILnor has tried but unsuccessfully to convince you other wise. Thank you. I will start with some facts I found whilst strolling the library. 200 University of Maryland students gave up online media as part of a new study in 2011. When asked how they felt during the brief disconnection, students' descriptions of frantic cravings for the technology, anxiety and jitters mirrored those typical of people going through withdrawal from drugs or alcohol. If people have become so addicted to social media, as the Maryland study suggests, it makes you wonder: Is social networking good or bad for us? Bad I say! We have always known that computer networks would destroy the world. We just thought they'd get super-intelligent first. Instead, we got social networks, which act as a stupidity X-ray. You suddenly see through the intelligent people your friends pretend to be to the LOL-ing Farmville players underneath. Some smart people decided to study these networks, and found that they're a big threat to society. At least the rise of those machines forced us to band together and do things. Debate closed. Thank you. EllieBub :) I enjoyed this debate EleaDEVILnor, you are a good component! EllieBub

Title: Facebook: A Boon For the Society Content: I do not have any more opening contentions to give. Thus, I will take this round to refute Pro's contentions.R1) Social NetworkingPro argues that Facebook allows people to meet new people and keep contact with friends. However, as I showed in C1, depending on Facebook too much for such purposes is ultimately harmful to society, due to the resulting lack of real life social skills. It is a much better idea to rely more on face-to-face communication whenever possible. Even if an in-person interaction is not possible, it is still better to use forms of communication other than online social media- forms of communication that still require verbal involvement, such as telephone.R2) Video ConferencingPro argues that Facebook's video conference future makes it a boon to society. However, video-conferencing is not anything unique to Facebook. Skype is a popular software designed *solely* for the purposes of video calling. Google Plus is always rising in popularity. Facebook having a useful feature doesn't make it a "boon to society". In order to make such a claim, the feature would have to be something innovative and unique, and I demonstrated it not to be so in this case.R3) AdvertisingPro argues that Facebook giving us access to company advertisement is a boon to society. However, Pro himself notes that many people do not like Facebook's system of allowing companies to have access to their personal information, meaning that Pro has essentially refuted his own argument; something which people generally do not approve of cannot be considered a positive force in society. R4) Educational PurposesPro argues that because Facebook could potentially be used as an online resource for educational purposes, it is a boon to society. This suffers the same problem that his second contention does, except even more so; there are so many other online resources that are specifically designed for education, such as KhanAcademy and EdHelper. Anyways, many of the suggestions in the link provided by Pro are terrible; take the first one on the list: "Instead of trusting Wikipedia, ask the crowd on Facebook." Wikipedia is FAR more reliable as a source of information than Facebook! Wikipedia actually has established contributors, and its pages are frequently reviewed... Facebook's potential "educational" value is completely undermined by the fact that there are much better resources out there. CONCLUSIONI have refuted all of my opponent's arguments, and he has yet to address any of mine. Thus, the resolution is negated.Back to Pro!

Title: Social networking sites are beneficial Content: Good day, Con, this is the second round, and I hope this debate will turn out very great. Before I state my second and third argument, I will present a rebuttal for your arguments. First of all, I agree with the fact that Social Networking sites are beneficial, but it is also detrimental, since I have seen cyber bullying a lot in these days. But, rethink your first argument. Because of growth of the society and the growth of technology, people likes to post their 'non-exciting moments' too, because they have got time to be in somewhere they can rest. For example, draw a picture in your mind that you're in a nice, cozy cafe. People like to take pictures of themselves resting, and it is very true and real isn't it? They do not use a program to make it all false. Why do they need to when they're just trying to post in a real way? Now I will state my second and third argument. P2: Social Networking sites can be diverse. As I said in the first argument, social networking sites such as facebook, twitter, google+ lets you communicate with millions of people around the globe. Now, as you know, each one of them may have different viewpoints over something. It may be the effect of their religion, culture, environment(etc.). Because of this benefit, we can learn to think about others personalities, understand their viewpoints. For example, It can develop social skills such as understatement of the social economy and skills used in the society. Brendesha M. Tynes, PhD, Assistant Professor of Educational Psychology at the University of Illinois said that "Online social networking can facilitate identity exploration, provide social cognitive skills such as perspective 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." Like this, understanding the viewpoints and the minds of millions of people can only be happened with social medias. You can also learn foreign language in some social medias because of hangouts, or diverse groups of people. P3: Educational benefits of social networking sites The first computer was a big pile of big gears. As the history moves on, everything evolved. The technology has been largely improved over the years, and we have moved on to the 'age of technology'. There are touchable screens, mails that send our message around the globe close to the speed of light, we have nano-sized hardwares and computers and it still moves on. The evolution of technology had a big effect on globalized educations. Unlike the past, teachers and students now can browse infinite amounts of ideas from the internet. The viewpoints are very different, and we learn to look at an object in most ways to understand it better. With technology, people can instantly browse ideas and major documents just in their smartphones. Look at the case of Samsung Galaxy 5 LTE*3. It can instantly download in 0.4 seconds. That is amazing, and think about the way students can browse ideas that fast. It helps students to talk more specifically about their schoolwork. Also, it urges students to try out new technology. In return, they get massive amounts of education skills. The National School Boards Association (NSBA) said that "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." As you see, there are many benefits according to NSBA. Getting a good school experience lets them to have great jobs. And thats not all. Since it can let people who are owning a large company see your educational record fast, they can soon get interested in you. According to Nicole Ellison, PhD, Assistant Professor of Telecommunication, Information Studies, and Media at Michigan State University, "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." In a instant moment, social networking sites leads you to success - in the fastest way possible. I hope you answer my argument, and let this debate be a great experience to ourselves! Links 2,3 :http://socialnetworking.procon.org...

Title: Social Media is bad Content: Thanks for being my opponent on our first debate Luca. There are many reasons why social media is good for people and not bad. I would like to start off with this quote, "Smart phones and social media expand our universe. We can connect with others or collect information easier and faster than ever." -Daniel Goleman. With social media we are able to see what every person on this world (that have some type of social media of course) is up to with their lives. Your able to talk to friends/family that live far away, doesn't that amaze you? I look forward to seeing your response.

Title: Social networking has a negative impact on communities. Content: Social networking has a negative impact on communities. It increases cyberbullying, suicide and obesity.

Title: Social Networking Content: I'd like to welcome my opponent to the site; to get better acquainted, I figured that I would take this debate challenge, and observe her debating style for myself; not to mention, I wanted to expand my horizons a bit, and talk about something a bit more lighthearted. To clarify one thing: If it wasn't already known, then social networking sites are things like Facebook, MySpace, and Twitter, as opposed to dating sites like Match.com, Chemistry.com, etc. To things manageable, I will make only a couple of opening arguments, and I will briefly refute the Con's. I - Social networking is beneficial. Man is, by nature, a social creature; that is, people need people. As technology advances, so does mankind's means of communicating and socializing; for example, we've developed things such as the telegraph/telegram, mail service, telephone/cell phone, video chat, and now, we are looking at social networking sites; thus, we can see that, because social networking has increased the ability of people to communicate and socialize, whether city, state, nation, or even worldwide, social networking sites have clearly had a positive impact on society. II - Social networking sites balance a child's privacy and a parent's right to know. A classic clash always happens when pitting the right to privacy of a child against the right to know of a parent; however, social networking sites find a happy medium, so that neither side is overlooked; for example, on Facebook, a teenager may have private conversations with a friend over the private messaging system, but the parent of this teenager will still be able to keep track of things such as posts made to other friends' walls, pictures posted, etc. Social networking sites give parents the ability to keep tabs on many of their child's online postings, such as pictures and personal information, but without having to directly invade on their child's privacy; this again proves that social networking sites have had a positive effect on society. III - Social networking sites provide a degree of online safety. While all websites and internet users are vulnerable to some degree, the openness and oversight provided by the staff of social networking sites, give or take a few situations, ensures a higher degree of safety than might be found elsewhere on the internet. While these sites don't have to take direct responsibility for their users, there's still a higher sense of security than would be found in unchecked e-mail services, instant messengers, and chat rooms full of shady characters; so, to some extent, social networking sites provide all the benefits of other services, such as IM and e-mail, but without the fear of being stalked by a predator or serial killer [though I can't account for the harmless creepers that tend to accumulate on some sites. :)]. Now, to move on to the Con's sole contention. 1. Social networking is potentially harmful. a. A lot of different things can be potentially harmful; however, simply because something has the potential to be misused does not mean that it has had a negative effect on society; prescription medication, for example, can (and often is) abused by the people to whom it is prescribed; however, this potential for abuse does not mean that we do away with prescription drugs completely, and it is the same with social networking sites. b. In the case with Megan Meier, this girl was already reported to suffer from depression, was on several medications, and since the third grade, had been kept under the careful eye of her psychiatrist [http://en.wikipedia.org...]; as we can see, Megan was already in a fragile condition; as we can see, it was not MySpace that was responsible for Megan's tragic suicide; rather, this unfortunate event can be attributed to Lori Drew, Ashley Grills, and the several other people who aided in operating the account and harassing Megan; clearly, MySpace didn't intend for their site to be used in such a way, and this is evidenced by the fact that Ms. Drew, among others, was brought to trial, not the MySpace staff; for example, if someone is shot in a nightclub, nobody holds the nightclub staff responsible for being unaware that the shooting would happen; they hold the shooter responsible, as he is the one that committed the detestable act; in the same way, MySpace cannot be held accountable for the malicious acts of other people, and this instance, while tragic, is not a negative effect of social networking sites, but merely the misuse of them. I will stand down for the moment, and allow my opponent to chew on my opening arguments for a bit. Good luck, Con!

Title: social networking is bad Content: actually social networking is a superb thing. it keeps us in touch with our relatives in foreign and also helps to interact with our friends. it also allows us to share pics of our life and to share the joy!!!!!!!

Title: debate with yourself Content: Topic- Are social networking sites good for our society? I say that the social networking sites prevent face-to-face communication; waste time on frivolous activity; alter children"s brains and behavior making them more prone to ADHD; expose users to predators like pedophiles and burglars; and spread false and potentially dangerous information. Students who used social networking sites while studying scored 20% lower on tests and students who used social media had an average GPA of 3.06 versus non-users who had an average GPA of 3.82 Having distractions like these in your surroundings have shown difference in the children's mental behavior and studies. They spend most of their time on social sites, reducing human interaction. They think what they are doing is interacting but clicking on your iPhones and iPads is not interacting. Today, a significant number of pre-teens have their mobiles and laptops. Do they even need them? They have 400 friends on Facebook but they know only 50 of them. Interacting is good but they get obsessed with it. So, leave your distractions behind and go and talk up to the people in your lives and then notice how amazing it is to literally talk to people rather than texting or IMing them.

Title: social networks are more harm than good Content: i will start by saying this . have a fair and fun debate. i do believe that social networks help and that in the end of the day: they help!!! they help get jobs and friends

Title: that, on balance, social networking websites have had a positive impact on the US Content: I'm sorry, these aren't all my arguments. Intro As technology has evolved, mankind has made means of communication more convenient, efficient, and powerful. Thus, we have reached a new era of expressiveness, and that is why I affirm the resolution that, on balance, social networking websites have a positive impact on the United States. I will prove to you why social networking sites serve as a superb medium of communication that positively impacts social capital among its users, helps the American business as well as provides jobs. Point One: Social Capital What is a social networking web site? It is a revolutionary web service centered around building online communities for people that share common interests. With it, people can first create their own user profiles, and then create their own virtual community, with as many affiliates as they would like. As we live through life, friends come and go, and sadly, some we may never get a chance to see again. However, with social networking sites, friends can stay in touch no matter how far apart they may be. Since people can share as much information as they like with anyone in their online community anywhere that has internet access, social networking websites increases social capital. It's simple logic, if someone has the ability to share as much information as they like with as many people as they like, more time to talk with Point Two: Jobs Since social networking websites are such a convenient, efficient, and powerful tools, people have come to realize that it can be used for more innovative activities than simply socializing with friends. Since many professionals use social networking websites to help them find jobs, social networking websites benefit the American economy. According to Stanford University researcher Mark Granovetter 50%-70% of American jobs are obtained with the help of social networking websites. That's over 100 million American jobs. According to Mark Mehler from CareerXroads, a person using a social networking sites to get a jobs chances increases from 1/500 to 1/35. Point Three: Business According to Robert Half International from a poll of 150 senior executives from the biggest US companies, nearly 2/3 of them will use social networking sites for their hiring efforts.

Title: Resolved: That, on balance, social networking Web sites have a positive impact on the United States. Content: Unless my opponent has any objections, the parameters for this debate will be as follows: 1. "Social networking websites" are defined as web-based services that allow individuals to (1) construct a public or semi-public profile within a bounded system, (2) articulate a list of other users with whom they share a connection, and (3) view and traverse their list of connections and those made by others within the system. 2. "The United States" will not be contrained merely to a body of government or a geographical region, but to society, businesses, people, etc. One last note: I would urge the consideration of anecdotal accounts to be considered in a logical rather than emotional fashion. Social networking is a thing of the future, a revolutionary concept that will transform the current world. Social networking has evolved from not only a place to meet your friends and mingle, but to a place where businesses are run, deals are made, and contracts are completed. In addition, the networks enhance communication and encourage people from different parts of the world to converse and interact. Also, the network has its educational benefits as well. Students who use social networking learn important skills to help them survive in the 21st century such as managing websites, editing videos, making use of other technological skills. The use of social networking tools as part of everyday working life has led to an increase in efficiency in the workplace. According to Dynamic Markets, Of those employees using social networking tools in the workplace, 65% say that it has made them and/or their colleagues more efficient. And 45% say that it has sparked ideas and creativity for them personally. Businesses use SNS for collaboration sites on intranets, internal forums within the company, company-produced video material shared on intranets, online social networks like LinkedIn and external collaboration sites on the Web and internal blogging sites. Benefits include increasing an individual's knowledge; giving access to products to problems; harnessing the collective knowledge of employees, customers and suppliers; stimulating team building; and better internal collaboration. In addition, businesses like Best Buy who use social networking increase their employee retention rates by making employees feel like they belong. There are far-reaching educational benefits of social networking. Christine Greenhow, researcher at the University of Minnesota, explains that "[S]tudents using social networking sites are actually practicing the kinds of 21st century skills we want them to develop to be successful today." Also, according to a study conducted by Childnet International, teachers and students alike could set-up online "study groups" and students can use them to collaborate together on group projects and assignments. Social networking helps to encourage student engagement and increase participation, encourages online discussion amongst students outside of school, and provides students with a sense of ownership and engagement which often leads to an improved quality of work. Furthermore, Social Networking sites may increase an individual's self-confidence. As BusinessWeek says, "When people are bullied they often don't feel confident about speaking to people face to face about what is going on - whereas doing it online is quite easy." Social networking Web sites can help shy people come out of their shells by teaching them how to interact with others in a safe, online environment. Social Networking has substantial benefits that greatly outweigh and hindrances there might be. Because of this, I ask you to AFFIRM the resolution.

Title: that, on balance, social networking websites have had a positive impact on the US Content: As my opponent has not rebutted any of my arguments, I shall rebut his and advance my own. 1. Social Capital This contention has two major flaws: it is not unique to social networking sites, and its impact is relatively insignificant. First of all, all of the benefits my opponent just listed can be equally enjoyed through IM, texts, chat rooms, calling someone, etc. Social networking sites have not created these benefits, they have just created yet another place to experience them, minimizing their impact to very little. This brings me to my next point: the impact of this is relatively insignificant. When compared to any of my contentions, simply being able to talk with someone who is far away is not even close to the same magnitude. 2. Jobs "According to Stanford University researcher Mark Granovetter 50%-70% of American jobs are obtained with the help of social networking websites. That's over 100 million American jobs. " This is actually false, and is an attempt by my opponent to change a fact for his own benefit. Here is the actual quote from . http://www.tuboston.com...: "Stanford University sociology professor Mark Granovetter recently conducted research that supports the value of making new connections. He found that between 50 and 70 percent of new jobs are discovered by reaching out to people job seekers only know vaguely. " This does not mean 50%-70% of American jobs are obtained with the help of social networking websites. It means 50%-70% of American jobs are obtained with the help of weak ties, which *might* be established using social networking sites. As such, this statistic should be discounted from consideration. "According to Mark Mehler from CareerXroads, a person using a social networking sites to get a jobs chances increases from 1/500 to 1/35. " As for this statistic, I would ask for an accessible source to view this. Though I cannot say for sure without an accessible source, I would like to note that "CareerXroads" is a site designed to help the unemployed find jobs, and as such there is a high probability that my opponent has miquoted a figure intended for that specific site, among other possibilities. 3. Business "According to Robert Half International from a poll of 150 senior executives from the biggest US companies, nearly 2/3 of them will use social networking sites for their hiring efforts. " To "use social networking sites" that could mean merely hiring a single employee whose job includes glancing over resumes online. Thus, this point has almost no impact unless backed up by significant statistics.

Title: social media is bad Content: social media is good

Title: users under 18 using Facebook Content: Thanks for your response. My opponent cited a study which a Doctor Underwood stated that the activities posted in FB are for everyone to see and therefore a bad thing. Not really, since anyone can edit their privacy settings. Facebook, like other social netwoking sites have upsides and downsides. Users may receive positive or negative feedback from others. But does that mean that we should totally ban them to teens? Again, no. I stated that FB can be used for educational purposes, my opponent refuting that statement by saying we have other references like the library is irrelevant. My opponent believes that FB made people more physically distant and gives people a false sense on getting better socially and makes people more closed minded. Since my no sources and accurate references were cited here and it's a he-says-she-says, let me start by introducing the study of the Pew Internet & American Life Project, where they stated that social networking sites helped 60 million people on major life issues via contacting friends and experts online. (http://socialnetworking.procon.org...) Also, according to the National School Board Association, 59% of students use social networking sites for educational purposes. This highly supersedes my opponent's assumption that teens only use social networking sites for negative stuffs. (http://socialnetworking.procon.org...) Bottomline, my opponent just repeated her argument which I already previously refuted. Again, just because FB may harm its users does not mean we should affect the majority. Sorry for it being short, really busy IRL. No time to write.

Title: join Facebook. Content: Facebook is good for democracy

Title: Social networking sites On Balance have had a positive impact on the United States Content: Social Networking sites are a tricky thing to debate because of the various pros and cons. I decided to take this debate on however. First off, many people are reunited through social networking site. Second, many people find life long companions through dating websites. Third, people can keep in touch with family from all across the world. These are a few of the pros.

Title: The internet has been more of a hurt than a help. Content: While I will agree that the internet surely has brought some new social and cultural issues to humanity, My main argument is that the pros outweigh the cons. The pro's being that the internet has improved communication has improved our education and has helped our moral standards improved. I would, However, Be delighted to hear the pro's side and I look forward to read your response.

Title: Resolved: That, on balance, social networking Web Sites have a positive impact on the United States. Content: You stated: "social networking websites are meant to increase communication" Although the original intentions may have been good, now they no longer increase communication in a good way. You stated: "these sites increase creativity" However, not all of the sites give you the power to use the layout of your choice. You stated: "It could be private or public" Although a person's profile may be private, whatever you put on the internet will stay there forever. That has a negative impact on the United States because it undermines the accomplishments that people have made over the years. For instance, say a kid was trying to run for president. At that time, all of his/her confidential files become a "free for all. " If he/she had made any sort of comment while on a social networking website, that could jeopardize their political career. You stated: "Your friends aren't going to try and lower your self esteem or push you to the brink of suicide and if they do then you need to reconsider if they are really your friends. " However, teenagers, the main users of social networking web sites, are not at the age where they can truly determine who their friends are. Honestly, the rebuttals that you presented make no sense. Because I stated "So many teenagers and adults have lost their lives as a result of social networking web sites. " You stated "Ok to start off I do believe that the amount of deaths isn't even close to the amount of deaths that we face because of other alternatives" The fact that people die other ways, does not mean that many lives have been lost at the hand of social networking websites. Because I stated "Because of a website, mothers have had to bury their children" You stated "mothers have had to bury their children, but mothers have other reasons to bury their children. " Yes, that may be true, but that does no change the fact that children have died because of social networking sites. You stated "Without this form of communication we are entering the future. These websites are the future so why run from the future? " But, not only are we not running from the future, as you so eloquently stated, but we have already seen that success comes without social networking websites, and the death that comes with it, so why bother? You stated "Also many children and teenagers are able to express themselves clearly so why is it that you take away their only form of expressing themselves? " But, teenagers have so many other ways of expressing themselves, email/AIM (which are not social networking websites,) by phone (via text/voice/picture messaging and simply calling. ) So, what was your point again? I stand "Resolved: That, on balance, social networking Web Sites have a NEGATIVE impact on the United States. " You have failed to actually argue on the impact that the social networking Web Sites have on the United States.

Title: Social Networking Content: Social networking via Facebook, Twitter, etc., is as good as, if not better than, face-to-face interaction and socializing.

Title: Social media does more harm than good Content: I wouldn't go to the extreme in saying that the world would be a better place if smart phones and social media didn't exist at all. I do agree that there are plenty of benefits to social media; however, I am stating that it is doing society more harm than good. You talk about how newspapers caused a disconnection between people before. But that doesn't mean that social media makes it anymore better. It's the concept that two wrongs don't make it right. You talk about people being extroverted vs introverted. Sure people can have welcoming faces and you can tell a lot how approachable someone is by body language and facial expressions. However, I argue that it is harder to tell if someone is approachable when their face is glued to their phone. When you mention that if you want more social interactions give them the feeling you are willing to engage in conversation, I believe that means that people have to be willing to put down their pieces of technology and engage in the real world. Congratulations with you and your significant other! You two were able to use social media as an aid as a form of communications you were able engage. But often times, social media becomes the only form of communication for a lot of relationships. I argue that these types of relationships are not genuine. It is hard to distinguish whether these relationships that are soley in the social media realm are meaningful. I think it does take the ability to have interactions beyond just social media in order for a relationship to be genuine between two people. I have enjoyed arguing with you and you have brought up some valid points. I think depending on ones point of view that there are unlimited pros and cons for social media. After this debate, I don't think that social media should be removed completely but it should be redefined on how its used. I think because it is making our society more antisocial in the real world and more social in the cyber community, we need to be less engrossed in it. I think we should use it as a tool to encourage more face to face interactions. Your example of how you met your significant other is a great example of it being used as tool. The issue is that our society doesn't use social media for just that and I think that is why social media is doing us more harm than good.

Title: Screens make us feel more isolated than we really are. Content: My opponent has forfeited and therefore not fulfilled his BoP He also doesn't take into account that social networking sites, Such as Facebook, Twitter, Viber, and Skype, as well as DDO, grants us the opportunity to interact with family and friends from all over the world, at any given moment. I hope Pro makes an argument in the third round.

Title: Social Networking is Causing More Harm than Good Content: First of all, let us understand what it is we are debating here. We are debating social networking sites. Not just one or two specific sites, like Facebook, or Myspace, but social websites as a whole. So let us put forth a strong definition to fit the topic.Social Networking Site: Any websites which facilitates communication between two or more individuals.So what we are really talking about here is communication between human beings, online, rather than through any other medium (telephone, letter, face to face, ect.) I will be blunt, it is asinine to propose that something which facilitates communication between human beings could somehow be more harmful than good. Social networking websites allow for human interaction over great distances. They allow people globally to connect with one another, share ideas, express desires, form bonds of friendship, and discuss similar interests. We live in an age where if someone feels alone or isolated, quickly using a search engine like Google could bring you to a forum of people who share your same feelings, alleviating the pain of solitude. Social networking sites allow humans a place to retreat to after a hard days work, or a long day of school. Indeed, the only difference between a social networking site and a gathering of friends in a public space is that using the website makes it easier to connect! Would my opponent dare propose that social interaction is harmful? Then how can they make such blanket statements about the vast array of websites which do just this, but allow you to, say, keep in contact with not just your friends, but you Uncle in a faraway place, or a loved one half-way across the globe? Indeed, the very idea is preposterous.As if it were not bad enough, my opponent, in order to justify their claim of social networking sites bringing MORE harm than good (not simply some harm), only gives rise to TWO potential issue; the first one being the medium is public, and can interfere with employment. This proposition my opponent makes is illogical. Let us observe why.1. This is not the fault of social networking sitesMy opponent seems to think that the actions of third parties can somehow justify attacking social networking websites. But this is illogical. To blame social networking sites for something that others do is misplaced blame. The existence of these websites do not force companies and employers to do what they do, they do it of their own desire. And taking away social networking sites will not prevent this from occurring, employers will simply look elsewhere, as they have done, for information on their potential employee. They'll call relatives and references, and gain information about you that way. And in older times, when communities were smaller, they would ask around the town for information. So the actions of employers to seek out information on their candidates for hire is nothing new, and cannot be blamed on social networking sites. All these websites do is give employers another potential source of information about you. In of themselves, these sites are harmless, and therefore without blame.2. This is not a problem with most networking sitesRecalling our definition of social networking websites, most social networking websites will not give rise to his kind of problem, because most websites allow for the creation of "Usernames", or names specific to an online site. I am sure, for instance, my opponents name in real life is not "szack", nor is mine "The Chaos Heart". These are fake names, or online names, made for a specific online environment. Most social websites you encounter on the web will be structured in such a manner, allowing for someone to construct usernames for themselves rather than use their real names. So this complaint my opponent has put forth is all but negligible.3. You could just not use your real name. There is an easy solution to this "problem" put forth by opponent, similar to the above critique about usernames. You could just lie about what your real name is. This is actually what I do with my Facebook. This method of networking allows you to hide yourself from unwanted attention, and allow permit those who you wish to see your page to view it. It completely renders my opponents proposed argument meaningless.4. The morality of firing someone is questionableThe morality of firing someone simply because they do not enjoy heir job is highly questionable, and I would argue, morally reprehensible. Someone may need a particular job to survive, even if they don't enjoy it. To fire them for simply not liking what they do, even if they may do it well and efficiently, is disgusting. To this end, we should not be defending such actions in any manner, especially not by criticising institutions like social networking sites. It's that companies fire people based on info they find on these sites that is wrong, not that they can access the information in the first place. My opponents argument is the equivalent of saying it is wrong for someone to go outside, because someone might murder them. Going outside isn't the problem, the problem is that there is someone willing to murder you to begin with. So it is with these websites and companies. The problem isn't the websites, it's the companies willing to fire people based on the info they find to begin with.Now my opponent proposes a second potential issue, which is similar in many ways to the first. That is, it interferes with education, both in terms of studies and application to universities. But these too are illogical complaints.1. Connection in education is goodMy opponent argues, "Go to Yahoo Answers and see how many people use networking to try and answer their math homework or the science equation..." But what my opponent fails to point out is how many of these students, as a result of doing this, learn the information and go on to answer future questions correctly, thereby having bettered themselves as students. There is nothing wrong with asking for help, either from professors or peers, and it is something which is often encouraged by educators. Several of these Yahoo Answers give detailed responses on how to solve any particular problem, and are vital resources for which students are able to easily gain the knowledge they need, and further their education. Further more, taking away social networking sites will not prevent this connection to occur; again, like with the example of employers above, students will simply do what they have done in the past. they will form study groups, call one another, discuss things before or after class, ect. Social networking websites then can hardly be held responsible for this behavior, as it is something done without it. Like with the issue above with employment, all these websites do is make getting the information easier.2. The argument of application and universities is the same as before My four above points about employers and jobs can be taken, reworded a little, and used again for this exact argument. This behavior is not the fault of social networking websites, but the fault of universities, who would and have done this with or without these websites. Most of these websites allow for the creation of usernames, and even if they don't, you can simply lie about what your real name is. And finally, the morality of not accepting a student based on something you find on their personal profile is questionable, and therefore, the problem isn't social networking sites, but universities engaging in this behavior to begin with.3. My opponent's own source argues against themMy opponent's edudemic article lists within it 5 major reasons why social networking within schools is a GOOD thing, in addition to the 5 points it makes about the negatives. I do not have enough characters left to quote them, but they are easily read by anyone who clicks my opponent's link.I turn it over to my opponent.

Title: Resolved: That, on balance, social networking Web sites have a positive impact on the United States. Content: Resolved: That, on balance, social networking Web sites have a positive impact on the United States. Social Networking Web Sites defined: http://jcmc.indiana.edu.... (Indiana University) Boyd & Ellison in 2007 The criteria for social networking Web sites are as follows: 1) Construct a public or semi-public profile within a bounded system 2) Articulate a list of other users with whom they share a connection 3) View and traverse their list of connections and those made by others within the system. The nature and nomenclature of these connections may vary from site to site. On Balance defined: Net benefits versus disadvantages Social Networking Sites Are Neutral And Simply Mirror Society. Boyd in 2008, Danah Boyd. [Fellow at Harvard University Berkman Center for Internet and Society]. "Is MySpace Good for Society? A Freakonomics Quorum." Freakonomics – New York Times Blog. February 15, 2008. http://freakonomics.blogs.nytimes.com.... Accessed November 5, 2008. Social media (including social network sites, blog tools, mobile technologies, etc.) offer mechanisms by which people can communicate, share information, and hang out. As an ethnographer traipsing across the U.S., I have heard innumerable stories of how social media has been used to bring people together, support learning, and provide an outlet for creative expression. These sites are tools. They can and have been used for both positive and negative purposes. For homosexual teens in rural America, they can be tools for self-realization in the battle against depression. Thanks to such tools, many teens have chosen not to take the path of suicide, knowing that there are others like them. For teens who are unable to see friends and family due to social and physical mobility restrictions, social media provides a venue to build and maintain always on intimate communities. For parents whose kids have gone off to college, social media can provide a means by which the family can stay in meaningful contact through this period of change. This is not to say that all of the products of social media are positive. We can all point to negative consequences: bullying, gossip mongering, increased procrastination, etc. Our news media loves to focus on these. Even the positive stories that do run often have a negative or sensationalist angle, such as those who used Twitter to track the California fires. Unfortunately, those who do not understand social media look to the news, see the negative coverage, and declare all social media evil. It's easy to look at a lot of elements of today's society and cry foul. It's equally easy to look at the new technology that we don't understand and blame it as the cause for all social ills. It's a lot harder to accept that social media is mirroring and magnifying all of the good, bad, and ugly about today's society, shoving it right back in our faces in the hopes that we might face the underlying problems. Technology does not create bullying; it simply makes it more visible and much harder for adults to ignore.

Title: Facebook: A Boon For the Society Content: Dear Readers, Today I stand for the topic "Facebook: A Boon For the Society". Before to jump to the main body, I would like to make some clarifications: * Facebook: Facebook is a social networking website that was originally designed for college students, but is now open to anyone 13 years of age or older. Facebook users can create and customize their own profiles with photos, videos, and information about themselves. Friends can browse the profiles of other friends and write messages on their pages. * Society: A group of individuals living as members of a community. Reasons for Classifying Facebook as A Boon For The Society: 1. ALLOWS PEOPLE TO LEARN, EXPLORE AND DISCOVER THE WORLD AROUND THEM. Facebook allows people to discover the world present around them. In this rat-race, where people compete each other for money and status; making new friends and discovering new possibilities of relationship is almost impossible (I used the term almost). Facebook provides a quick solution to this problem. It allows people to contact each other from any place- home, houses, schools and others private/public places. 2. ALLOWS VIDEO CONFERENCING: THE NEXT GENERATION INTERVIEWS. Video Conferencing is a feature of Facebook, which allows people from any corner of the world communicate with each other. This communication when is supplemented by voice and video, is termed as Video Conferencing. *** DUE TO SOME PROBLEMS REGARDING MY TIME MANAGEMENT; I END MY ARGUMENT HERE TODAY. BUT I PROMISE TO COME BACK WITH MORE POINTS AND ARGUMENTS IN THE NEXT ROUND. *** Sources: http://www.techterms.com...

Title: Social Networking Sites are Harmful Content: :D Hope this is going to be fun. ==DEFINITIONS==Well, seeing that the PRO has not defined the topic yet, I will take it into my own hands. I define Social Networking Sites as a website for gregarious humans to find communities and companionship. .. Just to clarify, social networking sites do not include dating websites, such as eharmony. com, match. com, etc, as the websites only support 1 on 1 close relationships, as compared to social which pertains to a gathering or community. I define harmful as causing physical/mental damage, or moral injury, evil, wrong. ==REBUTTALS==Con states "These Social Networking sites are bad for the young ones under 14, I think they shouldn't lie. But as they do, they get Cyber-bullied! It is wrong! "His argument is based on the premise that children under 14 get on social networking sites. 1) According to Time, Facebook kicks off 20,000 underage users everyday. . http://newsfeed.time.com...2) Most people on social networking sites are adults who are capable of making their own choices as to what to do.3)People are responsible when it comes to who their friends are, and taking it up with the proper people if they are being cyber-bullied on social networks. Nowadays, most schools are open to help children who are being cyber-bullied. ==ARGUMENTS== 1) Large social networking sites are constantly monitored by staff members, and when you take into consideration that there are plenty of dangerous chat rooms and instant messengers filled with suspicious people, isn't it clear that these social networking sites provide more online safety?2) There exists a balance in privacy between Parents and teenagers, and this is critical as teenagers deserve their own privacy and peace of mind from the micromanagement of some parents, while parents still do hold the right to monitor what their children are doing. Take facebook as an example and its many uses. Private Messages aren't available to outside people, while parents can easily monitor their children and their children's friends' walls to keep track and monitor them. This balance is crucially needed in today's world, as more and more teenagers are becoming social.3) Health. The human mind needs social activity. In fact, in schools nowadays, teachers are teaching students about the three parts to health. This includes your physical health, your mental/emotional health, and finally your social health. Human beings need friends; they need people they can depend on and talk to in times of need. Facebooks helps people socialize and adds an important "happiness" factor in their lives. 4)Social networking sites allows friends and family to keep in touch more easily, as they can instantaneously share information about their lives, such as events, photos, videos and more, with their friends and family, even if they are far away. Forgetting your old friends or distant family members is less likely to happen when you see their faces and updates every day on websites such as facebook.5)Self-Determination Groups. Social networking sites have many benefits. One of them allows people with similar beliefs to connect with one another and stand up for a cause. Take Egypt for an example. Recently, when Egypt fought for democracy, self-determination groups used communication methods such as Facebook. With this I bring my arguments to a close. I shall expand and make new ones, if necessary, in future rounds. =====================================================I await Pro's response. :)!

Title: Social Networking Content: Resolved: That, on balance, social networking Web sites have a positive impact on the United States. Today, I am against the resolution, Resolved: That, on balance, social networking Web sites have a positive impact on the United States. Social networking sites have had a negative impact on the United States. My first conjunctions is as followed; --Social Networking is potentially going to harm to persons using them. One example of this is Megan Meier, who took her life after an old friends mom posed as a boy on myspace and began harassing her. When a social networking site does nothing to protect users of it's site, we see it as unfit. Just as we would see a mother unfit to raise a child if she didn't protect it from danger. ** I can't wait for someone's reply**

Title: social networking is bad Content: Yes it allows us to interact with people but also exposes our personal information. For example, the con side just mentioned that we can share our photos with each other but those photos are seen by other people also and some of those people are criminals or you can just can say bad guys who can use to that photo for a bad purpose. Social networking reveals our personal information.

Title: Social networks should be banned for children under 16 years old Content: As a 15 year old, I have grown up in a world where social networks were not only invented, but improved upon. Through the many different kinds of social networks, whether they be picture sharing, status updaters, or whatever else, I'm able to keep in contact with people that I don't see everyday, or even at all. For example, Omegle, a website that allows strangers to converse with each other, gives me the opportunity to meet people from around the world. And if we have a good conversation, apps like Kik or Yahoo Messenger allow me to talk to that person at a later time, which can easily lead to a lifelong friendship. Also, on apps/websites like Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram, I can see what family members who live out of town, state, or even country are up to, and comment on these postings. Plus, I can see what my favorite celebrities or even the government are doing as well. And to finish this round, I'll present an educational point. With most of these apps, the abilities to discuss things from school, work on projects, or compare answers on homework from long distances is present. So while there may be cons, as you already stated and others, the overall pros weigh them out. Especially considering the fact that not all younger teens are the same.

Title: That, on balance, social networking web sites have a positive impact on the United States. Content: Social Networking is defined as a web-based service that allow individuals to (1) construct a public or semi-public profile within a bounded system, (2) articulate a list of other users with whom they share a connection, and (3) view and traverse their list of connections and those made by others within the system. There are dozens of great things about social networking, but the main positives are the increase in social capital they provide, the political participation it increases, and the staggering learning potential it offers First, there is Social Capital. Social Capital is an economic idea which refers to connections between individuals and entities. Its economically valuable and it helps people link together and people who trust and assist one another are extremely powerful. the better a company understands their possible consumers, the more social capital. Multiple studies from such universities as Northwestern prove that the more usage a company puts into Social Networking sites, the more social capital they receive. not to mention that social networking is a $15 billion market, from advertising alone. Next, these sites such as Facebook and Myspace, and even debate.org, increase dramatically the statistic of political participation according to major academic studies. our new president, Barack Obama, used social networking tremendously during his campaign and he, obviously, won. his main site was Change.gov, but he also used other large sites as a crowd sourcing tool in order to attract even more of the young people vote. In continuation, social networking sites are not just for teenage socializing, it also contains enormous potential to be a learning cornerstone. in a study performed by the University of Minnesota, the social networking sites were helping students learn 21st century skills such as developing a positive attitude towards technology, editing and customizing content, learning online design, practicing safe and responsible use of info, and sharing creative original work. this show the Internet's overall enormous potential. Thank you, and please affirm this resolution.

Title: Social media does more harm than good Content: I would like to debate that social media does not do more harm than good. Thank you and good luck

Title: Social Networking sites are a boon Content: "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 neighbours 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. Through the course of our surfing on the social web. I would first log you in with a thought, and then straight away hit the notifications and give justify my argument's and towards the end I bang up my words with an error 404 i.e. make this august house believe my points and over shadow my complacent virtual socialites on the other side. But will social networking sites really improve the quality of people's lives? 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 neighbours... Tabbing onto notifications-- 1st notification - Social networking sites are a major distraction from learning. Psychologist Kirschnera told the Daily Mail that his team studied 219 U.S. university students between ages 19 and 54, and found that Facebook users had a typical grade point average of 3.06, while "non-users" had an average GPA of 3.82. The psychologist said the study wasn't about whether Facebook's good or bad, but goes more to the stereotype that younger people are fluid multi-taskers 2nd notification Social networking sites have given rise to online frauds and to paedophilia - children are unknowingly exposed to voyeuristic vultures. As I mentioned earlier, we have become addicts and are just blindly following the herd. There is no more confidentiality or respect for human idiosyncrasies. Playing online games, sharing your private information and photos has become the norm. If you do not participate you are looked as a pariah or an outcast. 3rd notification It is unethical for social network sites to use personal information to enable advertisers to better target you as a consumer. Personal information should not be used for commercial purposes. It is too invasive, and can cause emotional damage. For example, what if your profile indicates that your girlfriend just broke up with you, for example. An ad agency is allowed to obtain this information and use it to send you an advertisement on break-ups. This could do emotional damage. Now moving to facts and figures… The world is seriously obsessed with social networking.. As of 2011 there are 5, 00,000,000 users on Facebook i.e. 1 out of every 13th person in the world. 48/. Of the total users use Facebook right after they wake up! 57/. Of the people talk more online than in their real life. Approximately 2,000 billion notifications all over the social networking world. Now, I let you to ponder ladies and gentlemen will this not bring about disbalance in political, social, economical, so on and so forth aspects of a person's life and the world.

Title: Social networks should be banned for children under 16 years old Content: Your argument does make sense to a point, but the thing you have to consider is the fact that in some cases, like if people in "real-life" don't have much in common with you, or you are in a place where people aren't worth talking to, these networks are the ONLY things giving people social lives. For example, if you play an online game, you can chat with people and make friends. Or, as I mentioned earlier, which is contradictory to the face-to-face point, things like Omegle or Skype give the opportunity to develop relationships as well. And I know for sure that the public school system does require some sort of speech/working together activities. Also, the child's lack of social development cannot be completely attributed to social networks. First off, there are many people in the world that have the social skills of a hermit, and have no social network influence in their lives. In my opinion, social skills in a child are determined by how much a parent bothers to pay attention to their child, and help them develop these skills. I will however admit this. In excessive amounts without moderation, social networking can be bad, but this is for any age. One of the main reasons I decided to join this debate is that I've used social networks since 11, and while I didn't use them much, I'm still not a social recluse. And I would like to agree with you, sort of. Social networks should be banned for children, but not for 16 and younger. Most people by at least 13 are developed enough socially that social networking shouldn't have an effect. Plus, most social networking sites, specifically Facebook for this example, don't allow users to join unless they are 13 or older, as I said. Yes, one can simply lie about their age, I did and I know many others have, but there is no way for these organizations to not only legitimately verify all of these accounts, but to do the job of their parents in stopping them. To finish off, again with Facebook, it's not like they aren't trying either. I know people personally that had their accounts deleted after it was discovered they were underage. But what I'm trying to say is, 16 is too old of a limit, and not all people are the same. It is up to the parents of these children to stop them, not some government ban.

Title: Technology is making us anti social Content: I disagree with that statement. Facebook is a huge social media site with tens of millions of users solely for the purpose of being social. Each innovation seems to make our world more and more connected socially. We might converse in different ways through different mediums, but we are more social now than ever. Text messaging, emails, cellphones, live streams, you name it. 50 years ago? Not a chance.

Title: Parental control on sns or other social networking should be banned Content: Thank you for the argument. I really appreciate it. I agree that children might not know well about safety. However, these days, social networking is the most powerful and comfortable way for the children to communicate with other friends. For some children, small communication with other friends might give encouragement and happiness beyond the academies and enormous homeworks. Also, social networking does not only give disadvantage to the children. Social networking allows the children to know better about what is happening in the society. I think that children also has their own privacy. Also, parental control may make the relationship between the parents and children to get worse. Many fights are happening between families about the parental control. Additionally, the children do not like their sns to be controlled by parents. They want their privacy to be kept, and the thoughts of the children should be also respected, not only the adults' and parents'.

Title: More the means of communication the less we communicate Content: First of all, what my opponent has said clearly highlights his misinterpretation of the topic and also of my argument. I have not started this debate just for the sake of criticizing such technological advancements that help us to connect with each other. My stand is very clear. I totally agree that social technology has broken all the geographical barriers enabling us to interact with more people than even before. But like any revolutionary concept, it has also spawned a set of new barriers and threats. Is the focus now on communication quantity versus quality? Superficiality versus authenticity? In an ironic twist, social media has the potential to make us less social which we need to understand. The fact is that we have become so engrossed in social media that we are left with very little time to spend with our parents and friends. Moreover if a person primarily communicates 'virtually', he is never able to build meaningful friendships or relations. We are no longer the deep thinkers we used to be. Who has the time to think? My rival gave the example of us debating right now to prove his point. But I would like to ask him a question. Don't you think that this debate would have been far more successful and worthy if going on face to face? I know its quite hypothetical since you hardly know me......but, if I would have been debating with any of my known friends, then wouldn't it have been much better if we directly conversed sitting opposite to each other? I am certainly not blaming the technology for all this. What we need to understand is that technology is meant to be our slave, we are not meant to be enslaved by technology. Friends, I seriously doubt whether we are still able to talk to someone that skillfully as earlier with full expression of our non verbal-cues!!!

Title: Resolved: That, on balance, social networking Web sites have a positive impact on the United States. Content: Thank you for the challenge, and good luck to my opponent. First of all, I would like to point out that all of my opponent's arguments are copy-pasted from the source which she quotes. Also notable is that the title of this article, as seen in my opponent's citation, is "Social Networking Sites Are Neutral And Simply Mirror Society." However, in order to win, Pro must show how social networking sites are beneficial to the United States; if they have a neutral impact, Pro has not fulfilled their burden of proof, and so Con should win. To address Mrs. Boyd's points... Mrs. Boyd contends that "I have heard innumerable stories of how social media has been used to bring people together, support learning, and provide an outlet for creative expression" as well as that "For homosexual teens in rural America, they can be tools for self-realization in the battle against depression. Thanks to such tools, many teens have chosen not to take the path of suicide, knowing that there are others like them. For teens who are unable to see friends and family due to social and physical mobility restrictions, social media provides a venue to build and maintain always on intimate communities. For parents whose kids have gone off to college, social media can provide a means by which the family can stay in meaningful contact through this period of change." However these claims are not backed up with any statistics. Though I don't doubt the validity of these statements, according to the resolution we are looking to weigh the impact of these points. I would ask my opponent for any statistics that will allow us to weigh this claim. Mrs. Boyd also contends that "Technology does not create bullying; it simply makes it more visible and much harder for adults to ignore." However, what he fails to realize is that these social networking sites are providing a easy venue for these devastating actions to take place. Social networking sites *are* detrimental to the United States. Information put on social networking sites can have far-reaching negative ramifications. 4.5 million web users aged between 14 and 21 are damaging their future education and employment prospects by leaving an "electronic footprint" which could compromise their chances of winning places at colleges and companies. Also, imposters posing as you can destroy your reputation or even get you fired. Social networking provides a major distraction for students and employees alike. Students said they are having a difficult time concentrating on their schoolwork because they are more interested in what the social networking sites have to offer. Many college students would rather check their profiles than listen to the teacher, and can easily do so. Other students are also distracted from listening by the miscreants surfing the web. In business, 233 million hours are lost every month as a result of employees "wasting time" on their social networking. Sexual predation is a big risk in using the social network sites. Children and teens are not the only users of these social networking websites like FaceBook and MySpace; sexual predators, pedophiles, and other criminals use them as well. The Crimes Against Children Research Center at the University of New Hampshire found that nearly 1 in 5 kids had received unwanted sexual solicitations over the Internet. In addition, the FBI found that the number of known Internet predators on social networking websites has more than tripled in a single year. Also a major issue is cyber bullying. Over 40-85% of kids have been exposed to digital bullying, 5% so much so that they are afraid for their safety. Bullying online flourishes through its unrestricted growth. As stated by British Broadcasting Company's Teenage Psychologist Expert, Martha Everett, "People think they are a million times stronger because they can hide behind their computer screens." Cyberbullying can even threaten one's life. For example, thirteen year old Megan Meier committed suicide after being cyber bullied/harassed by her neighbor. In addition, Viruses abound on Social Networking Sites. These viruses, such as the Koobface virus, pose as one of your friends and send messages like "You look just awesome in this new movie," and then direct users to a website to supposedly view the movie, where in actuality viruses are hidden. As Chris Boyd, a researcher at FaceTime Labs said "People tend to let their guard down. They think you've got to log in with an account, so there is no way that worms and other viruses could infect them." This makes them much more likely to click on such links, ending in the flooding of their computer with malicious software. 83% of adults who use social networking sites have downloaded unknown files from other people's profiles, potentially exposing themselves to malware as a result. Also, Identity theft is a big issue in social networking sites as people place their personal information on Social networking sites. Research shows one in six 16 to 25-year-olds publishes information about his or herself on the internet that could be used by an identity fraudster. Scott Mitic, chief executive of TrustedID, speaks of social networking sites as a "growing pool of valuable information that at some point thieves may consider more valuable than a credit report." David Porter, head of security and risk at Detica, is astounded by the fact that that people use social networking websites to publish details about their lives, loves, jobs and hobbies to the entire world that they would not dream of sharing with a stranger. As BBC News puts it, social networking sites are the equivalent of a big red target with flashing in respect to identity thieves. Many pundits argue that social networking sites are highly beneficial in every aspect of society. However, these sites pose as big of a threat as they provide benefit. With the further evolution of these sites, more problems will emerge and soon create an uncontrollable international problem. When push comes to shove, social networking sites are merely a distraction where time is wasted. Because my opponent points to relatively insignificant benefits and ignores the plethora of detriments, I ask you to NEGATE the resolution. Thank you.

Title: Social networking sites are harmful. Content: こんにちは、 と議論へようこそ。 Hello, and welcome to the debate, Social Networking sites are harmful. Yes they are harmful. I think Social Networking sites are very harmful from cyber bullying. It is absolutely atrocious the amount of people who get cyber bullied. We now live in a digital age, when being wired in seems as normal as breathing. Social networking Websites like Facebook and MySpace cashed in on the computer-toting generation by creating online 'social graphs' that allow younger (10+) to socialize in cyberspace. Now, with thousands of professionals flocking to these sites as well as to business applications like LinkedIn, some feel it's becoming necessary to use social networking sites to stay fresh in a new age of business interaction. The evidence to substantiate this notion, however, is small. Though the number of professionals connecting online surged recently, social-networking sites remain inadequate for successfully making new business contacts.. Unless you've already made previous contact, it's difficult to discern with who you are really dealing with. The computer screen, after all, offers little more than a rï¿½sumï¿½ with a head shot. Social-networking sites prove more of a distraction than a useful tool. The inundation of friend requests and insignificant news feeds on sites like Facebook eat up valuable time that could be spent solidifying contacts in person. "The most effective networking is face to face," says Stanford business professor Jeffrey Pfeffer. "There's no substitute for real human contact. It's less personal online." Plus, sometimes a level of cyber-anonymity is more convenient than total Web exposure. While sites like LinkedIn and others allow old colleagues, acquaintances, and business clients instant access to your contact info, it might be more hassle than help to sift through uncensored blasts from the past. A good old-fashioned handshake or happy-hour cocktail will do more to seal the deal than any MySpace profile or open e-vite. This may be the digital era, but successful business networking online remains a thing of the future.

Title: Social Media is anti-social Content: Thanks for making this debate! I have been looking to do one for a while now. Good luck. Now to begin. The vast contribution of social media to society, in helping people socialize, vast outweighs the losses, of peoples lives being ruined. Social media has absolutely revolutionized communication, and allows people to socialize from distances where they would be unable able to socialize otherwise. The people whose lives have been ruined by "social media" are merely using this as a source to blame another entity other than themselves. Naturally, abuse of any product will lead to negative effects. People don't lose friendships because of social media, they lose friendships because of bad decisions they made. To blame social media for your problems experienced online, is attempting to avert blame from yourself. Its like saying the fruit industry is making people fat. Of course with abuse of the product, this is an inevitability, but with proper use, and good decisions, social media is truly one of mans greatest and most social inventions. To reiterate, social media is social in the fact that it allows people to communicate from long distances in a very convenient manner. It helps you share what you want other people to see about you. It helps people obtain a social experience by making communication a lot easier. If you think social media is anti social, maybe you are the true anti social.

Title: Social Networking Sites are Harmful Content: The 'Pro' is here, And I am a GIRL! I think Social Networking sites are very harmful from cyber bullying. It is absolutely atrocious the amount of people who get cyber bullied. We now live in a digital age, when being wired in seems as normal as breathing. Social networking Websites like Facebook and MySpace cashed in on the computer-toting generation by creating online 'social graphs' that allow younger (10+) to socialize in cyberspace. Now, with thousands of professionals flocking to these sites as well as to business applications like LinkedIn, some feel it's becoming necessary to use social networking sites to stay fresh in a new age of business interaction. The evidence to substantiate this notion, however, is small. Though the number of professionals connecting online surged recently, social-networking sites remain inadequate for successfully making new business contacts.. Unless you've already made previous contact, it's difficult to discern with who you are really dealing with. The computer screen, after all, offers little more than a rï¿½sumï¿½ with a head shot. Social-networking sites prove more of a distraction than a useful tool. The inundation of friend requests and insignificant news feeds on sites like Facebook eat up valuable time that could be spent solidifying contacts in person. "The most effective networking is face to face," says Stanford business professor Jeffrey Pfeffer. "There's no substitute for real human contact. It's less personal online." Plus, sometimes a level of cyber-anonymity is more convenient than total Web exposure. While sites like LinkedIn and others allow old colleagues, acquaintances, and business clients instant access to your contact info, it might be more hassle than help to sift through uncensored blasts from the past. A good old-fashioned handshake or happy-hour cocktail will do more to seal the deal than any MySpace profile or open e-vite. This may be the digital era, but successful business networking online remains a thing of the future. Help from ( http://www.businessweek.com... )

Title: social networks bring out the monster in us Content: there many things happen because of social networks

Title: social networking sites should be banned..!!! Content: Arguments for Social Networking Sites:1. Increased communications with distant relatives.2. Increased communications with friends.3. Entertainment (because who, at some point on Facebook or Myspace, hasn't tried Mafia or Farmville or something?)Refutations to my opponent's sole argument:"Social networking sites bring privacy into the public doman."1. False. We bring privacy into the public domain. Social networking sites are inherently public, and posting private information is something only we can do. If you don't want your personal information out there, don't put it out there.2. Even if social networking sites are responsible for privacy becoming public, my opponent never establishes why this is a bad thing, but a) merely asserts that it happens, and b) merely asserts that it's a bad thing and cause for banning. He has proved neither.Resolution = Negated

Title: Resolved: That, on balance, social networking Web sites have a positive impact on the United States. Content: I would like to extend my thanks to my opponent for challenging me to debate this interesting topic and I duly accept his parameters for the arguments. As my opponent pointed out, there are some limited benefits that may accrue from social networking sites and I certainly agree that under the supervision of a teacher, forums can be set up within which students from geographically remote locations can exchange ideas and knowledge. What is more difficult to accept is that employees accessing these sites for personal use during working hours makes them more efficient. Would an employee who spends their time chatting on the phone to their friends instead of getting on with their work be considered more efficient? I doubt it. That is why many companies limit the use of both phones and computers for non-business reasons. http://www.net-security.org... http://mashable.com... I must also disagree with the Businessweek journalist's assertion that these sites help shy people to increase their self-confidence within a safe environment. The best way to increase one's self-confidence is to go out and actually meet real people and talk to them in person. In addition, getting out and about is much healthier than sitting indoors in front of a computer screen! As regards security, social networking sites are much favoured by paedophiles who use them to "groom" their victims. http://www.dailymail.co.uk... Shall we consider Debate.org, for example? It can act as a quasi-social networking site through its forums. This site is, I hope, safe from sexual predators as it is very well moderated in that respect. However, there are no age restrictions and many members are younger than 18 years old – although I'm not. As it happens, on my user profile I quote my real name and age and display a recent photograph of myself, but there is nothing to stop a sex pest from setting up an account and lying about his age and name and using a photograph of someone much younger than himself in the hope of luring one of the younger and more impressionable members into a face-to-face meeting. It would be hard to do on this site, but Facebook and MySpace provide ample opportunities for computer-literate kiddy-fiddlers. So, although these sites do have some positives and access to them certainly shouldn't be restricted (except, perhaps, in some workplaces) on balance, social networking sites do not have a positive impact on the United States. Thank you.

Title: Social networking sites are beneficial Content: Greetings pro, and I'm glad I have the ability to debate this with you. I'll start off with first evaluating your main point in this rebuttal, then I'll be going over my own points that allow me to negate the resolution. My opponents first (and somewhat only point) is that social networking sites *can* help you gain confidence. Now as this may be true, and as social networking sites have the ability to boost the self esteem of some, this by no means supports the idea that ALL are benefited by these sites. Not only is this true, but it also must be taken into account that this statement is not always true. When looking at social media today, we see instagram filters used to hide what people really look like, overused editing, and teenagers using "likes" as a form of acceptance. Not only does this lead to a lack of self-confidence, but it only makes people even more insecure, yet again proving social media is not at all beneficial, but rather detrimental. Now, I'll be moving on to my case, we're I'll be highlighting my own contentions. C1: Social Networking sites create a false reality and sense of importance. Since the beginning of sites such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, users of these social networks have too often posted only their most exciting moments, only post pictures when they are with their friends, etc. This flawed reality we too often create not only hurts these users (by using their amounts of likes to gauge their level of acceptance), but it also hurts the viewers of these posts. When average Joes with ordinary lives (like myself) see posts of only the utmost excitement (out of country, at parties, etc.) it creates the average to believe that their lives are not average, but rather much less than average, because they are not able to post exciting memories and moments on Instagram, like their peers. Going further, according to Cornell University's Steven Strogatz, social media sites can make it more difficult for us to distinguish between the meaningful relationships we foster in the real world, and the numerous casual relationships formed through social media. (1) C2: SN leads to decreases productivity Wired.com posted two studies which demonstrated damage to productivity caused by social networking: Nucleus Research reported that Facebook shaves 1.5% off office productivity while Morse claimed that British companies lost 2.2 billion a year to the social phenomenon. (1) Further, Peter Cohan followed up on the study in a February 2012 piece for Forbes.com, using statistics on Facebook's growth during the interim to calculate that Facebook use within the workplace could lead to a 9.4 percent productivity decrease in companies throughout the U.S., a drop that could collectively cost businesses as much as 1.4 trillion dollars. (2) With social networking leading to a lack of productivity, we see that social networking simply cannot be beneficial in a workplace, and also harms the economy. C3: Cyberbullying Ever heard of the #JadaCounterPose trend that flooded social media? Recent events that have taken place, involving 16-year-old Houston teen Jada, reemphasizes the need for social growth. After being drugged, undressed and raped, while attending a friend's party, Jada dealt with onlookers taunting her with photos, hateful words, and chatter. (3) People have continuously, not sympathized, but rather made fun of Jada, posting mimic photos of her "counter pose," etc. This is what social media spurs. Although extreme, it can't be ignored that lives are ruined every day simply because of the negligence users have on social media. In conclusion, although there may be benefits to social media, the detriments that come along with these sites outweigh the benefits immensely. I look forward to hearing your response. (1) http://smallbusiness.chron.com... (2) http://yourbusiness.azcentral.com... (3) http://www.huffingtonpost.com...

Title: is social networking sites really a boon or bane Content: Seeing as my opponent forfeited (and I feel they shall again), I shall not put too much here. 1) Social Networks allow us to connect with all our old friends and family that we lose contact with.2) Social Networks gave way for the innovation of "social gaming". Gaming like Farmville could only come about through social Networks.3) Social Networks allow New social movements (NSMs) to form. NSMs are political movements which put huge pressure on the government in order to act in certain ways, usually reactionary to go against laws. They also work against many corporations as well. For example, the 2009 charts led with "Killing in the Name", which only came about due to facebook campaigns, and the general pro-piracy movements.

Title: Social networks are beneficial to our society! Content: To start with, I want to make some clarifications: social networking service: A social networking service is a platform to build social networks or social relations among people who, share interests, activities, backgrounds or real-life connections. * beneficial: Producing or promoting a favorable result; advantageous. ** society: a body of individuals living as members of a community; community. *** Advantges of social networking sites: 1) ALLOW PEOPLE TO IMPROVE THEIR RELATIONSHIPS AND MAKE NEW FRIENDS: 70% of adult social networking users visit the sites to connect with friends and family [1], and increased online communication strengthens relationships.52% of teens using social media report that using the sites has helped their relationships with friends, 88% report that social media helps them stay in touch with friends they cannot see regularly, 69% report getting to know students at their school better, and 57% make new friends. [3] 2) SPREAD INFORMATION FASTER THAN ANY OTHER MEDIA: [5] Social networking sites are the top news source for 27.8% of Americans, ranking close to newspapers (28.8%) and above radio (18.8%) and other print publications (6%). [4] Twitter and YouTube users reported the July 20, 2012 Aurora, CO theater shooting before news crews could arrive on the scene [6], and the Red Cross urged witnesses to tell family members they were safe via social media outlets. 3) HELP STUDENTS DO BETTER AT SCHOOL: 59% of students with access to the Internet report that they use social networking sites to discuss educational topics and 50% use the sites to talk about school assignments. [7] After George Middle School in Portland, OR introduced a social media program to engage students, grades went up by 50%, chronic absenteeism went down by 33%, and 20% of students school-wide voluntarily completed extra-credit assignments. [8] 4) HELP EMPLOYERS FIND EMPLOYEES AND JOB-SEEKERS FIND WORK: 64% of companies are on two or more social networks for recruiting [10] because of the wider pool of applicants and more efficient searching capabilities. 89% of job recruiters have hired employees through LinkedIn, 26% through Facebook, and 15% through Twitter. One in six job-seekers credit social media for helping find their current job. 52% of job-seekers use Facebook for the job search, 38% use LinkedIn, and 34% use Twitter. [12] 5) HELP SENIOR CITIZENS FEEL MORE CONNECTED TO SOCIETY: According to a 2010 Pew Internet & American Life Project study, the 74-year old and older age group is the fastest growing demographic on social media sites with the percentage quadrupling from 2008 to 2010, from 4% to 16%. [13] Seniors report feeling happier due to online contact with family and access to information like church bulletins that have moved online and out of print. [14] 6) OFFER A WAY FOR MUSICIANS AND ARTISTS TO BUILD AUDIENCES: 64% of teenagers listen to music on YouTube, making it the "hit-maker" for songs rather than radio (56%) or CDs (50%). For example, pop star Justin Bieber was discovered on YouTube when he was 12 years old, and, in 2012 at 18 years old, Bieber"s net worth was estimated at $80 million. [16] The National Endowment for the Arts found that people who interact with the arts online through social media and other means are almost three times more likely to attend a live event. [17] 7) OFFER TEACHERS A PLATFORM FOR COLLABORATION WITH OTHER TEACHERS AND COMMUNICATION WITH STUDENTS OUTSIDE THE CLASSROOM: More than 80% of US college and university faculty use social media; more than 50% use it for teaching; and 30% for communicating with students. [18] Educators from around the world interact with each other and bring guest teachers, librarians, authors, and experts into class via social networks like Twitter and social networking tools like Skype. [19]Edmodo, an education-specific social networking site designed for contact between students, teachers, and parents, reached over ten million users on Sep. 11, 2012. [21] 8) INCREASE A PERSON'S QUALITY OF LIFE AND REDUCE THE RISK OF HEALTH PROBLEMS: Social media can help improve life satisfaction, stroke recovery, memory retention, and overall well-being by providing users with a large social group. Additionally, friends on social media can have a "contagion" effect, promoting and helping with exercise, dieting, and smoking cessation goals. [22] 9) LAW ENFORCEMENT USES SOCIAL NETWORKING SITES TO CATCH AND PROSECUTE CRIMINALS: 67% of federal, state, and local law enforcement professionals surveyed think "social media helps solve crimes more quickly. " [23] In 2011 the NYPD added a Twitter tracking unit and has used social networking to arrest criminals who have bragged of their crimes online. [24] When the Vancouver Canucks lost the 2011 Stanley Cup in Vancouver, the city erupted into riots. Social media was used to catch vandals and rioters as social networking site users tagged the people they knew in over 2,000 photos posted to the sites. 10) FACILITATE FACE-TO-FACE INTERACTION: People use social media to network at in-person events and get to know people before personal, business, and other meetings. Pew Research Center's Internet and American Life Project found that messaging on social media leads to face-to-face interactions when plans are made via the sites and social media users messaged close friends an average of 39 days each year while seeing close friends in person 210 days each year. [27] 11) GOOD FOR THE ECONOMY: Social media sites have created a new industry and thousands of jobs in addition to providing new income and sales. [28] A McKinsey Global Institute study projects that the communication and collaboration from social media could add $900 billion to $1.3 trillion to the economy through added productivity and improved customer service. 12) EMPOWER INDIVIDUALS TO MAKE SOCIAL CHANGE: Social media shares popularized nine-year old Scottish student, Martha Payne, and her blog, "Never Seconds," which exposed the state of her school"s lunch program prompting international attention that resulted in changes to her school and the formation of "Friends of Never Seconds" charity to feed children globally. [31] Jeannette Van Houten uses social media to find owners of photographs and mementos strewn from houses by Hurricane Sandy. 13) DISARM SOCIAL STIGMAS: The Sticks and Stones campaign uses Twitter to reduce stigmas surrounding mental health and learning disabilities. The Stigma Project uses Facebook to "lower the HIV infection rate and neutralize stigma through education via social media and advertising. " [32] 14) PROVIDES ACADEMIC RESEARCH TO A WIDER AUDIENCE: Researchers from a wide variety of fields are sharing photos, providing status updates, collaborating with distant colleagues, and finding a wider variety of subjects via social media, making the research process and results more transparent and accessible to a larger public. [33] 15) INCREASE VOTER PARTICIPATION: Facebook users reported they are more likely to vote if they see on social networking sites that their friends did. During the 2012 presidential election, 22% of registered voters posted about how they voted on Facebook or Twitter, 30% were encouraged to vote by posts on social media, and 20% encouraged others to vote via social networking sites. [34] 16) CORPORATIONS AND SMALL BUSINESSES USE SOCIAL MEDIA TO BENEFIT THEMSELVES AND CUSTOMERS: Small businesses benefit greatly from the free platforms to connect with customers and increase visibility of their products or services. [35] Almost 90% of big companies using social media have reported "at least one measurable business benefit. " For all these reasons social networking sites have become increasingly popular and useful! SOURCES: *. http://en.wikipedia.org... **. http://www.thefreedictionary.com... ***. http://dictionary.reference.com... [1]"People Use Social Networks to Connect with Friends and Family, Sometimes Brands," www. briansolis. com [3]"Social Media, Social Life: How Teens View Their Digital Lives," www. commonsensemedia. org [5]"Social Media as an Advocacy Tool," Techniques: Connecting Education & Careers [6]"Theater Shooting Unfolds in Real Time on Social Media," www. cnn. com [7]National School Boards Association, "Creating and Connecting: Research and Guidelines on Online Social - and Educational - Networking," www. nsba. org [8] "The Case for Social Media in Schools," www. mashable. com [10] "The Essential Guide to Developing a Social Recruiting Strategy," www. jobvite. com [12]"2012 Social Job Seeker Survey," www. jobvite. com [13]"Generations 2010," www. pewinternet. org [14]University of Alabama at Birmingham, "Move Over Youngsters, Grandma"s on Facebook," www. newswise. com [16] "Justin Bieber, Venture Capitalist," Forbes Asia Magazine [17]"NEA Chairman Rocco Landesman Announces New Report on How Americans Use Electronic Media to Participate in the Arts," www. nea. gov [18] "How Social Media Can and Should Impact Higher Education," Education Digest: Essential Readings Condensed for Quick Review [19] "Skype and the Embedded Librarian," Library Technology Reports [21]"Edmodo Reaches 10 Million Users," www. blog. edmodo. com [22]"'Flocking' Behavior Lands on Social Networking Sites," USA TODAY, Sep. 27, 2009 [23]"Role of Social Media in Law Enforcement Significant and Growing," www. lexisnexis. com [24]"NYPD Adding Twitter Tracking Unit to Police Force," www. socialnewsdaily. com [27]"Social Media Doesn't Mean Social Isolation," www. usatodayeducate. com [28]"How Social Media Saved the Economy," www. technorati. com [30]"Twitter," www. topics. nytimes. com [31]"Facebook, Public Education and Equity"www. dm [33]"Going Viral: Using Social Media to Publicise Academic Research" www. guardian. co. uk [34]"Social Media and Voting",www. pewinternet. org [35]"How Small Businesses Are Using Social Media," s1. intuitstatic. com

Title: users under 18 using Facebook Content: Thank you for instigating this interesting topic. I’d like to point out as a clarification for the readers that the issue at hand is whether users under 18 should be allowed to use Facebook. My opponent will be negating the resolution and I will be affirming it. For this debate, I will be arguing that Social Networking Sites like Facebook have enormous benefits and contributions to society and modern communication. I’m under 18 who is studying in Europe away from my parents and I have Facebook. Why? Because it’s mainly to connect and communicate to my family and friends overseas. Not only that, I use it for reference and educational purposes. I’m subscribed to news and political pages to get some information about current events. With FB, school life is also easier since I can communicate with my classmates to get updated with assignments and exams (what to review, etc). Also, FB has apps and games for entertainment and leisure time to kill boredom. It very much gives a positive impact on life. FB also helps people overcome social anxiety and be healthier by expressing themselves online. Anything’s possible in FB, people can express their opinions, ideas and interests here which makes it very popular. Next, I’d like to point out that billions of people are connected online. Banning underaged kids from Facebook is not only unnecessary, but it’s also unfeasible. Basically, all my opponent argued in R1 are shallow hypotheticals and minor boo-boos of Facebook inhabited by the young generation. Facebook is for kids 13+. By this age, most kids know what they are doing. So, we shouldn’t ban underaged kids just because they troll around, and if cyber bullying occurs, we need to discipline the parties that are involved and responsible. We need to make anti-bullying laws stricter. Banning FB from minors won’t do any good since it will seriously harm the majority. We must consider the benefits of this popular Social Networking Site because it superiorly overrides its disadvantages. I will let my opponent elaborate her contentions further next round then I will explain my premises more accurately after. Thanks and good luck!

Title: social media is a boon Content: I believe, that in some ways, social media is a boon. Whilst I see your point that social media does a lot of harm, I also believe that it does a little more good. These are the 4 main points for my argument: 1. Social media helps people stay interconnected with one another and allows them to talk to each other from long distances away. 2. Social media, for educational purposes, can allow students to chat with each other and make forums to help each other with their educational pursuits. 3. Social media is a good way for people to post what is on their mind and just, vent. When people are having a bad day, nowadays, they take to social media to share it with somebody. People were made to talk to others about their feelings, not to hold them in. 4. People are social beings, and social media gives people another way to socialise with one another in an easy and relatively reliable way.

Title: Social Media is Dangerous to Our Social Culture Content: It's fair to say that Social Media does have a few things bad here and there, but it's not the worst thing in the world. In my opinion, it has to be used in a good way. If humans learn to not abuse the system, it will be fair to use. Social Media is somewhere were people have a bad time, they can go anonymous and enjoy themselves. If you have a bad day at school, spending some time online will give you back your confidence and refill your energy- just like you how you refill a car. It's also something you can use when there's nothing else to do. Heck- I'm debating right now because the next best thing I can do is stare the wall of my room. Yes, interacting face-to-face is a better way to make friends, but don't you already talk to everyone every day at school? I can see from your view, that it's been abused by humans for generations, but there will be something a moral lesson taught one day that Social Media isn't everything in life.

Title: Social Networking Content: Good Morning, and thank you for welcoming me. To begin the second round of our debate, I will first demolish my opponents case, then move on to my own. I- My opponents first conjunction what that Social Networking Web Sites are beneficial to Americans. I do agree with my opponent that people need people. But long before we had social networking sites we had other ways of communicating. We picked up a phone, or wrote an actual letter. Have Americans become so lazy that they can't do this? II- The second conjunction of my opponent's case was that social networking is a balance between child's privacy and the parents right to know. Every parent wants to think that their child is smart enough to know what to post and do online. Unless you plan to sit with your child every time they use the computer, and watch their every move you can't insure they are doing exactly what they say. Another fact is that, if you don't allow your child access to the internet at home, they may be getting online and using social networking sites at friends' houses. --As my opponent brought up, a child can receive private messages online from anyone. On facebook and/or myspace, you don't have to have a person as a friend to send them messages. III- My opponents last point is that social networking provide a degree of online safety. As many people seem to forget, social networking sites allow you to search any name, place, or group. It is a lot easier for you to search a random name, or look for a person in your area on a social networking site because they give you results. As for IM, you have to know a persons complete address to add them. You can't just type in a name and get their email. So social networking sites allow easier access to persons information. While we are talking about gaining persons information, social networking sites have many categories that you fill out, along with name (first and last), age, and where you live/hometown. This allows shady characters to find you, and follow you. And they could potentially steal information about you. Now to move on to my case. I- Social Networking Sites effect children's education. With more and more social networking sites being created, children are using them more. When children get home one of the first things they do is log into their "space" or profile and begin chatting. This is effecting their school work, because they aren't spending enough time or giving their all. Along with not spending enough time on work, students are spending time at night online and not sleeping. Without the sleep required by their body, they have a harder time paying attention in class or do not complete work. II- Social networking sites allow sexual predators easy access to persons' information. With over 250,000,000 users on Facebook a vast majority of them are sexual predators. In the year 2007 Facebook deleted 90,000 sexual predator accounts. Those being the ones reported to traced. And since May they have deleted 5,585 accounts. These sexual predators use social networking sites because they are easy access and you can lie easily on them. You don't have to put your actual name, age, or picture. This makes it very convenient to gain trust from somebody and use it against them. III- Social networking sites can harm your computer and cost money. Both Myspace and Facebook (along with others) have disclaimers telling you to beware or odd friend requests and about opening messages from people you don't know. They can harm viruses, and other computer glitches. Unmarked emails can hold trackers that allow the sender to hack your account, take information, or use the information against you. Trackers may also allow that person to follow what you do online, like visit the website of your bank. Which gives them more access to your accounts and passwords. IX- Social networking takes massive amounts of time. Like any hobby, social networking sites need to be maintained. Constantly updating your account, checking to see which friends are online, and seeing what everybody is doing takes a great amount of time. This can cut into time used to do something more productive or beneficial, such as exercising or reading a new book. We need to face the fact that Americans (some) are along the most obese persons. Although this is important (maintaining health), it is not one of my mom important points. X- Social Networking sites allow simple information to be used against you. As talked about on HLN this morning, information you post can be used against you. Simply saying that you are going on vacation can allow others to take advantage of the situation and break into your house. Not only are you losing your possessions, but you will lose money replacing them. I would like to apologize to my opponent for taking so long to reply, I've been working on my boxes for extemp. Good Luck Aff.

Title: Social networking sites are harmful. Content: Social networking sites are claimed as harmful to people but then why do they still use them. My reasons are as follows: 1. One of the most effective ways to promote your work, organization, or even themselves through social networking sites. There are enough places, such as Linked in and MySpace, where you can promote your business, organization, society and individual talents. The first advantage is that social networking sites will assist in the launch of a comprehensive strategy to promote the brand. 2.Social networking websites to promote friendship, take a break, travel partners, and even a spouse. The main idea is to create a platform where people from counties and cultures can meet and share a part of their lives with other people. "Social networking sites like Orkut, Hi5, Facebook, and has a lot of popularity because people preferred to forget their man-made boundaries and reach approximately a person in a particular community or site. Meanings of words used to describe this topic: Social networking: 'the development of social and professional contacts; the sharing of information and services among people with a common interest.' Good:'excellence or merit' Harm:'physical injury or mental damage' Going off those meanings I would say when people say that 'social networking sites do more harm than good' that if their children or brothers, sisters even go on social networking sites that they are saying that either they have been physically harmed by social networking or they have been mentally harmed which would cause them to go slightly loopy and they wouldn't be able go on the site. So how do you define 'harm'.

Title: Facebook is a good way to socialize Content: I will start off by defining some words for this debate. Facebook:http://dictionary.reference.com... Socialize:http://dictionary.reference.com... Good:http://www.hyperdictionary.com... I would say myself that Facebook is an acceptaple source for being social. I am very social while I use Facebook. I also know a lot of other people that say it's great for being social. That ends my first writing.

Title: Are Social Medias taking over humans. Content: Are social medias like Facebook and etc. taking over the lives of humans?

Title: Social media does more harm than good Content: Thank you! In conclusion social media does NOT do more harm than good, here's why: Reason #1 it helps prompte young and small businesses. Reason #2 social media allows people to connect to people from far away and also start new relationships. Reason #3 social media can be a stepping stone to advance ones career and find like-minded individuals. Social media doesn't spread misinformation anymore than misinformation was spread 100 years ago. People who are not curious and open minded will believe what they want regardless of what they are told. If someone says something, or you see someone post information you believe is wrong then look it up. You'll get better at researching over time and help further prevent the spread of misinformation. Just don't be afraid to make mistakes! People are also just as antisocial today as they were in the past. People that are antisocial are that way because it's a part of who they are, nothing wrong with it. Social media has not changed these people or harmed them. Emily, would you accept a friend request if I sent one?

Title: Social networking has a negative impact on communities. Content: Greetings to all! First of all, my english sucks. Second, my opinion on social networks is not that strong, so I am not seeking someone who will be cross firing super intense and long arguments with me. (I might want to do that another day but don't have the time now ) ------------------------------------------ \ (^o^) /------------------------------------------------------ Taking the comment by What50, I feel there are more positive impact than the negatives. The negatives can be simply avoided with a good mentality. Cyberbullying in my opinion is not as hurtful as someone you know cursing you out in front of your face or giving you a punch. I would not really care about someone I don't really know who is trying to make me feel bad. If I don't feel depressed, I would think there will be a need for suicide coming from social networking. And obesity from social networks? (Q?Q) Sure, being healthy is a style of living... Personally, social networks serve as a tool I use to make life easier. It can be very helpful in life in many situations. First of all, social networks provides a platform for communication. Communication is what makes us a community, and it is important to communicate with each other when situation does not allow a face to face talk. Without these communication, huge amounts of misconception and confusion could happen. Sometimes you run into a problem that needs other people's help or explanation, and a social network can make this happen much more efficient. don't tell me texting and calling is an option......i consider it as a social media that uses service instead of wifi. Also, have anyone ever had wifi in your house but no service? ever heard of a service company called ITalkBB? (ToT#) Well, the social network surely gives more options and convenience for communication, but it also helps when you want to find out what is happening. Finding out about some news today can be really convenient via a social network. Knowing whats going on or organizing an party with your friends or an community service event with others who have similar ideas are much more easier and efficient. Group communication are made much easier nowadays. There are also lots of fun stuff people can do with social networks: like what we are doing now on debate.org. (you can always have a meme battle with your friend whenever you want) I am not going to go into detail of the economic effect of social networking, which is huge. Social networking emerged because there was an excess capital (including human labor) out there in the market, and an increasing demand for either better communication or better advertisement. This industry emerged as a huge sector of our economy today to fit our needs, and taking it away......will cause problems. Social networking is not evil, so we should all accept this naturally occurring industry as part of our lives, and learn how to use it to improve out own utility (aka happiness). <(^_^)>

Title: The internet is a waste of time Content: Many thanks to my opponent for beginning this debate. Pro's sole contention is pretty much that because people spend time on social networking websites like Facebook and Twitter, that people as a whole are unproductive with their time, and that the internet in general promotes unproductive things. I negate. First and foremost, not everyone uses the internet for social networking purposes. Ergo those who do not use social networking sites cannot fall under the generalization of Pro's argument. Second, studies show that workers are actually more productive when they are able to occasionally do non-work stuff online, say researchers at the University of Melbourne [1]. This pretty much negates Pro's entire argument. Quite obviously the internet is praised specifically because it has greatly increased the speed of innumerable things. For instance, we can now send mail across the globe faster than ever, which has vastly increased the productivity in the workplace as well as on a social and cultural level. Moreover learning is now faster, easier and more widely accessible (education and educational things) because of the internet and the information that can be accessed quickly and with precision thanks to tools like online encyclopedias, books and search engines. Another one of the internet's productive uses is being used as a platform to create a career in general, such as owning an online business, creating websites, online stock trading, blogging and other forms of journalism, going into web graphic design and programming, etc. The military is yet another huge force that uses the internet (in fact military intelligence designed the internet) for productive purposes. People communicate via the internet and use cyber space to conduct business from all kinds of places: home, the office, during travel, etc. One can use the internet to plan and coordinate various aspects of their life including their social agenda, work schedule, etc. It can also be used as a tool to keep in touch with people, reconnect with people, network, broadcast, advertise and discuss. In conclusion, corporations, politicians, business owners, students, teachers, artists, etc. all use the internet as a platform to further their work and career; some even make careers based on the internet alone. While it's true that some people like to "waste time" browsing social networking sites, as John Lennon would say "Any time you enjoyed wasting was not wasted." A few people's uses of the internet cannot negate the productivity and efficiency the internet gives us as a whole. The internet helps connect the world and is used as a medium that greatly increases productivity. Thank you. [1] http://arstechnica.com...

Title: Social media does more harm than good Content: I believe that social media has created a more superficial way to keep us all connected. Sure we keep in touch with old friends, but it is very limited. It's often times just scrolling through pointless news feeds. It becomes such an addiction that it distracts us from real life. It causes us to not pay attention to the real life interactions around us. I'd also like to argue that it causes an increase of false information being spread and it can also increase cyber bullying.

Title: Social Networking Content: OVERVIEW I finally got a new computer, and so this is my first debate in a while. I thank Pro for making such an interesting debate, and I hope he will not forfeit in any part. As Con I shall be proving that social networking via Facebook, Twitter, etc is worse than face-to-face interaction and socializing. I do not know how Pro wants the layout to be—but I am assuming that he wants me to first accept it and not provide any arguments. DEFINTIONS Because of the fact that Pro did not provide any definitions I shall be the one in which hands out the definitions. As defined on www.dictionary.com Social Networking: the use of a website to connect with people who share personal or professional interests, place of origin, education at a particular school, etc. http://dictionary.reference.com... Better: Of superior quality, or excellence http://dictionary.reference.com... Good: Morally excellent http://dictionary.reference.com... Worse: More unfavorable http://dictionary.reference.com... Interaction: Reciprocal action http://dictionary.reference.com... Socializing: Make fit for life in companionship with others. http://dictionary.reference.com... Good Luck, Pro

Title: All people should join at least one kind of social networking site. Content: Of course it is beneficial since it has influenced our lives in many ways and it has become a part of our life. It lets you get updated with recent activities of your friends and more importantly recent social affairs. It provides you an option for participating in the social activities and a scope to bring a change in the society.

Title: All people should join at least one kind of social networking site. Content: You seem confused. The debate is about whether everyone should use social media in his/her life, NOT whether social media can be very helpful or not. To conclude: I still believe Social Media is not suited for everyone live style , thus not everyone should join them. I hope I have convinced you and the jury. Thanks for the debate and let us meet for a new one in the future.

Title: People are too dependent on social media Content: Thank for agreeing with my arguments. People can say that social media is just a tool. What if they misuse it and create a chaos around them or their society? Can you imagine a scenario where social media being a huge impact on our society and makes people to rely on them? With the point that we created a fake relationship online, that because people are so obsessed with it, thinking it will help them. For my arguments, I would like to point out few points. In respect of social media, we're responsible to make a decision and to decide what is right and what is wrong. People these days use social media to have fun and have that imagination where they become famous with a thousand likes or even more. So with those amount of likes on their profile, they become more dependent on those platform.

Title: Social networking is good for students Content: Social networking is good for students because it helps kids do better in school. Half of all "students use social networking to discuss homework assignments" (National School Board Association). According to Georgia Middle School in Portland, Oregon, "grades went up by 50% after students joined a social networking site" (Kessler). 59% of students talk about educational topics online (National School Board Association). Because social media exists, students are "learning practical skills that are necessary for success in today"s wired world," (Huffington). Some people may think social media users have lower grades however, that is only shown as accurate if they are heavy users. Responsible users increase their awareness of news and important events. And as much as it helps in school, it also can help personal relationships. Social networking is good for students because it improves relationships and help students make new friends. Research shows that 70% of adults use social networking to stay connected to friends and family (Solis). Social media can help students "make friends by allowing them to gain familiarity with others and build friendships online" (Huffington). According to a study in 2011, a little less than half of the average Facebook users" friends consist of friends from high school or college (Hampton). Even though some people think that they can lose friends because of social media, "half (52%) of all teen social media users say using such media has mainly helped their relationships with friends, compared to just 4% who say social media use has mainly hurt their relationships. Similarly, more than a third (37%) say social media use has mainly helped their relationships with family members, compared to 2% who say it has mainly hurt them. In addition, a majority of teens say social media help them keep in touch with friends they can"t see regularly (88%), get to know other students at their school better (69%), and connect with new people who share a common interest (57%)" (Common Sense Media). More people use social media sites to stay in contact with friends. It is apparent that social media is beneficial in school and in personal relationships. But there are even other benefits for society. Social media is important because it created a socialistic change. Never before have people been connected in this way. It has caused all ages of people to want to get engaged in the medium. To this day, students are becoming experienced with technology "developing their creative ability, appreciating new and different perspectives and enhancing their communication skills" (Huffington). Because there are so many social media users, people have had to re-learn how to communicate with each other. However, some people think social networking is "ruining the world." People believe that everyone spends less time in face-to-face conversations when there are social media sites where people can interact. However, there are also sites where people can meet new people or reconnect with people. Certainly there are other reasons why people think social media is ruining the world such as cyberbullying and decaying writing skills. Cyberbullying is very serious but if students don"t put themselves in danger or if they tell a trusted adult what was happening, those issues would be less of a problem. Writing skills have changed dramatically because of some of the communication shortcuts encouraged by social media. Students may write "u" instead of actually spelling out the word "you" on school papers. But research shows that social media is actually helping the world and economy. People use social media to find jobs. New media such as Linked In show that 89% of job recruiters have hired employees through this site (HR Focus). Social media sites have also been shown to empower women and help them find jobs. That translates to high school students as well, who learn about job openings and opportunities through Linked In and other sites. It provides a new opportunity for students to learn about job openings.

Title: YES, I think this because; many teenagers and kids have social networking sites, such as facebook... Etc Content: YES, I think this because; many teenagers and kids have social networking sites, such as facebook... Etc. and if social networking was a part of the curriculum then teachers could teach students how to use these sites in a safe and harmless way. The truth of the matter is more teens use these social networking sites than adults themselves, and if teachers were able to help the students, teach them how to use the sites in appropriate and safe ways, it'll make a difference. A lot of people miss-use social networking sites in bad ways, either discrimination, or degrading, so if teachers were able to teach and protect their students from these things by teaching it to them and adding it in the curriculum, they could change how teens use the internet in a positive way. Also I feel that, teenagers would like to learn more about social sites, and they would like to know how to use it the right way, so if they were taught at school, this would be a positive thing to do. In conclusion, if social networking was added to the curriculum it would be a positive thing to do!

Title: The Internet brings more harm than good. Content: I disagree. The Internet brings more good than harm as it has useful information . Internet helps teenagers on their education - homework, research and watching videos. If you have any friends or relatives living on other countries, internet is the best place for you to talk to them. There are a lot of websites that can let you communicate with them for example Twitter and Facebook. In a nutshell, internet is very useful for people living on this planet.

Title: An open internet has led to a more unstable and less free society Content: My position is that the current unbridled freedom and anonymity is not the societal good that so many seem to praise and blindly support. If society is unable to self-regulate online behavior the implications are significant. We have seen that over the past 25+ years. Again terrorism and riots are routinely facilitated through social media (i.e., an open internet). Bad actors routinely use the freedom of the open internet to disrupt, attack, and promulgate their hate filled ideologies. Since the early 1990's society has coarsened and self-indulgence has been left unchecked. Social mores shifted quickly due to lack of platform restraints rather than an organic shift. The open internet brought this about and furthers the dissolution of shared values, religious or secular. While pornography and bullying existed long before an open internet changed our world, it has negatively influenced culture and altered brain chemistry. Citizens vastly overestimate the ability to use the internet safely and to establish safeguards from destructive pathways. As for smart phones - they are a byproduct of a free, wired, and unregulated world. Without the internet there is a limited market for such a device. Again, when the tech in our world crashes look at how the addicts in our office/school/home react. Crickets. They don't know how to think or exist. This reality is evidence of the destabilizing nature of an open internet. Sure, the internet is here to stay, but my contention remains that an open internet is not truly the public good that it's presented to be.

Title: Social Networking sites are a boon Content: Social Networking sites are boon as I know from100% people in world 85% of people uses social networking sits It may affect to many people . CHILDREN ARE USING MORE THAN ADULT As we know childrens having more interest in this type of work.They are using more social networking account and some are also below 18 years some people talk in bad language also,about sex f they listen this there mind goes to the bad things. It is affected also by skin diseases,hacking,blackmailing etc

Title: free speech in the UK should include social media Content: Digital free speech on social networking sites should not be limited.

Title: Social networking sites cause more harm than good Content: I believe that social networking sites cause more harm than good because studies have proven that people (generally teenagers) are more likely to bully through social media than other forms of media or the more traditional methods of bullying. SOURCE: http://www.meganmeierfoundation.org...

Title: Social media has more harms than goods Content: The con is now obviously confused. Very confused. He didn't both to read that I said that I am pro for social media in round 1. He is con meaning he is against social media. .. .. Yet he has provided no claims to his arguments, and only gave one liners. I have gave just a few good arguments as to why social media has more good than bads, and is overall a good thing as long as it's not over abused. So, extend everything I said the other rounds and then some.

Title: Social Media has A Bad Impact on Our Lives Today Content: The Pro was not able to adequately provide strength to her argument that Social Media has a Bad Impact in our lives Today. The sources the Pro cited also provided habits to curb the impact social media could negatively have. The Pro also completely ignored any argument or rebuttal of substance I presented. When you can't connect the direct causality to the impact I am not sure what more of an argument I can make on the subject. I will conclude with my opening statement because it still applies and was not refuted:Social media is not a cause for abbreviated terminology, the attention span of teens, and how people communicate effectively. Social media has enriched our lives, connected us on a level unlike society has ever been in past generations, and through the wide-spread use of the internet has taught so many aspects of what many once considered unattainable due to a worldwide connectivity of facts, opinions, and innovated ideas.

Title: Social Media Content: Although the basic use of social media is imperative to our society, abuse is also apart of the here and now. You say that social media allows us to interact with others we may not be able to see everyday, but it also allows people we don't even know to obtain information about our personal lives. The social networking website, Facebook, is a great way to keep updated on the lives of family and friends who may not be near by, but if you do not set your privacy settings anybody who has a Facebook account can access your information, family photos, your location at the time you posted a status. It is amazing in keeping connected, but is it really worth the risk of letting a stranger know everything about you and your family?

Title: Should we have more internet censorship Content: But i would say,social media cause more harm than good.There are better communication plattform than social media.We can also communicate through skype,e-mail,what's app,line,text message,face time.It's much better than social media also it provide more security and privacy than social media.

Title: Social Media is terrible for young teens even adult's self esteem Content: Greetings Opponent, I believe that Social Media is a good tool for the majority of teens and young adults, and the minimal disadvantages to most media systems are far outweighed by the positives. You can see what friends you haven't seen in a while are up to, socialize with your friends and share things about your life. The platform doesn't show you things that make you sad or insecure, you look them up. And Social Media doesn't make you insecure, it only reveals you already were. As a teen who has had been using social media for years, and took a experimental three month break to see what my life would be like without it, I can tell you it does not cause extra or new insecurity, and such arguments are (in my experience) completely unfounded.

Title: Social networks should be banned for children under 16 years old Content: I agree that a lot of people in the world have difficulties with communication skills without the presence of social networks in their life. So if that people have problems, there is nothing to say about children. They have just been surfing the Web from the cradle. Children should direct their energy to education because education takes a special and very important place in the 21th century generation lives. Children should spend their leisure time improving weaknesses and developing strengths instead of liking new photos and giving comments. I suppose that life has a negative impact on child's self-confidence, he\she becomes more dependent on other people's opinions. Moreover, social networking means spending a lot of time in front of computer. Thus, children depending on social networks have health problems. They are just sitting in one position during a long time, therefore there is a chance to get spinal column problems. This period of lifetime is also important because of the formation of young organism and during this time it's necessary to lead not sedentary but active lifestyle. Consequently, if we want to raise socially developed, self-confident, active, healthy generation, we should limit the access of children to social networks.

Title: All people should join at least one kind of social networking site. Content: You can't say like that. These sites have influenced our lives so much that people always read bools also only which saves their money. We can consult to doctors abroad through video chat. These sites are very helpful to us so we should see them as a good sign of the progress of the nation. But I also agree with your point that it is killing people as some children use these sites for bad purposes but what can we do? We can do that parents of these children should keep a check on them and then you see how these social networking sites will appear as important as they are now.

Title: Is social media cause more harm than good Content: I didn't say there is no positive effect that comes from social media.But there aren't so many good thing that comes from social media and sometimes bad outweighs good.Ofcourse social media make us wider connection but it also cause danger to society,Many criminal has use social media as a searching tool for victims,and the sad fact is the most of the target victims are young people especially kids.Many crime occur in social media.

Title: Do internet social network cause more harm than good Content: Since for some reason this debate only has 1 round, I will use my space here to go against the arguments put forth by pro and then propose a counterargument as to why I believe social networks cause more good than harm. 1:It's stressful. This is frankly an empty statement with no support to it. How is it stressful? I check facebook, instagram, twitter, and all my emails everyday and I don't find any bit of it stressful at all. I wish there was an explanation so that I can refute this claim- but this is purely subjective at this point. Perhaps my opponent finds it stressful. I do not. 2:It reduces productivity. Again subjective. [1] Above is a link that proves: "Unemployed social networkers spending 3.5 hours a day on social media, versus 3 hours for the employed." Those with more free time go on social networks more often. As a university student I can tell you I do not spend time on social media unless I'm finished with studying for an exam or completing assignments. It does not reduce productivity because it is an act performed mainly when you have free time. 3:It costs money -- and it going to start costing much more as sites find new ways to monetize. Unless you're referring to internet cost- facebook and instagram are free. So is twitter and every other social media site that is immensely popular... 4:It has become noise and clutter, not communication. Another empty statement. I use it to communicate with friends and family that are far away since I am out of state at a university. It also lets me keep in touch with people from highschool. I consider that communication, not clutter. 5:It reduces creativity. How? OP did not touch on this at all. 6:It's no longer real. Ignoring the fact that its impossible to have 18000 friends on facebook- it is up to the user to use social media effectively. Because a select few have thousands of friends on facebook that they do not know in real life does not mean that social media is no longer "real" (which my opponent did not define). It just means that certain people use it in different ways. Many people I know have less than 300 friends on facebook- they only add people from their school, family, and people they regularly talk to. It doesn't matter if you don't talk to all your fb friends every single day- you can still be notified of how people are doing in their lives through status updates and photo albums. "Social networks are being used as a weapon against people." Well then we should educate teens on how to avoid cyber bullying. [2] The first bullet point says to educate yourself. If you get cyberbullied then its either your fault for not stopping it or your parents fault for not teaching your common sense. Someone sends you a hateful message? Block them. Someone posts something nasty on your fb page? Block them and delete the post. IGNORE HATEFUL MESSAGES. If someone's sending you death threats or doing revenge porn then that's already illegal- cyberbullying has nothing to do with those laws. We teach kids how to deal with physical bullying in person- we should also teach them how to deal with cyberbullying since its very avoidable. The problem does not lie within the social media sites- the problem is a lack of education in the matter. Now I will give some main points as to why I think social media sites are beneficial. 1.) Keeps you connected to friends and families This one should be a given but my opponent seems to disagree with me about this issue. Let me go back to my example. I go to school in MA. My family mostly resides in CT. Many of my friends are either in CT or in other universities across America. I know many people from European countries. Its impossible to text each one of them constantly and its a hassle to try and keep up with everyone's lives when they're so far away- I'm busy enough as a college student! Social media makes it possible to interact with others easily. 2.) Helps you get jobs. My opponent mentioned linkln in his post which I believe was a mistake on his part. Networking is a huge component of getting a job- especially if you're about to become a college graduate, are a graduate student, or you've graduated with some sort of degree. Connecting with people from your university and connecting with recruiters will help you get jobs in the long run- it also allows possible employers to view your page and see what experience and skills you have behind your belt. They can get a full resume just by checking out your online profile. If something sparks their interest- you might just land a job. Its helped many of my friends get paid internships at major software companies. Linkln is extremely useful. 3.) Helps you to voice your opinions freely. Let's take one website in specific for this main point: Twitter. On twitter you can be anonymous. There's no obligation to provide your real name, anyone can view your tweets if you have a public profile, and best of all you can add trending hashtags to make sure your posts get read. Let's say you have a radical political view- you can voice that on twitter without judgement from people you know! Let's say you hate Obama- You can voice that on twitter without judgement from people you know or the public if you're well known! Lots of political activists use twitter to push their agenda and voice their opinions. Without social media, their voices would not be heard. In this very short debate I have proved that my opponent has made a lot of subjective claims without objective evidence and that the benefits to social media outweigh the possible negatives experienced by few. I urge all to vote in favor of the strongest argument! Thanks to my opponent for this debate- I just wish it had more rounds. [1]http://www.marketingcharts.com... [2]http://www.cyberbullying.us...

Title: Say NO to online social networks. Content: The main argument I will by replying to, is your one about Specialized networks. You continue to not believe that such a thing can exist. I offered up a few suggestions, and here is one more: http://sermo.com... -- A specialized OSN for Doctors. They talk about the field of medicine, and things of that nature. This is neither spread out nor useless, as it shows that people who's career involves saving lives, can talk to their peers about what they do. This certainly isn't a waste of time. Like I've said before, it's just one of many, and I'd like to reiterate again, that your saying that OSNs are useless, is your opinion. I'd just like to clarify that I know many things on Debate.org are opinions, but, this is where it actually matters, because your statement is that it's a waste of time to pretty much everyone. On the subject of debate.org, while it isn't as vast as Facebook or Myspace, it's closer to an OSN then you think. While we don't have a messaging system, we can still create a pretty deep profile. We can upload a personal picture as well, and can browse other people's profiles. This brings me to another point. People may browse other's profiles just for the heck of it, but it's also could teach them something. At a place like this, someone could learn more about a parties political views, or find a lot of new quotes. At a place like sermo, people can find what methods work for what doctors. When I said "it comes with the territory" I was mainly making a figure of speech. A lot of users know about the dangers of putting information out on the web, whether they learn it from the news, from their peers, or just from reading something on their respective networks. I understand that bad things will still happen, but again, as bad as it is to say, it's not a real significant problem. There are millions of profiles out there, and there aren't a significant amount of crimes reported each year. I'll close this debate by saying this, and this is not just for the sake of winning or losing, but for taking away a lesson: What is a waste of time to some, is a lifestyle to others. We're in an age where someone can have a life online, whether it's through an OSN, or an MMO, like Warcraft. It's not anyone's place to judge which is which, for each person. Thank You. -BBE

Title: social networking is bad Content: The con just said that i dont use facebook. So there can be many other people who dont use facebook but can be their on other social sites which do not provide such facilities and also there are many people who have friends whom they dont even know. Such friends can be a problem. Even people waste a lot of time on social sites by simply chatting with unknown people on useless matters. Dont you thing this can be harmful.

Title: debate with yourself Content: con has merely listed some 'cons' to networking sites. overall, there are more benefits. con says time is wasted on frivilous activity. but like hte wise saying goes "time that you enjoy wasting is not wasted time". people may not be as productive as they could otherwise be, but we dont always measure things by economic output. they still get their work done, by and large. society is not suffereing. face to face communication. while it has hindered face to face, it has opened a new door for us. much like texting is good fo some purposes, not good for others, and does hinder phone skills. but that just means more time needs to be given to both avenues, and ultimately, we are the better for it that we have the options at our disposal given some things are btter approached oen way or the other. children shouldn't be on the internet too much. this is common knowledge. if it's to the point of altering brain waves, it's too much. people might get exposed to predators, but this is just life. gong to a bar, or out in publc exposes you to danger too. we just need to follow common sense procedures for ourselves, but especially for our kids. your cite about GPA is pretty radical. 3.82 GPA just because you didn't use networking cites? this wasn't a common grade even befor the internet. these claims are so far fetched by con, that surely he needs some stat to back it up. it's pretty obvious this stuff is made up either way though.

Title: join Facebook. Content: Facebook encourages socialisation

Title: Social Media should be part of the curriculum Content: YES, I think this because; many teenagers and kids have social networking sites, such as facebook... Etc

Title: "Social media is making people less social." Content: As social media enables us to express our thoughts, ideas and feelings in a complete new way, it has become an important way of communicating in the 21st century. It has become a vital part of our everyday life. The total number of people using social media continues to increase globally. However, the nature of the problem is that there is no consensus whether social media is making people more or less social. I'm looking to find out what the majority thinks. The debate statement that I would like to discuss is therefore: "social media makes people less social". With the help of your answers, I will develop a report on this topic. An observation of the opinions given (anonymously) will hopefully provide a valid conclusion. Your feedback is therefore very much appreciated.

Title: Too much technology Content: Are you sure you don't mean the internet? Cars are technology. They are a pretty important part of our lifes. Lights are techonolgy. Furnaces are technology. "BUT I meant that everybody who are using the smartphones and facebook(social websites in main) are not being connected to the whole world. " So without social websites they will be connected to the whole world (other countries) more than if they didn't have those websites? I don't think this makes sense. "They don't feel time while sitting in a computer club or playing PS or X-box. " It is their choise. In real life you can take drugs and get addicted and get far more worse things. The people who actually do that are not so much anyways. Everything has a bad side. But I find that the internet does more good than harm. "For example, when friends meeting to chill out together they don't talk much to each other because of the internet in their smartphones - that is also big problem. " I don't think this is true. You are probably talking about rare cases. Give more sources in your arguments. The human life on earth wasn't going to be so good without technology. I don't see a reason why technology does more harm than good.

Title: People over twelve should be allowed to use social networking sites. Content: Thanks to Pro For his points, I will now respond.Contention One: Connectivity When I stated that you can use Apples messages and kik as social networking alternatives, I meant to use them only as an example. My point was that there are other more secure SMS services their are email services that allow you to filter emails you receive and texting or SMS services that are private and don't allow for scams. Such as TextSecure (https://play.google.com...). As you can see there are a plethora of alternatives to dangerous social networking sites if your goal is connectivity.Contention Two: MaturityThis quote form Gween O'Keeffe. describes my stance "Since logic and sophisticated reasoning don't kick in until high school, younger children may not realize when one of their posts is inappropriate. Yet it's that social tentativeness that makes Facebook so attractive to kids: creating a virtual social network lets them avoid the hard work of building live-action ones."(http://content.time.com...)Social networking sites detract form the time spent forming in-person social interactions and relationships and learning social cues.You also stated that social networking sites:"need specific data to avoid any fallacy"I cant refute this point if I don't know what data you feel is necessary.Thank you, and I look forward to your response.

Title: Social networking sites are beneficial Content: Thanks again, Dicsync for debating this with me, and thanks judges for viewing and critiquing this debate. I'll start right off by further depending my points, and answering my opponents rebuttal. 1st: My opponent agrees cyberbullying is a real problem, and has to be addressed, yet still continues to argue that social media is beneficial. Interesting. 2nd: Regardless of the "excitement" of moments on a persons Facebook, it's the idea that these people tend to hype up their own experiences to yet again value "likes" as acceptance. Also, no basis has been provided that allow you to say "society is growing" and no proof what people like to take pictures of. Regardless of this, it's not about the excitement of posts, but more about the experiences. I believe I miscommunicated, or you misunderstood, when i said "excitement," as I only meant that people would post about their favorite moments, to brag in a way, whether it be at Disneyland, the White House, or simply in a "nice, cozy cafe." The scenario doesn't change in this situation, as different people like different things. However, it is widely known that people will post pictures/posts simply to impress their audience, and reach this satisfaction. Now I'll be refuting my opponents 2nd and 3rd points. REBUTTAL P2: "Social Networking sites *CAN* be diverse.* My opponent uses social media as a simple road to communication, whether it be to meet strangers, learn about others, or simply talk to friends. As this may be good, I ask the judges, is this "social" interaction as valuable as face-to-face correspondence? My opponent uses social media as not a way to simplify meeting others, but rather a way to hide behind a screen, while attempting to be what we define as "social." Now I understand, there are situations in which social media may be good. But the fact of this rebuttal, combined with previous points, and the educational detriments that come with this (which I'll be covering next paragraph), any benefit that sprouts from social media falls when combined to it's numerous detriments. REBUTTAL P3: "Educational benefits of social networking sites" Winston Churchhill once said: "However beautiful the strategy, we should occasionally look at the results." My opponent may try to paint a pretty picture in your head of how beneficial the fast download speed of a smartphone really is in a classroom, but let's think logically and practically about this. As a high schooler, I can confirm that social media is rarely EVER used for educational purposes. The 60% of educational posts most likely sprout from insults to teachers/subjects or even asking for help from others (which would be cheating, another possible problem with social media- but we won't go into that). This percentage is not only ambiguous, but could be inherently flawed. Lastly- all this^ rebuttal was to the intent of that contention, however my opponent did not evaluate "social media" during this contention, but rather technology and smartphones, which are not related. Let me add before I move on: "Connolly cautions that students who use social networking tools might pay significant hidden cognitive costs. Facebook, Google, and other web services simultaneously seize and fragment our attention. They can subvert higher-order reasoning processes, including the kind of focus, concentration, and persistence necessary for critical thinking and intellectual development. Some researchers have correlated heavy Internet use with greater impulsivity, less patience, less tenacity, and weaker critical thinking skills. The need to rapidly shift from object to object online can weaken students" ability to control their attention. Prolonged Internet use exposes students to interactive, repetitive, and addictive stimuli that produce permanent changes in brain structure and function."(1) Remaining argument: My opponent makes the following link: social media > great job. Not only is there no substantial studies or evidence to support this, but it is inherently false, when looking at source (1). My opponent uses professors to support his evidence, using their opinion, and what they "believe." As opinions are great and beliefs are beneficial, no opinion can overcome the substantial evidence of detriments provided in source (1). For all these reasons- vote con. Thank you. (1) http://www.wcer.wisc.edu...

Title: That, on balance, social networking Web sites have a positive impact on the United States Content: I have argued that social networking sites have only created an "illusion of privacy". Sites deserve blame for the widespread release of personal information. Why these security settings are so easy to get around is because strict privacy settings inhibit growth. The wider the access to information, the great the commercial value of the site. Also, that hour and 22 minutes a day adds up. While teens are online, they are slowing breaking down their own communication skills. They can bounce around to any social networking site and "lol" all they want. While slowly any relationships they have formed in the real world begin to diminish. I noticed in my opponent's speech as she stated the "schedule" of a teenager. I failed to see that she mentioned time with friends, or socializing. That one hour and 22 minutes is the only socializing that seems to be getting done. My opponent also brought up that social networking sites are good for businesses. However, according to a security company based in Australia, "if a single employee spends one hour of company time on Facebook everyday, it will cost his employer $6,200 per year. For Australia, that translate to a productivity lost of $5 billion annually. That impact in the United States would be even greater as Facebook usage in the United States is more widespread. Again, no matter what they claim, security on social networking sites are not as strong as they appear. People, strangers can still get access to your information. Young people of today are destroying social attributes, slowly losing the basis of communication. If an hour of Facebook, can really cause a company to lose that much of it's money, it would have a more negative impact on our already struggling economy. On balance, we are showing more and more of what social networking sites are doing to our community, and it is not in a positive way.

Title: The internet does more harm than good. Do you agree?. Content: Do you know that internet do brings more harm than advantages to people living in the modern society nowadays? Now then, people living in modern society, are dependent on internet and social media such as Facebook etc. Thus, nowadays there are more cases happening often over the world such as cyberbullying who had caused suicide among people, using social media whom people had led to it. In addition, internet do bring more harm than good.

Title: Facebook has made an influence on daily life Content: I do not believe my opponent fully understands the topic, I stated that facebook made an impact on daily life, not that it was a good impact or a bad impact.