Introduction The main focus of this essay will be the ethical, legal, social and professional issues surrounding social media. This essay will focus on all four issues in thorough detail. Social media is a assortment of communication applications that are devoted to community based forms of social interaction. Examples of social media sites are Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Ask.fm and other websites that allow user interaction. Social media sites are rapidly becoming an important part of the way people converse with each other. Using social media sites can however involve elements of risk as will be explained in the following essay. Ethical Issues In general ethical issues are those which require a person or business to choose between alternatives …show more content…
One such issue is the lack of social skills young people possess due to the overuse of social media. Some studies have shown that young people tend to be more comfortable sharing their personal lives online whereas older people would not feel so comfortable doing so. Social media also affects the way in which young people interact face to face. Younger people tend to have poor interpersonal skills whereas older people thrive in these face to face situations. According to Barbara Greenberg teen using social media sites are far more likely to be more aggressive and sexual online as they feel mysterious. This is where cyber bullying and sexual harassment can become more of a problem. She also says that social media generates more drama as messages can be read out of context (Greenberg, 2013). Social media can also have a negative influence on young people. If they see someone taking drugs or smoking they may be more likely to try it out themselves. The 2011 national teen survey found that 70% of young people aged between 12 and 17 spent time on social networking sites during the day. The study also found that people who communicate via social media sites everyday are around 5 times more likely to use tobacco whilst 3 times are more likely to consume alcohol and 2 times more likely to use marijuana (Stein,