This document summarizes an article about the pros and cons of social media. It discusses how social media can enable organizing and supporting causes more easily through hashtags and donations. However, it also notes social media allows for easier identity fraud as seen in the Manti Te'o case. The document also explores how social media can be positive for hospitals in marketing and answering patient questions, but some argue it can be negatively addicting for users always checking updates. Overall, the document covers both benefits and concerns social media presents for society.

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Kaitlin Thompson
Dr. Blanco
FYS 100-105
20 Nov 2015
Debate Research Paper
Step 2:
In the article Social Media Explosion in CQ Researcher, the source of topic being
discussed is social media, its pros and its cons. Key issues of concern that are looked at in this
article are teenagers use of social media and if it will affect them later in life. The story of Manti
Te’o’s online relationship is discussed along with how identity fraud is easier to commit. How
social media makes it easier for people to get involved and makes supporting and organizing
causes easier. Finally, how companies are able to do a lot through social media and with a
person’s social media page. This article does a great job at describing benefits and concerns for
social media.
Social media can be a benefit to society in many different ways. Getting people involved
in things would be very difficult without social media. Using hashtags is an example of this,
during the riots in London in August 2011, the hashtag “#riotcleanup” motivated people to
clean the streets (Clemmitt, 2013). Kate Crawford said that “citizen journalist writing from the
field made substantive contributions to media coverage.” Meaning that citizens simply tweeting
and making Facebook status’ and using all other methods of social media helped a lot to reach
out to everyone. Supporting and organizing causes are much easier to do through social media

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Such as, donating money to organizations is a lot easier now, says Daniel Kreiss, because the
access to donate is right there, just donate through a credit card or debit card account and your
done. Politicians use social media to campaign, in fact Barak Obama used Facebook to
campaign for his 2008 and 2012 elections (Clemmit, 2013). Facebook holds a lot of information
about it’s users, therefore political campaigns can pinpoint a group of users who show interest
in that view without the user subscribing or signing up for anything. Facebook sees the articles
you read, videos you watch, and stores you access fromtheir site that was shared or posted, so
politics or companies will put advertisement on your screen based off your most common
interests. Social media can influence companies as well because once a company does
something and it is put out on the news, social media blows up with likes or dislikes about their
decision and stores can then decide what to do from there. Like in January 2012, the Susan G.
Komen foundation announced that they would no longer be funding offered by planned parent
hood. In reply to this social media burst with anger and three days later the organization
revered their decision (Clemmitt, 2013). Without social media the organization would not have
gotten such a rapid reply and it could have potentially hurt them from getting funds. People
who suffer from mild or major depression benefit from social media such as Facebook because
they have all of these friends on there and it is just like talking on the phone with someone, it
relaxes them.
In the opposite views, social media is hurting society and raising many concerns. Social
media is the reason we have a thing called “cat fished,” a form of identity fraud on the internet.
Like Notre Dame football player, Manti Te’o, who had been in an online relationship for two
years with a woman, ended it by finding out that the woman was not real, it was all a hoax

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(Clemmitt, 2013). A survey was given that asked people what their preferred form of
communication was. The people who were born between 1990 and 1999 said they prefer
texting and instant messaging and talking on the phone was the second preference. The people
who were born between 1946 and 1989 said face-to-face communication and no one even
listed social media. Clemmitt calls the people who grew up online, “digital natives.” Kaveri
Subrah says that there is no need to worry, these “digital natives” do not seemto be living their
personal lives any differently then other generations. But a 2011 shows that smart phone users
are developing “checking habits” where they check their phones almost every 10 minutes just
for a quick 30 second look on a social media site. This is causing anxiety because people are
obsessed with social media and when people have an obsession with something they get
anxious when they can’t have it. Many people say social media is bad for teens because they
are constantly in touch with the world, they are never alone and have that time to themselves,
they always have connection to someone right in their hands.
Social media has affected our society positively and negatively, it does our society good
and bad. It has opened the world to new mechanisms; once word is put out in the news, people
can immediately react through social media and it gives feedback to the situation. People can
publicly discuss important problems and give opinions. I feel that social media gets more people
in the world involved. It is easier for someone to see everything going on in the world when
they scroll through their social media site and see what everyone has too say about everything.

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Step 3:
In this paper I will discuss the benefits of social media. When people think about social
media they normally think about the gossiping on Facebook or Twitter part but social media is
actually beneficial to society. Hospitals use social media to commercialize for their company but
also to reach out to patients who have simple questions about their health. The Ohio Hospital
found that 15% of Ohio Hospitals have specific position whose job is to manage the company’s
social media site. The Lawrence County General Hospital was ranked third in the United States
for their fan engagement and they have a full time position for that called marketing and public
relations (Richter, 2014). Children’s Hospital Los Angeles and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical
Center estimated millions of revenue gained from the use of social media (Richter, 2014). This is
because patients could post about their great care and post success stories that would make
people want to donate to the hospital. Sarasota Memorial Hospital uses social media to help
patients and to answer their health questions. Social media also makes it easier for physicians
to collaborate and meet with other physicians for help on cases. They are not limited to where
they are located because they can talk to any doctor, anytime with the help of social media.
Physicians state that having social media can help those who suffer from depression and
anxiety (Fenton and Panay, 2013). “We must not ignore the potential of social media in our
rush to minimize the pitfalls. It has the ability to transform medical education, public health and
dissemination of medical lecture” (para. 10).
Socialization through social media can actually be a beneficial thing. When teens have
online exchanges with other individuals it can help mold their identity and social skills. It also
gives teens the opportunity to learn from one another (Social Media Use and Adolescents,

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2014). Teens can find support through social media by finding people who are like them and
someone who understands them. People they are not able to find in traditional ways. Which
can be comfortable for them. Social media has these benefits that people do not normally
consider or look at it.

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Works Cited
Clemmit, M. (2013). Social Media Explosion. CQ Researcher, 23(4), 81-104. Retrieved November
11, 2015, from https://marshall-bb.blackboard.com/bbcswebdav/pid-1609680-dt-
content-rid-14012676_2/courses/FYS100-CL-201601-hblanco/Social Media
Explosion.pdf
Fenton, A., & Panay, N. (2013). Social media and health. Climacteric, 16(6), 609-610.
doi:10.3109/13697137.2013.850964.
http://web.a.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail/detail?sid=99c39afa-19b5-494d-b5f4-
1a065fce06e8%40sessionmgr4003&vid=0&hid=4206&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3
QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#AN=91967727&db=aph
Richter, J. P., Muhlestein, D. B., & Wilks, C. A. (2014). Social Media: How Hospitals
Use It, and Opportunities for Future Use. Journal Of Healthcare Management,
59(6), 447-460. http://web.a.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail/detail?sid=bc30d0dc-
8d6e-47d7-87c7-
2194f061800f%40sessionmgr4003&vid=0&hid=4206&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3
QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#AN=99721366&db=aph.
Social Media Use and Adolescents: A Guide for Parents. (2014). Brown University Child
& Adolescent Behavior Letter, 301-2.
http://web.a.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail/detail?sid=1cd3672c-2015-4bbb-a4a8-
c3367d6b4e78%40sessionmgr4003&vid=0&hid=4206&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc
3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#AN=94415204&db=aph.