Exploration Essay Outline

I.Thesis st: Social media with misinforming health advice can lead to negative consequences in society. 

II. Perspective/mindset

1. Media  can affect perspectives on how people see things (as we saw with the Danger of a Single Story). A character’s story might be told in a wrong way. There could be the wrong perspective shown

2. This can be shown through media like when an event is being described and the perspective in which it is described does not show the whole story accurately. These mediums could be newspapers, news, and social media posts

3. Media can change how people think and act (This could be the way that people react after seeing a post and reflect how they feel about it.)
4. Bad advice leads to health issues

III. Aspects of identity

1. Media and identity are somewhat related in today’s world. They can go hand in hand. This is because a lot of media can influence different things that make us who we are

2. There are many factors of identity. Thai can be cultural background, tradition, emotional state, lifestyle, work ethic
3. Following bad health advice could cause people to go down the wrong path

IV. Growth of technology/ access of media

1. There is also a big growth of access to technology and the internet which in turn allows people to come across more media. This definitely effects the number of people who have view and access media

2. There can be people from all around the world that have access to the same media. 

V. Conclusion

In conclusion, the access of media to a mass amount of people can in some situations have severe consequences. This is because false information may spread through these mediums, which may cause certain reactions from different people.

RCA Outline

Introduction: 

It is important to have preventative measures to stop the growth of social media addiction. These measures can include limiting time on social media, and what apps are used. These measures are important as social media addiction can be detrimental to our health and to society. Social media is a popular form of media used by many people around the world. Many people say it is harmful for society while others may disagree. The impact of social media on society affects a large population in today’s world. 

Thesis: How does social media addiction have an effect on the state of the lives of the youth? 

First Topic – Social Media Addiction

Point A -The youth are so attracted to social media because of what it has to offer for them such as trends and connections with others. There are algorithms in social media platforms to keep people on the apps. 

“Keep  sharing  content  to  stay in  touch  with  your  followers.  In  content  sharing,  you  can increase interaction with your followers.” (Cinar)

This evidence shows that there are different elements in these social media platforms such as interaction with followers that keep users occupied.

Point B – Social media addiction takes away valuable time especially in the life of kids. This addiction causes screen time to increase and people can be on the app for hours. 

“People  can  spend  most  of  the  day browsing  social  media  posts  that  have become  a  part  of  their  lives,  or  people  can  take  and  share  videos  and photos  as  active  users.” (Cinar)

This evidence shows that social media has taken up a great amount of time in people’s lives. There are many functions for these app and many things for people to do on them. 

Second Topic – Growth of Social media

Point A – There are  different factors of parts of the world where social media use is more prevalent. These different factors are the type of government, culture, and the demographics.

“A recent cross-cultural study indicates that compared with individuals with an independent self-construal, those exhibiting an interdependent self-construal tend to be more vulnerable to the fear of missing out, which is a major predictor of social media addiction”

This evidence shows that some people are more likely to be addicted to social media than others due to their different factors. This includes where they are from, their demographics as well as their perspectives.

Point B – Many people are joining social media platforms everyday. Especially at a time where social media is very popular, this number of people is growing at a large rate.

Third Topic – Health

Point A – social media can affect mental and physical health. Excessive use of social media for example can allow a lack of sleep which could deprive people to function at their fullest potential.

“Due to the use of social media, 59% of the surveyed high school students sleep less (Fig. 12), this is a disturbing statis- tic considering that, according to the research, teenagers who use social networking sites excessively before falling asleep are at risk of sleep disorders”(Wojdan)

This evidence shows that young people especially teenagers are giving up their sleep for social media, which allows a risk for their health.

Point B – There is a lot of bad advice on social media which can lead people to follow harmful practices. This can be especially dangerous if it is health advice

“Social media news use is further correlated with lower levels of political knowledge”(Kalogeropoulos)

This evidence shows that posts on social media regarding politics or other news are likely to have misinformation due to the lack of political knowledge by the creators of that post. . 

Point C – Online bullying is a growing issue regarding social media. As social media platforms start to grow it becomes more likely that cyberbullying takes place.

Other topic- Positives of Social Media (Counter argument)

Point A – Social media allows an increase in communication with others. People are able to communicate with one another like never before. This is because of the many ways people can interact with each such as through stories, posts and direct messages. 

Point B – Social Media allows growth in networking in many different fields of work. This causes people to get a message or project across to people easier. 

“Health professionals have begun using social media to benefit patients, enhance professional networks, and advance understanding of individual and contextual factors influencing public health.”(George)

This evidence shows that social media can have an applicable use for people who work in different fields. It can be a benefit to one’s work life due to opportunities that come with it, such as rowing your network or communicating with others.

Point C – It is easy to share a message or an idea with mass media. Mass media is a feature that is the most unique to social media. This feature really stands out in social media as compared to other forms of media. This is because it is so easy to reach a large audience in a short time. 

III. Conclusion

In conclusion, an excessive use of social media is shown to be harmful for a person. To prevent the possibility of social media addiction one should limit their screen time. Although social media can have many productive uses, it often also kills time. This is especially in the youth as there has been an increase of social media addiction over the years.