Taylor-Burton 1

Xavier Taylor-Burton
Ms. Coco
English 1001
6 December 2015
Audience: Non-Social Media Users

Preface: Working on the Inquiry Project for the month, I have been able to accomplish a lot;
finding research, coming up with ideas, and organizing my thoughts. However, if I had two more
weeks to work on my Inquiry Project, I would like to expand certain parts of my essay. I would
have expanded my essay to include the usage of the Tinder app, and finding countless different
events that have happened in which social media played a major role in society. I believe each
section of my paper would have become more detailed with respect to some of the main ideas.
As well as details, I feel that I would be able to improve my quote placements and create a
smoother paper.

An Extension of Ourselves
When I wake up in the morning, the first thing I do is grab my phone and I look through
different types of social media. I like to swipe, like, and favorite through people or pictures for
the first ten to fifteen minutes of my day, every day. I find it is increasingly becoming a part of
my life, a way to communicate, to see what everyone is doing, and even to check the status of
my homework. Social media has become a part of me, and I wonder if it has become of part of
you too? I think that I am not that different from most, as I wonder if you do the same thing?
During a study, IBT reported, Of the people who use social networks half log on first thing in

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the morning to their preferred site (Business Times, International). You may not wake up and
do exactly as I do or even as half of the social network users. It may take you a while to look at
it, but eventually you do. Simply put, can most of us help it? For the few that do not swipe, like,
and favorite, it is probably because they do not know how to yet.
At this point, you are either denying the use of constant social media or acknowledging
your use of it. Mostly, what both you and I always somehow manage to find ourselves most
frequently looking at is; Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat, and even LinkedIn. All of the
aforementioned are different parts of the same body - Social Media. Most of you know what the
basics of social media are and even have a particular favorite application, commonly known as
an app, you like to look at. I know that I can look at twitter all day and rarely become
disinterested.

The Beginning
From the beginning of Internet social media to now, we have grown increasingly
intrigued and more invested in its inner workings. Basic Internet social media began around
thirty to thirty-five years ago with the first creation of BBS. BBS, which is short for Bulletin
Board System, these online meeting places were effectively independently-produced hunks of
code that allowed users to communicate with a central system where they could download files
or games (many times including pirated software) and post messages to other users (Digital
Trends). However, without much access to computers, social media did not gather the complete
attention of society until MySpace and Friendster launched in the early twenty-first
century. Both were revolutionary in a way we had never seen before. It was a place where we
could share music, comment on each others opinions, and a way to connect with people that you

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had some connection with, no matter how slight. However, MySpace out performed Friendster
because it looked and felt hipper than major competitor Friendster right from the start (Digital
Trends), although shortly following MySpace came Facebook.

The First Giant

Facebook, and I am sure all of you know what Facebook is, as it was reaching 1.3
billion users around the world by 2014(Skemp). It is widely assumed that we all have an
account, and hundreds or thousands of friends that post their status about the pie they will
make or buy for Thanksgiving. There are constant photos we see down our timeline of our best
friends cousins newborn. We all have it, and yes she is cute, but a million pictures are really
unnecessary. And by the way, if you know what a timeline is, you most likely have (or had) a
social media account. Facebook has become all too familiar to us; it has become the heartbeat of
our social culture. With Facebooks mainstream success, and the tremendous advances in smart
phone technology, many social media apps, such as Twitter and Instagram, which connects to
your Facebook, have gained success using different parts of Facebook as the basis for their app.
Twitter is an app that allows you to post your current status about the pie for
Thanksgiving. The Instagram app that gives you a platform to showcase your newborns pictures
with as many different poses as you can conjure up. Downloading the Snapchat app allows inthe-moment videos or pictures that can be shared with our friends and family as those moments
are happening. Many, if not all, of these social media apps are probably on your phone right now.
And maybe while your reading this, you are thinking about something you saw or read on one of
your apps. Social media has become part of our daily experience; we use it from sun up to sun
down. It has become a part of us in all matters of our activities. Social media is a place where we

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find out about new stories, conduct business, and stay connected to the people we love (Soren).
Many times we say social media is just something we do when we are bored and it has minimal
impact on our lives, but is that the case? Could social media be taken away from us and we
maintain life at the same or at an improved level, with the same or similar access to immediate
information? We have all tried it. In different scenarios, each and every one of us has tried to
remove social media from our lives, even if it was just for those few moments. This can be seen
when parents tell their kids to put the cellphones away during dinner, or in the banning of
Facebook and other online social media apps in school. We even regulate our own access at
times when we want to focus on accomplishing various tasks without distraction. But why does
society try and regulate something that has become such a major part of our lives, and a
mostly good part at that?

The Skeptics
Before I talk about the benefits of social media, I acknowledge that there are some
skeptics who believe that social media does not have an impact in our lives and its purpose is
strictly for entertainment. Skeptics believe that is a waste of time, remarking that it causes
people, and adolescents specifically, to lose focus on the task they are currently attempting to do.
The elderly in particular tend to view social media as tool used to disconnect from the world,
they see as more an more people connect to social media, there seem to be fewer connections in
traditional ways; sending letters, phone calls, face to face conversion. Along with disconnection
from the world, others view social media as useless. They see them as leisure pastimes that could
not improve or affect aspects of social life.

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However, social media is involved in nearly everything we see and hear around us. Many
news shows often use videos, twitter statuses, and pictures they received from one or multiple
media outlets to conduct their work. Teachers, such as Professor Monica Rankin of the
University of Texas at Dallas, use twitter as a way to communicate with her students without
interrupting her class. She tells students to tweet their questions while she is teaching her lecture,
in order not to interrupt her (Kirkpatrick). This is a great way social media is used to benefit the
parties involved. Men and women use Instagram to look at inventive recipes to document and
prepare for family. LinkedIn, the forgotten app by youth but highly praised by the working
professional, is a way to view or send resumes, connect with other businesses to help progress
your professional career, is a sort of Facebook for businessmen and businesswomen.

The Tragic Events and Social Media Impacts

The tragic events that occurred in France, a day we will all remember, was shared all over
social media, and within minutes millions poured out there hearts in support through all types of
social media for the people of France. This is a great example of how a small act by millions on
social media can make an impact on the emotions of the entire country of France.
Impacts and benefits go hand-in-hand, as I now understand that social media has been
used in the past as a way to bully and otherwise harm others, and reason why skeptics disapprove
of social media. There is an aligning notion that social media does harm, which can be true. It
can do harm, instances in schools that make school districts like California's Glendale Unified
School District [which] are hiring companies to monitor social media, and alert administrators
when they see a problem (Bullies Beware). Social media is an open platform where bullies have
the opportunity to do harm which in some cases can result in serious consequences, such as The

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Tyler Clementi Case. Tyler Clementi, a college student from Rutgers University, committed
suicide because of the harassment he received on social media from his roommates and others
concerning his sexuality (The Top 6 Unforgettable CyberBullying Cases Ever). Social media can
be used harmfully; however that is not its purpose. Social media, just like everything else, has
the potential to be both harmful and helpful, depending on how different elements of society
choose to use it.

The Connections, Love, and Excitement Found

We benefit from using social media in a variety of ways, and at this point the use of it has
become second nature. On the surface, social media provides countless jobs that otherwise would
not exist. It is a platform to express ones creativity. They open connections that otherwise would
not have been formed, a bond that spreads across nations, religions, and viewpoints. They also
provide those interested in finding a romantic interest with apps such as Tinder.
Tinder is an app that shows people in your area and gives you the choice of wanting to
get to know more or not. People connect their Facebook profiles to Tinder, which allows them to
see the gender they are interested in within a certain distance and swipe right if they are
interested in the other people or vice versa, swipe left. It has become a popular dating social
media app where many people have found their romantic other.
The news as well is often shared via social media, allowing for instant awareness of what
is going on around the world at the touch of your finger. Social media as a whole has impacted
our lives in ways that we seldom realize, but often use. Social media is important for society to
function in this day and age, and it has helped many achieve their goals and will continue to help

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many more. I am glad to say that I live in the social media era and cannot wait to see the new
creations of social media and beyond.

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Works Cited
Bullies Beware: Schools Hire Media Monitors. n.p.: National Public Radio, 2013. Literature
Resource Center. Web. 24 Nov. 2015
Business Times, International. Happy Social Media Day: Facts, Figures And The Impact Of
Social Networks. International Business Times 30 June 2012: Regional Business News.
Web. 18 Nov. 2015.
Digital Trends Staff. The History Of School Networking. Digital Trends. 5 Aug. 2014. Web. 19
Nov. 2015
Kirkpatrick, Marshall. How One Teacher Uses Twitter in the Classroom. Readwrite. 1 Jun.
2009. Web. 23 Nov. 2015
Skemp, Kerry, MA. Facebook. Salem Press Encyclopedia (2015): Research Starters. Web. 18
Nov. 2015.
Soren, Gordhamer. 5 Ways Social Media is Changing Our Daily Lives. Newstex Blogs (USA)
16 Oct. 2009: NewsBank. Web. 18 Nov. 2015.
The Top 6 Unforgettable CyberBullying Cases Ever. NoBullying.com N.p., 10 Sept. 2015.
Web. 06 Dec. 2015.