Author Louis Kraft states that, social networking has taken too much control of our daily lives, to the point where it leads to people being envious and depressed (2011). Activities such as cyber bullying have been more prominent and have increased due to social media, resulting in many depressed victims. Also, terrorist groups, such as the Al-Qaeda and the Al-Shabbab, use social networks to spread messages of hate and violence, which may lead to religious conflict and fear in the world. It’s extremely unfortunate that a system that was supposed to bring us so close and working together has actually backfired into one that creates disruption. Likewise, the never ending use of social network causes people to get spend a lot of time, glued to their phones and other wireless devices, forgetting the importance of actual human to human contact.
Too much of anything is never a good thing. Negative psychological effects are common in individuals who actively participate on social media for hours on a daily basis. In 2008, UCLA conducted a study which revealed web users had literally altered their prefrontal cortexes due to, in part, to the fast pace of social networking sites rewiring the brain with repeated exposure. “In 2012, Medical News Today reported on a study suggesting that Facebook use may feed anxiety and increase a person's feeling of
Annotated Bibliography Stephanie Lewis Brandman University Author Note This research is being submitted on May 18, 2011 for How Video Games can be Educational. Squirt, Kurt (2003) Video Games in Education International Journal of Intelligent Simulations and Gaming This journal article argues that video games are a very popular and influential medium for a many reasons. However, video games can elicit powerful emotional feelings such as fear, power, aggression, wonder, or joy. It describes how video game designers create these emotions by balancing many components, such as character traits, game rewards, obstacles, game narrative, competition with other humans, and opportunities for collaboration with other game players, Understanding the dynamics behind these design considerations might be useful for instructional technologists who design interactive digital learning environments. Further, video game playing occurs in rich socio-cultural contexts, bringing friends and family together, serving as an outlet for adolescents, and providing the “raw material” for youth culture.
Talking about servers that’s where all the connectivity and the exchanging of data happen and it’s a beautiful experience. Once successfully logged on into the game’s servers and you do this by having a good internet connection then you are part of a virtual world. Usually the video game industry will have servers located in high traffic areas for example the people playing in California will connect to a server fairly close to California or if not in California, or another heavy populated area would be New York or Florida states like that. Usually gamers will play people with in the server meaning people close to them to create a better experience since that data doesn’t always have to go global all the time. In some occasions it will have to send data globally and for that to happen at a fast space game industries will set of reapers of some sort to boost the signal to its destination which can be multiple servers/lobbies to make the signal travel faster and have less lag getting to its
The rising popularity of video games has instigated a wide range of concerns from those who believe that playing games can corrupt the minds of children, teens, and even adults. Possible harmful and helpful effects of video games have been a subject of debate among parents, researchers, gamers, and video game producers. The arguments were mostly about the games’ potential good and bad influence concerning children and adolescents. Based on recent research findings by scientists and psychologists, 90% of American youth play video games in a daily basis. It is an extremely popular pastime among children and teens, though most parents see it as a time-waster and a negative influence.
Game makers and publishers make a lot of money by creating video games that can appeal to many audiences. In fact, the competitions in video game industries are very competitive these days as a technology advances. From the simplicity of Super Mario Brothers, the video games are becoming more violent, graphical and harsh. The developers not only focus on something better, but they want something big. The gaming industry evolves and becomes an aspect of what the world represents.
The popularity of social networking websites such as Facebook has increased drastically over the past decade. Websites like this one are used to communicate with others and share information about one’s self with other users. Facebook, in particular, seems to be the most popular out of the many social networking sites today. The Internet can have harmful, declinitive effects on a person’s real-life social ties and mental health. Facebook hinders social interaction because it lets us create a version of ourselves that is completely different than who we really are, it can be addictive if over used, and it also can make us very lonely and depressed.
While there are positive outcomes of the internet, there still exist dangerous aspects to it, such as bullying. Most people may associate bullying with images of a teenager getting slammed into a locker, or getting their lunch money stolen. People may also think that it extends to name calling, teasing, and insults. Bullying has existed for a long time, with some adults thinking that it is a normal part of growing up, that teaches young adults to toughen up and have a thick skin, thinking this will help when they become adults. However, with the advancement in technology and its wide use, a new type of bullying has developed, cyberbullying, which is when a person uses technology and/or electronic devices to bully another person, typically by sending messages or posting comments of an intimidating or threatening nature.
Some experts believe excessive use of the Internet, cellphones and other technologies can cause us to become more impatient, impulsive, forgetful and even more narcissistic. “More and more, life is resembling the chat room,” says Dr. Elias Aboujaoude, director of the Impulse Control Disorders Clinic at Stanford. “We’re paying a price in terms of our cognitive life because of this virtual lifestyle.” We do spend a lot of time with our devices, and some studies have suggested that excessive dependence on cellphones and the Internet is akin to an addiction. Web sites like NetAddiction.com offer self-assessment tests to determine if technology has become a drug. Among the questions used to identify those at risk: Do you neglect housework to spend more time online?
During this day and age, younger generations seem to be becoming more dependent on the Internet to preform basic everyday tasks. Whether it is shopping, calculating numbers, typing papers or communicating, the Internet is being used increasingly. It has expanded to the point where you are able to access the Internet not only from computers, but cell phones, tablets, iPods and TVs making it extremely accessible from any location. Though the convenience can be a great thing at times, it can also be an extremely dangerous tool for anybody not using it correctly. With children and teens quickly becoming more social online via chat rooms, blogs, and different social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter parents are doing one of two things.