"To accept or not to accept"

Though social networking has become a huge "fad" in our society, I believe that technologies are not the soul cause of the claimed corruptions. Social networking has become so integrated into our daily routine that we are constantly tempted to be be updating the world on our current doings and are taken away from our real life interactions. A person is at a college party is no longer at the college party. Instead they are updating their status or commenting on a photo at the college party and therefore, is not fully engaged in the party. This is similar with being obsessed with the up and coming video game that must be beaten and barricading yourself in the den hiding from society. We now have another, more simple way to indulge our personal interests.

Facebook can become a habit, checking your newsfeed every couple minutes to be "updated" on the latest gossip; "so and so is pregnant", "so and so is engaged", or "so and so is eating this or that." Though medial in nature, it is a way of indirectly communication to the masses. I think that social media keeps you updated and aware of the on goings of your peers. It helps feed topics to discuss when in you peer groups. 

I think that temptation needs to be matched with moderation. I can understand the point that both articles are raising. Social networking can take away from the "real" aspect of communicating with others. Rather than manipulating what you say in situations, "real time communication" requires thought and a human responses. When there is technology in the way of communicating, it has been my experience that you are able to articulate exactly what you want to say, when you want to say it and how you want to say it. I think with moderation social networking can be beneficial and keep you in touch with relations that you would never be in contact with social groups outside of the world wide web.

One of the concerns expressed about social media is that it affects how people interact in face-to-face situations. Some argue that communicating through social networking sites such as Facebook can help bring people together, reaching out to distant family and friends, or building new connections with others who share common interests. In other words, social networking and online communication can help to build communities for people who may find it difficult to enter into real-world communities. Others argue that Facebook and similar media are poor substitutions for real conversation and community and can only serve to further isolate people from each other. When used as a tool instead of a substitution for interaction, social networking can actually improve the way we communicate.