3.8 Debate It: Organizing and Communicating an Argument

Introduction: 76% of American adults online use social networking sites such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Pinterest, as of July 2015, up from 26% in 2008. On social media sites like these, users may develop biographical profiles, communicate with friends and strangers, do research, and share thoughts, photos, music, links, and more.

Social Media and the Spread of Information Pro: Social media spreads information faster than any other media. Evidence:

78.5% of traditional media reporters polled used social media to check for breaking news. 59% of Twitter users and 31% of Facebook users polled followed breaking news on these sites. Social media sites are one of the top news sources for 46% of Americans, compared to 66% for television, 26% for printed newspapers, and 23% for radio. President Donald Trump said that the immediacy that Twitter affords him is the reason why he tweets, noting that press conferences and press releases take too long to reach the public. Con: Social media enables the spread of unreliable and false information. Evidence:

64% of people who use Twitter for news say they have encountered something they “later discovered wasn’t true,” and 16% of Twitter news users say “they had retweeted or posted a tweet they later discovered to be false.” In the three months prior to the 2016 US presidential election, false news stories about the two candidates were shared a total of 37.6 million times on Facebook. A University of Michigan study found that even when false information is corrected, the number of people who see or share the correction via social media is lower than the number who saw or shared the false information in the first place. Social Media and Education Pro: Social media sites help students do better at school. Evidence:

59% of students with access to the Internet report that they use social media to discuss educational topics and 50% use the sites to talk about school assignments. After George Middle School in Portland, Oregon, introduced a social media program to engage students, grades went up by 50%, chronic absenteeism went down by 33%, and 20% of students schoolwide voluntarily completed extra-credit assignments. Con: Students who are heavy social media users tend to have lower grades. Evidence:

31% of teens say that using social media during homework reduces the quality of their work. Students who used social media while studying scored 20% lower on tests. One study found that in schools which introduced a ban on cell phones, student performance improved by 6.41%. Another study found that grades began a steady decline after secondary school students reached 30 minutes of daily screen time. After four hours, average GPAs dropped one full grade. Social Media and Relationships Pro: Social media allows people to improve their relationships and make new friends. Evidence:

72% of all teens connect with friends via social media. 83% of these teens report that social media helps them feel more connected to information about their friends' lives, 70% report feeling more connected to their friends' feelings, and 57% make new friends. Con: Social media can lead to stress and offline relationship problems. Evidence:

31% of teens who use social media have fought with a friend because of something that happened online. One study found that the more Facebook friends a person has, the more stressful Facebook is to use. Social Media and Social Interaction Pro: Social media facilitates face-to-face interaction. Evidence:

People use social media to network at in-person events and get to know people before personal, business, and other meetings. Pew Research Center's Internet and American Life Project found that messaging on social media leads to face-to-face interactions when plans are made via the sites, and social media users messaged close friends an average of 39 days each year while seeing close friends in person 210 days each year. Con: Social media causes people to spend less time interacting face-to-face. Evidence:

A USC Annenberg School study found that the percentage of people reporting less face-to-face time with family in their homes rose from 8% in 2000 to 34% in 2011. 32% reported using social media or texting during meals (47% of 18-34-year-olds) instead of talking with family and friends. Footnotes & Sources The background and pro and con arguments were written by ProCon.org staff based upon input from the following footnotes (directly referenced) and sources (used for general research and not directly referenced). To find the complete directory of sources, visit the ProCon.org website and search for Social Networking.

National School Boards Association, “Creating and Connecting: Research and Guidelines on Online Social – and Educational – Networking,” nsba.org, July 2007 Sarah Kessler, “The Case for Social Media in Schools,” mashable.com, Sep. 29, 2010 Elizabeth Delmatoff, “How Social Media Transformed Our School Community,” oregoned.org, Apr. 2010 Morgan, “5 Ways Social Media Can Facilitate Offline Networking,” sociableboost.com, May 8, 2012 Annalisa Rodriguez, “Social Media Doesn't Mean Social Isolation,” usatodayeducate.com, Oct. 16, 2012