Many people believe that social networking sites (such as Facebook) have had a huge negative impact on both individuals and society. To what extent do you agree?

With social networking

sites

becoming a ubiquitous element of our daily lives, some believe that these

sites

harm us. In my opinion, I agree that they have exerted significant negative influences on both individuals and society.

To begin

with, it is undeniable that social media often projects an unrealistic and unattainable standard on teenagers. Young

people

tend to be attention seekers, and they do seek positive feedback on social networking

sites

. Oftentimes, young

people

only post the most appealing pictures and the most positive parts of their lives on social media.

Hence

, it is easy for social networking

sites

to convey false standards of beauty and success to them, undermining the fact that imperfection is not a problem.

Consequently

,

this

can lead to low self-esteem and even depression problems in teens. Equally worth mentioning is that social media has played an essential role in polarising our society. To boost revenue, some social networking

sites

are infamous for using artificial intelligence algorithms to manipulate netizens’ behaviour online.

This

leads

people

to engage more in hate speeches or aggressive discussions, as

people

are inherently more focused on negativity.

Furthermore

,

this

can be exacerbated by political events. The recent US presidential election is a case in point. In that election, Facebook and Twitter were notorious for spreading biases and causing conflicts across the country. In conclusion, my view is that the algorithms of social networking

sites

are massively misused for commercial and political purposes, and that has imposed harm to our youth’s mental health and social harmony.