Self-Evaluation

Preparation Outline

Topic: Pros and cons of using social media

General Purpose: To inform

Specific Purpose: To inform the audience about the benefits and dangers of social media use

Introduction

I. I want you to take out your phones and check how many social media platforms you have. The most common social media sites include Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook (Villanti, 2017). Now, I want you to check the last tweet, message, or picture on your social media site.

II. What does the last post on your social media site communicate about you? Is it something you would want to be associated with?

III. The activity we have just conducted demonstrates the ease of access of information provided by the social media. Information has power to change someone. The question is, how does the information provided through the social media influence people’s decision making?

IV. Today, I want to discuss the benefit of social media in providing us with prompt information as well as the dangers lurking behind every tweet, post, and picture.

Body

I. First I’ll let you know the importance of social media.

A. Social media serves as an information source (Niklewicz, 2017). Gone are the days where we would wait to watch news on the TV to get information on current affairs. Social media spreads useful information in an instant. A good example is the recent US Presidential elections that were conducted in 2020. I relied on social media news feed to get information on the presidential elections.

B. Social media also enhances communication between family members and friends. This applies to family members who live far away from each other. Social media enables them to stay in touch with each other, which enhances their family ties.

C. Social media enhances communication skills. People need to be clear and articulate when using the social media, hence the development of written communication skills.

D. Social media enhances one’s visibility by enabling individuals, businesses, and brands to reach larger audiences (So et al., 2018). People who advertise their products and services on social media get worldwide coverage.

II. We are now discussing the dangers of the social media

A. Social media influence may result in ineffective decision making (Duffett, 2017). Social media influence may result in effective decision making as people may be pressurized to make the wrong decisions.

B. How many of us envy other people on social media? I used to my high school friend, let’s call him Dan. He would post pictures traveling in different destinations and he always had top of the range cars. I met him just the other day and I was startled at the different between his social media and actual personal. He did not have the tan, the confidence, or the flashy lifestyle he always flashed on social media. Where was the social media Dan?

C. The truth is, the social media Dan was not an actual person. He does not exist. He had been created to boost Dan’s ego. Many other people have fallen victim to such people. We see people having such great times and we envy them and feel bad about ourselves. Social media has the power to turn us into anything we want. It allows us to post the best or even unreal versions of ourselves.

Transition: Social media is the ever-present influencer in our lives.

D. Social media influences what we eat, where we drive, which clothes we buy, what movies we see, and where we go to school (Duffett, 2017). Social media influences people’s decision making as they want to have lifestyles that are similar to their social media friends.

E. Earlier, I had indicated that social media enhances communication between family members. However, that only applies to people living many miles from each other. In fact, social media may weaken the quality of interactions by family members. Children spend less time with their parents as they focus on communicating with their social media friends. As a result, it breaks family ties due to lack of communication.

Conclusion

A. It is challenging, almost impossible, not to use social media.

B. However, social media should be used in moderation. Also, it should not be the only source of information we can rely on.

C. In addition, we should limit our use of social media by allocating adequate time to other forms of interactions such as face to face talks.

Reference

Duffett, R. G. (2017). Influence of social media marketing communications on young consumers’ attitudes. Young Consumers.

Niklewicz, K. (2017). Weeding out fake news: an approach to social media regulation. European View, 16(2), 335-335.

So, K. K. F., Wu, L., Xiong, L., & King, C. (2018). Brand management in the era of social media: Social visibility of consumption and customer brand identification. Journal of Travel Research, 57(6), 727-742.

Villanti, A. C., Johnson, A. L., Ilakkuvan, V., Jacobs, M. A., Graham, A. L., & Rath, J. M. (2017). Social media use and access to digital technology in US young adults in 2016. Journal of medical Internet research, 19(6), e196.