A test conducted in 2015 took a poll on 15,000 middle and high school students from about 20 different schools, the results concluded that 25% of the students had been bullied online with the help of social media. Bullying is one of the many problems caused by social media and other online sources. Social media is a worldwide communication service; people from almost every country in the world has its use. Although social media is a gateway for many opportunities it has plenty downsides to it as well. Social media has caused some of our worldwide communication problems like the inability to talk to people outside of social media, to the more troublesome problems such as cyberbullying and child abductions.

One problem social media has caused is the inability to have a conversation with people outside of the online world. In my time with social media I have talked to more than 100 people that I never would have otherwise, but sadly though this is a negative. I have made countless new friends because of social media and I text them on a regular basis but yet when we finally meet in person there is little to be said. There is a huge difference from texting and talking, most people can keep text conversations for days but once you meet outside of that there is an infinite amount of time with nothing said. Some people say that not everyone has problems with talking outside social media, but yet it is still a problem because in experiences of my own it doesn’t feel right to continue a text conversation outside of messaging so some are left to come up with a new topic on the spot at which isn’t the easiest task. I have talked to a girl for weeks over the phone and social media but when we met up outside of it, it was different. We were quiet for the longest time, it was as if we'd never met or talked to each other before. Social media has given us the opportunity to communicate with new people and places but once we communicate outside of it, it isn’t as easy to keep a conversation.

Cyberbullying is a huge problem in our world today, it allows kids no escape from bullying because of social media. A study taken in 2014 states that 25% of the young people’s population has been bullied via phone and social media. Social media had no intentions at the start to cause cyberbullying but yet the fact still stands that it is the biggest reason for its cause. More than 80% of our population carries a device that allows them to connect to social media, making phones and social media an ideal target for harassment. In 2014 another poll was taken, it stated that bullied kids are 9% more likely to commit suicide and that over 30,000 kids that year stayed home because they were too afraid of school but now with the help of social media staying home doesn’t stop the bullying. Social media has given bullies a way to do what they do when they are nowhere close to the victim, bullies can now get on Instagram, Facebook, twitter, etc.. And harass all they want. Over 81% of teens admit that it is easier to get away with bullying online and 20% of the kids being cyber bullied on social media have committed or close to committing suicide. Social media has opened a huge gateway for a new type of harassment that could even lead to death.

Lastly child abductions and abuse is partly caused by social media. On the internet it is not hard to act as someone you are not, people could easily play the role of anyone with anyone ever noticing. Kids around 12-16 years of age will join a social media site and comfortably give out information about themselves and don’t think twice about it and yet not knowing that someone is taking notes. Around ¼ of child abductions is caused by human trafficking for child pornography, the most used tool for this is social media. In 2010 there was a total of 2,332 arrests for child internet sex crimes through social media, this has only gotten worst. Social media is becoming way more vast and open to the public leaving more openings and opportunities for child predators and other internet crimes. But not all child abductions is caused by social media, why yes this is true it is still a fact that social media is a leading cause of it. Even though it may not be the biggest threat it is still one none the less that is caused by social media. Social media has given the world an amazing gift in being able to communicate all around the world though it has also given us a burden to watch out for in order to keep abductions and trafficking away.

Social media has made a lot of good for this world but still there are a lot of downsides to it’s as well, some worse than others. Social media has cause small problems like the inability to talk in the real world to way bigger problems like cyberbullying and child abductions and trafficking. Social media I think should stay because of its amazing opportunities it has and can open but yet I think they should really put more time into learning how to fix the problems they have than creating more. Social media has caused too many problems for this world and if we have any hope of keeping it in the future than we need to stop these problems it has helped with or created.