Facebook and the Extent of its Effects to Personality

The availability of computers makes it possible for anyone an easy access to other people from among the farthest places. Social Networking Sites such as Facebook bridges the gap that hinders them to communicate. As the person grows, long term exposure to these sites would alter their being a person. Thus, personality development could be influenced.

     The development of a person could be affected by several factors such as environment and heredity. Environmental factors can be categorized into physical and social environment. The people that a person would be interacting with will play a big role in molding his personality since it will determine the good and the bad in him (Tumblod, 2010). The greatest motivating factor for students to use technology is to connect to others and to socialize. Their irresistible need to connect with their peers, coupled with the development of 24/7 accessible technologies can make the use of sites like Facebook (Fodeman and Monroe, 2009).
     Many students are posting mean and hurtful things because they can. They are increasingly living their social lives in the world without caring, loving adults watching out for them, without expectations for their behavior, and without boundaries. Fodeman and Monroe (2009) further cited that harassing language is normalized, the sexualization of girls/women is common-places, and the lack of supervision creates unguarded habits.A friend has a new meaning for our students nowadays and the change puts them at risks in distinct ways. “Friending” is a verb and for many of our students, some of their friends are complete strangers (Fodeman and Monroe, 2009). Furthermore, Facebook is not an age appropriate to develop a mentally healthy place for younger students to hangout. It is not working to protect children and the laws are terribly inadequate to safeguard children online.Profiles in Facebook were created under the person’s real identity. This means that anyone who knows a person’s full name can find their Facebook page with relative ease. Different walks of life assumed that almost everyone has an account and has led them to search and find the profile of specific people.
     A person should also take into consideration that not everyone on your list of friends might be who they are, thus, making the persons account susceptible to hackers who would take the appearance of a friend.
     Szalavitz (2011) said that people consistently underestimate how often other people have negative emotions, while estimating how often they have positive ones (Reader’s Digest, 2010). Frozen smiles shouldn’t be taken as the sum of your friend’s life experiences. She concluded that your entire effort at “image management” probably worsen the feelings of isolations and distress in your friends, by adding to their impression that yours and others lives are happier and more successful than theirs.
     Personal contacts make friendship stronger and endure the different problems faced. But research showed that children and teens are increasingly using sites, including Facebook, to avoid difficult face-to-face conversations. Also, children are increasingly turning for making friendships and building relationships online (Fodeman and Monroe, 2009). This avoidance will have increasing ramifications on their communication skills throughout life. Moreover, children can best acquire social communication skills in real life.