This document discusses perspectives on the impact of social media on communication skills and political engagement among youth. It notes that some experts believe excessive social media use could harm interpersonal communication skills, while others disagree. Research also suggests social media may be encouraging new forms of participatory politics among young people and helping to make politics more accessible and publicly debated. The document also examines how social media is used in marketing and advertising to engage consumers and support brands.

1. Linda Warlitner FYS
There were many key issues of concern within the reading of this article.
According to Larry Rosen who is a professor of psychology at California State
University, many kids say they prefer not to talk face to face. Rosen says “Kids rely on
written communication only, mainly via text or social media sites. That choice might
damage young people’s communication skills for years to come.” This professor is one
of the many who think that social media is having an impact on the younger
generations. However, we do have the other few people who think that social media
isn’t impacting our youth. Another professor from California State University named
Kaveri Subrahmanyam would disagree with Rosen on this situation. Subrahmanyman
says “The generation that has grown up online, do not appear to be living their personal
lives much differently than older generations.
Subrahmanyman believes that there shouldn’t be any concerns on how much
time an average person uses social media. Subrahmanyman also says “Most use
social media mainly to connect to people already in their lives and do the things they do
anyway in the physical world. Socially I don’t think we need to be too concerned.” In
the data that “The Digital Divide” recorded in 2012, nine out of ten Americans ages 13-
17 use Facebook. Experts of this research say that the multimedia appeal of Facebook
and its ease of use is helping to drive its popularity among teenagers. Facebook is not
the only social media that is popular with teens. Other social media such as
Twitter(which is the second popular social media site next to Facebook), Google,
Tumblr, Pinterest and Myspace are also popular, according to the data table.
Joseph Kahne, professor of education at Mills College in Oakland, California and
also a chairman of the MacArthur Foundation’s Research Network on Youth and

2. Linda Warlitner FYS
Participatory Politics did a survey on young people that help suggest that social media
are leading to increased political activity. In this survey that Kahne provided to the
young people, showed that 41 percent of the participants reported in engaging what
Kahne calls it “participatory politics”. For example: Kahne were told by the participants
that they would do such things to show support for a cause by tweeting it or forward a
news article about an issue. Kahne recalls that this kind of political engagement is
happening more and more among young people of all races and ethnicities.
Another example that Kahne can provide about young people showing their
personal opinions on social media is the Dallas-based Susan G. Komen Foundation.
The Dallas-based Susan G. Komen Foundation supports breast cancer research and
treatment. Kahne says that this foundation will no longer fund programs offered by
Planned Parenthood. Kahne recalls that this problem caused a storm of furious
commentary on Twitter, Facebook and other social media sites from individuals and
organizations. Three days later the foundation reversed course.
An assistant professor named Daniel Kreiss of journalism and mass
communication at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, would agree with Kahne
on the younger generations being more involved with politics because of social media.
Daniel Kreiss believes that social media makes it easier for the younger generations to
be in involved and interested in politics. According to Kreiss, debating public issues can
now be argued at home because of social media such as from Twitter, Tumblr blogs,
and newspaper and blog comment sections.
Katie E. Davis who is an assistant professor at the University of Washington
Information School of Seattle believes that social media is having an impact on young

3. Linda Warlitner FYS
people. Katie E. Davis reports that teens are showing “a decrease in risk taking” from
older generations when it comes to expressing themselves and interacting with other
people. In a statistic in this article, it reports that about half of the U.S. population or
about 152 million Americans are expected to log in to Facebook at least once a month
this year (which was 2013). An increase from 84 million in 2009.
According to the article, there used to be an old “On the Internet, nobody knows
that you’re a dog.” Before the 21st century, and several years into it, you could post
anything without no one knowing that it was you. Now, Facebook, Google Plus, You-
tube and other social media require you to post under your real name. Supporters of
these social media sites though, say that they prevent abusive behavior online by
because they force users to take full responsibility of what they post on their sites.
James Cook who is an London-based Internet analyst says that requiring real
names in Internet postings would create a more civil online atmosphere. Cook says
“Associate someone’s real name to abusive content that they’ve posted online, and
suddenly they aren’t so keen on standing by it.”
In Marcia Clemmitt’s article, analysts say that taking an opportunity of being a
fake avatar or a virtual character in game or in a teen chat gives the younger individual
a valuable learning experience. The role playing that takes place in virtual
environments is valuable, and “research is suggesting that that’s especially true for
girls,” who in real life, “are often constrained” in their roles. It’s easier to take on a role
with people who don’t know who you because people who know you put in a box.

4. Linda Warlitner FYS
According to the London-based publisher of the Journal of the Advertising
Research, social media helps support and advertise types of brands. The publisher
says that there are two types of branded social media communications. Which is the
“organic” and “paid”. The organic social media consists of brand communications that
are created by the advertiser. However, the supervisor or advertiser doesn’t pay for it,
instead the brand earns its spot on social media by a consumer. A consumer can share
the brand communication with others online such as by Facebook or Twitter.
The “Paid” content, which says it in the name, has to be paid by the advertiser to
be shown off. Either way, both of these types of brand communications are used as
supplements to existing media programs. This is the most common way that social
marketing is used today. Research that was published by Facebook in 2014, has
shown that consumers wanted to see more stories from friends and from Facebook
brand names that they cared about. Of course, that is an increase in sales for the
products being advertised. In this research, Facebook has also seen that there was not
much attention on contents that were being promoted.
Another example of the benefits of social media is the upbringing of a 100-year
old brand. A SPC which is a Australian fruit processor, was just about to disappear
from the world because it was not making much profit from consumers, until social
media came along and helped it survive. The company of this product was able to use
influencers, Tweets, direct messages, and Facebook posts quickly to rally up support
from Australians across the country to purchase and save the 100-year old brand.
Overall, social media has helped many companies increase their profits.

5. Linda Warlitner FYS