The end is nigh for ‘The Guide to Popular Apps’ – Social Issues

This is my last required blog for my technical writing module so I wanted to blog about Something that I have learned from my research about the apps I’ve wrote about. I chose to write about the effects Apps have had upon the modern teenager because it has become a serious issue as of late. I’ve noticed that many social issues have been raised because of apps. Such as;

• • Cyber-bullying
• • Sharing of pornographic content
• • Illegal downloading, piracy
• • Censorship
• • Glamorising Underage drinking and Drug abuse
• • The promotion of violence and crime

And these are just to name a few. From going through the apps I have sampled such as Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat and Flappy Bird all of these have been noticed in one way or another. Even though, these apps have attempted to censor unethical content a lot still manages to be uploaded.

 
Most days you see either provocative selfies, statuses about underage drinking, drug use or nasty comments being made about people or all at once. Communication apps in particular, such as Facebook, Instagram, Ask.fm or Twitter are the biggest enablers of social issues that I’ve noticed.

 
During my lectures I learned all about copyright, ethics, netiquette, and other similar topics in relation to the internet. All of these social issues are there because these rules or codes of conduct have been disregarded by some people. It is easier to break these laws because it is not being physically done only virtually.

 
Even though many of these apps have strict codes of conduct and privacy settings it has not seemed to affect the apparent power of the internet. There always seems to be a loophole found. Apps have enabled for social issues to become glamorized through an easier access to media influences. Many ways in which this is seen is through are;

• • Memes or vines have been made about how it is ‘cool’ to have underage sex, binge drink or take drugs or part-take in racist behaviour which are shared through social media.
• • Torrent files of illegally downloaded movies are shared easier within these apps.
• • Cyber-bullying and cyber stalking (the repeated use of electronic communications to harass or frighten someone, for example by sending threatening emails.) have become serious issues within the media as of late. Most popular stories would be related to Ask.fm or Twitter.
• • Censorship is now not a large concern. Social media users are encouraged to share every thought or event in their lives without any regard towards others feelings. There is a blur between the concept of free speech and censorship nowadays.
• • Snapchat as previously mentioned in my last blog post has enabled the sharing of pornographic content. Other communication apps such as Twitter, Facebook and Instagram have also enabled this.