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The Media in General
The media, in general, have had a tremendous impact on individual’s lives. This is
attributed to the fact that individuals have access to the massive volume of information that can
either be destructive or contribute to the well-being of individuals. The media does not only involve
social media platform but will include mainstream, movies as well as gaming. The objective of
this paper is therefore to assess the media and its positive as well as the negative impacts.
Positive Impacts of the Media
To begin with, there has been a rise in the use of social media network. Oxf ord Internet
Surveys have tracked digital participation since 2003, and according to the data presented the
percentage of individuals updating their profiles on networks such as Twitter and Facebook rose
rapidly between 2003 and 2009 and has continued to grow ever since. Consequently, the primary
concern is not merely about the number of people but also the time that people spend in social
media that makes the network so significant (Chandrasekharan 35). The massive turnout of
individuals using social media can be used to explain the positive impacts of social media, mainly
enables sharing of information within seconds and enables individuals to gain information that can
be helpful. Examples of Social Media rapid sharing information including the Boston marathon
bombing in 2013 whereby through social networks the FBI released photos of two suspects
associated with the attack and the images went viral on Reddit, Facebook, and Twitter. Individuals
used social networks to come up with groups that updated people about the case, and this enabled
individuals to stay alert, and before the end of the week one of the suspects was found dead, and
another was apprehended. This phenomenon of sharing information with the public is referred to
as crowdsourcing.
Unlike violent video games and movies, prosocial video games and films increase prosocial
behaviors among individuals. This is statement is reinforced by a study that was conducted by
Greitemeyer and Osswald, where an experiment was conducted to find out the prosocial behavior
of both the violent video gamers and those who did not engage in the game. The experiment

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involved an observer dropping a bunch of pencils by mistake, and from the incident, 67% of the
prosocial game players assisted the experimenter, while only 33% of the neutral and 28% of violent
video gamers helped (Greitemeyer and Osswald 330). Another study by also backs up the results
of Greitemeyer and Osswald's on desired priming effects of video gaming. However, this study
involved the use of only violent video games, and the main aim was to demonstrate how playing
violent video games contribute to prime positive behaviors, for example, responding to aggressive
negative behaviors (Bosche 144).
Adverse Impacts of Media in General
On the other hand, there are negative impacts that are associated with social media. There
is a new phenomenon that has been proposed by researchers referred to as the "Facebook
Depression" which is associated by spending a lot of time on social media networks, and therefore
they demonstrate symptoms of depression. One of the studies that help to approve the link between
depression and social media network was carried out by Dr. Joanne Davila and members of Stony
Brook University, according to the study sample group of teenagers who excessively used social
media. After a year the same sample group of teenage girls was reassessed, and the results found
that the teens were depressed. Texting, instant messaging and social networking made it easy for
social media users to become anxious which results in depression (Davila et al. 86). Stress is also
explained from the fact ind...