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The Impacts of Social Media on Emirati Society
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2286004514850The Impacts of Social Media on Emirati Society
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The Impacts of Social Media on Emirati Society
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The Impacts of Social Media on Emirati Society
A. Introduction
Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Myspace, and so many more are all social networking websites with the purpose of promoting and aiding communication. Although, it aides long distance communication greatly and connects you with friends from all over the world; it is still in my opinion the type of technology that is doing more harm than good. Not only it is changing the way to communicate, but also how we interact with each other on a daily basis. Social networking influences our day to day self-expression, and it is isolating us away from people, and it is affecting our friendship relations in negative ways. The big question is: Are we controlling or controlled? Are we leading or lead?
Social media have a major impact on the Emirati society. Recently it has been obvious that sites such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram affected different social sectors, especially which it is very easy to get and use. It is available for everyone and all ages, especially children who possess their own devices and accounts. New generations all over the world are highly influenced by this trend. Analyzing this issue from different corners force us to pay more attention and focus on it as it affects the culture and the community through different elements that allow us to be globally aware of technology and knowledge, and enable us to follow the regulations on how to deal with individuals and community as well.
B. Positive Impacts
One can argue that social networks have many positive effects on the society that I will agree with to some degree. It can increase communication among individuals, especially those that have difficulty socializing in person. Using these websites will increase a person’s computer abilities. It will connect us with millions of friends from all around the world; it can also act as a source of entertainment (joining groups, playing games, etc.) But in my opinion, the real questions that I ask myself are, how many hours I am spending a day on social networks? Do I really need millions of friends to view my personal information and share my life and how many of these millions are considered real friends and how many are strangers?
C. Negative Impacts
On the other hand, with the constant use of these social technologies, fewer people are communicating in person. Many people are becoming more isolated due to the lack of personal interaction. It is becoming easier to go through life with less personal confrontations and conversations. Many people are becoming used to only conversing through their computer, I-Pads and phones. If we continue to be isolated than all of our communication skills will drop lower than they already are. Incidents in the UAE community about the drawbacks of using The Facebook, for example, are countless. In many cases, kids post private photos of the females in their families without informing them or being aware; this might lead to divorce and ruining the family in a community like ours. Girls at high school also took photos to their friends and teachers and post them without realizing the consequences that might occur. Suspension from school was the result, and this is due to the policies of The Ministry of Education in the country. Personally, my daughters ask me to take them to particular places such as restaurants and cafes in order to take photos and post them on their Facebook accounts to tease their peers who had already done the same. So going out nowadays is for the simple reason of showing this on Facebook and receiving silly and hypocritical comments not to enjoy special moments with family and friends. In some cases also kids fake photos in order to send a message through them. This is in addition to countless fake accounts and unreal names of people who try to follow your daily steps secretly and in a hidden way.
These social networks allow an individual to have a lot of friends. However, 80 percent of these supposed “friends” are no more than strangers. On these websites, we allow strangers onto our page for petty reasons, such as having the same taste in music or movies or sports. We spend more time with these people online, when we should be spending time with our real life friends and family members that we have known for years. This lack of dedication to our real life relatives and friends leads to shallower friendships. Many people care for their “Face book” friends, but they don’t even know what their lives are like. Many of those people will know what a bunch of they call friends had for breakfast or dinner, but don’t know whether any of them is struggling with major life issues and obstacles.
D. Policies Applied By the UAE Government
Government agencies have become responsible for controlling and the developing plans and rules that limit the negative impacts on the culture and the community, especially the UAE.
Legal risks for Social Media users in the UAE: This media coverage had many people in the UAE talking about the legal risks of using social media in the UAE, and the importance of being aware of the applicable law. There are some legal provisions that might make social media users think twice before posting risky content.
Photographs
Care needs to be taken when posting pictures of others online, including via social media sites. The Cyber Crimes Law (Federal Law No. 5 of 2012) makes it an offence to use any IT means to breach someone else’s privacy, including by taking pictures of others, or publishing or displaying those pictures. The UAE Penal Code (Federal Law No 3 of 1987) makes it an offence to transmit someone’s photograph without their consent. (Our view is that this is likely to extend to moving images, and not only still images.) The Copyright Law (Federal Law No 7 of 2002 in Respect of Author Copyrights and Parallel Rights) states that, in the absence of an agreement to the contrary (and with limited exceptions), a person who takes a picture of another cannot distribute or publish such picture without the consent of the person appearing in the picture.
Content contrary to morality, social cohesion, etc.
The Cyber Crimes Law makes it an offence to use any IT means for activities that are inconsistent with public morals and good conduct. This could include content that is un-Islamic, blasphemous, and lewd, that encourages sinful activity, or that are aimed at corrupting minors, etc. It can also extend to content that might negatively impact on social cohesion and peace, such as content that that stirs sedition or sectarianism, mocks the leaders of the nation, or that hurts national unity or social peace. UAE law contains some interesting provisions relating to the responsibility of site operators for user generated content that is considered to breach these types of prohibitions, and some interesting provisions relating to the extra-territorial application of UAE law in an on-line context. Once again, users of social media should familiarize themselves with the social mores of the UAE, and the applicable law.
E. Personal Experience and Recommendations
In many life aspects, social media have tremendous effects. As a mother, I can clearly state through my observations that social media has facilitated communication among parents and others who are interfering with their kids. It updates all parties with all modifications and announcements. It facilitates the parental role, especially the ones who are very busy with their professional tasks. In addition, it adds fun to learning and bridge gaps between generations. Feeling embarrassed to ask, these websites provide sufficient clarification and answers many inquiries. Although social media has played a significant role in the reform of the educational relationship, it still has negative impacts on the students. Due to the excessive usage of online chatting and shortcuts, the writing skills of today’s generation have declined quite tremendously. The children are not reading, and when they do, we do not guarantee that they are reading the proper thing that suits their age, level and culture. For this reason, the creativity of children and their imagination are affected. The writing skills cannot improve as long as children rely more on digital communication. They do not follow the spelling, capitalization, and punctuation rules. They ignore the proper usage of grammar or how doing cursive writing.
The UAE government should consider preparing an intensive awareness program geared towards all Emirati society members. A particular focus must be dedicated to the youth. However; the site should work to exploit younger people capabilities and energies in strengthening positive use of the internet.
The government should also use the media programs and community seminar with the media channels, with the help of prominent people to raise awareness on this issue and its negative effects on political, cultural, and religious value.
Designing a social site under the community foundation supervision – It should include new technologies and various modes of communication using all interest factors and attractions to ensure all that all users are registered to this site.
It should also consider using of awareness programs in universities and schools, especially weekly lecture and school radio that targets the teenager and youths to monitor the vital pros and cons of using social sites.
The introduction of social media has changed the world in many ways. These changes can be positive and affect our lives in a good way, if we know how to manage and control them, but they also can change our lives in a very bad way if we let them control us. Social Networks should only be used as a tool. It cannot become our main form of communication and interaction. There are positives to this new technology, but nowhere do these positives outweigh the negatives in my opinion. If we continue overusing the aid of these sites, then it will keep affecting our communication, self-expression, isolation, friendship and humanity in negative ways. There is nothing that can substitute for personal interaction.
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