Ethical and Social Issues

       The financial and educational benefits to both parties are obvious. But the moralistic issues that may be present need to be discussed. What are the consequences of introducing social media to such a young age group?
       Since the introduction of social media, cyber bullying has been a problem. Although Davis (2012) suggests that as long as children are taught to use social media safely, there should not be any problems with cyber bullying. However, how can this be proved? The “safe” introduction of a new age group to social media will not necessarily exclude them from falling victim to the practice. Cyber bullying has serious repercussions. One victim of cyber bullying accounted her experience saying she ate more because of stress, gained weight and tried to get herself sick. She claimed to have attempted suicide on four separate occasions (O’Reilly 2012).

       According to Kowalski and Limber’s (2007) study, at least 11% of teenagers online have been bullied and this number has been rising over the past couple of years. It is suggested in the study that electronic bullying has become much more common than traditional bullying because of the anonymity it provides for the bully.
       This will definitely become more of a concern as Facebook (and possibly other social media sites) ushers in a new generation of users. In order to act responsibly, the company will have to take very strong measures in order to regulate and decrease cyber bullying among this age group.