Salenga, Elise Mitchelle R.

11 ABM-St. Leopold

Do social networking sites do more harm than good?

By: Matteo Berto

Ladies, gentlemen, there has recently been a debate as to whether social networking sites do
more harm than good.

Personally, I believe social networking sites are harmful and do have consequences. I have solid
evidence to support my statement and so I would like to start with a true story concerning
Facebook – a popular social networking site.

Not too long ago, a girl in her teens made a friend on Facebook – a chat buddy. This other
unidentified friend didn’t give any personal details and one day this girl and friend met up at
the mall. The girl was never seen again. This is a serious matter because let’s say this happened
to all girls – it would be chaos. Another story is that of a suicide because a person couldn’t meet
up with another person on another social networking site. People – is our nation known for its
numerous social networks which invade privacy and prevent outdoor activity and exercise? Are
our students to spend time chatting online instead of studying for future careers which make
this country great?

The opposition argues that social networking sites give people their own space and that these
blog sites represent fun and socialization. Well, would we not prefer our children to go outside
and socialize and meet friends that they know where they live and they know their gender? Did
people in the 60s need social networking sites? In the olden days we didn’t express a need for
an online high tech chatting system. Social networking sites prevent youths from spending time
with their parents and their siblings. Another issue about social networking sites is what if your
child comes across discrimination or cyber bullying? This only adds to depression. If we are to
be a happy nation we should restrict these sites to people above the age of sixteen. This is a
fairly easy alternative which I am sure the majority of you would vote for.

Overall, the benefits are few and the drawbacks are many – social networking sites are the
center of misconduct, less studying and unsafe blogs. Do we want our youths to have their eyes
glued to computer screens or their ears plugged to headphones? We must restrict social
networking sites to 16s or above! Get your children outside socializing and inside studying!
Love and hate are the strongest opposites in our dichotomous thinking. Why then unhappy love
often turns into deep hate and ruined relationships? A person in love loves everyone. This
overwhelmingly positive feeling can change the world dramatically. A person in hate is an
enormous destructive force, that creates an abyss of violence and desperation.

Have you ever experienced real light of love and real darkness of hate?

Love may be more powerful than hate because, as the song goes, love can lead to hate, whereas
hate would never, even metaphorically, produce love. Love is more powerful because it gives
birth to new positive challenges. Love changes a person, enriches the world, extends the
horizons, enhances opportunities, brightens friendships, and deepens emotions. A person in love
has a specific aura, a peculiar kind of energy that is given off, scattered in all directions, like the
light of the myriads of stars, sliding through ages, celebrating Juliet, Laura, Natasha, Ophelia,
Desdemona, all those love stories, powerful in their complexity of feelings and emotions, all
about eternal love.

But love can fade. It simply disappears, vanishes. So powerful to disappear, or love never goes
away. Love’s components are intimacy, passion, and commitment, with all their variations.
Consummate love that balances them all is rare. If Romeo and Juliet had lived longer, would they
have loved each other with the same intimacy, passion, and commitment? I have doubts. Love is
powerful because it can transform. It is, in fact, a transforming process of evolving relationships,
in which intimacy remains stable.

Who ever lived to hate? Love is powerful because it drives, navigates, directs, and makes our
existence meaningful. Hate invites loneliness, whereas love denies it. Hate ruins personality,
whereas love opens it up. Hate results in acts of violence, whereas love leads to amazing acts of
kindness. Hate destroys, whereas love creates. Hate is war, whereas love is peace.

It is impossible “to love to hate”. It is always “love” that gives birth to “love”. That’s why love is
more powerful than hate.

Discover your powers. Discover love in yourselves. Be sure you’re more powerful to love than to
hate. Keep love inside, and all will be always fine.