Cause and Effect Essay

Sample on Social Media

Cause and effect essay is one of the basic types of academic
writing assignments that is aimed at investigating reasons
and outcomes of the particular event. Writing cause and
effect essay helps the student to understand the causal
relationships of various things and their dependence on
each other, and to evaluate the ideas in detail and
accurately as well.

This kind of essay has a specific structure, as its primary

purpose is to research the logical parallels between some
aspects and their consequences. Thus, it may not meet the
basic three-paragraph form. The number of paragraphs
may vary depending on the content: the more causes and
effects are presented, the more paragraphs should be
included. There are several specific patterns, which are
useful for this type of essay. One might focus on multiple
causes that lead to the same effect; otherwise, one cause
may produce various effects. Additionally, there is also a
causal chain pattern that consists of several principles,
which are interconnected as one of them leads to another
one, and so on. However, one should not forget about the
introduction with the strong thesis as to present the topic
to the reader and state the position of the essay. Cause and
effect essay sample has to include the conclusion
paragraph, which summarizes the main points of the
writing.

‘How Social Media Influence People’s

Lives’ Essay Sample
It is challenging to imagine the modern world without the
rapid development of science or access to the Web. Surfing
online has become a common hobby and a popular way to
communicate. Social media plays a significant role
nowadays as people use it on a regular basis for numerous
purposes. The use of this innovation, however, has led to
several consequences. As people become constant users of
social media and spend much time online, the web starts
affecting their lifestyle and bringing noticeable changes to
society, both beneficial and negative ones.

Introducing social media has affected the overall approach

to communication. Nowadays, it is much easier to keep in
touch with friends and relatives than ever. With access to
the web, people chat online that is quick and easy. It is
possible to text someone in another part of the world and
receive a reply in seconds. Each of the Internet users has
the opportunity to chat with friends and family almost all
day long. Because of this accessibility, online
communication has become the most popular way of
sharing thoughts. However, it results in a lack of live
communication: people prefer online conversations to live
meetings. While chatting on social media is useful, it also
can cause some issues as people become too humble to talk
in real life. Texting in social media provides the illusion of
communication, so people experience problems with real
socializing. It leads to a decrease in social activity, feeling
of loneliness, and reduced self-esteem.

Tired of all the guides and never-ending instructions?

Social media influences not only communication but

economics as well. For many people, online platforms have
become not just a hobby, but also a full-time work. This
innovation opened new opportunities for people and an
entirely new job segment. Thus, everyone can earn money
without leaving home. It is widely popular nowadays to
buy different things online, so there are many shops across
social media. Bloggers also earn money with their content
as they use monetization. Photographers, writers, SMM
managers, and people of other professions find a new
application for their professional skills in social media as
well.

With the development of social media, people are

encouraged to construct their worldview by themselves and
develop critical thinking skills. In the past, the population
had no such access to the information, so that their points
of view could be formed by authorities and manipulated
easily. Nowadays, even the most accurate political
manipulation or the smallest inaccuracy can be
investigated through the Internet and international
communication. Internet and its social media platforms are
the only source of information that includes various points
of view so that people are free to research and formulate
their own opinions. In this way, social media introduces
freedom and non-interference, so that any user can
compare his or her thoughts with contrasting and checking
them. The variety of ideas and differences between them
teaches people to think critically, be aware of the
information and use it accurately.

Even though it is advantageous in various ways, social

media provokes strong addiction. Although this type of
addiction is not defined by medical manuals yet, the
problem becomes more essential each day. Pew Research
Center informs that 92% of teens use the Internet daily
(Lenhart para.2). Checking feed on Facebook, Instagram,
and other social media is entertaining, yet it consumes
much time and makes the user crave for new content. The
usual user spends two hours a day surfing the social media
platforms (Mander para.2). Numerous addicts always take
their gadgets with them and check them regularly. Some
students cannot even refuse to use social media during the
class, while workers procrastinate in their workplace using
the web. Such addiction leads to loss of interest in other
things, reduced productivity, and time waste.

The overuse of online platforms leads to reduced attention

span and overall memory deficit. The average user of any
of the social media platforms looks through thousands of
posts with various content: those might be videos, photos,
texts, and so one. Each post can be skipped in a moment so
that the attention changes rapidly. As a result, it has
become more difficult to concentrate on one thing for a
certain amount of time as people are used to quick
switches of attention. Moreover, the amount of the
perceived information is so immense that the brain has to
remove the unnecessary details. This aspect may be tricky
because the necessary information may not be memorized
as well. Thus, the use of social media affects memory and
attention.

Another effect of social media on the lives of people is

stress and anxiety it provides. As the Internet involves
millions of people all around the world, communication
has become stressful and even dangerous. While in real life
any person has an opportunity to control its’ circles of
communication, the Internet forces to face various users.
The web provides unlimited access to accounts of
numerous people, their comments, and the content they
upload. This approach leads to freedom, as the content is
almost not controlled. Anyone is pleased to express any
thoughts; however, sometimes it causes bullying, violence,
and another negative issues. Reading comments for fun or
checking random video may become a stressful experience,
while chatting with a stranger may end up with offenses. It
is clear that such interactions are not always pleasant.
Social media provide human lives with a noticeable
amount of negative issues which often affects the mood
and results in stress.

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90
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Young people may be affected by the web, as they form

unrealistic expectations about nearly everything in this life
– relationships, beauty, appearance, family, lifestyle, and
various other aspects. Instagram feed is full of fit bodies
and pretty faces of bloggers, models, and celebrities.
Observing selfies daily often leads to wrong expectations
about beauty and appearance: as many bloggers look
skinny, healthy, and attractive the teenager may assume
that long legs and full lips are a must. Moreover, most
people seem to share their life with their followers and
avoid talking about faults and problems. In social media,
people present their life as appealing as they can. As a
result, one might feel miserable because everyone else is
successful and happy that is not always true. Teenagers
also learn about relationships, while their parts presented
in the Web are usually far from reality. As people want to
share only the positive sides of their life and present
themselves from the best perspectives, the whole image of
life is misunderstood. Teenagers try to fit in those
standards they see online, yet their expectations are mostly
wrong.

Moreover, such unrealistic expectations and trends of social

media create noticeable pressure, which might be
challenging to overcome. One notices the difference
between themselves and the perfect image in the social
media, and these differences disappoint them.
Furthermore, as the Internet has become the most
convenient place to share information, most of the trends
are born online. Those trends might vary from haircuts and
nail art ideas to subcultures and “fashionable” professions.
Trends demand people follow fashion and consume more.
Even though the differences between the expectations and
reality with current trends may motivate one to progress,
they also create a significant pressure, which leads to
negative experience, disappointment, and even mental
health issues.

Another impact social media produces is lack of sleep.

Social media provides users with various content, and it is
almost impossible to review it all. Therefore, the constant
flow of new information creates the interest that often
results not only in addiction but in insufficient sleep as
well. The users sleep less and go to bed later because of the
web. Furthermore, people gain problems with sleep
because of the messages, which interrupt the sleep and
distract their attention. It is highly likely between the
teenagers to wake up at night to check notifications in their
social media accounts. In this way, people gain sleeping
issues that influence their mood, productivity during the
day, and health in a long-term perspective.

To sum up, the development of new technologies and social

media, in particular, has resulted in various changes in the
everyday lives of people all around the world. Online
platforms change the approach to communication, create
new segments in the field of economics, and encourage
people to use critical thinking skills. However, there are
various disadvantageous effects of this phenomenon that
include addiction, changes in mood, lack of sleep, pressure,
attention span reduction, and other issues. While social
media platforms introduce an entirely new online world for
millions of users all around the world, they also can be
dangerous. Including plentiful pros and cons, each user
should determine if social media are useful or damaging by
themselves; however, no one can ignore or object the fact
that these technologies have changed the human lives
worldwide.

This cause and effect essay covers the topic of how social
media affect the lives of people nowadays. The presented
piece consists of the introduction, nine body paragraphs,
and conclusion. The chosen pattern of the essay structure
focuses on the multiple effects of the one event. The essay
illustrates both advantageous and disadvantageous
consequences of spreading social media not focusing on
only one perspective. This sample gives you a full
understanding of the concept of the cause and effect essay
and would be a useful tool while creating your own high-
quality paper.

Works Cited

Lenhart, Amanda. “Teens, Social Media & Technology

Overview 2015.” Pew Research Center, 9 Apr. 2015,
www.pewinternet.org/2015/04/09/teens-social-media-
technology-2015/.
Mander, Jason. “Daily Time Spent on Social Networks Rises
to Over 2 Hours.” Global Web Index, 16 May 2017,
blog.globalwebindex.com/chart-of-the-day/daily-time-
spent-on-social-networks/.