Homelessness Amongst Children - Free Essay Example

Homelessness amongst children in America is a pervasive problem. Indeed, and with child homelessness generally representing a corollary of parental poverty, structural in nature and driven by an insufficient social safety net, this points to a context in which the majority of childhood poverty results from predictors such as race, ethnicity and/or parental histories of mental illness and substance abuse. With almost half of homeless children being under the age of six years old, the vulnerability which these children experience on the street is incredibly salient. While a distinct category of runaway youth aged thirteen to sixteen faces some of the same challenges as these homeless children, the latter are likely the most vulnerable because of their young age, and because of their parents various afflictions. Examining the manner by which childhood homelessness affects development throughout the lifespan, homeless children are predisposed to developing mental illness, substance abuse difficulties, and to experiencing lifelong poverty of the same varieties experienced by their parents. Moreover, and because life on the street forces children to adopt age-inappropriate social norms and psychological coping mechanisms, children who were once homeless also have immense difficulties integrating into the school system, and the labor market. This thus predisposes children who experienced significant periods of homelessness to themselves be more likely to experience homelessness later in life, and often once they have children of their own. Ultimately, and in working to mitigate childhood homelessness, the same best practices which work for homeless adults appear to be germane to homeless children. The Housing First paradigm, which advocates providing the homeless with a home even if substance abuse or other problems are present, must be put into place so as to provide essential services to these children and their families simultaneously. This is critical because this approach to mitigating homelessness is one which allows children to return to normalcy as soon as possible by reintegrating the school system and their peer group in a manner which detracts from the otherwise significant long term effects of childhood homelessness. Child Homelessness in America: An Overview Beginning with an overview of child homelessness in America itself, it is estimated that approximately one in thirty children will experience some degree of homelessness in a given year. While statistics pertaining to full-time homelessness are not available because of the inherent difficulty associated with tracking transient homeless populations, these data nevertheless reflect the fact that housing security for children in the United States is very problematic. With these data thus suggesting that between two and three million American children will experience homelessness in a given year, and with most such children experiencing it more than once, homelessness amongst children is a serious yet neglected social problem in contemporary America (Morton et al., 14-17) Demographically speaking, what is perhaps most troubling about child homelessness is that over 50% of homeless children are under the age of six. Disproportionately members of visible minority groups, homeless children are typically left on the street, almost always living with parents when under the age of thirteen, subsequent to a parents job loss and/or eviction. This said, many such children also have parents who suffer from significant mental health issues and/or substance abuse troubles. In this respect then, child homelessness must absolutely be viewed as a direct consequence of adult poverty (Morton et al., 19-20). In examining and analyzing the specific forms of poverty which bring about child homelessness, these appear to be structural in nature. Indeed, and because child homelessness is so disproportionately present amongst communities of color, immigrant communities as well as in households featuring mental health or substance abuse problems, intersectionality is associated with this homelessness. These children have simply not benefited from equality of opportunity inasmuch as they have usually been born into poverty, and neglected by social safety net programs such as Social Security and Section 8 housing (Roschelle, 999-1001). From this, it must be recognized that homelessness amongst American children is a mirror image of poverty in America more broadly. In other words then, the factors which make parents more likely to be poor are also more likely to lead children to be homeless. Writ-large then, child homelessness emerges as a phenomenon which is manageable if those who are at risk for losing their homes are identified by social services agencies (Roschelle, 1003-1005) . This said, and while the majority of homeless children live with family, a separate analytical category of homeless youth, typically conceived of as being aged thirteen to seventeen, has been found to live independent of any traditional family structures. These children, numbering somewhere between 500 thousand and 1 million at any given time, are made up of abandoned and runaway children. This group differs from the broader group of homeless children on the basis of familial structures, reasons for homelessness as well as individual rates of homelessness and substance abuse (Snyder et al. 90-92). Ultimately then, poverty is the principal determinant of homelessness amongst children. While a small portion of older runaways and abandoned youth find themselves living on the streets for different reasons, poverty is the common denominator across all homeless children and their parents (Bassuk et al., 86-88). From this baseline then, attacking homelessness requires attacking childhood poverty and the various corollaries which it generates in terms of predisposing certain youth and their families to conditions of homelessness. The Developmental Trajectories of Homeless Children In the context of this child and youth homelessness, it is necessary to recognize that children are likely to be forced to develop characteristics associated with independence from an earlier age that it average. Indeed, studies of homeless populations show high levels of pragmatism, independence and problem-solving orientations amongst these youth. This said, the dark side of this anomalous development is early exposure to drugs, alcohol, inappropriate sexual advances, violence, and other phenomena which are typically viewed as being negative by society, and parents (Whitbeck, 24-25). This thus leads to the conclusion that homeless children and youth must precociously develop structures of adaptation which allow them to navigate the vagaries of the street. Given that such adaptation requires that they take on adult roles from a young age, it is thus critical to take into account that being homeless fundamentally alters the psychological and social norms internalized by these youth. In such contexts, later integrating into normative structures such as those associated with the educational system or with labor market is problematic because of the alternative behavioral norms which are internalized from such a young age (Whitbeck, 27-28). Tangibly then, child homelessness is very problematic as it pertains to academic performance and the ability to work normally in a mainstream setting. Because of the alternative patterns of socialization which homeless children undergo, especially in contexts wherein normal parental supervision is absent or minimal, the types of problem-solving strategies developed by these children do not function optimally in school or in the labor market. Writ-large then, it is the alternative form of socialization which occurs in the context of homelessness which represents one of the principal structures generating the longer term effects of the phenomenon on the children who must live through it (Vissing, 34-38). From this, it is unsurprising that the complex trauma arising in children from homelessness engenders disproportionately high rates of mental illness and substance abuse amongst children who experience homelessness. With the dislocating nature of childhood homelessness leading to incredibly significant issues with attachment all the while homeless children gain access to drugs and alcohol from a young age, the problematic relationship between childhood homelessness and these issues is one which ultimately pervades the lifecycle, and generates a context in which the homeless childs predisposition to these conditions ultimately represents a lifelong affliction (Herbers et al., 1167-1169) Because of these difficulties, children who experience periods of homelessness are disproportionately likely to experience homelessness later in the lifecycle or themselves experience homelessness alongside their own children. Indeed, the dysfunctional nature of parenting amongst most homeless families produces a context in which homeless children come to lack the support structures associated with their non-homeless peers. Combined with the integrative difficulties and trauma discussed above, this produces a situation in which homelessness is likely to recur in the life of the homeless child (Narayan et al., 3) In the tradition of a vicious cycle, childhood homelessness thus appears to be a potent inter-generational phenomenon in which the risk for homelessness of one generation is transmitted to another. In this respect, it once again mirrors the broader vicious cycle of inter-generational structural poverty inasmuch as the same factors which predispose an individual and their family to living in poverty also serve to engender a heightened likelihood of homelessness. From this, and because structural causes require structural solutions, redressing child homelessness in America requires modifying the structures of resources available to homeless children and their families (Cutuli et al., 43-35). Absent such changes, the lifecycle deteriorations which are experienced by homeless children are so significant that a period of childhood homelessness can deprive a child of equality of opportunity for their entire life. Combining poor school and job market integration with higher rates of susceptibility to drug addiction and mental health pathology development, childhood homelessness is inherently traumatic. Because it breaks the forms of stable attachment which are necessary for optimizing a childs development, homelessness thus represents something which causes harm throughout the entirety of an individuals life. Housing First as the Best Practice for Managing Childhood Homelessness With these chilling realities of childhood homelessness in mind, the Housing First paradigm represents the optimal intervention for dealing with homeless children and their families. Fundamentally, the Housing First approach differs from, other public policy approaches to homelessness in that it does not impose conditions on the homeless individual before providing them with shelter. While some programs require that a given homeless person is drug free or medicine-compliant for a certain period prior to receiving shelter, the Housing First approach eponymously provides program recipients with housing prior to the initiation of treatment or other necessary interventions (Guo et al., 73-75). Demonstrating its strong efficacy, the Housing First paradigm has shown efficacy rates of over 70% in terms of mitigating the recurrence of homelessness across multiple studies. This is of critical importance because these studies analyze the program as applied to even the most difficult cases wherein homeless individuals are addicted to a given substance or are dealing with a significant mental health issue. From this perspective then, the Housing First approach is, when appropriately implemented, aptly designed so as to meet the needs of homeless children and their families attempting to emerge from structural poverty (Guo et al., 78-79). Applied to homeless children and their parents, the principal virtue of the Housing First approach is that it allows children to be rapidly reintegrated into the normalcy of structures such as school and peer groups. Concomitantly allowing parents to deal with the root economic, substance-related or medical issues which occurred prior to them becoming homeless, this paradigm is thus one which has not only proven itself to be successful across all populations but which also offers solutions which dramatically diminish the direct burden of homelessness as it is experienced by children (Guo et al., 74-78) Moreover, the indirect effects of housing first are also significant. Once housing is provided, a childs parents can receive treatment for the mental health difficulties or substance abuse problems which may have landed them on the street in the very first place. This is extremely important inasmuch as it serves to enhance stability in the household, and generate a context in which the child is less likely to continue experiencing the trauma which they experienced in the street. From this, stabilization is not only necessary in the context of the childs daily life but also in relation to the childs rearing (Nelson et al., 592-594). Housing first also puts the child in a situation in which they can receive basic medical care as well as psychological or psychiatric assistance for dealing with the trauma which they may have experienced while living on the streets. This is another absolutely critical element of recovery inasmuch as it serves to mitigate the otherwise significant trauma which all homeless children eventually develop. With this trauma having the long-term potential to bring about significantly negative mental health outcomes and substance abuse difficulties, the access to this treatment which is associated with the provision of care in the housing first context is critical for minimizing the characteristics of the vicious cyclical model discussed above (Chatterjee et al., pp. 1377-1380). Writ-large then, the aggregate benefits of housing first are tied to the structure which it brings back to the lives of children who are affected by poverty and homelessness. Because living on the street withdraws the child from the socializing structures of school and the peer group all the while exposing them to chaotic forces such as those associated with drugs, alcohol, sexual behavior and other adult phenomena, housing firsts structure is critical for restoring the normalcy of a structure of childhood socialization. It thus serves to potently reverse the otherwise significant lifecycle and structurally-generated consequences of homelessness amongst children and their parents (Padgett et al., 12-15). Problematically, funding for homelessness mitigation, even when children are involved, is very much lacking in the context of the public sector social safety net. With the housing first paradigm being exceedingly costly because of the infrastructural investments necessitated by its focus on providing housing, this points to a situation in which governmental resources for aiding homeless children and their families are sorely lacking. Absent significant investment in these resources, the rapid and parsimonious benefits of the housing first model thus appear to be impossible to leverage to their full potential (Padgett et al., 25-30). Conclusion In the end, childhood homelessness is problematic in three ways. First, it wreaks immense pain and suffering on children who are forced to grow on the street. Second, it engenders lifelong consequences which can affect these childrens abilities to earn equality of opportunity, and thus have a chance to themselves live lives of prosperity. Third and finally, child homelessness appears to be ignored by policy-makers. With so many of these families simply falling through even the most basic of the elements of the social safety net, the avoidable nature of childhood homelessness is perhaps one of its most tragic components. In this context, and considering the success which the housing first paradigm has demonstrated when applied optimally, the lack of funding available for helping homeless families, and preventing homelessness in cases where children are involved is deeply troubling from a social point of view. Indeed, and because the long term consequences of childhood homelessness are so very salient in nature, the financial and human costs of failing to avert childhood homelessness are perhaps greater than the costs of preventing it in the very first place. Because of this, it very much appears that the resources currently available for preventing and managing childhood homelessness are direly insufficient for achieving their objectives. Ultimately then, and with American society predicated on the notion of equality of opportunity for all, the consequences of childhood homelessness are far too severe to be ignored. As such, more significant resources must be devoted to providing assistance to homeless children and their families so that homeless children can gain some semblance of access to normal life. With early reintegration into the school system and peer group so crucial for mitigating the significant lifecycle effects of childhood homelessness, additional governmental investment in the housing first approach appears to be critical to putting an end to this crisis. Works Cited Bassuk, Ellen L, Molly K Richard, and Alexander Tsertsvadze. The Prevalence of Mental Illness in Homeless Children: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. Journal of the American Academy of Child Adolescent Psychiatry 54.2 (2015): 86-96. e2. Print. Chatterjee, Avik, et al. Quality Health Care for Homeless Children: Achieving the Aap Recommendations for Care of Homeless Children and Youth. Journal of health care for the poor and underserved 28.4 (2017): 1376-92. Print. Cutuli, JJ, et al. Adversity and Children Experiencing Family Homelessness: Implications for Health. Journal of Children and Poverty 23.1 (2017): 41-55. Print. Herbers, Janette E, et al. Trauma, Adversity, and ParentChild Relationships among Young Children Experiencing Homelessness. Journal of abnormal child psychology 42.7 (2014): 1167-74. Print. Morton, Matthew H, et al. Prevalence and Correlates of Youth Homelessness in the United States. Journal of Adolescent Health 62.1 (2018): 14-21. Print. Narayan, Angela J, et al. Intergenerational Continuity of Adverse Childhood Experiences in Homeless Families: Unpacking Exposure to Maltreatment Versus Family Dysfunction. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry 87.1 (2017): 3. Print. Nelson, Geoffrey, et al. Life Changes among Homeless Persons with Mental Illness: A Longitudinal Study of Housing First and Usual Treatment. Psychiatric Services 66.6 (2015): 592-97. Print. Padgett, Deborah, Benjamin F Henwood, and Sam J Tsemberis. Housing First: Ending Homelessness, Transforming Systems, and Changing Lives. New York, NY: Oxford University Press, USA, 2016. Print. Roschelle, Anne R. Our Lives Matter: The Racialized Violence of Poverty among Homeless Mothers of Color. Sociological Forum 32.3 (2017): 998-1017. Print. Snyder, Susan M, et al. Homeless Youth, Strain, and Justice System Involvement: An Application of General Strain Theory. Children and youth services review 62 (2016): 90-96. Print. Vissing, Yvonne. Out of Sight, out of Mind: Homeless Children and Families in Small-Town America. Lexington, KY: University Press of Kentucky, 2015. Print. Whitbeck, L.B. Nowhere to Grow: Homeless and Runaway Adolescents and Their Families. New York, NY: Routledge, 2017. Print.

Make The Enter Key Work Like Tab in Delphi Applications

We know that, generally, pressing the Tab key moves the input focus to next control and Shift-Tab to previous in the tab order of the form. When working with Windows applications, some users intuitively expect the Enter key to behave like a Tab key. There is a lot of third-party code for implementing better data entry processing in Delphi. Here are a few of the best methods out there (with some modifications). Examples below are written with the assumption that there is no default button on the form. When your form contains a button whose Default property is set to True, pressing Enter at runtime executes any code contained in the buttons OnClick event handler. Enter as Tab The next code causes Enter to behave like Tab, and ShiftEnter like ShiftTab: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~procedure TForm1.Edit1KeyPress (Sender: TObject; var Key: Char) ;begin  Ã‚   If Key #13 Then Begin  Ã‚  Ã‚   If HiWord(GetKeyState(VK_SHIFT)) 0 then  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   SelectNext(Sender as TWinControl,False,True)  Ã‚  Ã‚   else  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   SelectNext(Sender as TWinControl,True,True) ;  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Key : #0  Ã‚   end;end;~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ in DBGrid If you want to have similar Enter (ShiftEnter) processing in DBGrid: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~procedure TForm1.DBGrid1KeyPress (Sender: TObject; var Key: Char) ;begin  Ã‚   If Key #13 Then Begin  Ã‚  Ã‚   If HiWord(GetKeyState(VK_SHIFT)) 0 then begin  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   with (Sender as TDBGrid) do  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   if selectedindex 0 then  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   selectedindex : selectedindex - 1  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   else begin  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   DataSource.DataSet.Prior;  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   selectedindex : fieldcount - 1;  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   end;  Ã‚  Ã‚   end else begin  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   with (Sender as TDBGrid) do  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   if selectedindex (fieldcount - 1) then  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   selectedindex : selectedindex 1  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   else begin  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   DataSource.DataSet.Next;  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   selectedindex : 0;  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   end;  Ã‚   end;  Ã‚   Key : #0  Ã‚   end;end;~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ More Info on Delphi Applications Keyboard Symphony  Get familiar with the OnKeyDown, OnKeyUp, and onKeyPress event procedures to respond to various key actions or handle and process ASCII characters along with other special purpose keys. What Does #13#10 Stand for, in Delphi Code?  If you are wondering what those characters stand for, heres the answer.

Dementi A Clinical State Caused By Neurodegeneration Essay

Dementia is a clinical state caused by neurodegeneration and characterized by a loss of function in cognitive domains and behavior. There are several different causes of dementia including Alzheimer’s disease (AD), vascular dementia, dementia with Lewy bodies, and frontotemporal dementia (FTD). Hippocampal sclerosis of aging (HS-aging) is prevalent in people of advance age, manifests with distinct neuropathological properties, and can be present with or without other dementia causes and vascular diseases [1]. Although HS-aging is poorly understood, this phenomena may describe a proportion of non-AD dementia [2]. The prevalence of HS-aging pathology ranges from 5 to 30% in older people [3-6]. HS-aging is generally diagnosed postmortem by the presence of TAR DNA binding protein 43 (TDP-43). The clinical signs and symptoms of HS-aging are similar to those of AD with amnestic memory deficits [7, 8]. Because of the overlapping symptomology, HS-aging is often clinically misdiagnosed as AD [7-9]. AD is characterized by accumulation of amyloid plaques and neurofibrillary tangles [10], while HS-aging is pathologically characterized by neuronal loss with gliosis in the subiculum and Cornu Ammonis area 1 (CA1) region of the hippocampus, which can occur unilaterally or bilaterally [6, 7]. Genetic risk factors for HS-aging have been recently identified. Unlike AD, the apolipoprotein E4 (APOE4) genotype is not a risk factor for HS-aging [11]. Potassium channel subfamily M regulatory

Social Media- a Mixed Influence an Analysis on the Influence of Social Media on Our Personality and Lifestyles free essay sample

Introduction Human beings are walking toward an era of network sociality, introduced by Andreas Wittel in his essay ‘Toward a Network Sociality’ as a contrast to â€Å"community† which represents belonging, integration and disintegration (Wittel, 2001). Social media have been transforming human’s lives and relationships in an unprecedented speed. This essay will explore and analyze this influence. It will be divided into three parts, each describing and analyzing social media’s impact on one of the three above-mentioned spheres. I assert that social media is a mixed force, both positive and negative, whose influence has changed the way people stand in the world and connect with each other, the way people work and do their business, and the way people live and entertain themselves. 1. Social Media’s Impact on Individuality and Human Relationships 1. 1. Social media’s impact on individuality Societies and communities have existed for so long that even thousands of years ago, archeologists learnt that people everywhere, be they Amazon hunters or African shepherds, formed their own communities, with different but similar societal patterns (Van Loon, 2000). Social media have been greatly shaping our individuality and our relationship with others, so that today the notions of society and community have achieved new meanings and thus are different from what we believed before. With the help of social networks, people today tend to be more individualistic, as they make friends and establish business relations depending more on their own choices and decisions, rather than on the pre-determined social principles and connections. Beck (1999) argues that â€Å"individualization† presumes a removal from historically prescribed social forms and commitments. In a new environment where social networks dominate, human beings are faced with a wider range of choices of connections they are going to form, of things they are going to learn or to buy, and of information they are going to garner, which entails more individualism on the part of human beings. Under the influence of network sociality, human beings’ individuality is more and more emphasized today, and in fact, equipped with the mighty cyberspace, people are able to handle more complicated tasks than before. The common practice of selling secondhand goods on eBay or other e-business websites would imply seem imaginable for people of decades ago. As a matter of fact, selling things online is not limited to enterprises, stores or professional salesmen. Thanks to social networking, everybody can have an online business. At the same time, the sellers can better do their business by linking this page of their products to their blogs and advertise there, or posting on their Facebook or Twitter pages a piece of news promoting the products. In this way everybody can be a boss and salesperson, thus achieving more individuality. 1. 2. Social media’s impact on human relationships In real life (as in contrast with cyberspace,) there are various ways to divide people into different groups, according to their ages, sex, income, geographic positions, or their faiths and values. However, people in these groups or communities are something like sand- they seem to belong in a certain group, but in fact they are still separate maintaining their individuality. If these â€Å"grains of sand† are to put together and mixed so that they can form an affectionate, tightly-related community, the input of â€Å"water† for bonding will be necessary. The above metaphor and induction is to show that it is by no means an easy job for people to form valid communities, since on the one hand, the frequent communication is troublesome with a high cost, and on the other, there are many obstacles and hindrances in establishing such relations. For example, the age gap may be a problem when a group is founded on the basis of geography, and likewise, the income gap may be in the way of forming a community around gender. Luckily, virtual communities came to our rescue, as network socializing is speedily changing this status quo. The beauty of network sociality lies in its low cost as well as its high efficiency- sometimes it takes only a few clicks of the mouse to form a virtual community. These communities can be based on their members’ same hobbies, common interests or mutual benefits. Scott Kurnit once stated the importance of creating virtual communities and forming relationships in them (Kurnit, 1999 cited in Wittel, 2001). As Andreas Wittel (2001) mentioned in his â€Å"Toward a Network Sociality† (2001), the new human relations present some distinctive characters under the impact of social networking: broad, quick, ephemeral, intense and fast changing. In social networks, everyone congregates on a certain occasion with a more a less particular aim, either finding a date, getting to know potential clients, forming new business relations or something else. In today’s network sociality, a person is dealing with many people all at the same time. One of the most remarkable persons great at making friends and communicating with others is Carole Stone, who maintains friendship with more than ten thousand people by regularly holding parties and salons (Stone, 2001). In fact, with so many friends to keep and care about, surely Stone does not have enough time to go too deep in each of this friendship, thus an example to show the shallowness of today’s human relationship. Nowadays a relation is quickly formed on the foundation of common interests or a shared purpose, but after a project is finished, this relation comes to an end and a similar one with different person(s) is formed just as quickly, thus indicating the transience of relations between people shaped by social media. Under such circumstances, however, today people join in network sociality not only to find social identification and compassion, but also for the sake of getting more rewarding and enduring social capital and net resources (Wasserman and Faust, 1999: 11). 2. Social Media’s Impact on Our Business Pattern 2. 1. Social media: what makes our work more playful Social media have made people active creators and producers rather than mere recipients. The traditional content-centered virtual community has now turned ‘individual-centered’, thus making people more individualistic, independent and interdependent at the same time. This influence on human personalities and relations, as has been mentioned in Part 1, has expanded to the sphere of the way we work and do our business. Wittel (2001) argues that in network sociality, professional ties become increasingly playful, as today people do their work with so much assistance from the social network, and our business relations are so deeply rooted in ties formed online, that the borderline between work and play is very much blurred and less tangible. Some people hold that in this information age, professional knowledge is not so vital as social networks, resources and worldly wisdom. And this kind of capability to win business relations and broaden friend circles needs to be gained on social networking occasions. For example, people meet their colleagues and potential partners or clients at parties thrown in a more high-sounding name but with clear aims. If seen from the perspective of the founder or organizer of this program, this is again an instance of adding playfulness to work. Wittel 2011) In addition, many blind dating websites around the globe, which draw millions of single men and women, collect their profiles and information, give each of them most suitable matches and suggestions, are also a combination of pleasure and work. The workers of these websites probably have fun playing the role of â€Å"Cupid† and seeing so many interesting people and their stories. This is their work which secures their income. 2. 2. Social media’s impact on e-business pattern Speaking of social media’s great impact on our business patterns, electronic business is one of many examples. E-business is one of the most lucrative business patterns online (Jackson, Harris and Eckersley, 2003). Numerous successful corporations such as e-Bay, Amazon and Alibaba can serve to illustrate this point. In the past, people sold and bought things in the real market, where everything related to the transaction, including bargaining, picking and paying money, took place. This process could be very time and cost consuming, as the simple act of purchasing entailed many auxiliary acts such as greetings and small talk between the buyer and the seller. However, the rise of social media and networks has greatly changed this old-fashioned pattern. Tons of business transactions can be made every second in every corner of the world with just a click; employees sitting in front of the computer screen form business relations with a lot of companies in no time; people can even choose to stay at home to fulfill their work and make friends, thus embracing more freedom and easiness. One thing noteworthy here is the change of women’s position and status in e-business world thanks to social media. Among networking groups, which aim at promoting e-business, there have recently appeared some women’s networking groups with the purpose of striving for some space in the so-far men dominated world of business (Wittel, 2001). A successful and influential virtual community is the iPod Club, which boasts hundreds of thousands of members from all over the world spontaneously circling around iPod products. In this club, women are encouraged to engage more with consumer electronics, something considered to be men’s exclusivity (Ellwood and Shekar, 2008: 56). In this way, social edia, and their practices make today’s women more independent and proud and enable them to better contributing their effort to society. 3. Social Media’s Impact on Our Lifestyle 3. 1. Social media mix private and public life Apart from human characteristics, our relationships, working style and business patterns, social media also exert remarkable influence on our lifestyle. Network soci ality is the blurring of the boundary between private and public space, or we can say that under the impact of social networking, private and public space are penetrating into and melting into each other. Take portable media for example. In the book Mobility, it is said that Kopomma describes that with the use of portable communication devices, the ‘private bubble’ is now inflated outwards. He also argues that mobile terminals such as cell phones are trying to eliminate the borderlines between private and public life and playing as a medium bridging and transforming them (Kopomma cited in Adey, 2010). On the one hand, using cell phones- a private possession- in public place, is inevitably a public conduct. On the other hand, using cell phones during a up public occasion, say, when engaged in a conversation with business partners, engages him/herself in a new conversation with someone else (Wittel, 2001), which means a privatization of the public space. A mature and rational network sociality should be a perfect combination of private and public space. While online private space such as blogs and Myspace serve as harbor for people to pour out their emotions, mood and feelings. Online public space such as forums is more like a platform for people to share, communicate and get together, each drawing what they need. Social networking websites are a mixture of both privacy and publicity. In a word, social media create a new environment for people’s communication and spreads information, thus leading to the deconstruction, recreation and combination of private and public space. 3. 2. Social media mix real and virtual world While some believe that there is a demarcation line between a so-called virtual world and a real world, Wittel (2001) holds that the online world and the offline world are closely related indeed. Today, the ‘virtual’ etworking world has penetrated into reality and every part of our lives, including work, leisure, entertainment, etc. As was mentioned earlier, now the line between play and work is somewhat blurred and social media, once considered as another sphere, has entered into the ‘real world’ and exerted its influence on the latter. For example, at China’s Renren. com, a social networking website (the equivalent to Facebook), there ar e some games in which virtual commodities such as cars, houses, vegetables and fruits are sold. Now they have become real bestselling commodities at Taobao, the equivalent to e-Bay. This is an instance to illustrate the influence of social media and, the so-called â€Å"virtual† and â€Å"real† worlds. Conclusion With the development of science and technology, as well as the progress made in the respect of social networking and communication, we are now very much in the era of social media based more on the producing and sharing information rather than just getting information. They have greatly impacted every part of our lives, such as our personality, values, relationship with others, lifestyle, working styles, business pattern, etc. This essay tries to explore how social media have changed our lives from the three main perspectives, i. e. social media’s impact on individuals and their relationship, their impact on our ways of working and business patterns, and last but not least, their impact on our lifestyle and entertainment. Social media have made their effects on human beings: people become more independent and individualistic; human relations are quicker and easier to form but less enduring than before; our work, mixed with social networking element, becomes more playful; women’s status has been raised in the business world; private and public life intertwine and the ‘real’ and ‘unreal’ world are melting into and influencing one another. Reference Adey, P. (2010) Mobility. Oxon: Routledge. Beck, U. (1999) Individualization. London: Sage. Ellwood, I. and Shekar, S. 2008) Wonder Woman: Marketing Secrets for the Trillion-dollar Customer. New York: Palgrave Macmillan. Jackson, P. J. , Harris, L. and Eckersley, P. M (eds. ) (2003) E-business fundamentals. Oxon: Routledge. Stone, C. (2001) Networking: The Art of Making Friends. London: Vermilion. Van Loon, H. W. (2000) The Story of Mankind. New York: Liveright Publishing Corporation. Wasserman, S. and Faust, K. (1999) Social network analysis: methods and applications. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Wittel, A. (2001) ‘Toward a Network Sociality’, Theory, Culture and Society. Vol. 18(6): 51-76. London: Sage.