SOCIAL MEDIA - PROS AND CONS

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SOCIAL MEDIA – PROS AND CONS


Social media is a computer based technology that facilitates the sharing of ideas, thoughts and information through the building of virtual networks and communities. In simple words, social media is a form of electronic communication through which users create online communities to share information, ideas, personal messages and other content (such as videos). Some of the most popular social media websites include Facebook, YouTube, WeChat, Twitter, Tumblr, LinkedIn, SnapChat, Pinterest, Reddit and many more.

Before social media, the ways in which we connected and how many people we reached were limited. We depended on phone calls and face-to-face interactions to strengthen our relationships. On the upside, the latest technology provides endless ways to connect both local and long distance relationships.

Basically, people use social media for 9 reasons. They are – to stay in touch with what friends are doing; to stay up-to-date with news and current events; to fill up spare time; to find funny or entertaining content; to maintain general networking with other people; to share photos or videos with others; to share own opinion; to research new products to buy and to meet new people.

Social media has grown tremendously in the last few years. The way technology is growing, it is obvious that more and more people are going to grasp its benefits. It has brought a lot of advantages for the society. From progressed nations to under-developed countries, every nation is utilizing the power of social media to enhance life and use it for the betterment of the people. However, on the other hand it has also affected the society in the negative way. Just like anything which can be used for both good and bad, social media have also provided the negative and positive ways for the people.

So let us see some of the positive and negative aspect of social media. First we will discuss about the advantages offered by the social media:-

1.   Connectivity – The first and main advantage of the social media is connectivity. People can instantly connect with anyone from anywhere regardless of the location and religion. Through social media one can connect with anyone to learn and share their thoughts and ideas.
2.   Education – Social media is also useful for enhancing our knowledge. It helps us to learn about any field from those who are experts and professionals even without paying for it.
3.    Information and Updates – Gone are the days of waiting around for the news to come on TV or for the delivery boy to bring the newspaper. With the help of social media one can get real time news and latest happenings.
4.  Promotion – Business owners and other types of professional organisations can connect with current customers, sell their products and expand their reach using social media. This makes the businesses profitable and less expensive, by constantly and regularly involving on the social media to connect with the right audience.
5.   Awareness – Social media plays an important role in awareness creation. It provides the best mode of communication in the present world. Many organisations have utilized the social media to communicate their agenda to the mass. Information posted in social media spreads to many people over a short period of time. This is very helpful in changing the mindset of people.

Now, let us discuss some of the disadvantages associated with social media:-

1.  Cyber bullying – Cyber bullying or cyber harassment is a form of bullying or harassment using electronic means. Mostly children have become victims of cyber bullying. Due to new technologies such as smart phones and tablets it has become possible for bullies to attack their victims online at any time and no matter how far away the victim and the bully are from each other. With around-the-clock access to internet, victims often feel as if there is no escape from cyber bullying. As a result, in extreme cases, incessant cyber bullying has even prompted some victims to commit suicide.
2.     Addiction – Extensive use of social media has made it addictive. Teenagers are mostly affected by this. This eventually cut them off from the society. It is also wastage of time that could have been utilized for productive tasks and activities.
3.    Fraud and Scams – Scams and fraud are a criminal activity designed to trick someone out of money or personal details. The popularity of social media combined with its open nature makes it easy for criminals to reach incredibly large numbers of people. Social media also gives fraudsters the ability to hide their true identities and motives behind the anonymity of fake profiles and accounts, which they use to mislead consumers, impersonate trusted sources and make offers that are too good to be true. Such scams cause great harm to consumers and organisations.
4.     Hacking – Personal data and privacy can be easily hacked and shared on the internet. This can make financial losses and loss to personal life. Similarly, identity theft is another issue that can give financial losses to anyone by hacking their personal accounts. This is one of the dangerous disadvantages of social media.
5.     Health issues – Spending too much time on social media can have negative impact on the health. Excessive use of social media has made people lazy by refraining them from physical activities. This in result brings disorder in the routine life. This leads to poor mental health, anxiety, depression, poor sleep, obesity and eye strain. This shows how social media harms our health especially mental health.
6.     Social isolation – Excessive use of social media make people cut off from the society. This reduces face-to-face interactions. Though people have number of friends and followers in the social media but they might not have friends in the real world to share their emotion and feeling. Emojis are not enough to show the real emotion. Besides, emojis received from the other person might be fake or unreal. Thus social media may aggravate the feeling of loneliness.

These are some of the advantages and disadvantages of social media for the society.

In conclusion, social media has both pros and cons. On one hand, it has the power to share and make the world more connected; on the other hand, it can make people separate from their surroundings. Good or bad of anything lies in the hands of its user. It is all about the usage and getting things done by the social media.


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Location: India

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