Social media has become an inseparable part of our lives consuming our novice attention in ways we never imagined. Social media is now woven into the fabric of our daily lives. Being on social media is equally important to having a pan or aadhaar. Millennials, gen-z and even our senior citizens are locked to their preferable screens. It has become a necessity and a part of our culture to be on social media platforms. “liking” and getting liked is now a matter of immense importance. Along with whatever meagre plus points social media might stack in our lives the amount of bizarre negative points looks insurmountable.
The bright side of Social media
Social media has readily added on to our connectivity with each other, fabricating a virtual social circle that could be of help. And for the new age loners and the whole new era of loneliness ,social media will serve a vital role of connectivity among people, letting the lonesome fellow stick out a virtual hand for hope. These platforms are also a nice place to express emotions, art and feelings.
Many shy and introverted people get the opportunity for social acclaim through these apps. Social media allows us to be in touch with people with whom we might never get a chance to meet. Social networking is now helping people in businesses and as we all know in politics. There are businesses like Shopify and Airbnb that thrived due to social networking and their are artists like Doja Cat and Billie Eillish that made it big with their social presence. With these handful of good things about social media the dark reality can’t be neglected.
Negatives of being like-thirsty
The common issue young people degrade themselves with is comparison, people end up comparing their lives with someone posting glittery pics and posts, and then they feel incomplete and their self-esteem sinks to lower ends.
According to studies 88% of the people compare themselves with others on social media resulting in depression and anxiety.
The social media is massively addictive with cleverly crafted algorithms manipulating dopamine levels that let the teen stay on the screen. If not being on the screen for many hours the user ends up checking the notifications again and again at intervals. Due to this crazy addiction real life relationships are undermined and eroded.
Long screen times disrupt sleep quality emotional regulation. The other more deadly aspect of social media is cyber bullying that can destroy the whole meaning of life for a youngster leaving a gap of raw wounds in their lives.
Online harassment, trolling and bullying should definitely be reported to the cyber police and mental health experts for their aid is important as many suicides take place due to this.
On the other hand spreading of misinformation can create riots and mob lynching. And the flow of personal data into the wrong hands is just as devastating.
Finding balance
Social media is addictive because people running them focus on keeping it addictive. One has to be really “mindful” of their use of social media.
People on social networks must set time limits on their usage and use the features of block and report very wisely to set boundaries for their betterment.
The concepts of digital detox and limiting screen time must be further popularized among the youth. There are serious problems but social media is not going anywhere, it will stay and we will have to tune ourselves and our children to use these apps wisely and appropriately. We need to embrace the benefits of social networking and mitigate it’s harms by fostering healthy usage.
