Social Media and Addiction Issue
Because of the social media which traps humans like a frog traps insects to engulf it. No, it’s not the fault of human but it’s a disease called addiction which can’t be cured easily. As we know social media has made it easy in influencing the communication industry and reconceiving the ways in which we communicate. It has become an integral part of our lives now. Social networking sites are made in order to assemble people having similar interests and sharing any information or ideas.
In 2017, a study found 45℅ of the world’s internet users are on social networking sites like Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, Twitter etc.The most crowded or the most popular social networking site is Facebook. It got launched in 2004 and now there are more than one billion active users on a daily basis.
Some of the key takeaways from the Global Digital Report 2018 include:
- the number of internet users worldwide in 2018 is 4.021 billion, up 7 percent year-on-year.
- the number of social media users worldwide in 2018 is 3.196 billion, up 13 per cent year-on-year.
- the number of mobile phone users in 2018 is 5.135 billion, up 4 per cent year-on-year. However social media has both its advantages and disadvantages.
No doubt social media has proved to be useful but constantly engaged in it is unproductive. It can affect individuals, relationships and society as well. People can be categorised into two categories:
- The time passers
- The knowledge absorbers
No doubt it connects people worldwide but it also has its own drawbacks.
- Chatting with friends or strangers, 24×7 scrolling the newsfeed, tagging each other in memes, arguing in the comment box etc are very common among the youngsters. These people fall in the first category.
- Some of them create fake accounts and they misuse them to create problems.
- Hacking accounts and using other people’s personal information for evil intentions has been the biggest issue among youngsters.
Trolling and Depression Issue
This then leads to suicide attempts even successful suicides or else this can be a reason for anxiety and depression. The person who is trolled by social media can’t get rid of depression easily. A latest 2018 news revealed that online harassment and bullying also known as cyberbullying is the biggest reason in which people went into severe depression, sometimes leading to deaths and suicides.
Usefulness of Social Media
On the other hand, the sites are very useful for knowledge seekers. They can increase their knowledge by sharing ideas, knowledge and information with millions of people. Social media are also an excellent tool for the benefits of the business. It helps in attracting new customers by advertising different products of different brands to make them popular. It enables the customers to give reviews and feedback so that the products can be improved.
Hence the answer to ‘ Social Media – A Boon or A Bane?’ lies in the way we use it. Whether we use it in a positive way or in a negative way. It returns back to us as a fruitful or fruitless result depends on our usage.
