Present age is the age of information technology and internet. People use internet for different purposes through different mediums and modes. One such means and modes, used frequently these days, is the use of Social media Apps and platforms/sites like WhatsApp, Facebook, Twitter,, Instagram, etc. Use of social media Apps/sites/ handles has ingrained so much into our minds that it is virtually impossible that people will take you serious if you are not using any of these. Their popularity and use has increased so enormously that it has urged the researchers to investigate and to discuss their impact on our society. As the popularity of these social media sites keeps on spreading– not only in India but all over the globe–there have been mixed feelings about these networks and how they impacted the society in general and younger generation in particular.Well to answer such a question we have to look both at the positive as well as the negative impacts of social media. We have various kinds of social media sites and apps (like WhatsApp, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, etc.) and we get a lot of benefits from these sites like every one can access the information, stay updated, can share his/her ideas and can argue/converse upon the serious issues so as to create awareness in the society. Apart from just socializing, it’s also an avenue that can be used to showcase one’s talent that s/he possesses, can have informal learning opportunities, expression development and maintenance of friendship and fun. It has also connected those persons who were very far from each other’s for a longer time period. It’s has given us the idea of mutual respect; it is a platform of expanding knowledge and has encouraged the people and especially the youth to pursue the career that they love. It has enriched democracy, equality and is form of a major voice for the minorities and marginalized sections of the society. So, in general, it is not wrong to say that it has played an important role in overall improvement, development and sustenance of our youth as well as our society.
Despite the fact that every one (irrespective of age or gender factor) is a user or one or the other social media App/handles, it is the youthand teenagers who are leading the graph of users. As youngsters, especially teenagers, are prone to get addicted to it and may get health issues due to its excessive use, the researchers have found that these social media sites impact the lives of youth in a society to a great extent in terms of morality, behavior and even education wise. “Excess of everything is bad” applies here aptly; because the excessive use has several risks and consequences also. One such crucial concern is the privacy concern; that is, sharing too much information; posting false information about ourselves or others; exposure to fraudsters, cyber bullying and cyber attacks etc. In addition to that, excessive use has a negative impact on the moral, psychological, and emotional well-being of the user as well. The internet is an “unregulated world “that has no form of morals or laws to abide to: a user can share anything, anytime on any of these platforms according to his/her wishes, desires and needs.
The youth is exposed to gore images of murder victims, accidents, rape cases or even video footages of gun shooting, violence, verbal outburst, nudism and explicit sexual content. All this content is in the public domain and thus everyonw can access it freely all the time. However, when such a stuff is consumed for the long time it has serious health and mental breakdowns, such as anxiety and the fear of the real world. It’s too much use has led to its addiction as youth are spending hours after hours with their “social media friends” rather than with their “real friends” or family members which has led to incidents of domestic violencesuch as of not having any respect and honor for them. The social media platforms are also risky and dangerous and may be the frontiers of the crime, like cyberbullying, which has resulted in various adverse effects.Another serious impact of the social media on youth is that it takes away empathy. We follow a major stuff on social media and get inspired from them and we start assuming what we are doing is morally right though it’s not. People act differently online, compared to how they would be in their real life. We see others updated and better than ourselves on this social media in terms of their appearance or talent, which all makes us feel inferior from inner and ultimately leads depression, stress and pressure. So despite giving having the”n” number of benefits, it is necessary to see whether “social media” is being accessed in right or in a wrong way. If used in a wrong way, it has short as well as long term impacts on our behavior, morality, consciousness of having differentiation between right and wrong, and finally on our career and goal of life. Therefore, it is necessary and important to use the social media sites/ handles judiciously and in a proper and prescribed way to make ourselves benefitted, updated and finally to succeed in every sphere.
(The author is a student at Govt. Degree College Sogam (Lolab), Kupwara. Views are his own)
