Pros And Cons Of Social Media

Social media allows social interaction and is growing rapidly throughout the world. More adults and teenagers are joining sites such as Facebook, Instagram, MySpace, Twitter, etc to interact with friends, family, and strangers.The introduction ofsocial media has changed the world in many ways and it affects each individual in different ways. It can be used as a helpful tool but at the same time can cause conflicts which negatively impact a person.

Impacts of Social Media felt by both Individuals and Social Groups:

1.Impact of Social Media on Politics:

Anewstudyclaims that 62 percent of people get their news from social media and 18 percent of peopledo that very often. Compared to other medias, social media’s influence in political campaigns has increased tremendously over the years.

2. Impact of Social Media on Society:

People find one another via social media and they can do thingslikecreate memes, publications and entire online worlds that bolster their worldview. Nowadays social media is slowly killing real activism and replacing it with ‘slacktivism’. Though some argue that social sharing has encouraged people to express their concerns on social issues without actually engaging actively with campaigns inreal lifewhereassome states that their support or expressing is limited to pressing the ‘Like’ button or sharing content.

3. Impact of Social Media on Commerce:

Companies viewthe importance ofusing social media to connect with customers and build revenue. Businesses have realized that they can use social media to create insights, stimulate demand, and generate targeted product offerings.

On the other hand low number of social ‘shares’ can lead to negative effects and can also destroy business credibility.

4. Impact of Social Media on Personal Relationships:

Social media is providing people to form and cherish artificial bonds over realfriendships. It lacks the intimacy found in conventional friendships where people actually know each other, want to talk to each other and have an intimate bond.

Social Ills related to Social Media:

Cyberbulling:

Cyberbullyingtakes place over digital devices like mobiles, computers, etc. It can occur through SMS, Text, and Apps, Gaming, etc where people can view,take partin, or share content. Cyberbullying includes sending, posting, or sharing negative, harmful, false content about someone else. It can also include sharing private informations causing embarrassment or humiliation for someone else.

Lack of Privacy:

Hackers use social media networks for victims. They tend to use the shortened URLs to trick their victims into visiting harmful sites or to inject viruses into their computers or mobile phones. Hackers also use spyware which they can easily install on the mobile phone, laptop, iPad, etcvia downloads, emails, shortened URLs or instant messages. Therefore each need to be very careful before clicking any unknown link.

Social media has its positive outcomes and drawbacks as well.But at the end it is your choice to either use social media in a positive way and benefit from it, or fall as victim of social media's negative impacts.