Social Media:A Boon Or A Bane

Social Media has not only reshaped communication industry but has also redefined the ways in which we communicate and express. Social media websites such as Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn etc. constantly engage people in some or the other activity and amass people to get on the bandwagon of trending activities. We have embraced it so tenaciously that social media is now an integral part of our lives. It is sweeping across geographies, industries and almost every sphere. Not only individuals but also businesses, governments are utilizing social media platforms for constant engagement with the masses. Though social media offers a global platform to share and express but its constant engagement is affecting individual productivity, relationships and society as a whole.

A positive force:

• Social media provides a global platform to express one’s views and ideas without any reservations or biasness.

• It allows instant communication with friends and family and automatically provides up to date information also known as “statuses” while allowing us to find new individuals to meet.

• Social Media is a cost-effective marketing and branding tool. It has created a paradigm shift in the way brands advertise and market products.

• Social media has created new avenues for learning and job creation which never existed before the advent of social media.

• Governments of many countries are leveraging social media to engage with the citizens and to garner their support, suggestions and views on policies for effective governance. Utilization of social media for general election by Prime Minister Narendra Modi played an imperative role in his success.

A distraction and a hinderance:

• While many users feel their personal data is safe on social networking sites because they have set high levels ofsecurity settings research suggests this is not the case. A case in point is the recent case where a researcher linked to Cambridge Analytica (CA), a political consulting firm had accessed details of 50 million Facebook users. The data was shared with Cambridge Analytica, which used online data to reach voters on social media with personalized messages and swayed 2016 US elections.

• Social media sites can make it more difficult for us to distinguish between the meaningful relationships we foster in the real world, and the numerous casual relationships formed through social media.

• While on the surface it appears social networking brings people together across the Internet, in a larger sense it may create social isolation.

• While many businesses use social networking sites to find and communicate with clients, the sites also prove a great distraction to employees who may show more interest in what their friends are posting than in their work tasks.

• Cyber bullying is another growing trend among social media websites.

• Addiction to social media results in a number of negative health impacts such as strain, eye problems, fatigue, distraction etc.

• Even terrorist organizations like al Qaeda and ISIS use social media to spread their propaganda and also polarize people.

• With proliferation of social media the average attention span of humans has reduced to 8 seconds and the situation is graver for millennial.