The use of social media like Facebook, WhatsApp, Twitter, My Space, WeChat, Instagram,Viber etc., has grown enormously within a short span of time and have drastically changed the nature of communication in the world today.It has ushered a new dimension in the world of communication and things are progressing beyond the imagination of our mind. It has broadened the concept and practice of ‘connectivity’ and further its effectiveness by ushering instantaneous connectivity. With the young and old operating modern communication technologies, it is an irrefutable fact that it has touched the human lives enabling all to be in an “always connected” mode. Today’s generation are fond of living in a virtual world glued to their small screen fantasizing about life forgetting the real world outside. Gone are the days, when evenings were time to play, meet friends and socialize.
It is inevitable that internet has been transformed into a global public agora.Today, societies all over the world are changing their methods of working, interaction with others, entertainment, information, search and education after the advent of information technology. Above and beyond providing a platform for easy communication, such as texting, callings, sharing of images, videos, audios and files, social media has also provided thestage whereby the users can create group based on their common discipline for dissemination of information and opportunities for their respective careers by updating various topics to discuss.
However, we must not forget that social media equally has a powerful negative impact on the useras much as goodand it has been established beyond doubt through various media and behavioral studies. Though it has improved the connectivity of people from around the globe, it has also become a great threat for humans that in some parts of the world, people are undergoing digital detox. Modern technologies have hijacked the minds of the people.It has taken away the reasoning power and today, human has become the slave of technology.Each individual need to seriously reflect upon the impact of social media before we land up taking digital detox. The following are some of the adverse effects of the use of social media:
i. Addiction: Social media leads to addiction. Spending countless hours on the social media can divert the focus of attention from a particular task. It lowers the motivational level of the people, especially of the teenagers and students.
ii. Effect on behaviour: There is a high chance of developing negative attitude in the behaviour of the users. For instance, images and videos can be easily shared among the users. Sometimes user share explicit videos and images of sex and violence which can damage the behaviour of the teenagers. It put the negative impact on overall society as these teenagers involve themselves in crime related activities.
iii. Social detachment: People are so occupied with the use of social media that they are unable to differentiate between real and factual relationships. We can easily notice that while someone is talking or chatting all the time with their friends on WhatsApp or Facebook, they hardly have an interaction with their immediate family or friends. Despite the fact of their physical presence, this application plays the major role in mentally isolating the users in all the social gatherings.
The overuse of social media on daily basis can also cause psychology disorders. It can become addictive and can cause anxiety, depression and develop anti-social behaviours.
In our society, the maximum users of social media for maximum time is school/college going students. Many students could not imagine a day without checking WhatsApp or Facebook messages. The forwarded messages, jokes and trolls keeps the user busy all the time. Even if a user is not chatting or texting with anybody, he/she log-in to check the notifications especially of group chats or simply to check the status and picture updates of friends which keeps busy almost all the time and fail to concentrate in reading and neglect their studies. Besides that, many users prefer to usesms (short message service) lingo while chatting which ultimately results in spelling errorsand poor grammar.
The excessive use of social media eventually degrades the spiritual life without being conscious of. It takes the place of personal meditation and devotion. It also occupies the place of family prayers and as such, it gradually weakens the spiritual growth of an individual.
The impact of social media on the users especially the young people is significant. Today, even in our context, children are growing up surrounded by mobile devices and interactive social networking sites which has made the social media a vital aspect of their life. It is transforming the manner in which young people interact with their parents, peers, as well as how they make use of technology. We must understand that no social networking sites can be considered as a boon or a goon. The determining factor in whether a technology, whatever the technology is used for good or bad turns out not to be the technology but the human beings or the group of humans using technology.
In a time that we live in where internet devices are always on and meeting face-to-face is becoming rarer, we musttry to back reduce our social media use. It is the obligation of each user to use the social media site judiciously with moral and ethical responsibility to enhance their professional and social life, and exercise caution to ensure that they do not fall victim to social media. It is imperative to exercise maximum caution while using such apps created by some innovative young minds.
