For the last few years social networking has become a catchphrase not only among teenagers but everyone including old generation. On personal front it provides an opportunity to be in contact with your friends and family whereas on professional front the social networking sites help in establishing and maintaining brand image, reputation, lead generation and in turn help to grow business.
How social media is beneficial?
Social media sites like Facebook have become an inevitable part of modern life. It helps you to connect with your friends instantly and in real time. Users can interact, reconnect and socialize.
Social media like LinkedIn has become a major resource of employment. More than 89% recruitments take place by using Linkedin and company websites.
140 word tweet contains a world of information. It keeps you informed about the world and your interest.
Using social media for business is extremely beneficial. With effective use, it brings down the overall marketing cost. Online success comes with the effective use of social media. You can create potential customers and increase your business. Social Media Examiner has recently surveyed more than 3,000 respondents to understand the importance of social media marketing. 89% of respondents said that social media marketing leads to business exposure. 64% witnessed an increase in the lead generation, 62% respondents said that search engine ranking of their sites have improved drastically by using social media for more than two years.
What are negative effects of social media?
Many users use social media for time pass but excessive and uncontrolled use can lead to severe addiction. This is because of the stimulation of pleasure centre in our brain with social media activity. Though the centre and the production of dopamine is triggered by other activities as well but its secretion goes to entirely different level in online communication and interaction.
Excessive use of Internet can lead to the deterioration in concentration. While working on social media you constantly keep switching form one task to another. Your ability to concentrate on one task gets impaired. Such an activity also tires your brain. Information abundance leads to brain fatigue and stress.
You must have noticed that whenever you start your work or do something over Internet, the first thing you do is checking your personal profiles especially Facebook. It actually wastes lots of productive time.
Social media has opened up the possibility of identity theft, data theft, cyber fraud, hacking and virus attacks. You are left with no privacy if you have updated your address, phone number, work place, information about your family on any of the social media sites. We generally add our pictures of day to day life on Facebook. One has to be very cautious while doing so as the pictures and other information can be misused by the bad elements of the society.
One has to be very careful while using social media because it may put you in danger and odd situation. Two girls in Mumbai were arrested for putting a question on Facebook regarding the shutdown in the city for Shiv Sena patriarch Bal Thackeray’s funeral. The girls were sent to 14-day judicial custody but granted bail after furnishing personal bonds.
Air India cabin crew members Mayank Mohan Sharma and KVJ Rao were arrested for sharing rude jokes about politicians, making derogatory comments against PM and disrespecting national flag in comments.
Not only in India but such examples are available all across the world. Jake Newsome was jailed for six weeks for Facebook comments he made about murdered school teacher in West Yorkshire.
It has been found out that social media interactions and updates increase the feeling of jealousy. The Center for Eating Disorders at Sheppard Pratt conducted a survey on 600 Facebook users and found out that both male and female burn of jealousy by seeing pictures of others. 32% respondents feel sad when they compare their photos with their friends’ photos. This also leads to low self-esteem and depression, psychological disorders, stress and addiction.
Hence it is imperative to understand the functioning of social media and way to use it. Excessive use of social media can do harm than good. In order to prevent it you have to limit your time on social media like Facebook, Twitter, YouTube etc. Take out time to relax and go out. Do understand that Internet is not just about social media. It is a store house of information so use it wisely.
Read More:
Misuse of Social Media in India
Article 66A of IT Act and Social Media Censorship in India
Impact of Social Media in India
How Fake Accounts can impact Facebook?
How the traditional and digital media growing in India?
What Ails BJP’s Social Media Campaign
