IS SOCIAL MEDIA A BOON OR A BANE?

Social media is a platform where almost the whole world is online. It is such a medium that is a big addiction. Keyword here is addiction. When you hear that word, what comes to your mind? Negativity. But, is social media always having a negative impact? Read this article to know more about this. So without further ado, let’s jump right into it.

WHAT ARE ALL THE APPS?

Apps are huge in number. You might not know, but there are above 90 apps that people use either for business, for leisure, for killing time and many more. So, here are some of the common apps everyone must be familiar with.

1. Facebook
2. Instagram
3. Twitter
4. WhatsApp
5. WeChat
6. Tumblr
7. Pinterest
8. HouseParty
9. YouTube
10. LinkedIn
11. Snapchat
12. Reddit
13. Planoly
14. QQ
15. TikTok

HOW CAN SOCIAL MEDIA HELP US?

Benefits derive from everything, and social media also has its own benefits. How exactly do they bring advantage to us? Read on to find out!

1. The connections that one gets are extremely beneficial. It helps an introverted person get a bunch of “friends” and even stay connected to them by a long term friendship.
2. Social media is a warehouse of information. You enter in a link for a school project, and you get millions of options to decide from. People can be provided with various particulars about just one mere topic.  
3. Like to hear the news? Well, you can be provided with that facility also! You can search up the latest news headlines on YouTube, or follow this journalist on Twitter or Facebook and be updated with that latest happenings of the world, for example. It helps you increase your knowledge on the current affairs.
4. Awareness is a big advantage. For instance, the black lives matter protest received a lot of importance on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook etc. Majority of the population across USA was involved in this campaign. There were hashtags everywhere, and people were also protesting on the streets after getting to know about it from social media.

HOW IS SOCIAL MEDIA AFFECTING US?

On the other hand, social media leaves an everlasting negative impact too, but mostly on the state of mind. People can be hugely affected by it, even for the smallest things. Let’s have a look at these shortcomings.

1. The impact of the bright light of the PC screen leaves our eyes at a loss. They can make a person blind or get their beautiful faces donned with spectacles. This is not the fault of the screen, to be precise. It is the fault of us for we spend too much time on the screen that we forget how important our health is.
2. Social media brings laziness in a person, also. The first thing that reaches in a person’s grasp is their handphone. Parents keep telling their kids not to use their phone for too long, but those words fall to deaf ears of the children. Even if they do keep their phones away, they will still be mourning for it, laying on the bed and throwing a tantrum. These are all causes of laziness.
3. It affects the mental state of a person’s mind. Suppose a person with depression sees another person’s posts of, say, the time he went to Switzerland for his holidays. Won’t that depressed person feel even more depressed? He may be thinking, “Ah, everyone is enjoying and I am living such a miserable life.”

HOW SHOULD IT BE USED?

Impacts of social media cannot be ignored. It definitely addicts people, but on the contrary, helps them immensely. Having said that, social media should be used in a limited way. You can check posts once or twice, but the usage should be restrained to a certain level. You can use social media to search for information, but not inappropriate facts. Use it cleverly, not blindly.

CONCLUSION

To conclude, the message that you should receive from my article is “Social media, whether a boon or bane, is an important aspect of life. It can become a boon or a bane depending on the way and limit you use it.” Therefore, I hope you gained some knowledge about the dos and don’ts of social media. Thank you!