Effect of Social Media on Youths

Social Media and Society

Imagine the world today without social media. It would be boring as the people would still be visiting each other frequently. However, things are different since a person just needs to in the comfort of their home, in order to chat with another person at a far place just for a little amount of money. The world has become a global village since everyone is able to connect with their friends easily through social media platforms. The only thing a person is required to have is just a smartphone. With the introduction of social media in the society, a lot of benefits have been experienced and at the same time, the youths have been negatively affected. The topic on social media is fascinating to me since it has brought many changes in the way people interact and communicate in the society. However, the youths have been negatively affected greatly.

Facts and Figures

The use of the internet was invented around 25 years ago. 13 years later, Facebook was initiated online. Even though everything was done within a short time, a lot of impressive changes have been felt. In this new discovery, the lives of the people, as well as their behaviors, have been affected either positively or negatively. Almost every family has more than two smartphones which means the number of users of social media like Facebook is increasing each and every day. In 2013 about 2.7 million people already had become internet user which is 39% of the world’s population. In the developing countries, about 31% are already using the internet. Initially, the majority of people were using a desktop but with time they advanced to the new technology especially in the use of smartphones which enables the people to communicate with each throughout. From the statistics above, it shows that the use of internet through the smartphone will continue being the only way of meeting old and new friends. Moreover, the use of social media will continue to increase as well as more people become informed a lot since they just need to read the news through their smartphones. This is a clear indication that the world we are living today is changing with a high rate because the way the people are interacting is enough to conclude that they are already informed due to the use of social media (Zeitel-Bank, & Tat2014).

The Relationship between Social Media and the Society

The use of social media has had a major impact on the society. Since the new technology was integrated into the social settings, there have been major influences in the way the people are interacting with one another. The use of social media has increased in the way the people are interacting and at the same, it has created a barrier in the way people are communicating in a social set up. In addition, the use of social media has been used to bridge the gap that has existed due to the generational gap as well as digital divides. In case of a family, the use of social media may lead to more harm as well as privatization since every person is using the social media independently as opposed to collective use. Since the social media was introduced, it has greatly changed the way the people view themselves, the way they see each other as well as the way they are interacting with one another. The society has benefitted due to the introduction of the new technology since communication within the society has been enhanced as well as the criminal activities also have reduced due to the efficiency In the way the people are communicating and interacting with one another. Moreover, the use of social media is of great help since it encourages everyone to interact with one another at all levels and situations (McGrath, 2012).

Social media has brought tremendous changes in the society we live today. It has changed in the way the people used to interact in the past while doing business. Social media being one of the most platforms used on the internet have totally revolutionized the way the people communicate as well as socialize in the web and especially in the way they entrepreneurs sell their products (Boyd, 2014).

The use of social media has also been incorporated greatly in politics. The majority of people get updated on the recent news by just clicking on their phones and reading all the information through the smartphone without just having to go near a television as it happened in the past. Despite the platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram as well as whatsapp being used to post information on campaigns, they have been used to move the masses in the favor of a certain candidate. This means that the way politics were done in the past have grown to another level of influencing the decision of the internet users as it is the most visited platform in the world (Sales, 2016).

The majority of companies are using the social media in posting their products on the social media. They are using the same platforms to build loyalty of their customers through them. For example, they are using the Facebook to inform the customers about any product that has recently arrived in the market as well as they are receiving immediate feedback from the customer something that did not happen in the past. When compared to other forms of advertisement such as the television, the use of social media is cheap and convenient since an individual only needs to be sited at home and read as well as watch the videos posted their own account (Robson, & MA, 2013)..

Social networking sites have revolutionized the way the people interact and socialize with one another. They have helped different people to reconnect with old friends as well as new friends. Moreover, they enable an individual to trade ideas, share pictures and content. Social media has been embraced by almost everybody in the world something that has enabled the people to pass information as it is the easiest way of reading the news. From the description above, it’s clear that different people have been able to connect with one another as well as learn the culture of the other person easily. In the past, people used to interact with one another through sports as well as watching a film together. However, since the social media was introduced, things have changed as they have occupied the larger part of their leisure time. Since the social media have removed all the barriers that may have affected communication in the past, it becomes easy for everyone today to share information since everyone has a chance to write what they think about a certain issue in the society (Robson, & MA, 2013).

The people used to interact only during an occasion such as the rites of passage in the past; but today everybody is able to interact with his friends through the use of social media. It has enabled the people to communicate about certain issues affecting them altogether. For example, the people who are suffering from a terminal illness they have a group where they support one another socially and psychologically. In the past it was difficult but after the introduction of the social media, things have changed since such a group becomes easy for them to share experience and support one another emotionally. For example, initially, the students used to call each other for a group work which was difficult because convening such a group was not easy since everyone was busy with their own issues. Today, at a school set the availability of social media makes everyone is given a chance to give his or her comments about an issue thus making learning to be easy for the teenagers (Amedie, 2015).

Positive Aspects about Social Media

In the education sector, the use of social media has been already been implemented and the students are aware of what they will learn before the lecture session starts. For example, the students are able to reach to others through Facebook in case they are sharing a topic or a course. Moreover, social media has become a place where every individual visit and talk about an issue affecting them and they get a response within a short time. Moreover, the teachers have been using the social media especially when they are giving tests and assignments.

Social media has really helped in understanding one audience by knowing what they like and what they do not like. Moreover, it has been used to increase awareness of the students. It has helped the people to share ideas despite a person being far this means that the use social media have enabled the people to share ideas beyond boundaries. Since everything happens in the society, the use of social media has helped all the members to connect with their friends. Additionally, it has been used to advertise, create awareness as well as support a certain person in politics. For example many are the time that the youths come together a form a support group where they will be sharing their issues together. Such a group is encouraging since the youth are benefiting from each other despite doing their own discussion while at home.

The youth in the process of using the social media they develop awareness. When a teenager is using a phone they develop themselves according to the society and world. Moreover, they also experience political and cultural awareness. When the youths are using the social media, they develop social skills. It’s only I the social media like Facebook to expand his or her social circle as well as develop new friends. In addition, the youth gains a lot by learning all that is happening in the modern n society where every youth is only concerned with whom to chat with and at the same time they do not know where to get their rewards. It’s only in the social media where an individual is able to meet a friend or a person you have stayed for a long time without meeting. Therefore, this aspect of connecting with friends and chatting can only be found in the social media phenomena that have totally changed the way the people in the society used to interact with one another. In addition, I cannot forget to mention that with the emergence of many groups a person is able to get a peer or a person they can settle with serious in the social media. Initially, when searching for a mate a person was needed to move to a far place so that they can meet with one another but the society today things have changed because a person only needs to have a Facebook account and they are good to go as they will share their experience and pictures.Therefore.no one can ignore the positive aspects of social media especially in helping an old friend to meet one another and share their experiences and ideas.

Another and the most important thing that the youths develop is the writing and reading skills. In the social media a youth may meet a learned friend and on listening to him, the teenager will be tempted to come up with simple questions. Having asocial media the student can benefit a lot since he is learning the ideas of the others as well as he or she is writing his own ideas, Moreover, whenever he writes his own ideas they are either criticized or supported almost immediately by his peers thus learning a lot as well as knowing his or her weaknesses (O’Keeffe, & Clarke-Pearson, 2011).

Negative Effects of Social Media

Heavy use of the social media leads to addiction. The people who are likely to develop addiction while using social media are young adults and the teens. However, addiction is not also ruled out completely among the adult’s ass they also have a Facebook accounts. Additionally, the other mental effects can be felt since the majority of the people spend most of their time on the bed chatting while they are supposed to be asleep. Spending too much time in the social media leads to lack of focus because they are not good time manager of the activities they do. An aspect that is shown by the social media users is that they are not ready to leave it despite being addictive and hinder them from carrying their own activities as required. Therefore, it is the role of every person to realize that despite having numerous benefits of social media it has their effect which at times leads to worse situations such as developing mental illness and other disorders which could not have developed if the social sites are used in a good way (O’Keeffe, & Clarke-Pearson, 2011).

Also, the people who are heavy users of the social media risk themselves from getting depressed and anxious. Even though social media has many people who use it, they fail to recognize that they are addictive and the young adults risk of suffering from obsessive-compulsive disorder. The majority of the youths find themselves being in an awkward position because they fail to do noble duties either at school or at the place of work just because their time is mostly on Facebook. As the young adults continue to use the social media they become addicted and in the end, they complaining a lot because they were fired or they failed an exam (O’Keeffe, & Clarke-Pearson, 2011).

In the past few years, the youths did not engage in the use of social media because there were such discoveries. Today, they admire to use the social media without first thinking about its effects on them. For example, the youths at times indulge themselves in an activity like hate speech, For instance, a friend may communicate with a teenager and all of sudden the person chatting with abuses him or her. This incidence is the same as cyber bullying. Mostly this kind of vices occurs in Facebook where a person is being treated by others because he refused at obey their own will. The issue of cyber bullying is on increase and it’s the high time that everyone stops it in order to minimize more harm. Moreover, the teenagers experience identity theft. This occurs when a person happens to steal their details like an email. After getting the email, he sells the same email to another company that will follow the person in everything he or she does. Mostly, the teens do not understand the importance of making sure that anything personal is kept safe. If a person happens to get details that are supposed to be person, they may use the same details to hack the bank account which should not happen at all (O’Keeffe, & Clarke-Pearson, 2011).

One of the issues that have been affecting the youths in the society is when they experience stalking. Stalking occurs when a persona happens to post his details and in the same platform, an old friend who is not good uses the same details to abuse the person or even curse the person. This is a clear indication that the youths experience multiple of problems. Therefore, the parent should play a great role in they take care of their children by trying as much as possible to control their behaviors  especially the number of hours they spend while chatting (Change,  & Corcoran, 2012).

How to Minimize the Effects of Social Media on the Youths

Even though there have been several benefits of social media, negative effects keep on being experienced and therefore, it’s essential to curb these effects since some of them are affecting various relationships, academic and the way an employee performs in the company. Some of the solutions to the problems that are brought by social media include; time management, not accepting everybody as a friend (Fuchs, & Sandoval, 2014).

One of the most important issues while using a social media platform is time management. Most of the people are using the social media at the wrong time since they are employed and while handling a customer they are still chatting on their Facebook. This behavior should not be encouraged as it will affect the attitude of the client and he or she may not come back for more services in the same place some other time. In a case for students, they find themselves that they have done the assignment just because they spent most of their time chatting with a friend as well as admiring the picture of the others that are posted on the wall. The society and the behaviors of the people have been affected a lot. Being able to convince a person that social media is addictive he or she may not support you because they like posting an issue on the Facebook as well as commenting on other people questions and worries thus taking much of their time. Therefore, it’s essential to separate issue by keeping one’s personal life separate from the work life or even while at school. Most are the times when the teacher complains that the students are not able to do their assignment just because they do not manage their time as they are supposed because they engage themselves in social activities which may not yield any results. For example, a student does not do the homework simply because they are serious with the chatting and admiring the photos of their friend rather than focusing on important issues such as their studies (Fuchs, & Sandoval, 2014).

The other way of preventing more harm oneself self-esteem and psychological well-being is not accepting people in the social media without evaluating them. For example, an individual may like a person and after some time they start harassing him as well as posting abusive comments on them. By doing this, the person will be affected emotionally and psychologically thus using a lot of money In order to attend counseling. At times, there other people who posted pictures that are not good and being innocent while using the Facebook, the person will be influenced by the picture and the things that are not acceptable thus changing one’s behavior and perception about some issues affecting the people in the society. The majority of the youths do not learn a lot of information from their elders these days, as things has changed and a lot of information is obtained from the social media. This is enough reason to say that after having a Facebook account they learn some issues and behaviors that influence their behavior and in the end, they became bad people in the society (Haythornthwaite, 2005).

The other way a teenager can live a healthy life while using the social media is by not sharing their personal information. Whenever a teenager happens to share all their personal information with friends they risk their lives and happiness because the same information can be used to bully them. Therefore, it’s essential for every teenager to have self-control in the way they are using the social media platform as they can benefit from them and at the same time they can experience negative effects. One of the most feared situations in the life of a teenager is when they share their secrets with the other as they risk their accounts from being hacked and at the same time they risk their security. Therefore, the youths should be keen who their friends are since if they happen to share their personal information with a stranger they may end up committing suicide after they are exposed to the world through the same social media (Haythornthwaite, 2005).

In conclusion, Social media has become unstoppable even if some people claiming that it has led into various addictions. It has helped in facilitating communication in just a few seconds, connect friends, as well as in participating in one’s democratic right. Even though the use of social media has important benefits, it has helped the people to create false identities. Moreover, the parents should engage the children in their talk so that they can learn the benefit and drawbacks of social media. In addition, it is becoming expensive since there are many young people being treated for being addicted as well as being depressed. Therefore, the best ways of ensuring that the youths are not affected is just to be taught on how to balance issues and activities to avoid being too much on social media at the expensive of learning or work. Social media has been said by many scholars and researchers that it has changed the way the people used to interact with one another in the society. Today, almost everybody is holding their phone chatting and sharing information with others in a comfortable way without having to travel to the person for something that they could have shared. This means that the society has totally changed in the way people interact as well as the way everyone is communicating with one another. Even though the use of social media has brought many positive changes in the society, it has also brought negative effects on the lives of people and their relationships with others and therefore, these issues need to be handled with care in order to save our youths who are the leaders of tomorrow.

References

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