How Social Media Impacts Our Daily Lives?
The number of social media users has increased to 4.2 billion, the latest stats shows. The number of social media consumers in the US alone has increased from just 5% in 2005 to a sizable proportion of 72% now, a bizarre picture portrayed by a PEW research report. These numbers are mind-boggling as more than half of the world's population is now dwelling over the internet planet. There is no doubt that our vast planet has now shrunk to a global village, thanks to the robust progress of social media. The last decade may be truly deemed as a digital one as it flourished predominantly the social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Snap chat and others.
Information is power and hence to harness this power of information, a rapid communication network is imperative. The social media giants like Google, YouTube, Facebook and Twitter gained a lot of popularity in conveying local as well as global information to every corner of the world irrespective of the geographical location of their users. It is fantastic to know about everything on the lawn just in a few clicks through Google, YouTube and Facebook etc while enjoying a cup of tea.
How Social Media Influences Us?
Now let, s have a look at how social media has revolutionized the world, its benefits as well as its harmful consequences for its users.
A conduit for Day-Day Information and Entertainment;
All the outdated and tedious sources of information are replaced by a fast and modern network of info channels like Google, YouTube, Twitter, Facebook and Pinterest etc. These platforms not just provide instant access to local and international news but are also an immense source of entertainment and socialization, expanding Social circle and making new friends. The Covid19 Pandemic encaged the people to homes due to hectic lockdowns imposed by the countries. Health emergency was declared by the USA, European countries, Australia and other adversely hit nations. Hence these lockdowns catalyzed the aggressive use of social media. 42 % of adults In the US socialized virtually during the year 2020 due to COVID Pandemic. Females were a step forward in this scenario.
Chinese launched app TikTok achieved significant fame among the general public. Apart from entertaining youngsters; It rendered the golden opportunity to the youth hailing from middle and lower-middle-class families for showing their visibility on the small screen since they can’t afford to appear on the big screen. There are myriad instances of the new young stars who outshined and got overwhelming fame through this sensational app. Pakistani TikTokers were not only able to make fame but also succeeded in making a good living. There is a saying” luckiest are the people whose passion is their profession” and this fits well here.
The hiring of Candidates, Distance-Learning & Consequent Earning
Social media plays a pivotal role in the recruitment and hiring of job seekers. Professional social networks such as LinkedIn are important social media platforms for anyone looking to stand out in his career. An attractive and eye-catchy LinkedIn profile of a fresh graduate equipped with a proper skillset helps him to attract and grasp the attention of the client/employer who is looking for technical or skilled labor. A significant proportion of the employers hire their team members through their professional and experience-oriented profiles on LinkedIn and Facebook. On the other hand, some employees may be fired due to their controversial or Non-professional engagement in these platforms.
Distance-Learning gained tremendous popularity these days. Distance-Learning refers to “learning different skills through blogs, Podcasts, YouTube and different online courses thereby replacing physical presence in an educational institution or a classroom”. This new teaching trend not only saves expenses spent on building institutional infrastructure for virtual trainer/mentor but also facilitates the student to learn skills/courses within the convenience of his home and schedule. And these online courses and skills are helping individuals to make online livings by selling their freelance services e.g. Data entry, Web development, Content Writing, Social media marketing and a lot of other skills on different marketplaces like Fiverr.com, Upwork.com, Guru.com and many more. The talented and skilled freelancers are thriving through these amazing freelancing platforms, thanks to the skills taught to them by their mentors. The young freelancers are not only making their own livings but are also contributing to keeping their economies afloat.
The Boom of Online Businesses
Many medium and small-scale businesses require advertisement through virtual channels like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube and Pinterest for their promotion. The ads at these channels land the customers directly to the website of the business owner. So this results in obtaining the conversions. The businesses in future are expected to train their staff to adapt skills in accordance with the new social media trends. Online businesses are grabbing robust momentum and the businesses are being molded according to the new digital era trends.
Disadvantages of Social Media ;
Besides the myriad benefits of social media like Information hub, a source of entertainment, Socialization and a good source for living and advertisement of online businesses; the other side of the coin cannot be ignored. By flipping the coin exposes some flawed and dark aspects of social media.
No doubt that it provides entertainment in the form of music, movies and pranks, etc but some vulgar and indecent content is responsible for the moral and ethical decline of our society. Some governments tried to ban some websites that were frankly violating the moral and cultural norms of the societies. Its recent example is the ban on TikTok imposed by the government of Pakistan. But banning some selected Apps/websites doesn’t really help in the long run as Youth is quick to hunt any other Platform and to repeat the same evils. Instead, the new generation must be taught their moral values and ingrained with their cultural traits. This is a pragmatic and long-term solution and will definitely help.
Another negative point of social media is that it addicts its users. The people spend a lot of their precious time posting their pictures on Facebook, Chatting in messenger, and tweeting unnecessarily and thus killing their useful time that can be consumed in some productive chores. Research by Sampasa-Kanyinga and Lewis in Canada concluded that spending more than 2 hours on social media daily causes distress, anxiety and poor psychological functioning. Hence proper planning and management are essential for maintaining the balance between social media use and other activities. A family media use plan introduced by the American Academy of Pediatrics helps parents and kids to customize social media use and maintain a balance between face-to-face interaction and social media use.
Cyberbullying is a serious threat that is rapidly penetrating the online world. Cyberbullying is defined as “harassing, intimidating, threatening and blackmailing through social media outlets like Facebook, WhatsApp, Snap chat etc”. The worst part of this witch-hunt game is that “the persons who commit these rogue practices usually hide behind anonymity” and victims are unable to identify them.
Conclusion
Social media is a fact and there is no other option than to embrace it. But we shouldn’t let it control our lives. Instead, We all should consume it in a productive and positive manner.
