SOCIAL MEDIA AND THE YOUTH
Social media has brought a lot of changes in human life. Earlier the basic need of a human being was food, cloth, and shelter but now the things are changing. Social media has become one of the basic needs when it comes to human life. Long ago social media was not that popular, people don’t know much about the media. Due to the development of technology, the social media platform has grown up with new features and it has gained more and more acceptance. Social media has changed the world’s perspective on communication. We all use this platform for one or other reasons. This is really helpful for communication. When we take the current situation, we can blindly say that social media is the only way to get connected with each other and get things done easier. Even in the absence of physical classrooms, we all are getting connected through these mediums. So we can’t deny the fact that social media has become a part of our life.
Is social media helping us to improve our communication skills? The answer is YES. Because the influence of social media on communication is a big one. Social media like Facebook, WhatsApp, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat…..all these platforms are helping us in one or the other way. Many of us may not be aware of that. It’s really entertaining and it also improves reading skills, writing skills, and critical learning skills. During this pandemic, many of them get to know each other through this medium. Many people are scared to talk in front of the public or may not be that talkative or may be scared to have a face to face conversation. We can’t blame them. This platform helps us to solve such kinds of barriers. Also, this platform is fast reaching and fast-moving. Many of us have experienced pain when our friends leave us and go abroad or somewhere else for their studies. This platform will help us to bridge the gap in between and maintain a good relationship. Through this platform, we can communicate with each other, share our ideas and thoughts, and also help us to gain knowledge. So we all are connected through a single network.
Social media is giving us more and more opportunities. So we can say that teenagers and youth are leading the most on this platform. It gives us more and more opportunities to showcase our talents. It is really helpful for us to keep up-to-date on the events that are happening across the globe. Facebook is a good example, it sends us notifications on birthdays. Through this social media platform, we will get to know about the important days that we all celebrate. There is an N number of features attached to it. It helps us to interact with each other and also helps us to secure jobs through different sources. This platform also provides online certificate courses. Even our college is giving us the opportunity to attend the courses and obtain certificates through the Coursera platform. Likewise, there are different platforms that help us to improve our skills and talents.
When we speak about the fun elements in social media, there are a lot of funny things that make us laugh. Funny videos, stickers, gif, tag a friend, funny posts, etc. These funny elements will make us laugh and relieve our stress. Nowadays we can see that trolls based on different cinemas or a particular person are also trending. So there are a lot of chances for the youth to showcase their talent and creativity. So it’s really interesting and entertaining.
For every aspect, there are positive and negative sides. If we are in a confused situation or we are not able to take a decision for some reason we all will obviously turn to social media for help. We will search there for the solution or do some research to get the problem solved. Our studies itself is a good example so that we can relate it to yourself. When we are at the crucial turning point of our life, many questions may arise from others. Which course you are going to take or what next? All are concerned about our future. Firstly, we will go search on the internet because we all feel free to use this particular platform and from there we will get some advice and then we ask our elders about that particular course. So from this, it’s understood that social media is really helpful to all in many ways.
Social media is offering a bundle of opportunities to us. But many of them are not taking it seriously. Now let’s talk about business. Many youngsters have started doing business and have become entrepreneurs. Social media plays a major role in the development of businesses and makes them go beyond the boundaries through digital marketing. In social media, there are a number of business plans and strategies that will help each one of us to get more knowledge about the business as well as the market. There are online surveys and research that will help us to know the current market condition. By using this platform we will be able to know the needs of the consumer and from that we can come up with new ideas. So through this medium, they can promote their business and fulfill their dreams. During this lockdown, many of them have started doing business. It may be our neighbor or relatives and they sell the product online. That’s really interesting. Instead of wasting time, they are finding opportunities and utilizing them. The cake business was the leading one. Because of this lockdown, many of them couldn’t go to the shop to celebrate the birthday of dear ones. Here comes the opportunity, people started baking and selling it online. And also many of them started YouTube channels to interact and make their day a good one.
The Healthcare system has also come up with new inventions. Social media has brought changes in the healthcare system too. Instead of visiting a doctor, we can speak to the doctor virtually, and the doctor will prescribe medicine and treatment by considering our symptoms. Even through Skype calls, we can get consulted. This is very helpful to the youth because we all are in a hurry and it’s also very helpful for elderly people. They don’t need to visit the hospital and waste their time. Everything is quick and is at the tip of our fingers.
People nowadays prefer online shopping rather than visiting the shop. It’s not only because of this Covid 19 but when we shop online we will get more offers and extras, so people will get attracted to it. When we use media like Instagram, YouTube, and we can see the advertisements of Flipkart, Amazon, Myntra with a wide range of offers. Many of them, especially the youth, prefer online shopping because they no need to approach or visit a shop. They can get the things at their doorstep. If it doesn’t match they can return it too. See how far technology has gone. We can see the development of the payment system too. It’s also really helpful to us. When do we ask the question to the youth that WILL YOU PREFER DIRECT CASH PAYMENT OR ONLINE PAYMENT? They will surely prefer an online payment system. Because payment online is much easier for them. It’s just a matter of scanning the QR code, knowing pins, and having enough balance in the account. We don’t need to carry cash with us, even if it’s an emergency people can make the transaction through this online payment service. Now even WhatsApp is also adding features to help us to transfer money. From this, it’s clear that social media has developed a lot.
Social media have some negatives too. Looking at the negative side of social media, if we are not able to use it properly, it’s easy to get trapped. It will be a big trap and we may not be able to come out of that situation. Addiction is like poison, once we get addicted it is not that easy to come back to normal life and this may even lead to depression. Social media is a kind of drug, it’s very dangerous if we are not using this platform wisely. And also it may affect our study’s health and the person may not understand what he or she is doing.
Another aspect is Hacking. Hacking is occurring very frequently nowadays. There is no privacy or security for our data. Spreading false information about someone is not at all appreciated. It really hurts. Many of them are not aware of such things and they are very open in public. But we are not aware that at any point in time our account may get hacked. Now it’s common among youth. So always be alert.
Concentration is very important in every field. Uncontrollable usage of social media may lack concentration. We all are young, and we all have dreams. To achieve that dream we have to concentrate on our studies and also our future as well. So if we are lacking concentration that means we are ruining our own life. These people will not be interested in talking with others. They prefer to sit alone and spend their time. Their character will be changed totally. Once we get into these kinds of traps, it’s not that easy to come out of it. People may harm themselves or may lead to suicide.
By using this platform many of them are getting cheated. Because through this platform we are seeing the virtual side of a person. The person may fool us using fake ids. We may not be able to understand whether it’s a fake or a real one. So through this platform, many of them are getting cheated too. Always keep a distance in between and don’t share our personal matters with anyone.
So we can say that social media has both negative and positive sides. It depends on us, how we use it. It’s really a good one. Instead of saying social media, we can call it a social butterfly. It truly helps us to share our thoughts and feelings. Interacting, sharing, and communicating will help us to live happily. It’s really entertaining for the youth as well as the elders. So that we can stay away from stress, depression, and loneliness. Proper guidance is required for all of us to make better decisions in life. This platform has changed the life of each one of us. So always be alert while using this platform. Use this platform to impact others. Be Simple, Be Social……..
