Is Social Media a boon or a bane?

 

About 62% of the world, uses social media, which is about five billion people! Social media platforms like twitter, instagram, facebook, snapchat have now creeped into every home making it one of the most used platforms across the world. Social media is most definitely a bane for several reasons. For instance, it leads to anxiety & depression and also privacy risk.

Firstly, social media is posing a huge risk to mental health of users. For example; a
2018 study in computers in human behavior found a strong correlation between high social media usage and increased levels of anxiety and depression. Social media can cause feelings of inferiority when people scroll through reels because they often see idealized versions of other's lives, filled with achievements and highlights. The 'highlight reel' effect is where people try to show their daily lives in the best light possible, which can cause a fear of missing out among people. Addressing these issues is important as 'cyberbullying' is common among teens on social media.

Secondly, privacy risk is a big problem as sensitive data can be shared without our consent and experience embarrassment in front of others. Fake accounts are the main factor for privacy risk, they have a malicious intent of gaining people's trust and encourage them to share sensitive data such as bank account information, various passwords or some other personal information. 

However, a lot of people believe that social media is a powerful way to convey messages from around the world. Social media can help spread messages in just the snap of your fingers to hundreds and thousands of people. This can be useful for people who want to spread serious and important messages that are vital for the society to know.

In conclusion, social media is a bane as it increases the chances of anxiety and depression, it can also pose the threat of privacy risk to people. Therefore, social media should be used in a way that it does not turn into an addiction.