Smartphones being the biggest distraction that has ever come across to mankind and though it also acts as a catalyst in the new modern world. ‘Social Media’ not being less than drug addiction and we all have been taking it like it’s our daily dose of medicine.
Also read: The Impact of Smartphones on the Development of Children
Using it for countless hours and scrolling down our Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube and then wondering why time is flying away. The problem is that we got no control over how much time we are spending online. And somehow now it seems like our life is being limited to Social media only. How building relationships online we all are losing touch with people in our real life. But have we ever asked ourselves how it is damaging and affecting our Style of living? Mind-set? Future and goals? We guess we all are aware of it but still acting like we are not!
Social Media: A Disguise or Boon To Society
With social media being used by one-third of the population worldwide and makes it crystal clear how much society is being influenced by it. How social media is used by children to teenagers to old age everyone has addicted it. But the question is ‘social media is a blessing or curse to mankind’.
Pros:
- Connecting with people: Now it’s been so easy how we can connect to our close ones and friends worldwide within a fraction of seconds and seems a blessing regardless of where a person is sitting can connect to another in just one click and being able to connect and share with people without letting you judged is the power of social media.
- The platform for doing business and promoting it: How the business is so dependent on social media while promoting their goods or services through various platforms like Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, and also through Google ads which helps to outgrow them worldwide and connect and take feedbacks and works on improving their products and customer satisfaction up to their needs.
- Educational platform: Today in the time of pandemic almost everyone is having their classes through zoom, Google meet, or Skype this shows how these sites are crucial for us and anyone is just one click away to take advantage of all the resources and enhance their knowledge and experience.
Cons:
- Cyber Bullying: Cyber bullying and threatening people through social media is another way of teasing people by creating fake profiles and leaking Images and their personal information. Sending messages of threats can affect a person’s mental health.
- Becoming addictive: The addiction of social media to youngsters is killing and damaging their creativity and talents because sitting in front of their screens for countless hours is killing their productivity and making them more lethargic and also on adults too they too scrolling social media.
- Fraud: Frauds and scams are not a new thing that has happened whether it is our real lives or social lives it is prevalent everywhere but one needs to be aware of all the frauds and lately not falling into it.
Every coin has its two sides alike in the scenario of social media it depends on how one is operating it as it a curse or a blessing to the society. One can choose to take the advantage of changing the world or finding means to waste and bully people so the choice is within our hands only. A small change can have a great impact on our lives and society.
Is Social Media Making Us Unsocial?
If we look around we see that people chose social media over the real relationship being next to them. Yeah, “social media is making us unsocial” and how social media killing human interaction and touch how social media taking the place of people how social media has led us to feel lonelier. Not only this it has changed our lives in an indispensable manner although it’s a most powerful platform. Results have proven that people who use more social media tend to more lonely and depressed in their real lives but usually pretend that they are being happy. If we look at the average screen time spend on social media of a person is being 2-3 hours approximately in a day and which also tends to increase.
Being active on social media isn’t that bad if one uses it in a proper and limited time and not crossing the time limit because it not only making us unsocial but also affecting us within and our mental health too. Anything being used excessively that is from studying to eating or to using our social media can cause a long-term issue for us only. The thing is that we being usually start using social media because we are bored or to refresh our mood but then this turns out to become our habit resulting in wasting countless hours on mobile screens and wasting our time.
Why Use of Social Media Is Toxic?
The urge to check our social media account is more than anything else in the new modern world. People being so addicted to it that for once they forget to carry their money or keys but will not forget their smartphones to carry and it showcases us the preferences we got.
To get rid of social life a person must do detoxification process which is quite beneficial and be patient. Go and uninstall or deactivate your social accounts for some days to find inner peace and relaxation and then you know and feel the difference how staying away from it and giving importance to other things in life is more crucial than spending time on social media. Once you figure out the and detoxify yourself then do try to maintain a distance and use it for a limited time and make this your habit go more for human interaction than finding people online because it can bring short term happiness but not long term goals my friend.
Ways to Reduce Use Of Social Media
We all know how we are so much addicted to our mobile phones but when used excessively it can deteriorate our health so one should try to build a boundary to reduce the use of social media and here are some of the ways through which you can try to reduce the use of it.
1. Engaging yourself with other activities
Besides using mobile phones there are other activities in which one can indulge like going on a walk, reading a book, watching favorite TV shows or series, so that one can keep yourself busy.
2. Setting a timer
Spending time on apps is ironic, but then are some features through which one can limit using their social media apps all you need to set a timer on your mobile and after a limit has reached of using your phone the timer will alert you so you can keep your phone aside.
3. Build Self-Awareness
One needs to be self-aware of the hours you are putting and add them together to see your screen time. Then ask yourself what can you do to reduce the time and next time before picking your phone set down the time for using it.
4. Change notification settings
We all are so addicted to our mobile phone we keep checking our phones when we receive any notification and the best thing one can do is to turn off all the notification except for the important ones which can help you to some extend.
Why Social Media Shouldn’t Be Banned?
Banning social media or cutting them off completely isn’t a solution to all the problems that are being today faced today. Instead one must try to find out the evil root to that problems and kill them from the core. Restricting or banning social media will be beneficial for one but the loss to others to that person whose livelihood is being generated from their i.e. small business, influencers, and online sites that promote their products on it they all have to suffer a lot.
Social media restrictions can be put on children that are being 14-16 or below because that affects their mental health and their concentration to focus more on studies, creativity to do curriculum activities so that they stop ranting and spending time online and wasting it.
The world is changing every moment with the new technologies and inventions so banning social media hamper our growth and use it when you need it because excessive anything is harmful to our health.
Final Thought
The relationship that we carry out with Social media is of love-hate. Social media being the best platform for sharing what we feel and a better place to learn and grow the best side of mankind although it depends on how one makes the best possible use of it to make a world a better place to live.
Social media should be used as building relationships not a catalyst to kill and losing touch with the real world. We all drowned in something else or another but how to pull yourselves away is the thing that should matter the most to us. Though sometimes we are too much addicted to it that it seems unreal. Not saying to completely cut off from social media but do use it positively and beneficially so for tomorrow you don’t have to suffer or regret it.
