The utility of social media platforms in the modern day has become an integral part of life. People use these platforms to discuss various views and offer their opinions regarding the happenings in society. Social media may be conceptualized as computer tools that enable people to exchange ideas, images, and information through a specific network (Siddiqui and Singh 71). Accordingly, individuals can use such technology to do shopping, advertise their products, and exchange email. Social media encompasses social networking sites and blogs that support people’s communication with each other. Sites like Twitter and Facebook are an excellent representation of social media platforms. Since the emergence of these sites, society has become highly connected. This paper examines the positive and negative implications of social media in society.
Social media has a positive and negative impact on education. On the positive side, social media has enabled students to interact with each other and deliberate on issues like class ventures. The quiet students usually feel that social media platforms allow them, to express their ideas more freely (Siddiqui and Singh 72). Accordingly, educators may opt to post educational material about school events and homework assignments online to give their students the opportunity to feel comfortable addressing different issues and discussing class assignments. Additionally, social media has led to the development of new career options; young individuals can use these sites to market their products or become successful marketers. In this regard, educators can teach the young generation to become decent digital citizens and use the Internet for productive purposes. Nevertheless, social media platforms also have downsides like distracting students while in class; since devices like phones can be quickly confiscated, students may start chatting with each other online, and the teacher will not notice. Secondly, social media education faces challenges like the posting of personal material online; students may pose information that is confidential on social networking sites by accident, and the private information will be availed to everyone (Siddiqui and Singh 72). Third, a lot of material that may persuade students to adopt unhealthy practices is available online; such information may lead learners to take on uncouth behavior (Amedie 6). Finally, many bloggers post the wrong information on their websites, an act that may result in the collapse of the education system. Social media sites also have different impacts on businesses.
Businesses may use social media sites to achieve their objectives; however, these sites may also impact their ventures negatively. Social media has the positive effect of enabling businesses to understand the likes and dislikes of their clientele; business people may use online surveys to understand what their clients do not like about their products or services (Siddiqui and Singh 73). Also, online platforms help enterprises to promote their products; through these platforms, businesses can find new customers by offering facilities that meet the needs of consumers. Finally, the budget for advertising products is relatively cheap; therefore, companies may easily expand their customer base and gain entry into the markets where only the established firms operate. On the flipside, customers may tarnish the name of a company just because the service they received was different from what they expected. In the end, the company may become a victim of viral social disadvantage (Siddiqui and Singh 74). Also, online businesses may be easily hacked, and all their proceeds looted by the click of a button. Social media also affects the manner in which people exchange information.
The proliferation of social media in society has led to the development of new ways of communication. Through social media platforms, people can now exchange information over different geographical locations in real time (Vevere 124). People can now meet and become friends even when they have not met physically. In this regard, people may come together to achieve common objectives, which may result in the betterment of living conditions in society. Bloggers and writers can also interact freely with their audience and deliberate of the various issues that affect the community (Siddiqui and Singh 73). Such an endeavor may result in the growth of awareness campaigns that may equip the various members of the community with up-to-date information. Nevertheless, social media has downsides like Internet addiction, which may prevent people from focusing on meaningful activities like their work (Amedie 6). Also, the youngsters may become victims of obscene images and videos that are uploaded on the Internet. Such images may predispose these individuals to act in socially unacceptable ways.
In a recap of the above discussion, Social media has various effects on society. Some of these implications may be positive or negative. For instance, businesses may enjoy the privilege of reaching many people through the broad access that social media platforms offer. Accordingly, the customer bases of such enterprises may increase. Also, institutions of learning may help their students to gain different insights on different matters by allowing them to converse with each other about class activities. However, social media sites have the downside of making individuals less productive since they may focus on chatting and interacting with other people instead of focusing on meaningful activities like achieving work objectives, as discussed above.
- Amedie, Jacob, “The Impact of Social Media on Society” Advanced Writing: Pop Culture Intersections. 2.
- Siddiqui, Shabnoor, and Tajinder Singh. “Social Media Its Impact With Positive And Negative Aspects.” International Journal of Computer Applications Technology and Research 5.2 (2016): print.
- Vevere, Velga. “Impact of Social Media on Interpersonal Communication Patterns.” SOCIETAL STUDIES Vol 7, No 1: 124–138 (2015). print.