Impact of Social Media : Shaping Youth OR Manipulating Minds?
Written by : Y John Samuel
Student Sambalpur University, Odisha
Introduction
Being in the 21st century, social media plays a pivotal role in engaging youth’s mind . Nowadays people use social media not only for entertainment purposes but also to get various information. India being the most populated country in the world , It has largest number of youth around 1/3rd of it’s population. It is such a large amount, that the youth of India has the power to change the fate of our country.
As we are living in digital era , smartphone has become an essential part of our day to day lives. Due to easy accessibility of smartphone we gain access to social media. Social media is a double edged sword, either it can make us knowledgeable or has the power to destroy us.
Positive impacts of social media:
• Connectivity: Social media platforms like Facebook ,Twitter, Instagram etc allow us to stay connected and make new friends across the globe. It made communication much more easier where they can share their experience, thought and news.
• Access to education: It provides an easy and effective way where students as well as the teachers can exchange knowledge as per their convenience. They can access all the educational materials anytime.
• Awareness : social media is being used as a platform to spread awareness. Here we get the information regarding various societal issues , the changing political scenario and many more .Which makes the youth more socially and politically active.
For example, recently in R.G. Kar Medical College & Hospital’s case social media became a platform to raise voice against the savagery. Which pressurize the government for speedy justice. Through social media we can become one unit for a good cause to bring change in the society.
• Information & Updates: People nowadays moving towards youtube, inshot and other media platforms rather than solely depending upon television to get news. India ranked 159 out of 180 countries as per world press freedom index , which gives raise to question upon the quality and reliability of television media houses. Media is considered as a 4th pillar of democracy, but at the present time it is questionable that do media doing their job properly? This gives rise to digital journalism which attracted the youth.
Negative impacts of social media:
• Addiction: Excessive use of social media, endless scrolling affects the real life relationships. Those who are addicted to it frequently ignore those who are around them , they unaware of whats going on in the society as they are completely driven into the virtual world. Study states that social media makes us lazy and less active as we are constantly using our device. It also leads to insomnia, irritation, fear of missing out and many more problems.
• Rise of fake news and WhatsApp university: while social media is consider to be a knowledge hub but not all knowledge and information are verified and the chances of getting fake information is high which is a threat. There are many instances where social media used as a weapon to spread miss information which leads to conflict in religious groups and breaking social harmony.
• Increasing cyber crime , cyber bullying & cyber frauds: cyber crime and cyber fraud is increasing day by day as most of the people lack digital literacy and they become easy target of fraudsters. Cyber bullying , harassment is also major concern as people with ill intention are getting free hands to put whatever they want. Mostly women are becoming the victims of this cyber harassment.
Suggestions:
• Educational programs: Educational institutions should introduce courses on digital literacy so that students can become more aware and save themselves from cyber fraud.
• Responsible Journalism: Media houses should act like fourth pillar of democracy. They must held accountable for Misleading propaganda and miss information which break the peace and harmony in the society.
• Youth responsibility: Youth must verify the source of information and not believe everything blindly. Youth must involve themselves in meaningful productive discussion rather than blindly following social media trends.
Conclusion:
Social media has the power in shaping mind of the youths. It plays a crucial role in creating awareness , educating and utilising youth for a change, it also has the power to mislead and manipulate. To avoid misleading information and manipulation the young individual should develop critical thinking and consume social media responsibly. A well informed youth can drive India's progress where as a mislead individual can be the victim of propaganda and division. The choice is ours.
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