Advantages and Disadvantages of Social Media for Students

The change in times and modernization of everything worldwide have made life more accessible and straightforward. Life is very different from what it was now and what it was around twenty or thirty years ago, and the way to do even the simplest of things has changed, like the forms of communication, travelling, entertainment, business, etc. The most significant example of an easement through access is the presence of social media in everyone's life. The education system and the way the learning process is carried out these days are also very diverse and unique compared to the ways that were used traditionally. Technology has played a significant role in changing and modernizing the world's education system. The teachers and students are well versed with the advanced gadgets and applications that facilitate an easier way to impart learning.

The use of social media can also be termed a new technology used for educational and other purposes. The primary purpose of social media is to connect people and help them interact with each other more efficiently, but ever since its introduction to the world, it has changed a lot. The introduction of social media was an experimental one. It was done by different college students who wanted to create something that could help them interact more efficiently and in a better way with their peers and teachers. Social Media gained a lot of popularity amongst the youth and has now become a part of every student's itinerary.

Social media was never intended to cause any harm or disruptions amongst the youth. It was always a way of better interaction and forming a community of like-minded folks who can help and support each other to overcome obstacles. Over time the concept of social media became a business, and from being a business, it became a billion-dollar industry with a whopping number of increasing users which majorly include a high percentage of youths.

Importance of Social Media for Students

Nowadays, everyone around the globe is entirely dependent on the facilities provided on the Internet, and Social Media is one such facility. It is challenging and next to impossible to find out anyone who does not enjoy the fruits of Social Media.

Social Media has proven to be an adequate means of communication in modern times. It provides a common platform to people worldwide for better interaction and efficient communication. People with common interests can find each other on social media, socialize, and form a community. For Eg: Musicians, Artists, etc. Social Media also acts as a good place for brands and companies to endorse and publicize their goods.

Social Media has been present in people's lives for over a decade and has become an integral part of everyone's life. The effects and addiction of social media in society are an ever-growing type, and new users get introduced to social media every day.

The social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter have become giants and are necessarily present on everyone's devices. These platforms started as an experiment, and no one had any idea of their enormous success. However, excellent youth outreach and user-friendly environments that can be found on these platforms have attracted billions of people to use these apps over time. It is also observed that more than a million new users are signed up on these platforms yearly.

Modern technology and its various forms are increasing with each passing day and evolving at a rate like no technology has evolved, and many people benefit from these technologies. Two out of every three persons in this world are active social media users because of the many opportunities provided by social media platforms.

Some of the features of social media platforms that have been proven to be beneficial for millions of people are:

• Social media connects people from different parts of the world, which makes communication faster and longer than other communication methods.
• The functioning of social media is very efficient.
• Before the introduction of social media, many things were different, including everyone's lifestyle worldwide. After the introduction of social media, many opportunities have been opened, and people have gotten very exposed to knowledge worldwide. This exposure has brought a tremendous change in the lifestyle of the folks and has bought a lot of positive change.
• Social media is a good recreation source, allowing people to connect to new people and escape their daily routine lives. Many people worldwide have bitterness and don't know how to cope; social media helps by providing good positive influence.

Such benefits, as mentioned earlier, and many other similar features are available. That's why social media is so popular and used so much across the globe. When we look at all the successful social media platforms today, like Linkedin, Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram (which is a subsidiary of Facebook), then we can see that these platforms have multiple uses and can also be used by entrepreneurs and businesses to endorse and market their goods to a whole new audience. Many companies have already capitalized on the fruits of social media to push their goods and services online. These companies have been successful, and they have gained the attention of a lot of new customers. It goes out to show how important and beneficial social media is for people in today's world.

Advantages of Social Media for Students

Every new invention and technology or anything present in this world has its positives and negatives. Still, the most important thing is how much innovation or technology affects society and the people living there.

Everyone using social media for any purpose should be well-versed in its implications concerning each aspect of life. Many people use these technologies and social media platforms without even realizing the drawbacks. The users on it use social media, and it is in their hands to decide how to use the social media platforms properly. People's priority determines how social media treats them. Still, the primary function and aim of these platforms are only to bring forth a positive change in the lives of every individual and create opportunities that can last for a long time.

Some of the advantages to people that are intended the usage of social media by youths and students are as follows:

1. ocial Media increases connectivity among students

One of the most beautiful aspects of using social media is that it provides excellent connectivity among its users. Every student is different, and sometimes, it is difficult for them to connect. Many students stay alone and don't get to make friends, but the introduction of social media in the lives of youth and students has completely changed. On social media platforms, any person in the world can approach anyone and establish a friendship. It also enables students to seek out people with shared interests and link up with them. The youths commonly use platforms like WhatsApp, Telegram, and Instagram to connect and interact efficiently. In the recent times of the Pandemic and with the introduction of online classes to the academic world, these social media platforms have turned out to be very fruitful for the students as they have been given a space to communicate with each other and with their teachers without leaving the safe proximity of their homes.

2. Social Media provides current information and updates to the students

Sometimes there are a lot of pieces of information that can not be attained by attending schools and classes. In the traditional academic setting, the youths are fixated only on a particular manner of lifestyle and career opportunities. With the introduction of social media, it can be seen that many new opportunities and breakthroughs are present for students and aspiring youths in various academic and creative fields. Social media also helps research purposes and can quickly provide much data on multiple things that cannot be found in books and classrooms. Before the introduction of social media, students had to rely on television broadcast and newspapers or their faculties for any current happening in the world, but now all the updates about the current events of the world can be accessed on social media by the students. A few simple clicks on social media applications can impart essential knowledge to folks about anything they want to know, and that too in real-time.

3. Social Media builds a community for students

In today's world, social media has proved to be the home of many innovative and empowering communities. When people of like-minded nature meet and gather in large numbers, it forms communities. Students and youth have always utilized social media platforms to create such communities. Being part of such communities is a sign of shared interest, and it exposes students to the outside world and prepares them to tackle problems. Students get to discuss their common interests with folks worldwide, which is very exciting to imagine. It imparts a feeling of togetherness, and no one feels missed out in such communities.

4. Social Media can be used to entertain students

It is common knowledge that social media is an excellent source of knowledge. There are a lot of creative people around the world that indulge themselves in making innovative videos that are of every genre. Such tapes are short, crisp, and generally funny and are highly famous among youths. Instagram, YouTube, and Facebook are the platforms that these creators use to post the content that they make. Another form of entertainment is online games that are very famous, and many communities are formed for such games among the students. All these methods act as a great escape for the students to relieve their stress.

5. Social Media provides learning to the students

Learning is the most crucial advantage of students using social media. Social media is a potent tool for academicians to experiment with different ways to deliver their teaching methods to students. Students use social media to interact with their teachers and ask them doubts when they cannot do so in the classroom. Social media has broadened the scope of gaining knowledge by a particular young student and has opened many ways. Students used it a lot during the recent Covid-19 Pandemic to communicate with each other and share notes and additional vital information related to academics. Social media has also benefited students who opt for distance education or overseas students, saving many of their travel costs. Any student can now learn anything from anywhere in the world because of the fantastic features of social media.

Disadvantages of Social Media for Students

Social media is very beneficial and offers a lot of exposure to students. Sometimes they use social media without any control or noticing its adverse effects. Like everything in the world, social media also has its drawbacks that should be considered to make social media more sustainable and user-friendly. Some of these disadvantages are:

1. Addiction to Social Media

When the youth uses social media platforms for an uncontrolled period and cannot stop themselves from using such applications, then they get addicted to them, and such addiction can lead to profound negative implications on their mental as well as physical health. The attention of any student gets diverted once they get extra attached to social media, and the focus on study gets completely lost. After a lot of studies, it can be observed that students tend to waste a lot of time on social media and stop doing the essential tasks that they should do in their curricular life.

2. Social Media has adverse effects on socialization

It is a common observation that social media helps students socialize with their peers and teachers much better. It is also true that sometimes a particular individual gets so engrossed in social media that they forget about anything else in the world and isolate themselves. This act of self-isolation by any student hampers their relationship with their family members and their relatives. In many cases, it is seen that students even stop going outside their houses and stop interacting with anyone in their classroom.

3. Social Media can lead to cyberbullying

Cyberbullying is a significant and increasing threat in modern society and is considered a cybercrime. The platforms of social media can act as a common breeding ground for people that involve themselves in the act of cyberbullying. One of the features of social media is that it can enable anyone to have an anonymous identity. The reason for the availability of such a feature is because of security reasons, but folks have started using it in a negative sense. These cyberbullies attack other people by sending inappropriate messages, commenting hateful and racial slurs on the pictures posted by other people, and in many different forms. The people create fake accounts of themselves and trouble other people just for the sake of fun. It is entirely immoral and can generate a lot of mental trauma. Students and younger folks are these cyberbullies' prime targets because they are easily negatively affected. The effects of cyberbullying can be very long-lasting, like anxiety attacks, clinical depression, and various severe mental problems.

4. Social Media has a lot of inappropriate content

Social media platforms allow everyone to have free speech, which is a great thing to have in this modern world, but in many instances, this free speech can be harmful. It is a fact that social media is a rich source of entertainment, but a lot of content available on social media to be accessed by young students is not appropriate at all, and it exceeds moral boundaries. A large quantity of lewd and obscene content is available on social media that anyone can easily access, which is inappropriate for any student to see. Also, many people use social media platforms like Twitter and Instagram to spread hatred and prejudice toward others and influence young people to commit horrendous activities. Students and young individuals using social media can intentionally or unintentionally be a part of such things, which can affect their future in many ways. The presence of pornography is the biggest threat that consumes a lot of young users and makes them very addicted to social media for all the wrong reasons. This consumption of inappropriate things on all these platforms present today makes students mentally unstable, and they lose the sense of right and wrong. Such content can also cause the inability to sleep and other serious consequences.

5. Social Media can cause serious health concerns for students

It is commonly said that "Health is Wealth." For a student being healthy is a topmost priority, whether mental or physical health. One should always stay perfect because any opportunity or academic responsibility can strike at any time in a student's life. The use of social media in any student's life should be minimal and based on extracting only positive results from social media platforms, but it is not the case which is seen chiefly. It is observed that students and young individuals get engrossed in social media and start using it all the time for all the wrong reasons. Students spend all day and night sitting in front of screens of their computers or holding mobile phones in their hands, wasting a lot of time that should be utilized for other beneficial activities. This heavy usage of social media platforms gets the students addicted and makes them forget about everything else. The addition of social media hampers the mental stability of a student, and one stops losing all focus on studies. It also makes the students lazy as it does not involve any physical activities. It is also observed that in many cases, students start sacrificing their sleep and get major bouts of sleeping disorders.

Conclusion

Everything is entirely being operated in the modern world because of the inventions and technologies introduced ten or twenty years ago. Social media is also an integral part of this lifestyle change, and it has revolutionized the ideologies of many people and nations. It has provided employment and other opportunities that were never even thought about in the past years. It is well known by people worldwide that social media has its positives and negatives, but awareness is the central aspect that guides people about how to use it efficiently and not get harmed by it. Everything new to the world or already present inside has its positives and negatives, and social media is no exception.

People using social media should know that utilizing it in a better manner is very beneficial to them and society. No one should do any harm to themselves or the people around them just by getting influenced in a wrong way by anything said or shown on social media. The concept of awareness is fundamental and plays a significant role in people characterizing and sorting their behaviour on social media platforms.

Social media is a part of our world now and is a kind of technology that is also the future. Every generation will benefit from the goods and services provided through social media and the connection it helps to make. Sorting out the advantages and disadvantages of this technology is that's why very important.