Pros and Cons of Social Media according to latest survey

Pros and Cons of Social Media according to latest survey

Using social media is one of the most common activities among today’s youth.A recent survey in the United States found that 51% of teens connect to their favorite social network at least once a day and 22% of young people do it more than 10 times a day (Common Sense Media, 2009).Sites such as Facebook, YouTube or Twitter, which have developed at high speed in recent years, are proving highly popular with young people, not least because they offer them the opportunity to entertain themselves.However, it is essential that young people know how to make healthy and appropriate use of it, otherwise some problems may arise.

PROS OF SOCIAL MEDIA

Ability to develop social skills and improve communication

Accordingto theResearchers, it seems that the use of social media would have a beneficial effect on children and adolescents by improving communication, social ties, as well as technical skills.Social media allows teenagers to perform several socializing activities, both online and offline, such as staying in touch with friends and family, making new friends, sharing photos and chatting.They also offer young people the opportunity to be more open to the world and to meet a multitude of viewpoints, including through blogs, videos, podcasts, websites, etc.

It also enhance the creative potential of adolescents, especially through the realization of various projects (blogs, videos, music), social media also allows them to share their passions and interests with others, other young people, which would further enrich their socialization experiences.

A great learning opportunity

For students, the use of social media is also very interesting and profitable in the realization of team projects since they allow the exchange of ideas and collaboration at a distance. It provides them opportunity to brain storm even when they are not physically.Indeed, it would seem that several schools use blogs as a teaching tool and there are several beneficial effects on the learning, makes their life easy and increase their creativity and confidence.

Accessibility to information

Through social media students and adolescents have easy access of information. Related to every walk of life. It helps them to increase their General Knowledge. According to the study, social media is a simple, anonymous way to easily find answers to their questions.

CONS OF SOCIAL MEDIA:

The use of social media may, however, involve certain risks, given the limited capacity of some young people to self-regulate and their tendency to be influenced by peers.

Effect Privacy:

The research states that the main risk to young social media users is related to privacy issues.Indeed, some teenagers sometimes lack vigilance and do not necessarily question the type of messages, photos or videos they put online.However, these young users are sometimes far from realizing the extent of their actions and the possible repercussions in the more or less long term.”What goes online remains online” (Palfrey, 2010, cited in O’Keeffe and Clarke-Pearson, 2011, and in this sense, young people who are cautious about the type of information they transmit could be confronted with a number of problems in every walk of life.

Increase mental diseases:

User may suffer from many physical and mental sufferings, it may effect self-esteem of a person, increase inferiority complex in them because they constantly comparing their lives with others. Social media is a biggest reason that ratio of depression is increasing globally.

Cyber bullying:

According to the research, another risk for young social media users is cyberbullying, the phenomenon of using digital media to disseminate false, embarrassing or hostile information about other.Here, researcher indicated that a distinction must be made between cyberbullying and online harassment.In short, online harassment is not as common as off-line harassment, while cyberbullying is very common and can happen to all young people those use the Internet.

Also, the phenomenon of sexting among young people is another inappropriate way of using social media that can cause some problems in young people who are experiencing it.Whether it is for those who propagate sexually explicit information or for those who are victims, sexting is not without consequence: dismissal of emotional distress and mental health problems.In addition, other problems may arise from the increased use of social media, such as cyber-addiction, Facebook depression and lack of sleep.

Decrease productivity in people:

Social media is a biggest reason that productivity of people is decreasing, because it keeps people distracted from their actual tasks.