Social Media is a platform that helps people to create and share information, ideas, interests, and several different activities with other people around the world. The major aim of these social media platforms when they were introduced was to get people closer to each other around the world and not allowing distance to become an obstacle. But in this process of bringing these people closer and trying to know them virtually, aren’t we losing touch with people whom we know and have good strong relationships with?
Here, one may feel a bit confused, but let’s decode what I mean to say. If we consider our present scenario, we are living in a world of ever-advancing technologies. According to the latest data from GSMA Intelligence, there are 5.15 billion unique mobile phone users around the world today. And if we see the latest data of Digital 2020 July Global Statshot, around 3.96 billion people are actively using social media applications and websites around the world. And these numbers are increasing at a tremendous rate which suggests how more than half of the population of the world is investing its precious time on these platforms. These numbers also include a high percentage of adults and aged people who are active on these platforms, unlike the times when social mediums were new in the market, and elders were the ones who used to act wisely and did not allow their children to keep mobile phones till a certain age. But the scenario has completely changed now. The adults are becoming interested in these platforms, creating a big void in society. Subconsciously motivating the younger generation to get on these platforms in their early teens.
Nowadays, we can say in almost everyone’s life that mobile phones have become an integral part. We can barely live without these devices. One can argue about this and say that their increased screen time is due to their work. I agree with them, because of things becoming online, they are spending more time on mobile phones. But after they are done with their work, they switch to different social media applications and try to find some materialistic solace in it. They don’t realize this materialistic craving is driving them away from the actual quality time they could have enjoyed with their loved and dear ones.
A study says that on an average, a person spends almost 144 minutes or 2 hours 24 minutes scrolling these applications, which is almost 10% of 24 hours. We can see in almost every house now these applications have become the most important family member. Despite being under the same shed, people are interacting less. Children are failing to connect with their parents. The elders aren’t showing the love and attention the younger ones need. Instead of making their personal and real relations stronger, people are trying to make virtual camaraderie, interact with them, share posts with them, and upload their pictures and activities to get more likes and followers. While doing all these, they do not think that if in case they get into some trouble someday, will these hundreds of millions of followers that they have made will come to their rescue first, or their family and real friends would be the ones who would try and help them out of the situation.
So, here lies the answer to the question, “Whether these social media platforms are helping people to become social or not?” These platforms have become a social drug to which people are easily getting addicted. There is a large section of society that is using this medium to instigate people in the name of religion, politics, cultural hatred, and many such things by spreading fake news and posts. Some people are trying to escape reality, and social media is helping them to do so. Although they get success by doing this, it doesn’t last long, and in turn, it leaves behind depression, suicides, negativity, and hatred.
We can take a very recent example to understand how these applications can be turned into a breeding ground for hatred and negativity. On the night of 11 August 2020, there were violent riots that took place in Bengaluru. The reason behind these riots was an objectionable and inflammatory Facebook post on Muhammad, that was allegedly shared by the nephew of the state legislator. Due to this post, the sentiments of a large mass were hurt, and things got violent. Several people were injured, and public properties were vandalized. Social media has been repeatedly proven as a good promoter for terrorism across the world through posts and recruitments. We can refer to a recent terrorist attack in Christchurch mosque in New Zealand in 2019, where 51 people were killed. According to New Zealand's Prime Minister, these attacks were designed to go viral. They were live-streamed on Facebook and were repeatedly reposted on various social media channels.
We have discussed why elders and kids should reduce their social media usage. Now let's see why teenagers should keep their distance from these platforms. Try to imagine someone staring at you all the time. Notching it up. Now, it is not a single person staring at you all the time instead it’s an entire array of machines, smarter than any human ever born. Would a teenager like to be observed all the time throughout his or her adolescence? Have you ever thought that are these applications really under your control? No, they are not under anyone’s control. Their working is governed by several autonomous algorithms and complex logic which help these applications show you only the things which you like can influence you, and things which are aligned to your thought process. These algorithms are designed to keep track of every moment of your life. These applications record your every swipe, the amount of time you spend staring at a particular post, and to be honest, they know you better than you know yourself. It’s a myth in the tech world that these big companies sell their users’ data to other companies. Well, they can easily do this, without the users knowing it but, they usually don’t. They exploit your data for their interest to know their users with striking accuracy. They can use this information and make you do anything they want. 'The Social Dilemma' is a brilliant documentary that explains how these tech giants use your data to know you.
Social media has become a tool to spread hatred and drive people away from each other. The more you spend time on such applications, the less you will be able to interact with people in the real world. If in reality, something doesn’t happen the way you want, you will get irritated. These platforms show you the kind of virtual world you would want to see. In turn, weakening your power to see the reality, you deserve to see.
In the end, remember never will your bicycle ask you to ride it, or your scissors to cut through things, but your mobile phone and the applications on them are specifically designed to entice you.
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love to read your blog