Today, more than half of the population uses the internet. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the use of social media is increasing rapidly. Everyone, from teenagers to youngsters to adults are using social media. One of the main reasons for using it is connectivity. People found that social media helps to connect with the people, not only to the far off relatives but also with new people. School and college students spend most of their time on social media. As it provides them the freedom to do whatever they want. They can use it as a platform for learning, for business purposes, and many more things. Researchers have found that people who are frequent users of social media are more innovative, creative and extroverts. Through social media networks, people can create new friends, can express their views and opinions on social and political issues, and even create new identities. They are more confident and explore many things. This opens up a new way of researching.
Social media is has both positive as well as negative impacts on a student’s life. Nowadays, students becoming addicted to social media. Thus in this growing world, students get so immersed in this platform, that they do not consider their surroundings. They don’t want to spend much time with their family, don’t do any physical activities which make them too lazy.
“People influence people. Nothing influences people more than a recommendation from a trusted friend. A trusted referral influences people more than the best broadcast message.”
– Mark Zuckerburg
Positive effects-
1. Facilitate online learning –
Online learning has now become a trend. Learning can never stop. People learn new things every day despite their age. During the COVID-19 pandemic, online learning is prevalent. Since there is no way to go out, in this situation students can upgrade their skills.
School studies are also going through online classes through various online learning platforms. College students are rehabilitating their knowledge and learning new skills by taking different courses available on various e-learning sites.
2. Access to information-
Social media gives us a wide range to access knowledge. Knowledge can never be gained through books alone, you must have extra knowledge to win over your life. Social media is the vast platform which provides you the all the basic information on what is going on around you. News, sports, cooking, entertainment, and many more things are there to supplement you with the latest and trending information all around the world.
3. Helps to increase the knowledge –
Social media provides us knowledge. Students using social media are more aware and protective. Every person is using any of the social media platforms to enhance their knowledge. Those who don’t know how to cook, now can try many new recipes using these platforms. Students who are given assignments in the school, can go through various websites for collecting the information which helps to find the solutions of their questions.
4. Builds up new relationships—
Social media is a connectivity where different people come across to share their feelings, opinions, views. But this connectivity helps find many new friends all around the world. If a student is facing any problem, all he needs to do is find a person who can solve their problems through chats.
5. Become creative and innovative—
People surfing the internet get to know many creative and innovative things. They make use of old stuff to reform it in a new way. This makes the work innovative. Many people on social media upload their creative work so people can like their work and give feedback. Students become more creative when they watch various stuff on such platforms which encourages them to do something of their own.
Negative effects-
1. Distraction from their studies, career goals –
Nowadays, the problem is students are spending most of their valuable time only on social media. This is the main cause of their distraction. Students are playing, chatting with their friends but not learning anything from it. Every day they use it to do as usual and make it the most important part of their life. They are not reading books, not studying which creates a major gap between the student and their career.
2. Health-related problems —
The use of computers, mobile phones, and various gadgets to approach various online platforms by students may harm them if they use it for long hours frequently. Students may be subject to bad postures, eye strain, physical and mental stress, anxiety, and depression. There must be a limit in accessing these social media. Too much use of electronic gadgets affects their lifestyle and made them lazy.
All educational stakeholders make sure that they systematize the use of social media platforms by setting up a policy that can help to regulate the negative aspect of social media. Students must also be ready to learn and listen in class, they should not make chatting their priority. Students should pursue excellent academic performance and gain adequate knowledge that will help them in the future.
3. Extrovert in virtual life, introvert in real life –
In today’s scenario, students are introverted in real life. They chat, talk frankly on social media but at the same time if they want to talk with the same person, in reality, they feel shy or not talk. They prefer online communication rather than a real-time conversation. This degrades their impersonal personality.
Focus on how to be social, not on how to do social.
– Jay Baer
4. Wastage of time —
Many students find it difficult to go about their normal life without the use of social media. It is a waste of time if students only use it to chat with their friends and colleagues. They spend hours on social media acquiring no skills at all. They do not focus on their studies and do not prepare a proper schedule to be followed.
5. Prone to frequent fluctuations in mood —
It is observed that many students have a frequent change in their mindset when they see that their friends are posting or uploading photos, videos or share his /her relationship, then other students are pressed to do the same thing. Actions that attract more public attention hold more value, even despite some of them being immoral or illegal. Students want to look nicer and have more attractive photos than their friends. It is noticed that when a student uploads a photo, it immediately affects their friend’s mood.
6. Stress, anxiety, and depression-
“Researchers are finding that when someone develops depression and withdraws from peers, they see other people on social media smiling and at parties with friends. It magnifies their sense of isolation” – Richter.
Whenever a person posts something new, his good looks, his life, it leads to a sense of jealousy in another person. Another person starts posting some new stuff but not getting likes and comments as of that first person. This makes the person stressed and sometimes an over thinker for such a thing that doesn’t play any role in his life. More stress and more anxiety gets harmful for the body, and in the end it leads to depression where students suicide only because of their stupidities. There are many cases of suicide just because of depression. Depression has become one of the vast problems that can’t be solved easily.
7. Addiction: the bad habit –
The most crucial thing in student life is studying, gaining new skills, doing hard work to achieve their goals. But it is found that students are entrapped in social networking and getting more and more immersed in this virtual life. Getting too involved in social media can lead to an addiction that inculcates bad habits. Addiction for anything is not a good thing and should not be appreciated. Students should be very aware of it,and give priorities to their studies, not to their social life.
After looking at the pros and cons of using social networking, it is important that we take strict action towards it. Our students are our future, they should not be distracted from their goals. There should be some regulations for the use of social media, especially for school and college students. Students should spend time on social media but keeping in mind that it does not affect their academic skills. They should know that the environment that social networking creates is virtual and is very different from reality. They should spend their time with their families, and friends in person.
