Social Media: To Use or Not To Use?
Social media has come to stay. You can hardly find a home without its occupants engaged on one social media platform or the other at any given time of the day. In reality, most people have little awareness of the frequency with which they check their phones. In a recent study, participants checked their phones an average of 85 times each day and spent 5.05 hours per day using their smartphone. This raises cause for concern and in an effort to grasp the meaning of online dependence and discern its impact, here are five pros and five cons of using social media.
PROS:
- Social media provides academic research to a wider audience, allowing people access to previously inaccessible educational resources.
- Social media allows for quick diffusion of public health and safety information during crisis events.
- Social media increases voter participation and facilitates political change.
- Social media can help disarm social stigmas like anxiety or depression.
- Social media helps reduce loneliness of senior citizens who are socially isolated.
CONS:
- Social media can exacerbate feelings of disconnect and put children at higher risk for anxiety, depression, low self-esteem, eating disorders and even suicide.
- Social media use correlates with personality and brain disorders.
- Social media posts are hard to totally delete.
- Social media can be a drain on time and use up hours that you can’t get back.
- Social media can endanger military, journalists and activists.
What do you think? Know of any more pros or cons of using social media? What’s your general opinion concerning social media? Answer in the comment section.
