Social Media: Is it really social?

Social Media: Is it really social?
The more social media we have, the more we think we’re connecting, yet we are really disconnecting from each other.
-JR
A giant leap from watching public shows to watching movies in theatres and then near our television sets, we landed in an era of confinement, where we simply log in to a website and interact with multitudinous contents and with unanimous audiences. Every click engages our mind to check smartphones, laptops or tablets just to like, comment or share the contents that we find fascinating.
Social media applications like Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp, Instagram, Quora, Youtube, skype etc. has become so popular that they have soaked us into their ‘web’. They have provided a great platform to share one’s thoughts, opinions, moods and even share pictures, audios, and videos. They have created a plank to the socially introvert people, who find it difficult to express their thoughts out to the public. But have social media really made them social?
My personal answer will be no. Social media had led to the social isolation of the people. People generally post only the positive side of their story, giving an impression of their perfect life, creating feelings of jealousy and self-pity that may further lead to increased antisocial behavior. They interact with new people located far away from their locations, including strangers and their old friends. They are so busy (chatting) with them, they have obliterated their real social circle. How irritating is it to talk to someone, who is not even looking at you? It’s really annoying to watch a person’s head continuously bowing down to ‘smart ‘phones, writing alluring words to impress, yet finding it difficult to express in real life with the simplest word.
The positive aspect of social media has greatly attracted youth. Interacting with new people is feasible and easy (6-degree separation- implying the idea of meeting new people with six or fewer contacts, ‘a friend of a friend’). Social media marketing, promotion of social causes (ALS ice bucket challenge that collected huge money for charity) are few advantages of this platform.
Social media greatly impacts a person’s life with worldwide data and opportunities, yet it may leave a person with no real friends to open up their hearts, making them fill this gap by becoming (socially) active on social media and projecting more appeal and attractiveness to their character, just to make everyone like them. Such is the power of social media.

                                                                                                                                   By
                                                                                                                          Shaishav Sharotri

1 COMMENT

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here