Effects of Social Media

Social media is undisputedly the most important medium of communication today. It is the most instantaneous source of information, including breaking news. Right from the president of the United States to the owner of your local newsstand, everyone turns to it. But waht are the effects of social media?

Positive Effects of Social Media

Social Media has helped in a lot of ways. It disseminates information very fast. And when time is of the essence, this definitely helps a lot.

It also provides means to connect and find long-lost friends, even families. It fosters communication.

There are countless groups in Social Media, especially as far as Facebook is concerned, which provide support and networking. For example, there is an FB group of those with Blood Type AB-, which is rare. Thanks to the FB group, they can now easily find members easily of the same blood type.

While all the benefits are accepted and appreciated, the shortcomings or the ill-effects are also worth noting.

Negative Effects of Social Media in Society

With the good effects come very negative effects of Social Media too.

While communication is fast with it, there has been an abuse in its use. Like spreading fake news or information handled badly. Most of us are not trained reporters who can professionally handle information. This is where the problem lies wherein information gets twisted, sometimes with huge consequences.

One bad effect of social media is that it can be time-consuming. Sometimes that we tend to forget the tasks we have to do as we become “glued” to social media.

You come across one piece of breaking news and before you have processed it you switch to another post. There are articles in links and headlines grabbing your attention.

It has already been proven empirically that young adults and teenagers are suffering from a loss of attention span because of social media. The average attention span has steadily declined from several seconds to less than ten seconds.

There also seems to be an endless supply of news, information, politics, crisis. Then there are personal messages, party invitations, events, birthdays and promotional posts. They all distract you from your business goals, personal goals as well as friends and family. The sooner one stems from this problem, the better it will be, both personally and professionally.

Another bad effect also is a phenomenon known as Facebook depression. People love to put happy things and goings on in their life. However, they are unaware that their seemingly innocent posts can cause depression to others.

Another downside of social media of course, is social bullying.