Social Media – A Boon or a Bane for Students?

A constant struggle of parents today is to unhook their children from their laptop and phone screens. With the continuously growing internet-savvy world, everyone is glued to their screens to connect, play, learn and get entertained. Students tend to learn and solve their academic concerns as well as enjoy recreational activities online.

Screen time has become a way of living, with parents themselves having to remain connected for their work, children also are growing up with the knowledge that screen time is how life is meant to be.

Social media is the new way of communication and has become rather omnipresent. However, while we can confirm that it has varied uses, once cannot avoid its side effects as well. It can either be a help or a hindrance, depending on how one chooses to use it.

Listed below are a few of the points that we feel shed light on this very important topic:

1. Effective Communication: From keeping in touch with their peers, seniors, teachers, or even family – students benefit from being able to connect quickly with people across time zones and distances.
2. Opportunities: A student’s social media can open doors to their future in ways, we cannot imagine. Their pictures speak volumes about the personality, identity, and attitudes of any candidate.
3. Knowledge: Extensive and outbound levels of knowledge is on the internet and the various social media platforms. From following celebrities and their trends to news channels, everyone is always updated on the general news in a matter of seconds.

As with all activities, too much of one thing can be bad and overdosing on social media platforms can prove to be hazardous to many students’ personal and academic life.

1. Cyberbullying – Be it at any age, cyberbullying can bring stress and anxiety to anyone. Social Media provides an opportunity to remain in the public eye constantly. Being applauded and recognized on these platforms results in immediate validation and while it can help boost one’s self confidence, it is equally quick to deteriorate one’s self-worth if that recognition is in the form of criticism.  There have been enough cases where extreme trolling and online bullying has led to extreme actions taken by young people.
2. Medical concerns: Some studies have established a link between the excessive use of social media and sleep disturbances among students, which in turn effects their quality of life in general.
3. FOMO: Also known as Fear of Missing Out is one of the most common negative effects of social media addiction. When anxiety kicks in from the fear of missing out on a positive experience or emotions that someone else is attending. It is mostly observed in the young generation who are glued to their devices.
4. Unrealistic Expectations: In the era of Instagram Influencers and Youtube personalities, social media has encouraged people to form unrealistic expectations of life and friendships. Depicting their lives on screens extravagantly or negatively impacts the mindset of students in drastic ways.