Social media was a millennial’s addiction a few years ago. Right now, the inviting platform has caught the attention of young and old equally. The world today has the highest number of social media users ever recorded before. It would be unfair to say social media has no benefit. In fact, an organization without a strong online presence risks closing shop. Today, I will focus only on social media’s bad side, although there are benefits too.
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Addiction
This is one of the most outstanding disadvantages of social media. So far, I’m yet to come across research done detailing the first thing people do when they wake up. But, I’m very most of the world’s population gets online first, then they wake up. That is not surprising. The most surprising fact is the high number of people who stay late at night due to social media. The reason behind this behavior is social meme addiction.
Social addiction is a unique one. There is no rehabilitation for social media addicts. Besides, so many addicts are not aware of their addictions. They only realize this when they can’t access their phones.
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Cyberbullying
Social media makes and breaks celebrities. Not only that, it is a socializing place where strangers meet and engage virtually at the comfort of their beds. Knowing well no one will hold them responsible for their actions, keyboard warriors fire insults and abuse to others online heartlessly. In most cases, celebrities find themselves victims of this.
Time and again, we’ve seen celebrities commit suicide, quit their act, or complain because of the hate and bullying they receive online. The sad bit is that this trend is on the rise. Unfortunately, not all victims of online bullying know how to handle it. In some cases, it doesn’t end well, with others plunging into depression or even committing suicide.
Twitter is a perfect example of a platform where cyberbullying is rampant. As a user on the platform, you have to be very careful with your tweets, retweets, and comments. You do not want to start a war; you will not finish. Exercise extreme caution, especially if you are a celebrity or an organization.
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Social media is a pretense ambassador.
Log in to Instagram, and you will get a shock of your life. People are rich, living an extravagant life, and having moments of their lives. “Bad and boujee” they call it. If you are not careful, you may end up in depression or even committing suicide as others have done. But, the truth is, only a few of these people showboating lavish lifestyles are actually living it. Most of the others are just pretending. If you ever meet them in real life, you will be shocked to death.
As a result of this, people are now leading false lives. One would rather borrow to go for a trip to the Maldives to show off. There is a slang that goes “one for the gram”! The phrase refers to taking a picture of yourself in a fine environment perfect enough to be posted on Instagram. It is can only get to the gram if it is enough to make others envious.
Such pretense leads others into trouble—the few who have made it make others who have not jealous. To prove a point, the latter fakes till they “make it”. The reality on the ground is the same people are suffering big time.
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Moral erosion
Sextapes, nudes, and pornographic materials are all flooded on social media. While others use this platform to do constructive stuff like marketing their businesses, some individuals use social media to destroy the young ones’ morals trying to find themselves. Instagram is flooded with millions of pictures of individuals half-naked. Others are totally naked and seem not to care at all. This is a bad precedence to set, and you can only imagine what the future will be if our youth continue to behave this way on social media.
The worst part is some adults support this immorality. The issue of old folks dating young ones as little as their children is being promoted on social media. Most courses seem to be cheering the vice, knowing very well it is not straight. Thanks to social media, things will keep getting worse morally. As more users sign up, the little hope we had in a sober and straight society keeps fading away.
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Costly
It costs data bundles to access social media. After Zuckerburg and his Facebook team realized several potential users are locked out because of a lack of data, he made it possible to access the platform without data. The free mode has seen users still access Facebook with ease. This has tremendously increased the number of Facebook users.
On the same note, it is not possible to watch or download images or videos on Facebook without data. It would be best if you had megabytes of data to do so. Some people sacrifice money meant for other activities to spend on data to satisfy their social media addiction.
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Losses
In 2018 when Ethereum– the cryptocurrency shot up in value when Elon Musk tweeted about the same. Social media can be that impactful positively or negatively. Whenever clients get wronged, they rush to social media to complain. Sometimes it works; sometimes it doesn’t. When it does, you can expect a significant number of your clientele to walk away in solidarity. This may lead to losses, and recovery may take time.
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Poor judgment
Social media has messed up with some people’s decision making. Initially, the platform was to allow people to socialize and connect the world into a global village. Others are misusing the platform and have made the online space their escape route. Their decision-making skills have been tampered with, and now they cannot even reason correct any longer.
Conclusion
Social media has had its own benefits. If well utilized, you can benefit from the platform. The problem is many are misusing this platform and end up suffering because of the same. This article has highlighted some of the most prevalent negative effects of social media.