When social media defines our existence

As I sat on that dainty white couch of my living room, “be strong”, I whispered to my WiFi signal. From dawn to dusk, Monday to Sunday, do you happen to invest heaps of time on social media? If you just nodded, you are no different from the millions of other teenagers who spent over 27 hours and 36 minutes of a week on it. Since the dawn of the 21st century, all global citizens have become members of this miraculous world where without making eye contact with someone, we can talk, where without even stepping out, we can be the most ‘social’ person alive, and where we can get the feeling of being friends with the entire world without even meeting a person!

We are all living examples of Stephen Hawking’s statement — “We are all connected by the internet like neurons in a giant brain”. But it is worth spending some time to ponder whether social media is a boon or bane. The answer has two sides, depending upon your vantage point. In simpler words, one could call social media a ‘perilous helper’ to mankind. It is indeed undeniable that in such a fast-paced world, where people are so short on time, the importance of social media happens to grow with every passing day. Today, we can get thousands of results on almost anything and everything in this world in a ‘puff of electrons’. Widening your horizon of knowledge and knowing what you never knew has become effortless. Getting information is just like ‘name it and get it’. 

Even communication has become so facile that only a few keystrokes is what it takes. One can connect over oceans for free. Despite being miles apart, social media has made it possible for humans to feel as if they are just footsteps away. It is like being a part of a person’s world even though the distance keeps you apart. It has also provided humans with a very burly platform to express their views and standpoints. Awareness and opinions spread like an epidemic. Any social cause can very easily receive global voice and the support of millions. Social media has also paved the way for businesses to gain unprecedented exposure. It is through social media that entrepreneurs, professionals, and organisations seek recognition at a very economical price.

Bill Gates is absolutely right when he stated that “If your business is not on the internet, your business is out of business”. If one has any sort of interest in furthering a business, she simply cannot ignore social media. In fact, even social media wouldn’t want to ignore you! Yet, not all consequences of this technology are good ones. It has allowed us to hide behind screens and limit our social interaction face-to-face. It is a downcast truth that social media has started taking over our lives. Have you ever noticed how glued people are to different platforms, which in this context could be called a ‘virtual time black hole’? 

Social media is gradually emerging as the ‘mother ship’ of us. What we eat, where we go or who we meet, social media ‘knows everything’. In the same vein, as a result of the anonymity provided by social media, cases of cyberbullying have been on the rise. 

Once upon a time, ironically not very long ago, there existed a saccharine and blithe world where people would gain happiness by playing outside and meeting new people instead of equating their smiles and contentment to the number of likes on their posts or the number of followers one has. Social media has dug its claws deep into the evolving cyberworld, and it is indeed an unforgivable crime to not take advantage of its great power and influence. 

Send your edits to gennextedit@dnaindia.net