Social Media

Social Media is interactive computer-mediated technologies that facilitate the creation or sharing of information, ideas, career interests and other forms of expression via virtual communities and networks. It is any digital tool that allows users to quickly create and share content with the public, encompassing a wide range of websites and apps.

The purpose of social media is primarily to build a brand and increase a brand's visibility. With it becoming more popular, the more a brand is covered across social media and the more times people see it, the more likely they are to be aware of it.

Social media is revolutionizing communication because it brings a new level of efficiency to influencing social change. The best part is that social media also enables two-way conversations.

Social media has helped many businesses grow and promote themselves, and has helped people find a better way to connect and communicate with one another. On the other hand, it has also provided many people with problems involving mental health, emotional insecurities, and waste of time.

Multiple studies have found a strong link between heavy social media and an increased risk for depression, anxiety, loneliness, self-harm, and even suicidal thoughts. Social media may promote negative experiences such as: Inadequacy about your life or appearance.

Some contend that social media is harmful to school students: School students are very young and their minds are not much developed hence they cannot differentiate between good and bad. They can easily get influenced and distracted. It might also lead to biased, prejudiced views about people or issues they hardly have any knowledge of.

However, social media plays an important role in every student's life. It is often easier and more convenient to access information, provide information and communicate via social media. Tutors and students can be connected to each other and can make good use of these platforms for the benefit of their learning and teaching.

With the right strategy, social media can make studying more collaborative and efficient, helping centralize the collective knowledge of an entire class to make studying and communicating more efficient for everyone.

That said, “Friends” on social media may not actually be friends, and may even be strangers, but then again in corporal relations, are your friends really your friends? With increased usage, the more time spent on social media can lead to cyberbullying, social anxiety, depression, and exposure to content that is not age appropriate. Social Media is addicting.

According to an article by Harvard University researcher Trevor Haynes, when you get a social media notification, your brain sends a chemical messenger called dopamine along a reward pathway, which makes you feel good. Dopamine is associated with food, exercise, love, sex, gambling, drugs … and now, social media.

But, social media has exponentially increased the resources for mental health information and support. Research shows that people who get support from peers (those struggling with the same problems) have better health outcomes, whether they have a physical condition like diabetes or a psychological one like depression.

For many, social media appears to have a range of benefits. It provides a way for many of us to connect with others. We can support other people and feel supported by them. It may even be a useful way for those with social anxiety and those who have a hard time with face-to-face interactions to connect with others.

Social media can be very influential on society in both positive and negative ways. It gives people a way to stay in touch with people who live far away. It lets people share fun, interesting and informative content. It gives businesses a way to engage with customers.

With so many of us using social media today, sites like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn make perfect targets for scams. Here is the top tip to stay safe on social media: Use a strong password!

Social media has expanded linguistic dictionaries with social media acronyms, common internet slang, and online lingo.

When you actively express yourself, you're able to see how you communicate and take yourself out of life situations for a moment to not judge them so harshly. You gauge your feelings from a clearer mind-set and develop a stronger sense of yourself to draw from when you communicate.

Research shows that social media can improves quality of lives, be used for good and be very beneficial to others, but certain people can abuse it too. Social media gives people value. It allows them to put their best self out there, brand their content, network, express themselves and build relationships…

Food for thought!