Usage of Social Media among Students & Youth and Its Affects

Usage of Social Media among Students & Youth and Its Affects

Mohd Raziq 

Research Scholar 

We must heard commonly used proverb that Man is a Social Animal. He Prefers to live in society, with society and by society and somehow for society, in short we can say that he cannot live without society,  but this has become more common now in the era of Technology that we are using. Everyone is using Social Media. YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat etc. are the most popular online platforms that are commonly used among teens. Fully 95% of teens have access to a Smartphone, and 45% say they are online 'almost constantly' as reported from  Pew Research Center(2018).

The average person now spends more time each day on their phone and computer than they do sleeping. Social media statistics from 2019 show that there are 3.2 billion social media users worldwide, and this number is only growing. That equates to about 42% of the current population (Emarsys, 2019).

Social Media is commonly used now a days especially among youth and students. No doubt that Social Media Is very beneficial for Students and Youth. We can know any information by Just clicking a button, we can  communicate to one who is very far from us, as per a report 52% of online teens say social media have helped their friendships. 88% say being online helps them stay in touch with friends they don't see regularly. People make new friends. 57% online teens report making new friends online, online lectures for students available on internet, a study reported 59% of student users report that they use social networking to discuss educational topics and 50% use the sites to talk about school assignments, online classes can be attend through Internet, and so on. Since 2004, Social Media has been growing exponentially and it hasn’t reached the peak of its popularity yet. There’s no denying that social media platforms are now a major source of news and information. Professional social networks such as LinkedIn are important Social Media platforms for anyone looking to stand out in their profession. They allow people to create and market a personal brand.But on the other hand there are adverse affects on them. Youth is using Social Media only for entertainment,  this has effect on their Academics achievements sometimes fails and try to attempt suicide also (a study showed that students who went online while studying scored 20% lower on tests). Over use and misuse of Media by Students and Youth. Cyber-bullying (the use of electronic communication to bully someone, usually by sending intimidating or threatening messages) is commonplace online, causes emotional trauma, and sometimes even leads to suicide. 49.5% of students reported victimization by bullying online and 33.7% admitted to online bullying. A 2012 study found that at least 800,000 minors had been harassed on Facebook. Middle school children who experienced cyber-bullying were almost twice as likely to try to kill themselves. Misinformation i.e. spread of false information is also there. Social Media addicted people experience Stress, Eye Strain, lack of Sleep etc. which leads to negative impact on both Physical and Mental Health

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