SOCIAL MEDIA – IMPACT ON HUMAN BEHAVIOR AND SOCIETY

The world has been united by the touch of a button, bringing friends, families as well as business associates to a platform of virtual interaction. Most of the social media users in India are college-going students, 33% girls followed by 27% boys’ students, and it is also forecasted that India is going to become the highest 370.77 million internet users in 2022.

At the same time, social media has rudely interrupted every day and minute socializing by the presence of selfies, food photos, and group pics. The average human is now fascinated by these preferences that blessing a meal before consuming or discussing and sharing valuable lessons learned from the day’s activities with each other at dinner time. Families sitting together are now lost in silence except for the occasional outburst of laughter from an amusing video received. The health hazards identified that will affect people include but are not limited to: thumb pain and index finger disorder as well as muscular spasms in the neck region of the anatomy.

Social media provides various other tools as well which has resulted in its immense popularity and success around the globe. Three billion people, around 40% of the world’s population, use online social media. The popular social media platforms are Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, Twitter, Reddit, WhatsApp, etc. With more than 2000 million Facebook user worlds over, if a country is constituted with them, it would be the world’s third-largest, behind China and India. According to a report, people are spending an average of two hours every day sharing, liking, tweeting and updating on these platforms. That breaks down to around half a million tweets and Snapchat photos shared every minute. According to a report by we are social, a leading marketing and communications services to organizations in the United Kingdom, the number of people using the top social media platform in each country has increased by almost 1 million new users every day during the past 12 months. Anything that is so vastly expanded has both positives and negatives associated with it. The power of social media is very high and has its effect on each individual. Some feel that it’s a boon while others believe it to be a curse.

Positives ………………

• Interaction - Now, with a touch of a button people could communicate with anybody anywhere in the world. It also allows users to share pictures, express views on several different topics and interact and bond with people from different origins and cultures. Thus, diminishing cross country barriers and helping them globalize through the virtual space.
• Mass Awareness- It spreads news and reviews more rapidly than any other mode, right from political news to social movements to story about famous personalities, everything gets communicated much faster and more accessible here. As a consequence, people are getting more aware and updated on everything.
• Marketing-Next big thing for marketing by companies, people from almost all age groups are available on social media and rather than using traditional marketing techniques of TV and print ads; marketers are now shifting the focus on social media to target customers. Small businesses also gaining from this since this kind of marketing requires little investment in comparison to traditional marketing. Social media has also made mass customization possible, which is also helping them save their precious time and they can choose from a variety of options and get the products delivered at their doorstep. 
• Campaigning- Governments of many countries are leveraging social media to engage with the citizens and to garner their support, suggestions, and views on policies for effective governance. It can be used to create a particular sentiment amongst the public. The utilisation of social media for the general election by Prime Minister Narendra Modi played a crucial role in his success.

Negatives…………………

• Privacy Breach- It has been observed that as people are getting more open about their personal lives on social media networks, there has been a severe threat to their privacy. Their personal data can be easily hacked and misused.
• Identifying Real & Fake- It has been generally observed that with the ability to share things with millions of people across the globe, people start faking things about their real life. While everyone wants to present their best in front of the world, they simultaneously face an identity crisis with themselves. The competition to look good and show good and continuous comparison also results in stress, depression, and various psychological disorders especially amongst teenage users.
• Deteriorated Productivity- People spend most of their productive time interacting on social media, and this has adversely related their productivity at work. While many businesses are using social media to boost their businesses, they are also a great distraction for the employees who may be more interested in their friends rather than on work. 
• Cyber-Bullying -Cyber Bullying is a severe issue when many of the people unintentionally fall prey to terrorist activities, false claims, and cybercrime tending to the extent of even provoking kids and teenagers to commit suicides.
• Addiction-According to a survey, internet users are now spending an average of 2 hours per day on social media platforms. From checking Facebook while waiting in the billing counter to posting photos on Instagram during eating – people have been spending quite a lot of their time on social media. This addiction has negative health impacts like strain, eye problems, fatigue & distraction.

It can be concluded that with advancements in the digital space, social media is of vital importance to us. It can help us reach a wider audience at low cost, gain knowledge at our fingertips, enhance our communication, and create awareness. But it also has its threats of the privacy breach, addiction, cyberbullying amongst others. Excessive engagement in social media is an invitation to several vices; however, if used judiciously, it can be a boon for humankind.