The social media dynamics

Thanks to the internet and technology, we are more connected than ever before in human history. The common barrier of time and space have been eliminated. Social media is indeed a plus to our world, because we can connect with family, friends and make new friends, most especially when one is far away from home. […]

Thanks to the internet and technology, we are more connected than ever before in human history. The common barrier of time and space have been eliminated. Social media is indeed a plus to our world, because we can connect with family, friends and make new friends, most especially when one is far away from home. Social media also help people spread news and market their products. Which is quite clear the positive side of it. Research shows that almost 3 billion of world’s population are on social media with millions of photos been shared every minute.

The negatives: though these networks were designed to bring people together, but in reality they are drifting people apart. Although we are surrounded by online friends but we are lonelier than ever before. With depression and anxiety on the increase than ever before in human existence. We are much connected to those who are far away, but we forget those that are actually close.

Addiction: if you can go a day without log in to your social media account(s), don’t pretend, you are addicted. How can we rid off this habit? Try quitting for some time or follow what the scientists advised and start spending half an hour every day. I think that will help us to focus more on the things that really matters to us academically, socially, spiritually etc.

Envy and jealousy: many are suffering from enmity due to what they see and consume. Here, the desire of having more and more above others, to be at the peak is fuelled by social media. Seriously, we need to reclaim our existence but we are seriously lacking mission. Because, our mental health is at risk!

Fake news: is a major threat to all of us, someone will just compose fake news from the comfort of his home and start sharing, which may trigger severity of some sort and lead to ugly things i.e. stereotyping, sentiments, prejudice et al. Please before sharing anything make sure you verify the source and if it is going to cause any problem, just stopped it and don’t share.

In conclusion, it is obvious that as our technology is progressing, but our humanity is regressing. We like each other online but we dislike each other offline. We need a paradigm shift in the way we use all these social media websites and applications.

 

Nasir Ibrahim A., Abuja