A Brief Study On Negative Effects of Social Media On Youth

Abstract

We live in a digital era where social media has revolutionized the way people think and lead their lives.Youths are the most prolific and prominent users or consumers of social media platforms and hence are the most vulnerable to its negative and dangerous effects. There are several physical and psychological effects of social media that have a negative impact on youngsters. Freedom of expression on social media comes with certain responsibility and when one uses social media to negatively mobilize the youth it kill it’s credibility to some extent. Utilization of social media can be as good or as bad the person using it. It’s nearly impossible to neglect and ignore the negative and dark side of social media and it’sdangerous impact on youth. Negative impacts can plague all strata of a society i.e. social, economical, religious, political, etc. Youth are vulnerable to the dark sections of cyberspace and social media. With slight negligence and ignorance instead of social media platforms being used by youths the relationship can go the other way round. It’s easier for notorious groups of people to sit behind the screens and manipulate and coerce the youth.Social media is a broad term and has become an ever evolving phenomenon. Social media still holds uncharted threatening territories that can have a degrading impact of young minds. There is still lack of digital literacy regarding the dangers it encompasses among the youths, who are the most active and prolific users of social media platforms.Social media is integrated with almost all social, political, religious and other structures of society and hence have a powerful impact on youths. Therefore it is important to acknowledge that social media platforms like Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram, YouTube, etc.  should be used with responsibility.