Consistently June 30 is praised as World Social Media day to feature how it has arisen as a major tool for communication. From connecting individuals from all edges of the world to assisting influencers with developing their image and helping columnists to cover significant news occasions, social media has become a distinct advantage or a game changer for the world. It has made it conceivable to interface people from around the globe and bring them simply a click or a touch of a fingertip.

History of World Social Media

World Social Media day was first celebrated by Mashable on June 30, 2010 to focus on the effects of it and its job in worldwide correspondence. Mashable is known to familiar to online social media to associate different societies, developments, and fandoms. The main online media stage – Sixdegrees was launched in 1997 and was established by Andrew Weinreich. The site allowed clients to list their loved ones and had different fascinating highlights like announcement sheets, bulletins, school affiliations and profiles.

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The world in our hands

Around the globe, billions of people utilize it consistently, and that number simply continues to grow. Indeed, it’s assessed that by 2018, 2.44 billion individuals will utilize social communities, up from 970,000 out of 2010.

The pros of Social Media

We use it for all aspects of our lives – in our own connections, for fun, at work, and sometimes in our studies. To place it into some specific situation, consistently, we on the whole send in excess of 30 million messages on Facebook and around 350,000 tweets.

Easy access to news

We no longer need to tune into news channels or sit around 9pm to catch the bulletins anymore. Social Media does for it every minute. We can now keep a track on minute-to-minute trending news, breaking and what not. 40 per cent of the Millennials now rely on digital outlets rather than news.

Connected souls, virtually

You can now stay connected with everyone through social media. Pandemic made us connected through it. Send a text or make a video call and you can stay in touch. It is nowadays the most preferred form of meetups and conversations, virtually.

Explore, and explore some more!

You can now explore cultures and countries and cities and the places you want to visit. Nothing is left as a surprise for you. You can now discover it yourselves. 

Broadcast your moments

You can broadcast your favorite moments live now through social media. Either it’s a party or a great concert, live stream it! Throughout this pandemic, some of our favorite bands including Coldplay played little concerts over Instagram live and people from all around the world enjoyed and requested their favorite tracks!

Civil participation and politics

Civic participation has made it easy for everyone to the concepts of how we govern and is governed. Eileen Guo of Impassion Media says, “Social media allows citizens to be the source of ideas, plans, and initiatives in an easier way than ever before.” Furthermore, she says, “Whereas politicians and government officials once had to travel to interact with citizens, now online town halls strengthen the connections between them while providing a platform for direct input on government initiatives.”

The cons of Social Media

Depression, loneliness and FOMO

In ‘New Studies Show Just How Bad Social Media Is For Mental Health,’ Alice G. Walton writes, “As the researchers expected, people who limited their social media use to 30 minutes felt significantly better after the three-week period, reporting reduced depression and loneliness. Especially those who came into the study with higher levels of depression. Interestingly, both groups reported less FOMO and less anxiety in the end,” FOMO stands for “fear of missing out.”

Emotional insecurity

Furthermore, Social Media is making people insecure. Teens are insecure by social media and feel pressured to do certain things to look ‘cool.’ The race of coming up to the so-called ‘pretty’ standard or the so-called ‘rich’ standard is causing insecurities.

Cyberbullying

Furthermore, cyberbullying is one of the most discussed cons of social media. Whether you are a good person or a bad person, if you use social media frequently you will get bullied by strangers. Online threats, comments, and cancel culture are also now an instilled part of our society. This cyberbullying has made people suicidal and at greater risk.

Scams and hacking

Moreover, online hacking and scams become a part of life with social media. People click on wrong links and end up losing their sensitive data. And sometimes their bank’s details and end up losing a big chunk from their bank account without making a transaction.

Conclusion

With everything taken into account, these platforms have been the reason for some benefits and weaknesses. Online media has assisted numerous organizations with developing and advance themselves. And it has also assisted individuals with tracking down a superior method to interface and speak with each other. Then again, it’s likewise given numerous individuals issues including psychological well-being, emotional weaknesses, waste of time. With social media being a major piece of individuals’ lives, it’s essential to comprehend the effect it’s made. And what it could mean for the eventual fate of this world.