Introduction
It is evident that due to the development of technology, everything that surrounds us changes rapidly. For the vast majority of modern people, the world of the Internet is more attractive than the real one. Many people forget about reality, and it mostly happens to teenagers who use the Internet more often than people of other ages. The purpose of this paper is to discuss the popularity and influence of social networks and compare the positive and negative effects of social media.
Positive Effects
To begin with, it is important to list all the significant advantages of social media. The first one is the possibility of connecting with anyone who also uses social networks. The fact that people may be on two different continents and still talk in real-time is indeed incredible. The second advantage is the fact that communicating and working through social media is much more convenient. No need to go anywhere, spend money on transportation, stand in traffic jams or lines, find a perfect time for anything a person needs to do. Another good thing about social media is that people can use it to develop their business, to find their target audience, and to let the whole city, country, or world know which goods and services they offer. Another advantage connected with business is that anyone, especially teenagers and students, can find an online job with the help of social media. Finally, the fact that people can share any news or thoughts or photos immediately is incredible.
Negative Effects
However, social media and networks have several serious disadvantages that cannot be ignored. The first thing that needs to be said is that with the advent of social networks, such a phenomenon as cyberbullying appeared, and it is as harmful as ordinary bullying. Many teenagers and young people suffer from mean comments they get, from threatening, blackmailing, and do not know what to do with that. Another disadvantage is the decreasing productivity of students and employees. As modern people depend on social networks, they get used to checking the messages and updates every few minutes. While monitoring social networks, they lose concentration on the job or studying and need to spend some time to get it again. As soon as they are finally concentrated, it is time for going on Instagram or Facebook again; hence, productivity decreases.
One more negative effect of social networks is the false sense of connection. People have hundreds of friends on Facebook, thousands of Instagram and Twitter followers, and that gives them the wrong idea of having real friends. Getting likes and comments gives a person a false sense of popularity. Instead of going out with one’s colleagues or visiting a friend for a cup of tea, a person prefers to chat online with strangers. Finally, the last disadvantage of social media is its unsafety. People are sure that private accounts on social networks, or deleting their bad comments, or the fact that they are anonyms makes them safe and lets them post everything they want. Thus, many Internet users get blackmailed, or they get fired for posting something inappropriate, or their private information gets stolen.
Conclusion
To draw a conclusion, one can say that it is hard to decide whether social media is good or bad for people. There are as many positive effects as the negative ones. Of course, social media is very helpful, and it makes people’s lives easier, more interesting. However, social networks not only connect people but also separate them. Thus, it would be fair to say that everyone should decide for himself how much the world of the Internet may be in his life.