Social Media and its Impact on Gen Z

More than games and sports, today’s teenagers are mostly fascinated in owning digital gadgets because of their attraction towards Social Media Platforms.

Different Social Media Platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram have been reigning the web world globally since the last two decades, establishing close liaison with dear ones. Apart from that, it has also been successful in sending a reminder of the upcoming events and happenings around us, including updates on diverse topics based on diverse areas of interest.

Just like either side of a coin has a different story to tell, the effect of the Social media platform also has two separate tales to reveal. Staying active on social media sites is advantageous in various ways. But there is an adverse effect too, especially on the youths who are deeply absorbed into it, spending adequate time to remain connected with their friends.

According to recent statistics, around 3.8 million people uses social media platforms. Among those, adults spend almost 2 hours every day and for the youth, this number rises to 27 hours per week.

This statistics clearly reveals how much the teenagers are engrossed into social media sites. Positive impacts are indeed there, but its adverse effects are more if not unified with a professional goal.

Today’s parents are mostly concerned about this excessive use of social media by their teenage children, who are mostly isolating themselves from the real world and are inclined, towards the virtual world. It is not only damaging them but in a way, it is also damaging our society.

They are losing interest on the face to face communication and mostly remain busy with the schedules they made with their friends online, right from playing live video games to chatting with them via different messaging apps.

With their increased screen time, they are suffering from psychological hazards, anxieties, depression. Use of short forms and acronyms while sending messages, is making them forget the real spellings, resulting in poor grades in the English language.

Even, they are vulnerable to cyber attackers and also to pornographic content. As they share their personal information and update regular status along with the location where they are present, they are increasing the chances of stalking.

There is a change in their behaviour, where they are hiding much crucial information from their parents.

Many times they are misinterpreting the information that are provided on social media platforms, and it is the reason why they are unable to take the right decision at the right time. They are also becoming dependent on their parents, resulting in loss of intellectual power.

To Conclude
The line of demarcation between their personal life and professional life is diminishing gradually, harming their social relationships with family members and friends. To stop this, parents must monitor how their wards are interacting on social media sites. They also need to put a limitation on their screen time and alerting them on various issues like- handling the social media accounts and the adverse effects of it in our lives.