How Technology and Social Media are Impacting our Society.

Impact of Technology and Social Media on Society

It is beyond any doubt that technology has affected this generation; it has resulted in significant improvements not just in our personal lives, but also in the lives of businesses, organisations, and governments as a whole. This is a positive development. However, the misuse of technology and social media has resulted in countless lives and destinies being twisted and ultimately ruined.

The Different Forms of Technical Abuse

To begin with, technical abuse is a relative term/point that scholars may make or state; the abuse manifests itself in various forms and intensities. Overusing it is one kind of abuse, using it to propagate hatred and propaganda is another kind of abuse, using it to dupe or con people is another abuse, using it to advance immoral acts is also another form of abuse (Das, Aswathy et al (2017). The first kind of abuse mentioned has made much technology and social media users so disconnected from their real lives, especially the teenagers and the youths. This has brought about addictions of various kinds and has caused the teenagers to live literally in a virtual world, with online friends and families. Surprisingly, these teenagers are very much okay with this despite the kind of harm that it brings to their real-world relations, health and mental state.

Social Media Addiction and Its Consequences

Away from that, Social Media has caused addictions on many people’s lives. Addictions such as; pornography, video gaming, online shopping, movie streaming and downloading. This has caused many social media users especially the youth/teenagers and students to waste their lives on things that add no value to them. These kinds of activities are so addictive that if one does not seek help at an opportune time, they may end up with a completely messed up destiny. Pornography, is one of the most profitable businesses run even though it is illegal, the reason for its success is because there are many people who use technology, the internet and social media to visit their links and websites. (Shellabarger & RuthAnne, 2016). Without the internet and technology, porn would have never been a success. This brings a fact and proves a point that Social Media and Technology are evangelists that seek to spread immorality. Businesses such as prostitution and escort services have gone online, and very few prostitutes still parade their half-naked bodies in the cold of the night. Escort services have found a home and an audience online, and they even advertise their services on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, IMO amongst many social media platforms.

Health Concerns Related to Social Media Use

Health has become an area of concern to millions of children who use Social Media excessively. Lifestyle diseases have widely taken their lives and complications such as obesity, hypertension, heart failure strike children as young as eleven years of age. It is estimated that by 2008, 19.6 percent of children between the age of six and eleven are obese while 18.1 percent of those between the age of twelve and nineteen are obese (Alexander & Clinton 2016). This is because the twenty-first century children are physically inactive and fail to exercise all that is a concern to them is getting more followers on Instagram and Twitter while they spend most time playing video games, this makes it impossible for them to find time for exercise.

Social Media’s Impact on Relationships

To add onto this, there are no real connection families, and friends have due to their intense concentration and attention they give to social media. Families often have get together dinners and luncheons, while at this event(s), it is clearly notable that most of them take pictures virtually of everything happens at the place, they post it on social media with captions such as “family bonding, get together things” among many other captions. This kind of captions does not tell what is actually happening; they are not having a true bonding, they are all glued to their phones and thus are unable to keep up with each other (Alexander & Clinton 2016).

Social Vices and Cyberbullying

Social Media has caused social vices such as bullying to be on the rise. Cyberbullying is something that has existed since the inception of social media. Many teenagers are victims of this and they fall prey simply because they pay undivided attention to whatever strangers say about them online. They choose to believe these strangers’ opinions not taking into consideration that they are strangers and they don’t know much about them meaning whatever they say is just but an outright lie and does not represent who and what they are (Shellabarger, 2016). This vice (Cyber Bullying) has been linked with the victim’s low self-esteem, poor performance at school, domestic and school violence among many other personal issues. This eventually causes an increase in psychological problems for those being bullied which leads them to depression, withdrawal and then they begin to contemplate suicide. Many people, more so teenagers have committed suicide following various attacks and abuses they get on their posts. In addition to this, many technology and social media users link their success to how responsive people get to whatever they post online, the more the number of likes they get, the better they feel and the fewer the likes, they get depressed and feel unwanted. Many students have fallen into this pit, of thinking that when they post many things, they get many likes and comments and thus they become celebrities just like that.

Positive Impacts of Technology and Social Media

On the other hand, social media and technology have made a great positive impact such as getting news instantly in any place an individual is, people don’t have to tune into news at specific times to get information of what is going on around them. Sharing ideas has become easier and more interesting through video chats, easy image sharing and affordable video conferencing (Lickerman, 2010). Social Media has made it possible to genuinely make money online because there are various jobs such as social media managers (to manage an organization’s social media platforms).

The Negative Effects on Healthy Lifestyle

Social media has made it difficult for many people especially teenagers to live a healthy lifestyle because the time they are supposed to spend exercising is the time they are glued to video games, movies, and online shopping. There are serious psychological problems that come from online vices such as cyberbullying and about forty-three percent of students have been cyber-bullied. Lifestyle diseases such as obesity have taken center stage in children as young as eleven years old. By 2008, 19.6 percent of children below eleven were obese because of Social Media addiction.

Works Cited

Alexander, Clinton. ”Social Media Culture to have a Negative Effect on Youth.” August, 16 2016. The New American. Web. 14 April 2017.

Das, Aswathy, Manoj Kumar Sharma, P. Thamilselvan, and P. Marimuthu. ”Technology Addiction among Treatment Seekers for Physiological Problems: Implication for Screening in Mental Health Setting.“ Ftcc Digital Library Database. Indian Journal of Psychological Medicine, Jan. 2017. Web. 14 April. 2017.

Lickerman, Alex, M.D. ”The Effect of Technology On Relationships.“ Psychology Today. N.p., 8 June 2010. Web. 14 April. 2017. The Undefeated Mind: On the Science of Constructing an Indestructible Self

Shellabarger, RuthAnne. ”Social Media’s Impact on Society.” August 16th, 2016. Odyssey. Web.14 April 2017. .

”Social Media: Does Social Media Have a Positive Impact on the World?” Issues & Controversies, Infobase Learning, 5 Aug 2016. Web. 14 April 2017 .