Impact of Social Media

It has become a hot debate these days regarding the good and bad of social media. On one side people argue that it is because of social media that people all over the world know what is trending globally, follow their favourite celebrities, stay connected with friends and also secretly stalk their crush 😉. More importantly it has given a voice to women; we all know the #Metoo movement which started in Hollywood and reached Bollywood in late 2018, the LGBTQ community voicing #Freedomtolove and the Supreme Court legalised sec. 377, the list goes on. On the other side, people are also of the view that social media has given a platform to people to spread unnecessary hate, young teenagers are vulnerable to inappropriate material and may indulge in wrong and unlawful activities. People have become so addicted to the social media that if we look around us, eyes are glued to the smartphone screen, group of friends instead of talking to each other are more engaged with the virtual world. Recently, the Madras High Court banned the popular video app TikTok as there was reason to believe that it encouraged predatory behaviour and other unsuitable material. However, the ban was lifted within two weeks but the conclusion to this debate is not closely in sight. There was this major scandal last year when the Facebook-Cambridge Analytica data scandal where it was found that personal data of millions of users was harvested without their consent and used for political purposes. Facebook might have to pay a hefty penalty of $5 Billion for the same. This is the reason behind Facebook and Twitter suspending accounts which promote certain political parties during the 2019 Lok Sabha Elections in India.

But,we cannot take away what social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram have done for the small and medium businesses as they now have the capacity to expand and grow their business exponentially. It has allowed them to compete with the top brands in the same field and attract more customers through digital marketing. The SMBs have the financial capacity to promote themselves on the internet as it is cost-effective and result oriented. Today, various reports and estimates suggest that digital marketing is the future of marketing and promotion in India and it will soon take over the traditional methods of marketing. Social media definitely has a very large and important role to play in this major shift. Well, as the famous saying goes “Each coin has two sides” and so does social media. All said and done, there is not a shadow of a doubt that social media is only going to grow as we move forward and whether we like it or not the truth is that social media is the reason why people are addicted to their smartphones. There, we said it. Let us know your views and opinions in the comments.

video refrence-https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qO2onZwxBkM