Social Media: Its Impact on People's Lives

Social media has undoubtedly changed the way we used to live before its existence. Whether it is a Happy Birthday wish or just a random ping, social media has got us covered. We used to travel several thousand miles away just to get a glimpse of someone (and yeah, we obviously missed the comfort of our homes). Now everything is possible with the click of a button. We can connect to someone located far away both verbally and visually. The ‘thing’ has been around us since last some years and during all these years we have surrounded ourselves with so much of them that they are always omnipresent among us.

From dawn till dusk and till the midnight until we sleep, we constantly keep ourselves updated with the latest trends around us. A strange satisfaction and peace of mind is felt sharing everything we do to ourselves. A visit to the mall or travelling to somewhere which makes us click pictures will eventually find their way to Facebook timeline or Instagram stories. Social media is something that gives us company in some (boring) family gatherings where we found ourselves grounded to the internet in general and Social Media in particular.

A man is known by the company he keeps – we heard it a lot since our childhood. Infact, Social Media is perhaps the best company that one can have these days. Children or adult or old or young, almost everyone has got their profile updated on some Social Media platforms. Even the introverts hardly interacting with the people around them spend a lot of time chatting with their friends in the virtual world. 

So, is it not possible for something into which we have got ourselves involved so much to play around with our thought process? - Yes, it is indeed very much possible. 

Social Media has become a safe haven for targeting a specific group of people. Circulated propagandas and fake news especially designed to manipulate one’s thought process has very serious repercussions if they find their way onto a common platform being used by everyone.

Also read: How to detect fake news?

There are reports of massive data leaks in Social Media platforms that have even helped in changing people’s mindset and consequently their voting behaviour resulting in the change in mandate. Especially during the elections season, we come across age old video clips and images that are projected in a new way to push forward a specific message along with it. An image or message might go viral in few seconds if it matches the interest of a specific group of people even if no credible reference is available for checking its authenticity. Blind shares and engagements on such unauthenticated posts has always been the major reason for their widespread dispersion.

With technologies advancing in rapid strides, it has become even much difficult to deal with such misguiding texts and images. However, due to the emergence of Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning, the tech giants are trying their best in combating the menace, but a lot has to be done yet. Unaware internet users and blind faith on the contents received on Social Media further deepens the problem.

Also read: How to check fake news through Google Image?

Human body is well equipped with organs that are capable enough to make at least an intelligent guess about the correctness of something. Yet, we have allowed the human curated softwares and applications to play around with our thought process which is really sad. Furthur, being equipped with latest technologies like smartphones and cheap data, a quick Google search will settle anything right away. We cannot, in any way as concerned citizens, allow our thought process be manipulated by targeted propagandas that might lead to serious degradation of national interests in near future. 

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