Category : Junior Parivar II – Essay in English

Title : SOCIAL MEDIA, ME AND MY FAMILY

Back ground:
Social Networking site is a web server that allows internet users to
register them to create a personal profile and interconnect with selected
others. One can personalize one’s space on this site in different ways
using personal information, interests, graphics, etc. to give an idea of
oneself to other people. These social network websites are more and
more quoted as new sources of our life including happiness, depression,
infatuation and new practices of social & political life of egalitarianism.
When we talk of friendship in the column ‘friend’ in these sites, we
define a link that the users have with the others, after a reciprocal
agreement. In these sites we use summary statement of personal
feelings using culturally approved terminology and consequently the real
personal touch is lost in between people. A teenager faces serious
understanding complications between virtual and real friendship.
Discussions:
Earlier I was so involved with my virtual friends that I didn’t had time
for anything else. Somehow I had lost that connect with my real world.
I can recollect an experience of mine after which I actually realized that
social media could have adverse effect as well. I remember that my
family (including myself) went to Udaipur. I was very excited about the
trip and my friends actually boosted my excitement. They told me to
click many photos. I had also decided in my mind about the different
places and poses in which I would click photographs. So our trip started
and my obsession for clicking photos also started along with it.
Capturing the airport, hotel, nature, chilled outlook with family, etc. and
then uploading the photos on my Instagram, Facebook and Twitter
account were the only thing I was busy with all through the trip. I was
very particular about clicking good photos so as to get maximum likes
and positive comments. After the trip, we went to our grandparent’s
house. My grandfather has a lot of interest in historical things so he
asked me various things like what monuments I saw, history behind
them, etc. I replied but couldn’t satisfy him. Grandpa told me that when
I was a kid I used to remember each and everything as to what I saw,
what I learnt about it in school etc. but now I have changed completely.
He asked me to ask my inner self about the change inside me and the
reason behind this. When I failed to answer he told that my addiction
towards social media has changed me and will continue to change me in
the near future if I don’t realize this. Grandpa told me that I have many
photos of this trip but I should ask myself that how many memories I do
have with my family and the places, which I had visited past 6-7 years.
He said that photos, which I clicked, might get deleted but memories are
the ones, which stays with us permanently. He made me realize that
social media is not bad but addiction towards considered as malevolent.
According to me social media is a double-edged sword, as it has both
advantages and disadvantages nevertheless social media use has rapidly
increased in recent times. As per 2018-19 survey of teen social media
use, 71% of teens are reported to be Facebook users. Around half (52%)
of teens said they use Instagram, while 41% reported that they use Snap
chat. Not only teens but also youth particularly early 20’s and onwards
are susceptible to social media. Youngsters addicted to social media do
end up spending hours/days, watching videos, photos, and other content
posted in the account they follow. This obsession disrupts other activities
such as school work, sports, study and other productive routines. They
end up wasting a substantial amount of time, every day, resulting in poor
grades in school and colleges. So in this way kids and youngsters waste a
lot of time on social media, which affects their temperament negatively.
Their immersion in a virtual world delays their emotional, ethical and
social development. My cousin sister also ended up landing in the vicious
circle of social media addiction few years back but with proper
counselling and guidance she was able to recover. Learning from this
incident my parents regulate the content and the time my younger sister
sees and spends on social media.
Adults are also not spared from the effects of social media. My mother
always says that the more she uses Facebook, the more she feels
dissatisfied with her life. Not only her, many adults are observed to be
suffering from “FACEBOOK DEPRESSION” after spending too much
time on it or other social networking sites. Many people fear from being
away from social media as they feel they will be out from the social loop
which is called as FOMO (fear of missing out). FOMO leads to
depression and anxiety among people.

Conclusions:
It is true that there are uses, misuse, disuse and abuses of social media.
Nonetheless, it depends on who, used it how, when and where. Lastly,
technology in social media per se is neither virtuous nor unscrupulous. It
is the intention of the user that will determine whether it will fetch
decent or ruthless results.