Is social media usage good or bad and why

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Social Media Usage
Social media has become a global phenomenon attracting millions of users from all over the world. In the year 2015, statistics indicated that a teenager spends 27 hours a week on social media. Social media benefits include; educational values through the creation of learning platforms that enable teenagers to access educational material, interact and exchange ideas with fellow students and their instructors and integrate learning. On the other hand, there are even more detriments associated with the use of social media such as the moral decay of the society, cyberbullying and crime among others. This essay identifies various negative issues related to social media and demonstrates that the usage of social media is a bad thing.

One of the controversial and inarguably the most widespread issue associated with social media is cyberbullying. Social media platforms such as Yik Yak and Online confessions contributed to a culture of hatred, racism, and discrimination among the youth. These perpetrating actions not only spark hatred and resentment but also lead to physical abuse and even murder in several universities such as Drake, Emory and University of Oklahoma (Mahler 117). Cyberbullying has also been associated with low self-esteem and depression among students, leading to suicide among its victims; who usually perceive the society and the world at large as unfair. On a broader scale, social media has misled a certain fraction of the youth into thinking that they can commit a federal offense and get away with it.

Compared to previous times when committing a crime such as harassment required one to be physically present, social media has enabled the creation of pseudo-identities or masking of digital identifiers from which one can easily Corn, hack, stalk, harass and insult their victims without being traced.
Social media has also altered the youth’s perception of privacy. Social media has created an open-minded perception in which youths freely share sensitive information without consideration of the consequences. Social media is making most teenagers feel connected to the world thus lowering their guards and easily trusting strangers, which makes them vulnerable to predators with harmful intentions (McGillivray 1). Social media has also eroded the youth’s perception of hard work and success. In a modern global world full of politicians and celebrities who achieved ‘overnight’ success, social media has altered the priorities of the modern youth who now pursue other ‘unconventional’ ways to attain success as opposed to the concept of discipline and hard work. Such concepts perceived to bring about success include fame and popularity. As a result of this, youths spend countless hours keeping track of the lifestyle of celebrities and other famous people and trying to emulate them, a factor that has not only caused a loss of self-identity but also the loss of productivity and creativity among the youths.
Social media has also altered the fundamentals of morality among the youth. In a society where sharing and exchange of explicit content such as obscene videos and photos have become a somewhat normal way of life, teenagers have developed violent, vulgar and discriminative perceptions that support the objectification of women among others. Access to pornographic materials within social media has further corrupted the minds of the youths. In a society where sexual intercourse was considered a sacred and private affair, such norms have been eroded by social media.
Given the shortcomings associated with social media usage, it can be concluded that the use of social media is bad. Teenagers are the most adversely affected, and therefore policies should be put in place for their protection. The government should also attempt at regulating the content in social media to protect the youths from further moral decay. Parents and guardians also sh ould oversee their children and make sure that they do not engage in illegal activities using social media.

Works Cited
Mahler, Jonathan. “Who Spewed That Abuse? Anonymous Yik Yak App Isn’t Telling.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 8 Mar. 2015, HYPERLINK “http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/09/technology/popular-yik-yak-app-confers-anonymity-and-delivers-abuse.html” www.nytimes.com/2015/03/09/technology/popular-yik-yak-app-confers-anonymity-and-delivers-abuse.html.
McGillivray, Nick. “What Are the Effects of Social Media on Youth?” TurboFuture, TurboFuture, 12 Oct. 2015, turbofuture.com/internet/effects-of-social-media-on-our-youth.