Social Media and Students: Understanding Its Advantages and Disadvantages

Social Media and Students: Understanding Its Advantages and Disadvantages

Introduction

Social media has made the world a smaller place to live in. Now, sitting at home, you can easily connect with a friend living hundreds of kilometres away. With a simple touch, you can see what's going on in their life and share your life updates. However, just like any other thing in the world, social media also has its fair share of downsides. One of the major concerns associated with social media is cyberbullying, distraction, and lack of privacy. In the case of kids specifically, parents need to be extremely mindful and closely monitor their child's social media footprint. Due to a lack of important information and understanding, your kid might end up getting exposed to unsolicited information and content. Additionally, there is also a greater risk of issues like body dysmorphia and feelings of isolation. To understand social media better, you can find some of the top perks as well as the hazards of social media platforms for kids.

Top Advantages of Social Media for Kids

Social media can be used to define a collection of websites and applications where people can create accounts and connect. Here is a look at some of the top advantages of using social media for kids.

Building Network

With the help of social media, your kid can stay connected with friends and see what's happening in their lives. The ability to post one's pictures and text with each other helps in bridging the real-world distance. Additionally, your child can connect with people from all across the world and expand their social circle, which may help them in their professional life as well.

Access to Multimedia

Through social media, one can access a multitude of content in various forms. This can be in the form of photos, videos, short-form content such as reels, memes, and so much more. All of this can become an instant source of entertainment and gratification for kids and even adults. It can give you a quick laugh whenever you feel down or unmotivated.

Freedom to Express

Social media is also a place where one can freely express oneself and one's ideas. It is also an opportunity for the general public, including student,s to highlight a certain issue that is not getting enough attention. With proper community support, kids can truly make a difference in society with the help of social media.

Meet People With Similar Interests

Other than connecting with friends and family members, kids can also connect with random people with whom they share a common interest. For example, if your child loves reading and reciting poetry, they can join a poetry group on a social media platform. In that group, they can meet like-minded people and build trustworthy relations while upskilling themselves.

Access to Information

Through social media, one can get to know about the latest news related to issues of national and international importance. One can follow several pages that report a neutral perspective about a certain happening in a gist. This is great for kids who do not have a habit of sitting and reading a newspaper or watching a new channel.

Top Disadvantages of Using Social Media for Kids

Now that you know about some of the top advantages of social media, it's time for you to understand the other side of social media as well. Here is a list of some of the top disadvantages that your child may face while using social media.

Distraction

Social media can be a continuous source of distraction for your child and lead to decreased focus on studies. According to the International Journal of Indian Psychology, social media severely impacts a child's academic performance by reducing their ability to study without getting distracted.

Lack of Real World Connection

While making virtual connections online, your child may totally forget about the importance of making real-world connections in life. This may even hamper their ability to have meaningful conversations with others and make friends.

Scams and Frauds

Social media may also make your child more susceptible to fraud and scams. Since kids might lack the maturity to tackle such issues, they might be the biggest targets of such fraudsters. This may lead to a lack of personal information, blackmail, and so much more.

Disturbed Mental Health

Being exposed to so much information and personal details about each other, the child may frequently indulge in comparing their life with someone else. This may impact their mental harmony and make them feel isolated. As per the Author Manuscript, in the worst-case scenario, kids might go through mental distress and even develop symptoms of depression.

Bullying

Some people might take the unfair advantage of commenting on anyone's pictures. Because of this feature, kids might receive hate comments or get trolled. Such hateful comments related to one's body or other physical features may cause a lot of psychological problems for the child.

Conclusion

Social media is a potent tool that can have so many benefits if used effectively. However, kids may lack the understanding of differentiating between what's right and wrong for them. This is why parents need to regulate their child's social media usage and check the kind of content they are exposed to. This may help the child stay safe from social media threats and troubles.