Tens of thousands of research have been conducted all across the globe on the topic of Social media, from where various facts have been established. Except the few facts, almost all the facts and results of the research are against the human mankind.

It is a non-deniable fact that, the social media has brought this world much closer like never before in the history of humanity. It does not take a minute to disseminate any thought, idea, and news or connect somebody. That’s may be crucial reason why more than half of the population of the world are connected to one or the other kind of social media. Social media has of course lifted up our horizon of thinking, brought about a drastic change in our overall personality.

Social media was supposed to be the one of the greatest boon for us but do to overwhelmingly over use and misuse of it, the coin has turn its side. Social media had been developed with the social purpose of communicating, greeting and exchanging personal information to the distant friends and relatives. But the bitter fact is that, all kinds of social media has turned to be news rooms. There are journalists, reporters for reporting and communicating news affecting societies, nations and citizens. Of course our presence is always there to check and balance the authenticity of the news delivered. Accepted that in a democratic nation we have all the rights to inform and be informed at the earliest possible, but the matter of the fact is that news found on most of the social media are hard to be relied upon.

We are in a great hurry to share the information on social media even without knowing its source and reliability. Let’s take a gap, understand the importance of the information we are sharing then share it if it’s worth sharing otherwise discard it. We lose our credibility and respect when we share something which are not true and not worth sharing on social media. It has been rightly said, “If we share something on social media, we understand it less. If you really care about understanding information, don’t be in a rush to share it.”

It hurts when we know and realize that social media has been and being used to create hatred, disharmony, to ruin our peaceful life.  A wrong information on social media is potential enough to destroy family, society and nation as a whole. So, it is hereby requested not to be a manufacturer of news.  These days, all of us are busy updating the number of corona positive and death cases. I don’t think these sorts of news is going to contribute us in any manner. Moreover there is already dedicated platform for this information from where true figure of positive cases and death toll can be known as and when required.

Social media, in its modernized structure has turn out to be a platform either for the promotion or demotion of any public figure and more specifically of political parties. Sorry to say, Social media has become the personal playground of wealthy but filthy people. Most of the promotions/demotions are the result of under table payments and rewards. Unless we boycott this practice of welcoming and appreciating political agenda/propaganda on social media, truth can never be part of our life, we can never know what the truth was and is.  Another big byproduct of social media to human kind is cyber-bullying.

Cyber-bullying or cyber harassment is a form of bullying or harassment using electronic means. Cyber-bullying and cyber harassment are also known as online bullying. It has become increasingly common, especially among teenagers, as the digital sphere has expanded and technology has advanced. Cyber-bullying is when someone, typically a teenager, bullies or harasses others on the internet and in other digital spaces, particularly on social media sites. Harmful bullying behavior can include posting rumors, threats, sexual remarks, a victims’ personal information, or pejorative labels (i.e. hate speech). Bullying or harassment can be identified by repeated behavior and an intent to harm. Victims of cyber-bullying may experience lower self-esteem, increased suicidal ideation, and a variety of negative emotional responses including being scared, frustrated, angry, or depressed.

Let’s enter into the other area of the issues and impact of social media. We’ve psychologically trained ourselves to become dependent upon positive reinforcements from online sources, which impact our mood and influence our behavior. Even slightest of the deviation from our expectation from social media we become mentally sick, tired, helpless and hopeless. These is the common story of most of the youth and middle aged people. If we all put as much effort into our real life interactions as we do with our online ones, who knows, maybe we can find ourselves a whole lot better life. After all, life is not about people who act true to your face, it’s about the people who remain true behind your back.

The most disconsolation fact is that, we feel low when we do not get the expected likes, comments and share on our photos or comment. This is rubbish but again a fact in the lives of many. 

Social media has become a platform for comparison of face, wealth, education, status and what not. Due to this senseless comparison we sometimes become the victim of inferiority complex which further results into depression and other irreparable mental issues.  Mind it, superiority complex is equally threatening issue in the personal life.

Doesn’t it sound funny that we need social media validation for our happiness? A Facebook ‘Like’ or a twitter ‘Love’ has eventually become social signal that makes us feel good. It’s indeed a crazy situation. We keep on scrolling our social media times and again and again just to confirm the number of likes and comments we have received. This particular behavior of ours has led to addiction on social media. Addition to social media gives unwanted torture to eyes and brain, making our life restless. That’s may be the reasons among many others that Researchers are debating adding social media addiction to the list of mental disorders.

Another research shows that the more selfies and your photos you share on social media, the less likeable you become.  Please note, our look is always the best when it is away from the camera and barely in the front of the camera.

Point to be noted. Ego needs a platform to showcase itself and social networks are the perfect answer. 80% of our online conversations are self-disclosure. We live in a ‘Me’ society with an obsession of the ‘self’ that drives us to update our status and tag ourselves in photos (But only those that we look good in of course)

Social media can lead to Fear Of Missing Out (FOMO). FOMO is a phenomenon that occurs when you feel pressure to be doing what everyone else is doing, attend every event, and share every life experience. It can evoke anxiety and disconnection with the real world.

Social Media Addicted people feel worried or uncomfortable when not able to access their social networks. This is a dangerous fact. Moreover such addicted people live a life of social isolation.

 “How different would people act if they couldn’t show off on social media? Would they still do it?” Please think…………

People who smile while they are alone used to be called insane, until we invented smartphones and social media. All the smile may not be genuine. Psychologists have examined the social media addicts and have found that all most all of them are narcissistic, psychopath and sadistic.

The key to a positive social media experience is moderation. We need to limit our time of using social media. Social media is not THE MOST important requirement of our life. THE MOST important requirements of our life are physical exercise, meditation, healthy diets and education. Our family deserves our big portion of time. After fulfilling all this requirements, if you have time, then you may login your social media for certain minutes. Our life deserves happiness and our happiness is nowhere on any social media.

 Social media must be in our control and not the vice-versa but the matter of the fact is that most of us are being controlled by one or the other social media. Always dare to have your independent opinion which does not require any social media validation.

Last but not the least,

Five ways To Build Your Brand on Social Media:
1 Post content that add value
2 Spread positivity
3 Create steady stream of info
4 Make an impact
5 Be yourself

CA Ajay Chaurasiya
CEO at Chaurasiya And Chaurasiya Co.                                                                                                            Founder member-BHDH Birgunj, Parsa