In recent times, social media has become a powerful tool to influence public opinion and influence the prevailing discourse in society. Social media has become so powerful because of its low cost, wide reach, easy access and availability andif it has widened the avenues for democratic participation on one hand,it also gave rise to concerns about the spread of hatred and violence in the society at the same time.
Social media has become an integral part of our lives today and while playing its role, it exerts immense influence on society and individuals. It has become a new way of life for the 21st-century generation.
So there was a time when people used to meet and talk to each other in person and write letters to each other’s delight. People used to spend most of their time with family members and would value their relationships. But today everything has changed as people spend most of their time on social media as one can easily stay connected even if the friends and family members are far away.
There are twenty-four hours in a day and a night, and these hours are for every human being. Everyone uses these hours. The only difference is that those who use these hours properly have different results and for those who are not able to do so, for them the results aren’t that pleasing.
Now, let’s analyse this proposition in detail-by virtue of internet,we boast of saving time while in reality, the same internet is taking a large part of your lives. Here, it is important to understand that out of total time spent on internet, only a marginal amount of it is spent on the positive side of the facility while a large amount of time is spent on things that are either addictive or unnecessary.
Internet usage has increased the most in the villages of India in the last decade. Not that this use is completely bad and wrong, but it is important to understand to what extent its use can be beneficial for us.
Social media has democratized the public space by giving voice to the oppressed, marginalized and giving them an opportunity and a platform to share their perspectives with a wider audience. Social media has enabled the rapid dissemination of information in new areas such as investigative journalism, environment, freedom of the press and citizen-centred journalism. It has been used by politicians and governments to mobilize support for their initiatives and broaden their support through debate, advertising and social campaigns.
Social media collects user preferences and uses them to personalize content where individuals are exposed to the same type of content which contributes to the strengthening of existing beliefs and polarization of opinion. We must find ways to prevent the spread of hate and misinformation through this platform by way of regulating hate speech and violence with clearly defined effective enforcement mechanisms and active collaboration between government, civil society and society in general.
There is a need to maintain a balance between freedom of speech and public interest in the use of social media. It is also essential to revive social interaction between communities and individuals to rebuild the social fabric of our society.
As we know, everything has its advantages and disadvantages and social media isn’t an exception at all. Infact, this medium can be put to wrong use at an alarming pace and with an exceptional ease since it gives its users tremendous scope to go either way.
