According to Wikipedia, social media are interactive computer mediated technologies

that facilitate the creation and sharing of information, ideas, career interests and other

forms of expression via virtual communities and networks. Examples are Facebook, WhatsApp, Twitter, Instagram etc.

It was created to achieve certain goals but a look at social media today has got many wondering whether its impact on society, especially young people is positive or negative. There has been an ongoing debate and research about the influence of social media on  society. 

David Ginsberg, Facebook’s Director of research said there is a continuing debate at the company about whether time spent on social media was good for its users. A former Facebook executive Chamath Palihapitya also said social network rips society apart and exploits human psychology to maintain its hold on its users.

As defined, social media is a platform that seeks to connect people, helping them interact with one another in real time. It has made communication easier, faster and cheaper, bringing distant friends closer and enabling them keep up to date about the lives of their friends and distant relatives. However, more time spent on social media has led to a decline in face to face communication and less involvement in physical interaction sacrificing the opportunity to know people in-depth. 

The reading culture of young people has suffered a setback; this can partly attributed to the influence of social media. When you speak to a number of Nigerian youths, you will be amazed at how little they have exposed themselves to literature that has influenced their intellectual aptitude. 

Professor Albert Mehrabian said 93% of communication is nonverbal while 7% is verbal. Nonverbal communication has to do with gestures, eye contact, crying, voice tone etc. While verbal communication could be oral or written. Social media largely constitutes verbal communication. And with only verbal communication, we can’t really say we know people. A recent research has shown that those that spend more time on social media are more likely to experience social isolation, loneliness, and inability to have healthy face to face interaction.

Young people especially students have been influenced negatively by social media. More time spent on social media is equivalent to less time spent on books. We can say that social media is a contributing factor to exam failure. As a student living among students, I can confidently say social media is a bad influence on students. Personally, social media was a hindrance to my studies. The decision to log-in for few minutes often extended to hours which implied less time studying. Sometimes students deceive themselves to be reading and chatting at the same time, which of course is never productive.

The reading culture of young people has suffered a setback; this can partly attributed to the influence of social media. When you speak to a number of Nigerian youths, you will be amazed at how little they have exposed themselves to literature that has influenced their intellectual aptitude. In books lies a lot of knowledge that develops a man’s mentality, enables one to dream and challenges one to action. More time spent on social media deprives us of the time we should use to develop ourselves by reading, thinking and bringing up productive ideas to change our lives and society. Reading opens up the mind but when reading is neglected intellectual poverty sets in.

A study by BBC showed that social media has an influence on the self-esteem of people especially women. This influence is both healthy and unhealthy. For some seeing people like and give good comments about the things they post online boosts their self-esteem. While for others having few likes on their pictures tend to water down their self-worth, leading to insecurity. A study of 1000 Swedish Facebook users found out that women who spend more time on social media reported feeling less happy and confident. This could be because women are more emotional than men. This is as a result of people comparing their lives with those, they perceive to be successful. In our society, low self-esteem is expressed in various ways. Some take to heavy makeup; others spend beyond their means and yet others over-dress. These can partially be traced to what happens on social media. 

The social media has serious addictive influence on the mind. Some people need to be on social media in order to feel alright with themselves, they chat on the road, in the car, in the church, in lectures, they even wake up at night just to chat before going back to bed. Mr. Ginsberg said “there has been a compelling research that links a rise in depression among teenagers to rising usage of social media” this could be due to cyber bullying and having a distorted view about other people’s lives. 

Social media has been a platform where people make new friends, some met their life partners on social media, while others met their death; others were able to get help through this medium, while some were defrauded. It is a wonderful technology, helping the socially isolated find solace and yet causing isolation. Helping the depressed come out of depression but causing depression in others, causing happiness in others while anxiety in some. For me, I would advise moderation especially among young people. You must regulate how much time you spend on social media.