Impact of Social Media on the Youths

Social media includes all online mediums that enable input, communication, content sharing for a large number of people over a wide area. It includes all applications or website that one can text, watch and share videos, get news and other information, buy and sell goods among other functionalities at the convenience of one location, cost and time. Some of the most common social media platforms include; Facebook, Google, twitter, Instagram, blogs, YouTube, Snapchat, Amazon, Whatsapp just to name a few.

Social media has made considerable milestones in the 21st century especially since the development of smartphones and other technology innovations. It has caught the interest of the masses both the old and the young and its influence cannot be ignored. The youth for the most part are the ones who greatly use the social media platforms. This fast growth and wide use has prompted researchers to carry out investigations on the impact it has made. Social media just like everything else in life has its two sides of the coin, the positive and the negative impact. This research paper aims at exploring some of these impacts on the lives of youths. It aims to look into the impact on the morals, behavior, social life as well as the on mental and physical impact.

One of the positive impacts is the networking and ease of communication and access to information. Social media is one of the actualization of the world is a global village. It has enabled the youth to keep in touch with friends and family who are far away both within and without the country. This keeps the connections alive and thriving because people can still checking on each other and share in each other's life happenings. They are also able to make new friends and broaden their circles of networks and connections. This can lead to opportunities like employment, marriages, travelling among others. The ease of access to news and information also enables them to keep abreast with the happenings in and outside the borders of the country. An informed youth can then make better decisions and learn a thing or two.

Another positive impact is the boost in creativity that it sparks in the youth. Social media applications like blogs, YouTube, Instagram and Twitter provide platforms for youths to showcase their talents. The writers, photographers, singers, dancers, models and even the meme and jokes creators have all the opportunities to do what they love best and share that. This can also lead to jobs being created and can open doors for them to people who can spot, help them grow and earn from their talents and abilities. This has also helped some youths fight off unemployment and also stay away from things that could be detrimental to their development like gangs and drugs.

Despite the ease in connectivity offered by social media a number of negative influences are also witnessed. First up is the paradox that the more the youths the more they are disconnected. Social media has bridged the gap that sending of letters and making phone calls and SMS could not have. However, in solving the ease of connection it has disconnected the youth from the present. Youths spend a lot of time online and end up isolating themselves from the face to face interactions.

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