THE ILLUSIVE WORLD OF SOCIAL MEDIA

Abstract

Social media has become an inextricable part of our lives. There’s no denying the fact that the social media has myriad positives but this paper majorly focuses on not so greener side of the dazzling world of perfection which is limned in social media over and over again. The paper starts with a comprehensive definition of social media then goes on to reflect upon various taxing facets that come along. Social media has set unrealistic standards of fashion, beauty, appearance, food, education which gets inculcated in the minds of billions of users and then comes the mad rush to conform to those benchmarks. Social media has provided a thriving market to innumerable beauty brands. FOMO or Fear of Missing Out is another by-product of social media. A deep sense of unhappiness, anxiety, reduced productivity and lower self-esteem is often associated with it. Users may have millions of subscribers and followers but this virtual fan following donot always mirrors their offline life. Social media has uncannily conned us in believing that we have friends while in reality this is just the contrary. Besides, the spread of fake news , trolling, cyber bullying , hate speech and increasing cases of people getting duped by the fraudsters are other pitfalls of social media.  It finally rests with the users how to use this double edged sword. These platforms can either be used for disseminating obscenity, hatred, or rumours else can be utilitized to the fullest for enhanced networking, fostering support and empathy and even as a learning tool.