Pros and Cons of Internet Usage and Impact of Social Media on Students

In today’s world, the internet is available to everyone just like basic groceries are and with internet usage, comes easy accessibility to many social media platforms. However, is this easy access to internet and social media apps good for the present young and developing generation and minds?

For the answer, let’s discuss….

Internet and Social Media Impact: Pros and Cons for Students and Young Generation-

Pros

Access to Education

Times are gone when the only way to get education and knowledge is through school or college and enrolling in any educational institute. However, nowadays getting knowledge and education any time of the day and at any location has become so convenient and accessible. This is made possible by the internet and many social media platforms like youtube, various search engines, educational apps, inline tutoring channels, etc. This also helps many of the young kids who want to be educated and make a successful career but hold back because of their location or financial instability. They with little money can now have access to uncountable teachers, lectures, books, pdf, notes, etc. They also can even learn through distance learning programs provided by various educational institutes.

Better Networking and Communication

Internet, social media apps, video call options and chatting platforms, all give a space and medium to people to interact with people all around the globe. Whether it’s their long distance partners or a family member living abroad and even give a platform for the young generation to form groups with people all around the world and discuss and collect information regarding different cultures, country people, career options, etc.

Better Access to Opportunities Available

Internet availability keeps a person updated and informed regarding the various opportunities around whether it’s a new entrance exam or a new emerging industry that is gaining popularity.

Cons

Addiction and Distraction

Social media, random day scrolling and easy access to entertainment is in the present scenario becoming addicting to the young minds. Rather than studying or focusing on what is important, they spend the whole day scrolling through reels and playing video games. This also affects the physical health of the younger generation due to sitting all day and using mobiles and not doing much physical activities and routines.

Addiction is also bringing distraction on the same plate. Students find it difficult to sit and study for long hours and they can’t help but to use or check their phones and thus the chain of concentration is becoming hard to maintain.

Cyberbullying

Bullying over social media platforms by means of comments, videos, photos, etc., is becoming like a normal day to day activity. This is causing a very big issue among the young generation of low self esteem, negative comparison and mental health issues like depression, anxiety, etc. This is getting so serious that online bullying even leading to suicide and self harm cases.

Consumption of Harmful Content

Not every child is guided in the right direction enough or is in the wrong company of people. This leads to misinformation and wrong direction of thoughts and ultimately using intent in a wrong method to get information and knowledge on the less known topics. This leads to consumption of some content that needs to be informed in a different way to a young mind.

False Information

Not every information available over the internet is worth trusting. There is a lot of information that is false or posted intentionally by people to defame someone or to just gain views or popularity. So, the space of right and believable information becomes so less and people often consume and believe and make decisions over wrong information or sometimes find it too hard to believe even the right information.

Conclusion and Solution

With this discussion, we can conclude that the internet and social media is not something which was initially introduced in order to create damage and nuisance. However, the wrong use and not enough guidance and knowledge lead to ill effects of internet usage, but this can not hide the fact that the internet and social media do help a lot of students and adults to make a better career and find self confidence. What needs to be done is for the parents and guardians in the life of the young generation and students to guide and teach them on how to get the best results out of the opportunity and facility they have with 24/7 availability of the internet and how useful it is for them. At the same time, it is very crucial to teach these immature and developing minds regarding the harm and wrong content they consume through the internet.