Social media: how big, how social?

Social media is now part of our everyday life. This 'our' applies to more than half of the global population. That comes to about 3.8 billion: 390 crore people. It has not touched the lives of only those in conflict zones and living in very poor countries and remote locations, and very old and young people. The number of those who have voluntarily not adopted or quit it would be very small.

Social media during COVID pandemic

During the COVID-19 period, social media played a key role. On one side, it helped people remain in touch with each other, especially during lockdowns. It kept people informed of developments near and far. It also served entertainment. For businesses, it was a handy tool to communicate with their employees, clients, and customers in general. On the other hand, social media led to spread of confusion and panic, and was a free playground for fake news. People were made to believe in incorrect information, fallacious arguments, even conspiracy theories. about the spread of the disease, government actions and inactions, even vaccination.

Social media in the past

COVID-19 was recent. Social media is now nearly two decade old. During this entire period, it has been like a sharp tool, one that has been used for many good purposes, and when not used properly (or when used by criminals) it has hurt individuals and the society very badly. It has found a great use as news source, more so during calamities. During the recent flash floods in remote Garhwal area in the Himalayas, the first alerts came from villagers making video of glacial activity and devastating floods that it caused. During earlier big cyclones and hurricanes, it has been used effectively by individuals, communities and also various agencies involved in alerting people and relief and rescue works.

Social media finds use as a great medium of expression (e.g. blogs), socialization, sharing data, group activities, instant messaging, getting information-news-entertainment, even money transactions.

Social media can make young people sick, mentally sick

There are hundreds of studies available on the web that prove or indicate that too much of social media is harming people, especially the young ones, in many ways. Physical and mental diseases happen when the growing children start believing all that comes on social media and making opinion about themselves. It has been found that about 5% of young social media users suffer from 'social media addiction' which acts much like a mild drug addiction.

Reports of teens becoming victims of blackmail and cyber-bullying keep appearing in the press.

Social media and democracy

Social media also plays the role of the fourth pillar of democracy, and sometimes works better than the mainstream press. Though a majority would not call social media as 'media' in its role as a democratic institution, it is the social media that keeps the flag of democracy high in dire situations when the press crumbles under pressure from despotic and non-democratic governments.

Just as I am finishing this post, there is an alert on a social media account that Facebook has stopped sharing information from news sites in Australia. In short (according to Facebook), the Australian government wanted it to agree for revenue sharing from news, which was not acceptable to the platform and it has rather chosen to stop accounts of news sites.  

There are numerous dimensions of social media in how it functions, how it serves the society, concerns arising out of its abuse and misuse, its control by authorities, and so on. And there is a great deal of excitement as well as anxiety about its future. 

This discussion is becoming long. So, let me end it with saying, long live social media!

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The second edition of my book, The Manual of Social Media, has just been published. I have dealt with all aspects of social media including tech behind it, history, concepts, data, social issues as discussed above, and more. The book is available in ebook and print forms at these links:

Kindle ebook: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08WL93RLQ

Ebook from Barnes & Boble, Kobo, Nook, Apple ebooks, Scribd, Angus & Robertson etc: https://books2read.com/u/mgzW1z

Print book: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08WK96J7N