What is social media?

Social media is platform that facilitates the sharing of ideas, thoughts, and
information through the building of virtual networks and communities. By design, social
media is internet-based and gives users quick electronic communication of content.
Content includes personal information, documents, videos, and photos. Users engage with
social media via computer, tablet or smartphone via web-based software or web
application, often utilizing it for messaging.

Social media originated as a way to interact with friends and family but was later adopted
by businesses which wanted to take advantage of a popular new communication method
to reach out to customers. The power of social media is the ability to connect and share
information with anyone on Earth, or with many people simultaneously.

We know every coin has two sides and so social media has both advantages and
disadvantages. Lets see the adavantages of social media.

Advantage

1. Social media spreads information faster than any other media.

The first argument as to why social media is more beneficial to us is because it spreads
information faster than any other media. From natural disasters, a famous figure
passing away, or other shocking news; it only take seconds before a friend posts it on
their social media page, along with their opinion or reaction.

2. Social media helps empower business women.

Being able to connect on social networking sites gives business women a support group not readily found
offline. Many social media sites are dominated by women: 80% of Pinterest users, [202] 70% of Snapchat
users, [204] 68% of Instagram users, [203] 64% of Twitter users, and 58% of Facebook users, are
women. [205] Business women use Twitter chats to support each other, give and receive peer knowledge,
and have guest “speakers” share expert knowledge.

3. Social media sites help employers find employees and job-seekers find
work.
96% of recruiters use social media in the recruiting process; 87% use LinkedIn, 55% use Facebook,
and 47% use Twitter. Therefore 48% of job-seekers credit social media for helping find their current
job
4. Social media increases voter participation.
Facebook users reported they are more likely to vote if they see on social media sites that their
friends voted. [25] Amongst students who are somewhat, not sure, or unlikely to vote, stated that
social media was most likely to influence them to vote in the presidential election; so this was
higher than all other mediums including television radio direct mail (6%) or email (5%). [210]
5. Social media helps people who are socially isolated or shy connect with
other people.
teens report that social media makes them feel less shy, more outgoing, and feeling more
confident and we know that (53% of teens are identified as somewhat shy or “a lot” shy in
general). Youth who are “less socially adept” report that social media gives them a place to make
friends. Shy adults also cite social media as a comfortable place to interact with others. 

Disadavantages

1. People who use social media are prone to social isolation.

Social media can exacerbate feelings of disconnect (especially for youth with disabilities), and put
children at higher risk for depression, low self-esteem, and eating disorders. [42] The “passive
consumption” of social media (scanning posts without commenting) is related to loneliness.

2. Social media users are vulnerable to security attacks such as hacking,

identity theft, and viruses.

Social media sites do not scan messages for viruses or phishing scams, leading to large-scale
problems like the virus Steckt.Evl spread from Facebook’s chat window. [138] 68% of social media
users share their birth date publicly, 63% share their high school name, 18% share their phone
number, 12% share a pet’s name; each of those pieces of information is frequently used for
account security verification and can be used for identity theft.

3. Social media facilitates cyberbullying.

Cyberbullying is a form of bullying using electronic means. 52% of students have reported being
the victim of cyberbullying with 84.2% naming Facebook as the site through which they have
been bullied, followed by Instagram (23.4%), Twitter (21.4%), and Snapchat
(13.5%). [259] 17.5% of male students and 21.3% of female students have admitted
committing bullying behavior online [258] Middle school children who are victims of
cyberbullying are almost twice as likely to attempt suicide. 

4. Social media harms employees’ productivity.

A global online survey found that 50% of workers check or use social media at least once a day
during work hours.  Even spending just 30 minutes a day on social media while at work would cost
a 50-person company 6,500 hours of productivity a year. 

5. Criminals use social media to commit and promote crimes.

Gangs use the sites to recruit younger members, coordinate violent crimes, and threaten other
gangs.
Through Social Media Now ISIS is using social media to expand its war far beyond its borders. Uploading videos
on YouTube, passing violated images through Instagram & influencing teenagers through Twitter and
Facebook ,creating WhatsApp Group are now the recent activities done by them.

Social media has also led to the phenomena of “performance crimes,” so called as participants
film their crimes and upload them to social media.

We know that there are lot of social media site like twitter, facaebook Instagram snapchat pinterest etc

About instagram

Instagram is among the most used social media sites.

Kevin Systrom launched Instagram in 2010. The Massachusetts-born Stanford University grad created the app
because of his love of photography.

Instagram debuted on October 6, 2010.

Initially, Instagram was called Codename, but the name changed to Instagram
before it was launched.

The name Instagram comes from a mashing of “instant camera” and

“telegram.”

Advanatges of instagram

Effective Promotion

Originally began (like most social media sites) as a way to connect with others,
Instagram today works as an effective marketing strategy. Established brands reserve
their Instagram pages for showcasing their products, while new startups find it easier to
create an audience via images here. Even individuals like models and artists can
showcase their works and create a fan base. Instagram serves as an important platform
today for social media marketing.
More Appealing Interface

One of the biggest advantages of Instagram is its interface. With so much visual
content, you would expect it to be slow and messy. Contrary to that, Instagram is very
neat and organized. Unlike Facebook, there is no flood of information that you can
barely process. Also, the platform allows you to organize your profile in a very efficient
manner, such that it has a nice appeal to it. This appeal is one of the reasons why people
rushed towards Instagram despite other photo-sharing platforms.

Great For Travelers

Even though unintentionally, Instagram has emerged as a great hub for travelers. The
geo-tagging feature works smoothly, allowing to add the location of the pictures.
Furthermore, one can see the other (public) photos shared by people who were at the
same location.

Strict Privacy

Unlike other platforms, Instagram takes privacy very seriously. If you want your photos
to remain private between your followers, then private they shall remain. There is no
means to bypass privacy settings. Even the profile picture is private. Instagram also
doesn’t allow the downloading of photos, though there are other means to do that.

Instagram Business Profile

If you’re an influencer or a brand, then you must know what I am talking about. The
thing is that you can very easily switch from your Instagram personal profile to a
Business profile. But what are the benefits? Well, if you are promoting something on
Instagram, then you have to make it easy for the people to contact you. And in the
business account, your profile will show a “Contact” button.

Moreover, you get to decide what happens when people click on that button. Like you
can enable the users to email, view your location, and call you through that button. And
talking about connectivity, in Business profile, you can embed links to your stories if
you have more than 10,000 followers. So, you can direct your viewers to the landing
page with much more ease. 

Disadvantage

Overwhelming Advertisements

Of course, we’ve already applauded for the fact that Instagram is one of the best social
media platforms to promote yourself or your brand. That said, too much of anything is a
curse, and that’s the same thing that’s happening with Instagram. Instagram has
become a place where you are bombarded with too many advertisements or sponsored
posts.

Apparently, from companies to individuals, everyone can promote themselves on

Instagram by taking out some bucks out of there pocket. But that shouldn’t be a bad
thing, right? Well, it is seen as a bad thing when you see an advertisement after every 4-
5 of your friends’ posts.

Creates The Need For A Fake Life

The most negative phenomenon observed after the popularity of Instagram was the
sudden surge of teenage celebs. People became famous overnight for something that
went viral, garnering thousands of followers. This created a craving in everyone’s heart
to become famous. So many people tend to create a fake life, which they share on
Instagram to get famous. This need for validation and fame is highly toxic, and
teenagers are the ones most affected by it.

Fewer Features On Web

If you have ever used the web version of Instagram, then you might have realized that it
lacks many features. Instagram is keeping its users close to the app and not providing
much access to the web version. However, Instagram is slowly rolling out the same
features of the app on its official website, like stories and others. But we cannot expect
all the features on the web soon.

Addiction

Another disadvantage is the addiction associated with Instagram. Like most social
media platforms, Instagram suffers from toxic addiction. A huge number of people
spend their days glued to the app. Even those who do not seek validation by uploading
pictures spend their entire day viewing photos of others. In any scenario, this is a
terrible waste of time.

Now lets see some stats for Instagram

At last I would like to say that

It is up to each user to use social sites wisely to enhance their professional and social life, and one should
exercise caution to ensure they do not fall victim to online dangers. • In the end, if one can keep their own life
centred in reality and use social networking as a small part of it, they should be just fine. And For those who
can’t, it might be time to turn off the computer for a bit and go for a walk.