There is very famous proverb “TOO MUCH OF ANYTHING IS GOOD FOR NOTHING” totally fits on the social media in todays’ era.

We all know the benefits of social media. It has become indispensable part of our daily life. This is proven a very powerful tool that can easily connect people, share information, and do lot more which not possible earlier. We have seen number of examples, it may be reaching of help when some train derails, reaching out to your relatives or closed one when you are in danger in some other country, seeking help or crowdfunding or medical help. Due to its peculiar nature, it has far better reach and accessibility which not in someone power when social media was not in our life. Even the Government, State or political parties are using this powerful toolto connect with the people, share timely information, disseminating about critical decisions and lot more.

However, anything which is in excess, will surely have some negative aspects also and social media is not an exception. The true meaning of above proverb that excessive amounts of anything can have negative effects is proving very right in today world. Today our generation is using the social media very disproportionate to the actual need of the same.Social media has created very unrealistic expectations about how you should look in your physically, how you act, or live your life with your friends or family.Whether you are living that life in the way you are portraying before the public in social media or not but you are always under pressure look or to conform to those standards whether it is relating to beauty, fitness, success, relations that are mostly edited, filtered, or staged, not every time, but mostly.

There are numerous consequences which are now getting visible due to over use of social media and we are hearing large number of such examples in our society. First repercussion is that you are miss out one to one personal interactions with human being, not unable to understand emotional cues, and non-verbal communication. Further it making you addictive and you are finding yourself checking your phone constantly, scrolling endlessly. This is distracting you and taking your focus away from the things that matter most in your life whether you relationship, work, studies, or hobbies. Here are some of the negative aspects of social media:

1. Depression and anxiety: Social media can cause depression and anxiety because you are spending too much time on the social media and does not activating your body which in turn may affect your mood and mental health. You may feel unhappy, when you compare yourself to others who seem to have better lives and enjoying life.

2. Sleep Quality: It can cause sleep deprivation and using social media before bed can interfere with your sleep patterns. The blue light emitted by your mobile or laptop can suppress the production of melatonin, a hormone that regulates your circadian rhythm and may further affect your productivity.

3. Self-esteem: This can lead to dissatisfaction and low self-esteem. It can also increase the risk of developing eating disorders.

4. Social Life and Interactions: It can reduce your interpersonal skills and real-life interactions. You may lose touch with the real world and may become less empathetic and more isolated.

5. Distraction: It can distract you from your goals and priorities. You are so deeply involved into your device that you neglect rest of the important things you need to do in your life whether it is sports, fitness, relations or education.

6. Feelings of missing out: FOMO is another issue with social media and may be concerned about missing a message, or other information that connects you to your peers or friends. Constant checking can derail the entire process of self-improvement and upgradation of your skills whether you are children, young one or in senior category.

7. Cyber-bullying: Youngster is bullied online and this is growing phenomena. Lot of students, young children reports being bullied on social media, and sometimes they receive derogatory remarks.

8. Misleading Information: Misleading information and news are also encouraged on social media platforms, with the goal of tarnishing other people’s names or other organizations of interest, such as political or religious organisations.

9. Incorrect Knowledge Sharing: Most of the times, knowledge shared on various social media is incorrect and factually wrong. Children are the most affected due to this. They receive knowledge which is totally wrong and due to their age, their believe that whatever they are seeing or listening is true.

To sum up, social media may have very negative and harmful consequences on our youth. The parent should counsel and guide their children on current issues such as the use of social media, as well as warn them about the dangers of misusing or overusing it. Further, in the course curriculum, social media studies may be included so that students can understand the necessity of being cautious when using social media.