Social media misuse

The misuse of social media has become a major menace across the globe, and India is no exception. In fact, there is more misuse or wrong use of social media compared to good or positive use. While social media has, in recent years, become a vital part of today’s society, there has been more of a of a negative than a positive impact on social media. There are also various destructive as well as opposing effects due to social media misuse. This misuse is causing significant damage, misinformation, and harmful issues that are being used to create tension and destroy the peace of society. Social media is flooded with fraudulent material, and political unrest is happening in our society. With half of the world’s population being mobile Internet users, it is easily perceptible how deep the impact of the use and misuse of social media has been. With the increase in social media and smart-phone use, there has also been an increase in mental health conditions. Though correlation doesn’t always mean causation, researchers have suggested that the increase in mental illness is in part connected to the increase in social media use among young people. Since the arrival of smart phones, mental health concerns have significantly increased among children and young adults, and this is a global phenomenon. Studies have shown that the rate of adolescents reporting symptoms of major depression has been rising with each passing day. Studies have also indicated that experiencing psychological distress in a given month has grown, and so has the rate of suicidal thoughts in young adults. In older adults too, mental health issues have been increasing. But children and young adults are said to be experiencing such problems the most. In India, it was in April this year that the Supreme Court raised a serious alarm over the misuse of social media platforms, denouncing the spread of factually incorrect and unfounded statements regarding pending cases. While disposing of a particular matter, the apex court had also expressed dismay at the growing trend of social media misuse, which, under the guise of freedom of expression, even attempted to tarnish the integrity of the Supreme Court and sowed misinformation among the masses. In addition to uploading all kinds of factually incorrect information, there has also been an increasing trend of uploading and sharing visuals, which are prohibited from being used in mass media by law. In this context, it is significant to note that it was only on Friday that the Islamic Centre of India (ICI) issued an advisory for those who perform animal sacrifices during the upcoming Eid ul Azha festival, asking them not to click photographs or record videos of ‘qurbani’ or animal sacrifice and upload them on social media platforms.