Headphones plugged to their years, thumbs feverishly typing something and forever hung down heads- These are the basic characteristics sported by the youth of today. The advent of social media has brought in a huge wave of changes over the decades. The results are evident whenever you watch a millennial struggle with the need to update an accomplishment on Instagram or even “tweet” about their favourite celebrities

Some of the commonly used social platforms include Facebook, Instagram, Whatsapp, Snapchat, and Twitter. Despite the fact that social media has managed to connect friends and families across borders, it has pushed today’s generation to the point of going fanatical about it. In addition, it exposes young teens to online fraudulent cases that land them into sexual abuse and other kinds of mental misconduct. There have been cases of blackmail reported through the misuse of social media platforms. Internet bullying has also become widespread causing increasing cases of anxieties and depression

Spending long hours chatting on social media sites also decreases productivity amongst the youths. This, in turn, causes the youths to lose all sense of ambition and become dependant on their immediate family members for even the basic necessities of life. The long hours wasted online on social media can be channeled to productive activities that can enable one to earn a living or even acquire an education

Social platforms also encourage the spread of wrong information and news majorly aimed at tainting other peoples’ names or other groups of interest such as political or religious groups. One cannot stress how much social platforms have been a source of spreading hate and division among different communities across the world

In conclusion, social networking has been proved to have both positive and negative effects on our youths. Individuals should make a conclusion about whether to go on using the sites or stop or even moderate their usage.