SOCIAL MEDIA – BOON OR BANE?
When we think of social media, we think of Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, blogs and many more. Try googling social media and this comes up: websites and applications that enable users to create and share content or to participate in social networking.
The question is, how important is social media in this new technology driven world today?
Some may say it is very important as they would like to be the first to know or share information or incidents, but for some, it is just another channel for them to attain first-hand information or keep themselves updated on the situations around them.
Sharing information or incidents that are deemed beneficial may be welcomed but it also may be viewed differently by others. However, sharing too much is definitely detrimental, especially personal information. There should always be a limit to what is shared on social media as a form of protection of the sharer, friends and family as there have been many cases of people taking advantage of this and abusing it.
For businesses, social media is considered the new media and is the fastest way of conveying their messages to everyone at large. But in situations where these messages are not handled in a proper manner, it may be unfavourable to the company and its brand.
There are advantages and disadvantages with social media and it is at the mercy of how the person using this channel conveys his messages and how the receiver accepts it at the other end. It is a very subjective topic and everyone has their own take on this. Let’s respect everyone’s opinions and maybe the cyberspace will be a more harmonious place if this is practised?
Melanie Low
December 2014