Role of Social Media and Its Impact on Pakistani youth

By Khadija Naveed

The role of social media and its impact on Pakistani youth is very significant, as it has had a key influence on the social and political landscape.

Social media is considered to be employing mobile and web-based technology to create highly interactive platforms.

It refers to means of interaction among people in which they create, share, exchange, and comment amongst themselves in different social networks.

It is a collection of website applications and other platforms that enable us to share or create content on various social network applications. Social media is an effective networking tool.

However, its use is a topic of controversy today about being a boon or a curse.  Nevertheless, it’s an unarguable fact that social media has made our lives easier and much faster.

As a paradigm shift from print and broadcast media, the use of social media has increased phenomenally in Pakistan, especially during the last twenty years. 

Websites like Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp, LinkedIn, Skype, and  Viber along with their techniques are widely and unsparingly used.   

These social networking sites  (SNS ) have become the most attractive tools for connecting people across the world.

In Pakistan in early 2023 there were 87.35 million internet users and 71.70 million social media users.  A total of 191.8 million cellular mobile connections were active in Pakistan in the early months of 2023 which is equivalent to 80.5 percent of the total population. 

Facebook is the most broadly used social media site in Pakistan with nearly 3 billion people using it monthly.

According to the latest data published in 2023, there are around 13. 91 million Instagram users, around 25.2 million TikTok users, and 9.1 million LinkedIn users in Pakistan.

There is a wealth of information available on the different aspects of social media. This article is confined to the use of social media by Pakistani adolescents and youth and its impact on them. 

Advantages of Social media for Pakistani youth.

• Social network sites have been recognized as a great resource for information and are beneficial for education. 
• Moreover, extensive use of social media is made for educational purposes by school, college, and university students through which they can access up-to-date information and news. Students can access and learn from live from prominent people in their fields at any time of the day.  Social media can help students nourish their knowledge with many teaching aids available online. Students can enhance their knowledge by reading blogs, articles, and write-ups by renowned teachers, professors, and prominent thinkers. 
• The use of social media makes it possible for people to connect with and interact with people across the world who share the same interests.
• Social media allows the social growth of society and helps many businesses. It provides tools for business promotion and marketing to reach millions of potential clients.
• It helps many national and International NGOs and other welfare societies to advance noble causes. 
• Most prominently, social media is a potent tool to aid the government in conducting its business scientifically in all its spheres. 
• In Pakistan like other developing nations social media is beneficial for promotion and is widely used for advertising.   People share their business products and services with the whole world. 
• Students and others can also generate income from social media by learning and understanding the concept of social marketing and working as a freelancer, through the use of working on brands, blogs, and Facebook ads.

Nevertheless, various authentic studies suggest the demerits of social media outnumber its merits.

Disadvantages.

• The overindulgence of teenagers in social media has affected family life, especially engagement with parents, siblings, and other family members. This leads to less emotional bonding with the family.
• Individuals who use SNS feel unproductive and distracted which has severe implications for physical and outdoor activities. 
• Another negative effect of excessive use of social media by the youth is cyberbullying. Victims of this often succumb to conditions of anxiety, self-isolation, and severe depression
• Teenagers also perceive that the social standing of a person is determined by the number of friends or followers. Hence creating false images of themselves.
• Another problem arising from the overuse of social media is sexting ie sending, receiving, and forwarding sexually explicit content which adversely affects the immature minds of adolescents/youth.  In a nutshell, other hazards and disadvantages of social media are as under :
• HackingThe loss of personal data can lead to security issues i.e. crimes like identity theft and bank details can be extremely hazardous. Prolonged use of social media can lead to addiction which causes the students to lose focus on other important things.
  • The Spread of fake news like wildfire clouds the importance of authentic news.

• Scams
  • Many predators are looking for vulnerable users that they can scam and blackmail for profit.
  • Honey traps and MMS porns are common frauds online. Youths are cheated, lured into relationships, and love schemes.
• Excessive use of social media can affect physical and mental health. There are complaints of being lazy, and obese, coupled with stress issues after excessive use. It also reduces face-to-face communication skills.

The discussion evidently shows that the use of social media has both positive and negative impacts.

It is rightly claimed that knowledge is power and people cannot harness its potential without disseminating it. However, if used excessively without caution, it can be dangerous and a public menace.Govt to approve National Artificial Intelligence Policy

The Writer is a student