How ‘Social’ Has Social Media Made Us?

In this era of technological advances, Gen Y’s idea of socialization has changed radically. Texting and posting on social media is the modern substitute for hanging out with friends and peers. Technically, it has increased our realm of socialization so that geographical boundaries do not matter anymore. But what is the ground reality?

Internet addiction is one of the commonest complaints put forward by parents of teenage kids. Another common complaint is disinterest in socializing in the real world. Youth today are like isolated islands, glued to their i- pad, i-pod and all kinds of intelligent gadgets, lost in the  virtual world. This has not only affected their real life communication skills, it has also wreaked havoc in their academic careers by serving as a major source of distraction. Millennials are turning to psychiatrists, psychologists and grooming experts frequently to improve their public relation skills, overcome social anxiety and cope with ‘workplace stress and harassment’. Looking back, was this so necessary some decades back when our real world did not  shrink to gadgets? As we professionals keep telling such young clients, the best way to learn ‘people skills’ is by getting out there and communicating with them in real time. Surprisingly, it is quite a challenge for many young people to start doing that. It is simply a pattern of socializing that they are not comfortable with. Many clients even go to the extent of calling themselves ‘socially awkward’. Oddly, this awkwardness is quickly overcome once they start real life socializing on a regular basis!



Social media applications were designed to keep people hooked. Therefore, it does not come as a surprise that kids and teenagers are struggling to keep away from overuse of the internet. Parents and teachers are at their wits end regarding this new menace. Grades are going down, the child is becoming more distractible and irritable. Also, the constant race for popularity on social media has kids taking up risky challenges and posting endless pictures on social media. Life is worth as many ‘likes’ one gets on virtual media. Kids today are growing up in a virtual world, miles away from the ground reality, thanks to superbly edited social media posts. They are judging people by their online profiles. Not only is their judgement getting impaired, they are opening themselves up to the dangerous world of cyber crime.

The real challenge is dealing with this monster we have created. The best way to get the best of both worlds is to manage the amount of time we spend for recreation on the internet. Most smartphones today have a feature called ‘digital well-being', that allows one to regulate the amount of time they intend to use a particular distracting application. That is a real smart way of using a smartphone!

Another great idea is to filter the amount of social media feed that we want to receive. With a little technical know-how, this can easily be controlled, so that we do not end up scrolling through endless junk every time we are online.

And for anyone who wants to focus on more important things, turning off social media notifications on the gadgets is where you should start. Work will be so much easier if one is not distracted every other second by someone’s vacation updates!

For people with young kids, it is absolutely essential to engage the child in group activities and encourage socialization so that they grow up to be confident young individuals capable of handling peer relations at workplace and personal life. As children learn best by example, it goes without saying that staying glued to your gadgets while spouting away on the benefits of socialization to your child will be of little help.

In summary, if used smartly, we can still reap the benefits of technology without having to pay a hefty price for it.

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