Debilitating impact of social media goes unchallenged

A shocking revelation that social media is as much harmful as narcotics has come out at last from a team of clinical psychologists, neurobiologists, teachers and social scientists in North Carolina University in the USA. Though the research is being held in the US, the revelations that suggest that India, especially Kerala, is taking the brunt of the ill-effects of this technology, which had given high hopes by shrinking the world into a global village.

It is pertinent to note that adolescent girls as well as grown up females including middle-aged women in Kerala often fall prey to the predators lurching behind the social media cover. It is very frequent that news papers are reporting about the elopement of girls or women with their paramour whom they just acquaint through social media sites.

Why do girls fall prey to social media? Gerald Posner, an award-winning author of books like 'God's Bankers and Pharma says, "The research in this regard was held among adolescent girls shows that their brains are susceptible to social media. The pubertal hormones affect the brain a year or two before there are any physical changes. Those hormones flood the young brain with neurotransmitters responsible for feeling good and the urge for social interactions and acceptance."

It is pertinent to note that parents are ignorant about the ill-effects of social media and the effect it has on the brains of their adolescent children. Further study has to be held to understand the biological impact that the social media creates in the brain. Posner says it is worse than the impact made by narcotics. The social media giants try all kinds of tricks in the game to make people addicted to it. The children, especially the adolescents end up as speeding vehicles without breaks in this case. They lose the ability to read classics.

Once a man or woman creates an account with Facebook, Twitter or Instagram, he or she is being initiated in to the busy world of chatting with strangers oblivious of the dangers inherent in the use of the social media. Once he or she is aware of its inherent dangers, she or he can control or limit the use of the social media. The question whether science is life-destroyer or life-saver purely depends on how man/woman tries to use it.

Thus, if man or woman uses Facebook or Twitter excessively, it may lead to problems in his/her house or life. So, all those who use the social media excessively must control their activities and learn to limit its use by taking into account of the personal/familial or other responsibilities.

Ultimately, it should be born in our mind that science is for our comfort and welfare and it should not be the vice versa. If the use of social media kills our pleasure or peace, then we should learn to limit it or avoid it, for our life is more precious than the use of social media. So, let us first love ourselves, our family, our relationship and social responsibilities more than the use of the social media. If we set our priorities like that, there will be little problems with regard to the excessive use of social media in our life.

— TK Nandanan, Kochi