The present age has brought a mixture of advantages and disadvantages with new technologies that has caused a great change globally. This can be seen as there is a transformation from what technology was in the past.
Technology is evolving everyday due to increase in knowledge impacted through the boom in digital revolution and new media, especially social media.
According to Wikipedia, social media can be described as computer mediated technologies that facilitate the creation and sharing of information, ideas, career interests and other forms of expression via virtual, communities and networks.
Some of the applications include: Facebook, Whatsapp, Instagram, twitter, LikedIn, Snapchat, Google, Skype, Messanger, Telegram, and so on.
Adebayo Shittu, the Minister of Communications said “about 75 percent of Nigeria’s population that use the internet are on social media; and the number keeps growing on both social networking sites and blogging sites.”
The emergence of internet has brought about a change in economic, political, intellectual, and socio-cultural interaction in the world today. The Internet and social media offers lots of benefits for youths.
The social media aids social interaction especially among youths. It enables them to create and exchange information in one way or the other via technological devices and ensures connection between friends when they are not able to see each other.
Youths are said to be the most active users of social media. The platforms have given the youths the voice to express themselves.
Social media keeps you up to date with things going on around your environment and things you are not familiar with. For example, with the emergence of blogs, people get the latest news on social media, ranging from politics, business, entertainment, etc.
Youths can also use the platforms to express themselves and develop social skills like writing, reading, acting, calculations, business and lots more.
However, social media has its negative sides. One of it is that youths are sometimes exposed to social vices. Another disadvantage is that youths can get addicted to it and abandon other important aspect of their lives.
Youths are also prone to giving false impression about themselves on social media in addition to engaging in violence due to what they are exposed to.
Social media is a good introduction to today’s world, but it can result in ills if not managed properly.
