Social media plays a big role in our society at this very moment. At some point, people made it the center of their lives. It's like a necessity that they can't live without. There are countless pros and cons for this matter. Some may already be visible and the rest are yet to be discovered.

Billions of people worldwide are now social media users, for a lot of different reasons. May it be as a medium of communication, business or for plain personal motives. It has indeed affect our lives and our way of living. In line with that, her are few of the advantage and disadvantages of social media.

Advantages

Communication

Instead of using telegrams and hand written letters and postcards, we now have different social media messengers which allow us to communicate with our loved ones in real time. We can even talk to them via video call to help us feel as if they are not staying from a far. We need not to wait for ages before messages to arrive in our mail boxes.

Up-to-date News

Nowadays, we don't need to head out of our cribs to buy a newspaper, and be informed of the latest update about the world. With just few clicks, everything is right in front of you. From politics to entertainment and to sports, name it all and social media is to the rescue. Most of the time, what are written on papers, are just as good as what you see on screen.

Marketing Strategy

There are tons of marketing strategies in the current circulation, and social media must be the easiest and the least costly of them all. It's even free most of the time. You can post about your business and let the audience do the talking. In split second, hundreds or thousands of people may have already seen the post and it may even go viral.

Business Opportunities

Social media circulation has been a home for online businessmen. From wardrobes, gadgets, accessories and the likes, name it, social media got it covered. Online selling and reselling has been patronize by the consumers for so many reasons. To drop a few, it's cost efficient, not time consuming and easy shopping. It should be a good start for business ventures. Lesser expenses, wider scope of target consumers.

Disadvantages

Miscommunication

In connection with the first advantage mentioned above, social media may also cause arguments due to miscommunication. We apply emotion on text, and we read it differently. Things of the same content may look and sound different when read and verbalized. Not mentioning our current mood while reading messages. Most of the time, recognizing facial expressions during a conversation, is more precised than reading a plain text.

Fallacies and Hoax

This is a common thing on social media. Everyday, hundreds of fake articles and news, comes out from different social networking sites. This fake news and hoaxes are causing a lot of trouble to the general public. Most people nowadays are believing on what's being posted, and those lies continue to spread worldwide.

Misunderstandings

As being said, most people believe on whatever they read on social media. Numerous hearsay and lies are circling around that virtual environment. Friends become foes, families become enemies and enemies become friends. Good people would look bad, and bad people would look good. There's a never ending turmoil and chaos.

Stress and Depression

Needless to say, social media has found its way to be the center of people's lives. We are at the point where likes are the source of self esteem, and followers are the basis of self-worth. We get paranoid that people might not like us, basing on the number of likes we get for a picture we have posted. We stress ourselves out upon reading the comments from people who don't like us, and in a way we question ourselves whether its true or not.

These are just few of the advantages and disadvantages of social media. It can be constructive or destructive, either way, we have the full ability to control it. Along with all the other things technology has brought us, we have the choice whether to control it, or let it control us. You decide!