Social Media: Its
Use and Misuse
by
Dr. RGS Asthana
Senior Member, IEEE
Abstract
The definition of use or misuse is based
on the motive of the user. Social Media/ Networks are actually Web-based
services that allow people to construct a public, or somewhat public, profile. The
main purpose of social media apps is to enable communication and sharing of
info in text, picture or video formats with friends known or even unknown due
to which the chances of its misuse become higher. However, the overall impact
of social media the way people communicate and share information has been
positive; though, it has a dark side, as well.
In a very short span social media
has become a wonder – as the social media serves diverse audiences based on
common language, race, sexual preferences, religion, or nationality. Social media sites add new information and
communication tools, like mobile access, blogging, and photo and video sharing.
The current paper discusses some
of the common and popular methods of misuse and most importantly the positive use
of social media. The misuse has various kinds of dangers for the users of
social media and one need to be cautious and take adequate preventive measures
to ensure the safety of the user and his personal data as well.
Keywords
Prelude
In
Social Media (SM), the term ‘social’ refers to interacting with other people by
sending/sharing information and/or receiving information from them. The term
‘media’ refers to a mechanism of communication, like the internet [see 1, 2].
SM enables people to interact, share and exchange information in form of text, pictures,
videos, etc. through the Internet or VPNs. To be precise, social media connects
people even of different cultures regardless of their geographical
boundaries. Sites like FaceBook, Instagram, Twitter, Vine and Google+ have
created online communities [see 2] where people can share their personal
information as they desire. SM has become a medium to share information or to communicate
with your friends or even with unfamiliar persons on the fly. It is
now a common medium for people to express their opinions to others.
The dictionary meaning of
word misuse is to use wrongly or improperly. This is a highly
subjective definition so we need to bring one more angle say use should be within
social norm, note that I am not saying legal. Social Media is beneficial
when you use it right. It's not meant for stalking
people. It's [2] for knowing where people are, what people do, what
they think, ... Use of social media is like a surgeon’s knife - a very
sharp knife used in surgery – the use, however, depends on who possesses
it. If you give it to a surgeon or a
murderer, each will use it differently. Similarly, Social media is only a
medium and you decide what to do with it, e.g., who you wish to contact and
chat with on a subject of your choice [2]. You get
enormous freedom with 100% privacy and that is where one needs to be cautious.
And this probably is the main reason why teens like it and use it a lot. It, in
fact, gives you a feel that you can post anything and say anything to anyone or
post a selfie or a photo and or video and people [read friends] will see it and
comment. Persons sometimes post their
or others inappropriate pictures or video to attract attention of other users
or even a particular user intentionally or unintentionally and land themselves
in trouble without realizing that the content may get into wrong hands.
Businesses in India usually ban use of Social media in office. But
is it right? Does it affect business? It all depends on the role of employees. Businesses today need to figure out whom to
give access to SM so that business does not suffer.
Consequences of SM Misuse
Human interaction on social media apps let people create
content, share ideas, and interact with each other. However, misuse of social media can lead to consequences,
such as:
1. Your future may be
affected by misuse. One needs to remember that what you share online with
people stays online forever? For example, If you’re planning to go to college,
be careful as college admin may have access to what you post online, and if
they do not like what they see, it may become a factor in the decision making
and they may not accept you.
2. Some people have lost
their jobs because of a single tweet or Facebook status complaining about their
boss or job profile.
3. Putting up personal
information online can be extremely unsafe because people can find out a lot
about you and can either hold it against you, or even stalk you. Employers
today do access your SM profiles and see pictures of illegal actions.
Further, a brief on the risk factors of misusing SM:
Loss of Privacy
All social networking sites collect and place personal
information on the Internet, i.e., info is available to all in the world, as one
who knows how to handle privacy settings for these sites, will have access
to all your data. In fact, in a survey of British teens, it was found that 39
percent had posted something which they regretted later.
Sexual Predators [3]
Teens sometimes upload scandalous pictures or other personal
information, such as their phone number onto their profiles. Sexual predators may get access and misuse
such pictures or info. Such people try to make friends by chatting with teenager
as on social network by putting up a fake profile/identity.
Cyber bullying [3]
A cyber bully is someone who abuses another person through
the internet or other technology. Social networking sites are
often breeding grounds for such abuse. Students don't think twice about their actions
because the time between planning a prank and actually going through with it is
small on a social networking site
Time Consumption [3, 9]
Another problem with social networking sites is that they can be
very addicting and take up a lot of students' time. That time could be used for
more productive activities. A brief of Internet use in India is given [see 9]
below:
·
70% of online youth in India spend about an hour on the internet
in a week.
·
Internet access in India is still predominantly desktop based
(41%), however, 36% use laptops and 27% use smartphones and thus India’s youth
are constantly connected.
·
In terms of social networking platforms, Facebook is by far the
most popular site used (93%), followed by YouTube (87%) and WhatsApp (79%).
·
10-12 year old social account users report higher daily access to
Snapchat, and Vine than their teen counterparts, even though the minimum age to
register to these sites is 13 years.
Loss of Social Skills
Many of today's students feel more comfortable
chatting with a person online than talking in a verbal conversation. More
importantly, you can do all kinds of things you could never do in real life,
and you can give yourself a completely unique identity. Sometimes people
start to prefer their fake online lives to their actual lives, and this is when
social networking sites start to negatively affect social skills. Some argue
that there is even a mental disease that should officially be
labeled "Internet Addiction Disorder."
Positive Use of Social
Media in Community [4]
We give below some ideas and safeguards to follow to positive
and meaningful use of SM:
1. Follow a protocol to
enter into "friendship"
It is very important to
screen the people who are "friending" you. Don't accept everyone into
your social-media community. One way is to develop contacts/ friendship within similar organizations in
order to create awareness and transfer helpful information.
2.
Unfriend or unfollow annoying people
If there are people
within your SM community who get under your skin simply unfriend or unfollow
them.
3.
Use social media to gather feedback via surveys, polls and make
friends while in events and promotions
It is an ideal way and businesses
love to use it this way. You can ask
questions and crowd source new ideas. Coordinate your SM outreach with
your events and promotions and gather all useful info and make new friendships.
Use pictures, videos, and a narrative to
tell the human stories that inspire.
This may help in your job too. Use
your social presence to create new relationships and strengthen existing ones.
Share updates about your programs, mission, and events with people who attend
the event or take surveys. Promote your events. Attract a larger following by
sharing your message on the social web.
4. Be an authentic voice on
your SM outlets
You’ve got the facts, statistics,
research, and institutional knowledge already, so provide this knowledge as
content to share.
5.
Never lose your integrity.
If you repost something,
use as much caution as if you were the originator of the post.
6.
Be positive on SM
Don't be a complainer
who complains about everything. Let your words be encouraging and build up
people.
7.
Always stay focused and clear headed about your goals
SM may move stealthily
into something that is unhealthy and inappropriate. Stay focused and
clear-headed regarding your use of SM and how it represents you. Analyze and use SM data to uncover areas
in need and find ways to get involved. Use social media to reveal data about
your audience. This includes market demographics, relevant conversations and
where your audience spends their time on SM channels. Be on those channels and
listen.
SM Apps survival – Both Creators
and Users stay positive
Apps like FaceBook, InstaGram and YouTube incentivize their
users to create positive content. Vine [5] on the other hand is on decline as it does not have any
mechanism to reward content creators until recently, when it allowed select
Vine users to join Twitter Amplify. YouTube and FaceBook have revenue share
schemes since long for its creators. This has led marketers away from Vine as
it offers only limited opportunity for the creators.
Critics say key reason for decline of Vine – a micro-blogging
video platform where users can share six-second looping videos - is its failure
to moderate hate and filter out harmful comments. Both Twitter and Vine fall in this category. This negative sentiment forces creators
to perceive Vine as negative space on SM and is
key cause of exodus of creators as well as celebrities from Vine.
The two core reasons for decline of Vine appear to be technology
update vis-à-vis competition and Vine could not set up a mechanism to control
negative vibes. For example for technology related issue: Instagram announced the capability to
record 15-second videos in Jun., 2013; and now introduces 60-second Videos [7].
One example of negative vibes is Britanny Furlan [6] - a celebrity - who
received strong negative comments and left Vine and joined Instagram and also FaceBook where she says comments are more
positive. It may be noted that when a celebrity leaves a platform, those
advertisers who were associated with the celebrity also leave the platform
causing a revenue loss.
Wrap up
A selfie acts as window into a person’s world.
It’s often a representation of both attitude and lifestyle. Young people
are using social media as a way to share a narrative and what narrative they
decide to share is solely up to them.
This article describes three situations: viz. both
use and misuse of SM. It also speaks of platforms which are on decline as
either these platforms did not catch up with technology and/or were not able to
set mechanism in time to filter out negative sentiments or even haters.
Therefore, to remain in the fray social media apps have to use best available technology,
tools and meet expectations of users including celebrities who attract
advertisers and the revenue in the process.
Last but not the least you need to be physically fit to live
healthy and enjoy your presence on SM [9].
References
[2]
Life and Social Media, Dr. RGS Asthana, Senior Member, IEEE.
[3] Teens
and Social Network, Dr. RGS Asthana, Senior Member, IEEE.
[5] Vine
[6] Is
Vine All Withered Up?
[7] You
can now record 60-second videos in Instagram
[8]
Internet & Social Media Usage among youth in India: Mcafee Report
[9] Live Active and
Healthy by Dr. Geeta Asthana, Dr. RGS Asthana and Dr. Naresh K. Sinha,
Confluence International, p. 224, ISBN 978-81-86425-90-9, pages 224, 2014.
