Today, the world is driven by millennials. The generation Y is a generation driven by their fresh ideas, passion, and geeky attitude in whatever they do. But let’s not ignore the other side of it, which is bad and ugly.
Social Media As A Platform For Change
The good thing about the present generation is their willingness to communicate. It has become a tool for driving social change. Especially social media in these times has become a space for verbal dialogue and has brought to the forefront issues that were never discussed before.
For instance, the #MeToo movement that made people open up on incidents they were earlier hesitant to talk about. Celebs like Nana Patekar, Vikas Bahl, and Alok Nath have been accused of sexual harassment.
Let’s not forget how people on social media favored decriminalizing homosexual relationships that resulted in the Supreme Court partially striking down Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code.
The Bad Side Of The Viral Content
Yes, social media has been extremely helpful in terms of providing a voice to the issues that are ignored but on the other hand, it is often misused in terms of hoaxes, challenges and even as a medium to gain false sympathy. A few days ago, the news of MDH Owner ‘Mahashay’ Dharampal Gulati’s death was fake. The #KikiChallenge in which people were dancing by coming out of their moving car was risky. What are we doing this for? To gain peer acceptance; however, this is not the way to go about it.
As per a report by the International Journal of Computer Applications Technology and Research (IJCAT), 73% of the teens these days are on some or the other social media platform.
The Ugly
Remember the Jasleen Kaur Harassment Case in which the St. Stephens College student had accused Saravjit Singh Bedi of harassment in the national capital? The incident had come to light with Jasleen’s Facebook post. The case dates back to 2015 when Saravjit Singh was accused of eve teasing. It was recently reported that Singh has attended all the hearings while Jasleen had attended none.
Such incidents show the ugly side of the new media, which may even lead to a permanent damage to people’s reputation and self-respect.
Not only this but social media also creates the pressure to build an online image on millennials, which further leads to a number of psychological problems.