Perils of unregulated use of social media

THE EDITOR, Madam:

Social media has trespassed significantly on our lives and has eroded much of what was once considered the ‘real world’. The benefits of social network are many – as it allows us instant access to world news and useful research information at our fingertips. It allows us to stay connected to families and friends from the comfort of our homes.

However, social platforms have equally infringed on our reality and our humanity in negative and unfortunate ways. The unregulated increase in the use of technology and social media seems to have fulfilled the day Albert Einstein once said he feared: “I fear the day when technology will overlap with our humanity. The world will have a generation of idiots.”

Obviously, the inseparable attachment to social sites has profoundly changed our outlook on life and even warped our current truths. The following is a quote on the social media and youth mental health from the US Surgeon General advisory, 2023. “While social media may have benefits for some children and adolescents, there are ample indications that social media can also have a profound risk of harm to the mental health and well-being of children and adolescents.” Could the huge obsession with social networking be the root cause of many social ills that plague society?

For instance, the options for forming friendship and meaningful relationships become so much easier for someone who is shy and conservative; but at the same time, it has opened up the dangers of imposters to abuse it. This would explain the increasing risks of betrayals, distrust and depression, and suicidal tendencies.

Could the social media mania explosion explain the increase in road accidents and fatalities? More people do fiddle with their cell phones while driving, myself not totally excluded.

Maybe an Instagram reel, a WhatAapp chat or some other pleasant electronic distractions. Social media addiction has been so much embedded in us and has warped our current state of mind that a crime or murder may become indistinguishable from a motion picture event. Crime, along with insensitivity, are bound to increase when we make social media our master.

HOMER SYLVESTER

Elmsford, New York