Social Media: Advantages and Disadvantages

Social media networks are defined as web-based sites that enable people to express themselves and identify other people who share the same interests. Social networks are virtual communities that enable users to share ideas and interests and make new friends.

Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram are among the most popular social networking sites. The purpose of using these and other social media sites is to connect people to each other, stay in touch with their friends and relatives easily, and follow the latest news and activities.

Social networks come in many forms such as forums and blogs. The beginning of the social networks was in 1970 when the first e-mail messages were sent between two computers that were located in the same place. The first social networking sites were created in 1994 which gave users the opportunity to create their own sites and design. In 1997, the first instant messaging system was created under the name AOL, which is very much like the current social networking sites.

Social media has many advantages that make it different from other websites. This includes:

• The ability to create personal accounts; so users can sign in to their sites;
• The ability to create personal pages that enable the user to publish personal information about him such as biography, personal photos, or the latest activities of the person;
• The ability to interact with other users by making friends, creating groups, and following other users;
• The presence of news feeds could be a way to follow the latest news and news about users:
• The possibility of publishing and modifying content may be written messages, pictures, or videos;
• Users can interact with other users' publications and below by writing comments, expressing different opinions, and showing admiration for publications;
• Social networking has been used in many areas of human life; it has become a large part of life.
• These sites are used for several economic and marketing purposes, including where users can express their views on products through social networking sites so that the manufacturers can take advantage of these views in improving their products;
• It has made a big difference in the world of technology by allowing people to communicate wherever they are; meeting people with shared ideas, Job creation;
• It gives us the possibility of finding people with common interests, getting to know them, and communicating with them;
• It allows the speed of news dissemination and provides opportunities for business owners to develop their projects by taking advantage of the ease and speed of finding people who share certain interests;
• Social networking is a source of pleasure for some people;
• Social networking functionally helps journalists to access various events and news without having to move from one place to another;
• The promotion of goods and products legally and quickly, as the announcement through these sites more product publishing for people, more than the traditional advertising in magazines and newspapers, in addition to saving time and effort
• Providing job opportunities for researchers and interested people by publishing the required advertisements and conditions.

The benefits of social networks are numerous but do not go beyond their disadvantages; some of the negative aspects of social networking sites are so serious and they have a direct impact on human life and security. Some of the disadvantages are:

• Some people exaggerate in giving importance to user reactions from interactions, comments, and evaluations. To measure their status in the community, some people may be frustrated if their publications when do not receive positive feedback from followers or friends, and some people feel happy and satisfied when they receive positive interactions on sites Social networking.
• Bullying and tracking: Some users of these sites tend to track other users with the intention of harming them or simply having a passionate interest in them. Some other users may resort to technical tricks to hide their identities, allowing them to bully others using these websites.
• Poor sleep quality due to the prolonged use of light-emitting electronic devices.
• A distraction and leading to dangers and accidents, for instance, when using these sites while driving the vehicle;
• Increased opportunities for fraud and piracy as a result of the fact that personal information of users is likely to be transferred to the hands of thieves and fraudsters;
• Problems with the privacy of individuals due to the large quantity of personal information on these sites;
• Could be a source of inconvenience, especially when the user receives a lot of news that may not be important to him;
• A waste of time if not properly exploited; statistics have shown that 28% of the time spent on the use of the Internet is on social networking sites.

Impact on children: Parents no longer have control over their children because of this social media. The use of social media may limit the time children or parents have to communicate with each other. As well as parents face difficulties in guiding their children's behavior and specifically in the use of technology.

To influence communication: The interaction of people with different social networking sites negatively affects social relationships and human communication. The wife or husband spends a lot of time surfing the internet. This prevents family members from spending time together. This may lead to poor personal communication skills and poor family cohesion. As a result, a person who communicates with his family or friends online can not convey his feelings or see their nonverbal gestures such as body language and facial expressions.

The impact on marital relationships: social networking has caused risks to marital relationships. Dr. Darren Adamson, who holds a doctorate in medicine, is the head of marital relations and family science at North Central University, gave three potential risks for couples in using social media:

• Stay away from the partner: The use of social networking sites can become an addiction to many people, which makes the person away from the partner and less emphasis on their private life. The person who suffers from addiction to social networking may be nervous when moving away from them;
• Destructive comparisons of relationships: People often share their private lives, their travels, and their happiness on social media making others compare their lives to these things, leading to conflicts and disagreements between espouses;
• Betrayal: Some people may use social media to identify other people and this leads to betrayal of the partner and may lead to termination of marital life in the end.