Satish Singh Manhas
A brief from a speech made by the Chief Justice of India ” Justice N V Ramana” at Siddhartha Law College, Vijyawada, Hyderabad as: “New media tools have enormous amplifying ability, but appear to be incapable of distinguishing between right and wrong, good and bad and the real and fake”. Social media is superficial and artificial. It is not realistic. It is an addiction. Any addiction has consequences. It shows and portrays adulterated and faltered history, faltered politics, faltered economics etc. It has the potential to create an avoidable strain. Eye sight at times is also an area at loss in many cases. It leads to physical inefficiency and lethargy. Missing Outdoor activities as a result of over occupation on social media causes a great physical loss and mental retardation to youngsters. It has consequences for other age groups as well. Social media is a time killer. It is a hurdle to progress. It has the potential to make everyone more imaginary than realistic. Social media itself gets knowledge from books and presents it in a distorted manner as it suits fit. It has an agenda in most of the cases. Facebook, whatsapp earn billions from our leisure on facebook, instagram and whatsapp etc. we pass time, exhaust our valuable energy and the masters of these APPS earn billions. It has a bad impact on social cohesion. Family and social togetherness is being dented and badly lost. Social cohesion is at danger; informal education of parents has taken a back seat to these social media apps for their kids. The immediate consequence of social media is “Being nearer has made us practically farther”. Many families have even broken down as a result. Many are in trouble. Many youths and kids consult doctors to repair their eyesight and relief from avoidable stress. Eating, drinking while holding a phone in hand has a medically proven severe impact on the health and growth of kids.
It has retarded growth: physical, mental, moral and psychological as well. Minimal and productive use is a welcome step. But as the saying goes “Excess of everything is bad”, so does it applies to social media. Although it has connected us as a global village. But at the end of the day everyone has to “Plough his own field” to feed himself. Mere connecting won’t fill the belly. It has become a propaganda tool as well. Many people use it as an agenda weapon. The biggest impact of social media is that it has dented our being physically together and oneness. It has greatly reduced the face to face interaction necessary for growth of society at large. Many rituals like greetings, mourning’s, blessings etc are being routed through social media. This is really a dangerous trend. Moreover, more than sufficient of the stuff circulated on whatsapp and facebook is just a bogus, a lie, fake and agenda based.
It is hazardous. Young generations have no knowledge or are lagging behind in facts of history, science; society etc. social media is taking this toll very badly. Missing to read the books is just suicidal for the youth. They just have ready-made material which can make them sail easily for the time being but can’t make them survive in the long run. It is just like knowing the ingredients of “Khichdi” but never knowing its taste and preparation procedure. Social media has deprived the youth of practical and broad based knowledge.
So the advice is “books are supreme, unmatchable”. Books are complete stuff and can make you a complete professional. Social media knowledge can make you sail through the waters but if caught in between has no capability to bring you back or make you survive. Minimal social media and maximum books can make the youth practical, realistic, progressive and successful. Knowledge obtained from social media is just like building a body with “Maggi and Momo ” instead of “Desi Ghee Desi Doodh”. Knowledge obtained from social media also does not fulfill Gandhi Ji’s meaning of education as “all round development of body, mind and soul” ; it has the potential to retard physical and mental growth if used in excess. Another important aspect, why social media is so popular in our country is that we are the biggest market in the world and “Jo Kahin Nahi Tikta Vo Hindustan Me Bikta” applies to social media as well. So lastly but not least, social media is less a “Boon and more a Bane”. Only youth is dealt with in the article.
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