Social media to most can be seen as a controversial topic. This is due to the fact that different people have their own impression of the effects of social media. Many times, the youth are patronised for spending the greatest part of their day browsing through the different social media sites we have; Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and Snapchat. A fair share of grownups have a biased outlook on the repercussions of social media but I think they just need be acquainted on some of its benefits.

One of the advantages of social media is that it gives the youth a platform to express their views and voice out what they would normally shy away from saying. This enables them to be more outspoken and not be afraid of airing out their entitled opinions.

Social media also permits the youth to reach out to people on a global scale. These media outlets can be used as a tool to bring to people the awareness of various activities, events and school fundraisers that other peers might be intrigued by.

On the other hand, our superiors do have a right to worry about the endless hours we spend on social media. We spend a massive amount of time on screens rather than face-to-face time with our friends and family. It reduces the ability for us to interact with others on a speaking level.

Additionally, most of these media outlets tend to release negative energy. People out there, commonly known as ‘haters’, utilise this platform to bring down other people’s self-esteem. They do this by sending hurtful comments with no good intentions. This is truly wrong and the youth shouldn’t engage in such.

There are two ways of looking at the effects of social media on the youth today. However, I believe that it all depends on whether you control the usage of the media outlets, or you let it control you.

editorial@newtimes.co.rw