18 Advantages and Disadvantages of Social Media You Didn’t Know About

Remember when people thought social media was just a fad? Well, things have changed, and the power of social media is only increasing.

Social media, which began as a communication tool, has expanded into a broad library of worldwide tools that can perform an extensive range of duties for brands and enterprises.

The mass adoption demonstrates what social media can achieve for your brand in the short and long term. Social media swayed every industry, whether it’s shopping, entertainment, cuisine, or real estate. 

With our daily lives reliant on the platform, have you ever wondered about the advantages and disadvantages of social media?

If you already haven’t done so, read on to explore!

But first, some basics.

What is Social Media?

Social media comprises applications and websites that allow users to develop and share content. Both individuals and brands leverage the platforms to engage with others and reach a wider audience. 

Social media also allows users to connect and build relationships. It’s more about communicating than posting or making announcements. What started as a luxury before is now a lifestyle for people. 

According to research and study, here are a few key statistics about social media:

• Globally, people spend an average of 2 hours and 25 minutes daily on social media.
• 93.33% of the social media population hunt for business on the platform.
• With over 2.9 billion monthly active users, Facebook has become the most popular online networking platform, followed by YouTube, WhatsApp, Messenger, and WeChat.

With over 4.76 billion users worldwide, social media platforms give you 4.76 billion different reasons to construct your business strategy around it.

Why Do People Share Information on Social Media?

Humans have been sharing information since the beginning of time. And today, word of mouth has become a status play. People have already started sharing finely-tuned content online to keep up with the time and pace. And having content that is liked, shared, or commented on is a massive boost for anyone on the platforms. In fact, 73% of people process information more deeply, thoughtfully, and thoroughly when they share it.

A fascinating study by New York Times Consumer Insight Group revealed users’ motivation for sharing information on social media. These reasons include,

1. Desire to share valuable and entertaining content: When we stumble upon something a friend, loved one, or colleague might find practical or riveting, we share it. Obvious!
2. To grow and nourish relationships: Sharing information helps us stay connected with other people. In a way, it’s a psychological spur to intensify your relationships.
3. To define their identity: Whether emotional, political, cute, or funny, what we share helps people get to know us– and see what we believe in.
4. To promote or advertise their brands and businesses: Unless you have leveraged the power of social media, it’s no secret your business isn’t receiving attention. Social media marketing boosts brand visibility and ensures that prying eyes reach your business.
5. To support or raise voices against the cause they support: Social media sites have become a great platform to express your views, ideas, and enthusiasm regarding trending issues. If you can’t take immediate action, let your voice reach millions with the power of social media.

These factors have caused social media platforms to evolve from being handy means of communication to being used in ways that really impact society. While some advantages and disadvantages of social media exist, we cannot deny its influence in business, politics, careers, innovations, and more.

Top 5 Impacts of Social Media

1. The impact of social media on politics: A new study reveals that about one in five U.S. adults acquire political news primarily from social media. Despite the advantages and disadvantages of social media, the platform’s influence in electoral campaigns has increased tremendously. Because social media allows people to communicate freely, it’s helping to create surprisingly influential social organizations among once-marginalized groups.
2. The impact on society:: Without social media, ethical, social, environmental, and political ills would have minimal visibility. Almost a quarter of the world’s population is on the platform and using the media to voice their opinions. Using the forum, each person with marginal views can see he is not alone. And when these people connect together, they can create something and break all the barriers. Increased visibility of ongoing crises has shifted the balance of power from the hands of a few to the masses.While social media activism brings increased awareness about societal issues, the question remains whether the understanding translates into tangible changes. Some argue that networking sites encourage people to express their views on phones and computers without actively engaging in real-life campaigns. Their support is limited to pressing a Like or Share button.
3. The impact of social media on business: In today’s digital world, you can’t find an organization that does not reach its prospects via social media. Businesses have already realized they can use the platform to generate leads, stimulate demands, and create targeted service offerings. Companies actively employ the forum to connect with diverse audiences and generate more revenues. Many studies also suggest social media in the workplace promotes knowledge sharing. Incorporating the strategy removes boundaries, curtails silos, and creates more adept workers.
4. The impact of social media on employment opportunities:: Social media platforms have a massive impact on recruitment and hiring. Professional networking sites like Linkedin are currently used by professionals from all fields. Apart from promoting their brand, these professionals announce lucrative openings at their companies through LinkedIn. They don’t go for the traditional ways anymore. According to CareerBuild’s 2018 social media recruitment source, 70% of employers use social media sites to scour job candidates.
5. The impact of social media on training and development: Social media has now contributed to the increase in long-distance learning. Social media platforms have designed courses tailored for people from all around the world. Blogs, wikis, LinkedIn, podcasts, Twitter, and Facebook- are some accessible sites for learning. A survey was conducted by OnePoll back in 2020 with 2000 U.S. parents and their high-school-aged children. The study showed 68% of students and 65% of parents believed social media is a nifty tool for education and will become a new high-school normal.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Social Media

Over the past few years, social media has grown astronomically. In fact, it has become a boon and bane in the modern world. 

While connecting you to the outside world, the virtual setting also alters your reality. So, let’s discuss the advantages and disadvantages of social media.

9 Advantages of Social Media

Here are the top 9 reasons why it’s imperative to be on social media:

1. Building Relationships and Staying Connected

The true beauty of social media lies in fast and smooth connectivity. With the platform’s assistance, you can connect to people globally. Communication goodness brings us closer, and social media is easily accessible.

Whether you have a new idea or opinion worth sharing with the world, social media platforms should be your go-to approach. Finding a close-knit community can help users feel valued and accepted.

The medium is also an easy way to nurture relationships with people who have moved away. With features like video calls, texting, and sharing photos– social media helps you stay connected.

2. Education

Did you know 70% of students use social media to discuss their assignments and tests with friends and peers?

The use of social networking sites in education is noteworthy. Both learners and educators can enroll in global collaborative programs to support constructive learning.

You can find thousands of teachers and mentors on the platform to administer to you. Users can follow or learn from them without paying a single buck. Since the for a are pretty self-intuitive, users of all ages and backgrounds can learn from these courses.

3. Source for Up-to-date Information

Remember when the world relied on newspapers and televisions for the latest information? But today, people can access up-to-date information with a tap of their fingers.

Social media platforms are great places to share and receive the latest information. Further, news from all over the world can spread like wildfire on social media. This can be an astounding benefit if you have to disseminate an emergency situation. 

For instance, someone in a small town lost his cat and can get the message out using social media. Everyone in the area can keep an eye out and report back immediately with information.

4. Social is Great for Income

One way to earn money from social media is by leveraging the platform and posting compelling content. Whether you’re a chef, singer, dancer, or a B2B expert– there are social channels to promote your content and make money here.

This doesn’t stop at cool and catchy posts. Think outside the box. Be different from the rest and bring a riff to your content. The ideas are endless, but remember to promote your brand for what it is.

5. Drive Traffic to Your Website

Did you know social media is a great platform to generate leads for your business website? If one of your goals is to increase inbound traffic, you can share gripping content and direct people to your website.

Businesses can boost traffic, leads, and sales by sharing striking information. The organizations can also run campaigns that align with their targeted audience through social media marketing and advertising. 

6. Social Assists in Forming Communities

Social media platforms play a critical role in forming communities. Most users use the platform to create groups or communities of the same interests.

People also form communities based on religion, beliefs, etc. Participants can discuss anything relevant to their interests and share completely new ideas. These are good media to discover and learn about the things you love.

7. Government Benefits From Socials

It might sound weird. But there are ways the government benefits from social media.

Over the years, social media platforms have become a reliable means for the government to communicate with the public. Instead of expensive campaigns using billboards, placards, and other resources– social media provides an inexpensive platform to deliver their message. Because the public widely uses social media, the government can use them to raise awareness.

8. Motivating Young People

There are innumerable successful entrepreneurs, businesses, and influencers on social media. This can inspire everyone, especially young people with big dreams and goals. Motivational speakers will openly share their knowledge to help you grow. Following their ideologies, dream big and change the world.

9. Launch Your Business

It’s a well-known fact that social media lets you launch and promote your brand. As a new business trying to get the word out about your incredible services, you can enlist lucrative discount offers using the platform to build an interested audience.

You can also share valuable content and create a brand voice that resonates with your customers. Social media is also an excellent place for established businesses to grow.

9 Disadvantages of Social Media

Unfortunately, the platform features some disadvantages that you might want to look out for:

1 Cyberbullying

One of the worst aspects of social media is cyberbullying. Whether you are a celebrity or a commoner, sudden made-up things about you that might pop up on the platform. Usually, it’s done to make victims uncomfortable. 

Mostly the sources are untraceable, and you have to let the world see your embarrassing moment. There might also be cases of harassing or threatening with a motive to extort money. People subject to bullying experience anxiety, despair, and high-stress levels.

2. Privacy Issues

Social media can tamper with your privacy. Sharing your location or card information online can cause severe security issues. Besides, posting something inappropriate or sharing too much information can cause affairs that might never be solved. And anyone on the platform can access and exploit your content without prior notice or permission.

3. Spending a Lot of Time on the Platform

Let’s face it! Social media is addictive and highly disrupts your daily life. People are choosing a sedentary lifestyle due to social media. Sitting for hours on your couch and using smartphones can result in health issues like fatigue, stress, blood pressure, obesity, depression, etc.

4. Distracted Mind

When we wake up or go to sleep, we have the impulse to visit social networking sites. And before you know it, you are late for school, the workplace, or work.

Social media creates distractions in the sense that it hampers our daily activities. Instead of focusing on the productive aspects of life, people are always on the run to gain more followers.

5. Decreases Quick-witted Skills

Quick-witted skills have become rare with the decrease in real-life conversations and face-to-face chats. The sense of love, friendship, enjoyment, and fun have all disappeared due to the effects of social media on mental health. Lack of physical conversation compromised the sense of humor skill and sporty tête-à-têtes.

6. Exploitation Risk

When businesses use social media, it exposes them to the risk of exploitation. Competitors might leave false negative information in the comment section that may affect your business. Competitors may also try to hack your account to spread inaccurate information.

7. Fake News

Social media plays a critical role in disseminating news. But fake news disperses faster than wildfire. Anyone can create misleading content about a trending situation and post it on networking platforms without verification. Your audience can share and pass it to other people and groups, causing an unwanted fuss in a country.

8. Causes Sleep Issues

Excessive use of the platform causes insomnia and other sleeping problems. And excessive use of the platform damages the sleeping cells in the human body, resulting in sleep disturbances. People who get less sleep are more likely to develop many disorders.

9. Getting Close to Depression

Suffering from depression is one of the potential drawbacks of social media. People who spend too much time on the platform get sad and lonely. Usually, social media increases FOMO, dissatisfaction, and feelings of inadequacy. These negative feelings affect your mood and worsen depression symptoms.

The debate about the advantages and disadvantages of social media never stops. However, there’s nothing to worry about if you use social media sites in moderation.

How to Reduce the Negative Impacts of Social Media?

Fortunately, there are ways you can minimize the negative impact of social media.

So, here are nine habits that you can consciously inculcate into your life to minimize the adverse effects of social media:

1. Move the social apps from your home screen. Having the app hidden can reduce the urge to open it.
2. Schedule your social media usage.
3. Be selective of what you share in the media.
4. Customize your feed and only follow pages that provide helpful content.
5. Don’t believe everything you see on the platform.
6. Connect with people who lift you up, not put you down.
7. Keep your content positive.
8. Make sure you have switched on the security settings accurately.
9. Put a watermark on the content you share.

Social Media Marketing as a Business Solution

The power of social media marketing is driven by the unparalleled capacity of social media in three core business areas:

• Connection
• Interaction
• Customer data

There’s no doubt about it. These days a business needs to be on social media. With over 4.74 billion people on the platform, there’s a potential customer that any business can access simply by signing up.

Social media is an incredibly diverse marketing strategy that lets you engage in ways we’ve never seen before. It’s personalized, and people love interacting with brands.

Here’s why leveraging social media marketing or SMM is a no-brainer:

Humanizes Your Brand

One of society’s prominent abilities is its power to humanize the brands people use regularly. Not only does it prop the business with likeness and vibe, but it also makes it more relatable. These platforms can help you build colossal customers and fans for a lifetime.

Comprehensive Competitor Analysis

Perhaps the most valuable asset of SMM is the ability to study your competitors. Through thorough analysis, you can understand,

• What are your competitors doing differently?
• How is your content strategy different from theirs?
• What sort of ads are they running?

You can use competitor analysis tools from the platform to better grasp the competition.

Build Backlinks and a Better Search Engine Presence

Shares and click-throughs via social represent a positive search signal to Google, making social media a sizable traffic source. The content receiving hundreds of likes and shares can drive significant referral traffic to your site.

Generate Leads Directly and Indirectly

Social media is a great tool to directly or indirectly generate leads. Platforms like Instagram, Facebook, and even Snapchat have introduced CTAs for brand accounts where businesses can showcase their products and services. So, make sure, it’s easy for people to convert through all the social media your brand uses.

Customer Feedback

Regardless of what you are selling, your business’s focus is the customers. Of course, people won’t trust your business once they find it. However, positive customer reviews and feedback on your business pages can develop a longstanding reputation. Brands should use this opportunity to restructure their company as a consumer-first operation. 

But SMM is not just about creating profiles and posting. It requires an evolving strategy with measurable goals like:

• Maintaining and optimizing profiles.
• Posting content that resonates with your brand and attracts a relevant audience group.
• Being active on the platform and monitoring your progress.
• Following and engaging with customers, followers, and influencers to build a community around your brand.

Conclusion

Now you know about the advantages and disadvantages of social media. But you can’t deny the importance it holds in our daily lives. If you are worried about using networking sites, don’t be. Just keep your software updated, and maintain your security settings under regular checks. And if it’s getting you down, take a break. After all, when you employ it correctly, it improves your life.

Zarin Tasneem

Juggling between a major in Mathematics and solving equations, writing allowed me to breathe. I am passionate about my fellow humans and drive inspiration from everything they do. You can find me brewing the perfect coffee when I'm not working. A motto I follow? Live generously, and don't be afraid to chase your dreams.