Kiranjot Kaur

Prof. Terryl Atkins

VISA-1500(02)

October 28,2021

With the increasing usage of internet, people are increasingly devoting themselves to the usage of several social media networks available worldwide. I make use of a variety of such applications in my day-to-day life, but the ones which I use the most are Instagram and Whatsapp.

Instagram is one of the most prominent apps used in today’s world, and almost every other person uses it to some extent. It is a great platform to share one’s pictures, videos, and thoughts in the form of posts, stories or reels free of cost. One can use this application in multiple ways, which can be to create or upload content, share someone else’s posts or videos, or to simply scroll through the various uploads by people all over the world. It even allows the user to communicate with both familiar and unfamiliar people via chat, video calls as well as audio calls. A newly introduced feature allows the user to buy or sell various items ranging from key-chains to branded apparels on the marketplace. It works towards spreading awareness about the issues prevailing worldwide, along with people’s own views about that issue. Additionally, it allows a person to have a control over their uploads and other information by providing them a choice of keeping their profile public or private.

However, like every other thing, this comes with several drawbacks. The freedom to express one’s views upon any incident or post by another user, allows some people to misuse this opportunity by bullying or harassing others, spreading hate, or spreading false information over the platform. Sometimes, it even results into individuals comparing themselves with other users, physically or even economically, which ends up having bad impacts on one’s mental health and self-esteem. Also, sometimes I spend a huge amount of time scrolling through Instagram while not realizing it, and end up procrastinating or delaying a lot of productive and essential things I could have done, or was required to do, in that time period.

Whatsapp, on the other hand, is majorly known as a source of communication. It allows us to communicate with people all over the world through text messages, and audio and video calls. The reason why I prefer using this application for  communication over several other apps available, is that Whatsapp is specifically designed for communication, and unlike other apps it does not distract the user with the presence of variety  of other features. One can only use this for uploading stories or for communication. In other apps like Snapchat, Facebook or Instagram which have endless engrossing features, I often end up getting involved in some other activity and even forgetting to communicate with the person I originally intended to, while opening the application. However, you need to have the numbers already saved on the phone to communicate with them.

I am more of an introverted person, due to which I mostly use Instagram for viewing other people’s posts and stories only, and very occasionally share my own. My last post on Instagram was a week ago, which was almost a month later than the previous one. However, my frequency of uploading a story on Instagram is more than that, with 1-2 stories every 2-3 days. The stories are mostly the posts which I liked or related to, about an event taking place somewhere in the world, or sometimes my own pictures or videos. On the other hand, I use Whatsapp only to exchange information or have a hearty talk with my peers or my family and friends, and very rarely upload a story on it. Moreover, I have observed that over the years, my usage of the social media applications is constantly decreasing. This is because I have started monitoring my activity-time to prevent over-usage, and also because I have become more indulged in other more important tasks, leaving me with lesser time to interact with these platforms.

Overall, social media networks nowadays are getting more of an addiction rather than being useful and productive. We all, and especially youngsters, need to monitor their usage to prevent themselves from the negative impacts, and benefitting from the positive ones.

References:

Rumy, S. B. (2021, July 22). What are The Pros and Cons of Instagram? – A Detailed Guide. Retrieved from https://technicalustad.com/pros-and-cons-of-instagram/.