The 21st century is also known as the digital age, where Internet is at the heart of everything. It is one of the biggest inventions in the history of society, which people use to find solutions to their problems, to communicate or even to raise awareness for different causes. Nowadays social media platforms are a fast-growing trend in our society. According to the Global Web Index, our society spends on average two hours a day on social medias and its usage is increasing on a rate of two minutes per day every day. But unfortunately, as every other thing, these medias are not always used for good purposes. People use this form of communication in an evil manner to harm other humans who are weaker, by spreading information that is not theirs to profit from.  
 

Firstly, cyberbullying is a worldwide problem that has increased a lot during these years. It is known as a repeated use of technology to harass, harm and intimidate others, a phenomenon which has led many teenagers to hurt themselves. Several studies online say that girls are three times more likely to become victims of this phenomenon. Being behind a computer or a smartphone has made it easier for people to be fearless of the consequences their action might cause to others. According to a U.S article, 59% of individuals aged 14-24 years old were exposed to suicide because of social media content. The cyberbullying phenomenon has negatively impacted people’s mental health and according to the statistics, there has been an increase in people experiencing sign of anxiety and depression. In 2016, an 18 years old girl from Texas, whose name was Brady Vela committed suicide in front of her parents because of cyberbullying. For years, she was constantly bullied for her weight from people who would create fake accounts on Facebook to send threatening messages to her for being fat and ugly. But out there it is not only Brandy, there are millions of boys and girls who fall victims of these cruel bullies, whose intentions are to cause the victim a sense of guilt, shame, fear, loneliness, or depression.  
  

Secondly, another disadvantage is that social media is making us become addicted. The first thing most of us do in the morning as soon as we open our eyes or the last thing we do before going to sleep is to check our social accounts. This addiction has negatively caused lack of emotional connection between us. Every time you go in a bar or a restaurant you see people scrolling on their phones. These people spend more time with their electronic devices to capture a good picture of their drinks or meal rather than having a real face to face communication with their family members or friends. This addiction has caused people to lose their productivity as now they are more concerned to check their notification on how many likes they got on their last post rather than use that time to create something. It is starting to destroy our society, because we care more of how other perceive our adventures rather than how much we enjoyed them. We are addicted to other’s content, always comparing our lives with that of the others. Addiction has also caused health problems to people. Instead of exercising, walking, and doing adventures in the nature, people now use their time to navigate online, leading us toward an obese society. Addiction has also affected people’s mental health, making them to feel insecure about themselves. In the “Social Dilemma” movie on Netflix, it is shown how the syndrome called Snapchat dysmorphia is making teens undergo plastic surgeries so they can look more like they do on filtered selfies. 
 

Last but not least, another dark side of social media is how easily people can invade other’s personal information by hacking their security system. Nowadays it has become increasingly dangerous to understand if the person behind the screen is really who they claim to be. A lot of teenagers become prey of many cyber criminals and predators, dangerous people who take advantage of the information we share. I remember the movie “Trust,” in 2010, where a pedophile targeted a fourteen years old girl. He manipulated this young girl about his age and appearance, sending her fake pictures. The movie, which was based on a real-life experience ended up in a tragedy for Annie and her family right after the moment she and the predator met each other. 

Even though, social media is negatively affecting the society, we cannot deny that these platforms have contributed into significant changes in human’s life. They have made it easier for all of us to communicate, connect and share our experiences with each other faster. Now people can use these medias to tell different stories and communicate with their families, relatives, or friends all around the globe. These social networks have also helped me and my family to communicate with my sister who lives in America, making it easier for all of us to feel closer to her. Another positive effect is the fast accessibility people have to a variety of information on different fields. It has also helped different businesses, celebrities, and bloggers to promote themselves, share, connect and communicate with their audience online, using different online marketing strategies. Last but not least, another positive advantage of social medias is the effect it has on solving crimes. Being able to share live locations and post every living minute of our lives, has helped the police, detectives, and investigators to track and find evidences that might vary from small issues like bullying or illegal drugs to bigger crimes such as murder.  

To conclude, when social media platforms were firstly created, their purpose was to socialize people, bring people closer, help them to share and connect their life experiences with each other. But instead, it is making us humans more and more unsocial every day. They have changed the way we live our life from the way we get news to the way we interact with people. Despite the positive effects, the disadvantages it has are starting to have more impact on our society. It is destroying the connection people have with each other, it has become a place to hate and be hated, a place to judge and finally a place to harm those ones who are weaker.