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Social media: A double-edged sword

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Social networking sites have changed the manner in which people communicate with each other. Today everybody has an account on these websites as it has become one of the cheaper and faster medium to convey ones thoughts. Youngsters are glued to these sites as they share photos, links, messages and updates with their friends. Today, youths have become addicted to social networking sites that they can’t imagine a life without it. Many of them post hourly updates about the incidents occurring in their lives.

If someone attends a party or birthday function they post those photos on social media sites. Thus a trend has begun today that one needs to seen and heard. If youths don’t update their statuses they feel that they are missing something in life. Most of them indulge in these activities in order to gain acceptance from their friends. They feel better if somebody likes their comment or gives positive feedback to them.

Celebrities too have started actively using social networking sites to comment about the events unfolding in the country. Priyanka Chopra is an avid user of Twitter and has around 3 million followers on the website. She often updates netizens about the shooting, premieres and functions attended by her. Sonam Kapoor too uses this medium to interact with her fans. On the flip side, it has been observed that many celebrities have quit social networking sites or have started spending lesser time on it after receiving negative comments from users.

Last year Shah Rukh Khan quitted twitter after he had quoted in a magazine that allegations have been made against him for bearing allegiance to the neighboring country instead of his own nation. The actor’s comments created a furore as some people had asked him to quit the country. Even Pakistan intervened in this matter by asking India to provide security to Shah Rukh. Shah Rukh also has said that he will only mediate with his fans through a manager to handle his tweets.

Meanwhile, Aamir Khan too has taken a break from Twitter and has decided to maintain minimum updates via his facebook account. Aamir’s nephew Imran Khan too has followed his footsteps and has bid adieu to Twitter. According to him even though social networking sites are a good medium to interact with fans but at times they become more interested in knowing about an actor’s personal life. Imran decided to take a hiatus after his account was spammed.

Actor Saif Ali Khan and his wife Kareena Kapoor has chosen to stay away from social networking sites. Saif is not interested in sharing details about his personal life with everyone. According to him, stars should concentrate on their work and there must be a gap between them and fans. He also doesn’t feel the need to be answerable to anyone. Kareena Kapoor says that she is too busy with her career and personal life to take time out to interact on Twitter.

Robert Vadra had quit facebook in the aftermath of his banana republic comments in what meant to be retaliation of the corruption allegations made against him. Former Australian Cricket Team’s coach Mickey Arthur boasted of having more than 33,000 followers on Twitter. However, he has refrained from posting comments on the website after players like Shane Watson, Mitchell Johnson, Usman Khawaja and James Pattinson were suspended. Arthur thanked his genuine supports and deleted his twitter account.

Director Zoya Akthar said that she is not interested in knowing too much about what others are doing on social networking sites. Zoya also doesn’t want to talk about her work on this forum. Thus one can say that people should not join social networking sites just for the sake of gaining popularity but they should realize that it’s an open forum where anybody can criticize anyone. Finally, netizens must note that social media is a double-edged sword and one will have to accept both bouquets and brickbats.

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