Use of Social Media by Rural Youth in India: A Boon or a Bane

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Today is the world of technology and social media plays a very important role in developing the rural area of our country. Media is undoubtedly very vast and powerful mode of communication. Social media plays a key role in the development of the rural youth in India. Rural areas are the most important part of India whose 70 percent of the population lives in villages. “The true India is to be found not in its few cities, but in its seven hundred thousand villages. If the villages perish, India will perish too.” -M.K.Gandhi. Social Media refers to the web-based tolls and media that allow users to personally and informally interact, create, share, retrieve and exchange information and ideas in virtual communities and networks. Social media includes social networking sites, blogs, micro-blogs, online forums, discussion boards and groups, Wikipedia, socially integrated text messaging. The youth are not matured enough to differentiate between fantasy and real life. Apart from this, over utilization of social media decreases the amount of time available for pursuing other activities which are useful for their physical and mental health and spending time with their family members. The revolution of communication in India over the last decade is astonishing. Technology has been growing at a rapid rate to accommodate the needs and desires of people in obtaining a simpler and more efficient lifestyle. One of the greatest technologies to hit this 21st century is the cellphone. At present, India is moving from an agrarian based economy to service-based economy. Consequently, the youth of India has turned tech savvy with the new electronic media channels, eg., radio, satellites, television channels, mobile phones, laptops and computers with mobile internet. This has proved to be a powerful force in the social transformation of urban as well as rural youth of India. The present electronic era has both its pros and cons. The electronic era not only provided better, faster and improved working ability of young people but also an emergence and new form of disorder in Indian youth. Since the last decade, the over utilization of social media is an ongoing activity which is increasing at an alarming rate and leading to addiction form among the Indian youth which is a serious concern. Problems arising from over utilization of social media have been documented worldwide including in India, where the use of social media has increased noticeably. Social media refers to websites and applications that are designed to allow people to share content quickly, efficiently and in real time. Social media are interactive computer mediated technologies that facilitate the creation and sharing of information, ideas, career interest and other forms of expression via virtual communities and networks. The variety of stand-alone and built in social media services currently available introduces challenges of definitions. The definition of social media has changed over a period of time, has been broadened and explained by many scholars through various perspectives. There is no precise definition of social media, however, speaking on a majority scale, believe that social media network is linked heavily with social networking sites, micro-blogging, various internet forums etc.