Social media is becoming increasingly popular amongst all age groups. However, sharing personal information on social media websites does have risks. Do you think that the advantages of social media outweigh the disadvantages?

Social media is a great platform to connect with friends and family. It enables people to trace long lost friends and stay in constant touch with family. This is a boon for people living away from their near and dear ones. Social media also enables like-minded people to form virtual communities where they can share their interests and opinions, and work together for their favorite causes. Similarly, for business savvy people, social media is an ideal place to find new customers and promote their products. On the downside, social media has plenty of negative aspects. Over the years, it has become a platform to show off. Now, many people are only using it to brag about their achievements and possessions. They frequently post on Facebook or Instagram photos and stories of their expensive acquisitions and exotic vacations. This can make their less privileged friends and acquaintances feel inferior. Another downside is that people are indiscriminately posting their personal information online oblivious to the fact that it can be stolen and misused. For instance, when traveling people use geo-tagging apps to advertise their current location, they increase the risk of their home getting burgled. Personal photos posted online can also be misused and sometimes the consequences can be disastrous. Worse than that, sometimes social media companies themselves sell user data for making a profit, which may as well be used by phishers and scammers. In short, social media can be a great platform to connect with people only when it is used for its intended purpose, but in reality, these days, it is for many people merely a means to show off, and for others it is a goldmine of personal data to exploit, which explains why I am overall convinced that its downsides outweigh the upsides.