Nowadays, almost everyone is on one social networking site or another. Some people believe that there are downsides to posting personal data on social networking platforms. In my opinion, this is true to a great extent and I generally believe that the drawbacks of using social media eclipse the benefits.
Social media websites and applications allow people to connect with friends and family. They enable people to trace long lost friends and stay in touch with relatives. This is a boon for individuals 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 favourite causes. Similarly, for business savvy people, it 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. 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/or misused. For instance, when traveling people use geo-tagging apps to advertise their current location, they increase the risk of their home being burgled. Personal photos posted online can also be misused and the consequences can be disastrous. Worse than that, sometimes the owners of such platforms sell user data for 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 convinced that its downsides outweigh the upsides. 
Nowadays, almost everyone is on one  
social
 networking site or another.  
Some
  people
 believe that there are  
downsides
 to posting  
personal
 data on  
social
 networking  
platforms
. In my opinion, this is true to a great extent and I  
generally
 believe that the drawbacks of using  
social
  media
 eclipse the benefits.
Social  
media
 websites and applications  
allow
  people
 to connect with friends and family. They enable  
people
 to trace  
long lost
 friends and stay in touch with relatives. This is a boon for individuals 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  
favourite
 causes.  
Similarly
, for business savvy  
people
, it 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.  
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/or misused.  
For instance
, when traveling  
people
  use
  geo-tagging
 apps to advertise their  
current
 location, they increase the  
risk
 of their home  
being burgled
.  
Personal
 photos posted online can  
also
  be misused
 and the consequences can be disastrous. Worse than that,  
sometimes
 the owners of such  
platforms
 sell user data for 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 convinced
 that its  
downsides
 outweigh the upsides.