Social media has really revolutionized our lives. Whether it’s education or finance, communities or games, everything is under an immense impact of social media.
With over 5 billion users around the globe it is the biggest community in the world which has the power to connect and disconnect people at the same time.
If you are looking for the advantages and disadvantages of social media in 2025, congratulations because you are in the right place because this article is embarking on the journey of in depth exploration of the world of social media.
Let’s get started
Advantages of social media
Let’s start with the basic advantages of social media in 2025. There are numerous advantages of social media such as:
- The boom of online communities
Social media has made the world more and more interconnected. With over 5 billion users worldwide, one can say it is the biggest community hub in the world. We have the group options on facebook, we have broadcast channels on instagram, we have whatsApp communities and much more.
Modern societies are more connected on social media than in physical communities because conversation is much more convenient on social media.
- The global shift in businesses
Through social media you can set up an ad campaign and target specific audiences regarding gender, behavior, age and location making businesses flourish in a targeted space.
You can also drive this engagement directly to your website to convert users into potential customers.
Social media influencers influence people to buy products and services. For instance, almost half (49%) of social media users make a purchase after getting inspired from an influencer’s post and 86% buy once a year from social media.
- One of the largest sources of information consumption
Social media has transformed how we look at information. It has become the largest platform for our information consumption. For instance, in the U.S., 59% of audiences receive news through X.
This shows the drastic shift towards social media sites for information consumption. Nearly all news channels such as BBC, CNN, Al Jazeera, and many others have made their active social media profiles to spread and share news with their audiences there.
- Social movements and online activism
We have observed the potential of social media hashtags such as #metoo, #blacklivesmatter and #climateaction in recent years and how they impact people’s perception of activism in the digital age.
Many international and prestigious organizations such as UN, human rights watch and Amnesty international have their active social media handles to share information about crisis and crisis management on them.
- Globalization
Social media plays a significant role in globalization through instant sharing of information about events happening anywhere around the globe.
This is the faster dissemination of information which mainly differs social media from other sorts of media such as television and print media in today’s world.
Disadvantages of social media
While there are many advantages of social media the coin should be flipped too, to observe the disadvantages of social media.
Following are the five disadvantages of social media:
- Fake news
The biggest and most serious threat to the modern world is fake news. Remember, we discussed the faster dissemination of information? There is a negative side of that too.
The faster dissemination of “misinformation and disinformation”.
According to a survey 9 out of 10 people in the UK have witnessed misinformation online while using social media. This indicates the prevalence of fake news in online communities.
- Cyberbullying
Cyberbullying and cyberharassment are the most ubiquitous phenomena on social media.
Cyberbullying involves harassing and disturbing someone online through means ranging from spreading false news to deteriorate their image (disinformation) to using generative AI tools (deepfakes) for ransom and other purposes.
About half of U.S teens have faced cyberharassment online in the form of offensive name calling, physical threats and sharing images without consent.
- Social isolation
While social media has helped us form online communities and societies, it has made everyone more isolated in the physical landscapes which can have devastating effects on physical as well as mental health.
Kids and adults alike are more indulged in social media rather than going out and socializing with friends and families in the real world leading to alienation and isolation in physical spaces.
- Information overload
We need information, knowledge, and discourse to grow. But, do we need this much information that is available on social media?
All this unnecessary information can bring harm to our brains because it is too much to handle.
We open social media and find most of the information and data that isn’t even relevant to us, but since it brings joy to our minds we keep on consuming it.
- Going crazy
Going crazy on social media means doing controversial, out-of-the-box, and exaggerated stunts to gain more social media engagement.
Influencers go crazy to attract more instagram likes, instagram views, facebook likes and followers and many other engagement metrics.
This going crazy can have a negative impact on the young audiences on social media as these can inspire them to perform these stunts themselves.
Some alternatives to negativities on social media:
- Buying Instagram followers instead of doing controversial stunts to gain followers.
- Set your desired limit on social media through inbuilt tools such as Instagram’s “your activity”.
- Using digital wellbeing to trace your activity and time spent on your phones and social media.
- Promoting digital literacy to create a healthy digital environment.
- Incorporating more ‘parental control’ options to protect children from cyberbullying and harassment.
Conclusion
Undoubtedly social media has revolutionized the world both positively and negatively.
Now, there are limitless opportunities to consume more information than ever but the chances to spread fake news have also increased.
While digital activism is now a crucial factor for policy making, cyberbullying is also seeping deep into our digital spaces. The solutions lie in becoming conscious about the time we spend on social media and the information we consume online.
