Social Media and Social Interaction: Adversities and Advantages with Special Reference to Cyber Bullying

Abstract

The present research entitled, “Social media and social interaction: Adversities and advantages with special reference to cyber bullying” investigates the effects of social media on social interaction among individuals in contemporary society with the rise of social media platforms such as whatsapp, facebook, instagram, and snapchat etc., There has been a significant shift in interaction and communication. The present research investigates the positive and negative effects of social media on interpersonal relationship, communication pattern and social behaviour.  A descriptive as well as analytical design with a semi-structured questionnaire is utilised to understand the influence of social media usage on social interaction and communications at Manzini town in Eswatini. The respondents using social media expresses the positive impact of using social media like development of social contacts, increased IQ level and encouraging worldwide interaction with people and on the other hand those who highlighted negative impact view social media as waste of time, money and limits face-to-face interaction and communication skills, furthering cyber bullying and addiction. The challenge against privacy and security of the social media user leads to harassment or cyberbullying.  The respondents recognise the effectiveness of intervention aimed at promoting safety and responsible social media.  The present research provides a valuable insight into the benefits and drawbacks of social media encouraging researchers and policy makers to conduct further studies in developing strategies to mitigate the risks and promote healthy social media use.