Social Media And Its Risks: A Positive Change Driven Approach

Social Media Matters (SMM) organized an online workshop with students of H & H B Kotak Institute of Science on September 24th. The speakers for the session were Pratishtha Arora and Arnika Singh, Programme Managers at Social Media Matters.

Since the onset of social media platforms there has been constant debate about its boon and bane. While social networking at online spaces has helped people, especially the youth to broaden their network, it has its share of risks as well. When it comes to data security, online harassment, bullying and verbal violence, digital media needs to be dealt with caution.


The key highlight points of the workshop were:

1. Social media for social change.
2. Social communication
3. Safety and privacy settings of Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Whatsapp.
4. Response to hate speech in a positive manner.

The session emphasized on the need for using social media platforms for change. It could be posting about a natural calamity and tagging handles of concerned authorities on Twitter or reporting an incident of crime against women, etc. Social communication is necessary as one must learn the online etiquettes while interacting with strangers on social networking sites. With breach of data at online spaces by cyber criminals, mostly from foreign countries it’s imperative to educate users about security settings on social media platforms. Teenagers must be taught and guided on how to positively deal with online hate crimes.

The students shared their queries which were amicably addressed by Arnika and Pratishtha. During the interaction it was revealed that most students were active on Instagram and were keen to learn about its safety features. The students had genuine concerns like access to the gallery and other details from smartphones, tablets while installing applications. They were concerned about the privacy of their data as they were accessible to android apps. There were also questions regarding email login from different devices.