Social Media - The beginning of the end?

Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snap Chat... Some of the most popular social media sites to date. Currently 2,000,000,000 people have Facebook, 400,000,000 have Instagram, 300,000,000 have Twitter and 100,000,000 of us have Snap Chat.

Facebook allows you to connect with family and friends easily, allows you to express your likes and dislikes and allows you to make new connections and friends. Twitter can be a platform for news consumption and as a promotion tool for businesses. Instagram is a simple app to download and use, their privacy settings are efficient, and filters are available to enhance images.

But mostly these social media links are meant to keep us in contact with other people across the world.

Or are they?

More often than not, Instagram (for example) is used to boast how much money an individual has, the Kardashians being a key example. This craze to have the most liked Instagram photo or to have the most money shown on Instagram has introduced reality shows such as, 'Rich Kids of Instagram'.

Twitter has recently become a hot spot for celebrity feuds, such as the Taylor Swift and Nicki Minaj argument. Not only has Twitter played a part in celebrities bashing each other, but also in the general public bashing celebrities introducing popular entertainment segments such as 'Jimmy Kimmel's Mean Tweets'.

Facebook despite being a platform solely for connection, has evolved into a platform for regular cyber-bullying to take place, and for anonymous exploitation from ancillary links such as 'Ask.fm'. Hacking accounts on Facebook have become commonplace too, resulting in much embarrassment and dismay by users.

Social media is a relatively recent concept, and until it is given time to evolve and take pride of place in our society, we should take all the necessary precautions to make sure we feel safe and secure.