3 hard truths about social media everyone needs to face right now

On most of the popular social media channels, how many times do you see a list of suggested friends that you can add to your network? This is a great feature to help you connect with people that you know and haven’t spoken to in a while.

With social media, if you want to connect with anyone, you know exactly which medium you can use to achieve this. Social media has made it really easy for anyone to reach out to friends, family, business connections, and old friends. This medium is really great for connecting with people — anywhere in the world.

Social media is also a great medium that you can use to enhance your marketing strategies and help you transform your business into a social business. The benefits are endless and at the rate which social media is growing and evolving, this medium will be trending for a long time.

Even though I can boast about how great social media is and I have written many articles and done presentations about this medium, did you know that there are a couple of downsides to social media?

1. Social media is public

Social media can be used to connect directly with your target audience and build awareness, but you have to take note that your personal life will be made public. Personal information on the social web gets disclosed very easily which you might not have revealed otherwise. Even though your privacy settings might be top notch on the social web, pictures of you taken by your friends can be public. The online universe is massive and there might be people whom you are not friends with that can see information about you. This, my friends, is social media indulgence.

2. Social media is addictive

Did you know that you can get addicted to the social web? If you started to document your life and everyday happenings online, before you know it, every little detail happening to you everyday will get chronicled. You will also start taking note and keeping track of what other people are doing and this becomes a part of your life that starts affecting you. Not a single day/hour passes without your need to log in to your favourite social media channels to see what is happening right now. You might be laughing at this, but in reality there are some people that are addicted to social media.

3. Social media can make you ill

Social media is a medium that connects people. You can stay in touch with friends, family, and business connections. With this, many people are trying their best to look professional and always in a good mood, which might not be the case in reality. Have a look at your Facebook stream and all the pictures your connections are posting. Everything always looks perfect and it looks like your connections are living in a perfect world. Don’t start comparing your life with others because it can make you ill with tension and depression.

Social media is really a great medium that you can use to stay connected with like minded individuals, market your business, build brand awareness, and help your business to be more social, but it can also pose serious threats to you. This medium has become an great part of our lives both personally and professionally. When you are spending time on the social web, be aware of what is going on around you.