Social Media in Nasarawsa State: Effects,Challenges and Prospects. Part Two _HUSSAINI PAUL KASIMU

Negative Effects
However, social media has its own negative effects on both the State and its citizens alike.Firstly, many youths spend their time in the social media at the expense of their academics and other productive, economic ventures.

These are same crop of youths that complain daily of unemployment in the state, failing to realize thatpart of the time and energies they expend on the social media could as well be invested on personal development that could result in economic independence and the gross domestic product of the State.
Secondly, researches have shown that a prolonged use of social media has negative effect on one’s mental and optic health. For instance, it was found by researchers in 2016 that the same parts of the brain that are activated when people eat chocolate or win money were activated when a group of teens saw a bunch of ‘likes’ on photos-their own or their friends photos. This type of peer influence and its conformity effects is not limited to adults (Anasta, 2016). The scholar adds that as one receives online ‘likes’, the reward center of the brain lights up. With excessive use, this type of interaction can train the brain to release rewarding chemicals such as dopamine much the same way that addiction works with things like drugs, shopping and gambling. According to Anasta (2016), this leads to addiction. Furthermore, Guardian Health Sciences (2020) discovered that a prolonged use of the social media would damage ones retina.

It is quite heart-wrenching how we have lost most of our cherished, cultural values via the use of the social media. Youths in the past were more respectful, chaste, responsible, studious, courteous, trust-worthy, honest, and so forth. Butthe social media has raised a generation of young people who are more of a nuisance than a blessing to their local communities in particular and the State in general. No doubt, the social media has countless negative effects in Nasarawa State.
 Thirdly, the social media is full of terrible, unscrupulouselement such as fraudsters and kidnappers. A lot of Nasarawa citizens have been either duped or killed by their social media friends. This happensespeciallywhenthe victimsdo not have personal knowledgeof those they are dealing with. This is one aspect of the social media that is dangerous.
Fourthly, the social media has become the bane ofintellectualism among numerouscitizensof the State. This reality manifests withinthe contest of communication skills wherein many of our young people can hardly construct a correct sentence or write good letters. They are so much used to chatting on the social media using short and informal forms of words. Worse enough, some of them carry this into examination halls, expecting to perform well. That is why the rate of mass failure and examination malpractices have come to stay in our educational system.

Challenges
Apart from the negative effects of the social media discussed above, the social media also has its own challenges, as far as its usage among the citizens of the State is concerned.
Firstly, most smart phones, computers and other social media tools are quite unaffordable to many citizens in the State as a result of their poor financial status.

(Image source) (https://www.pexels.com/photo/assorted-iphone-lot-341523/)

While we celebrate the beauty of the social media in Nasarawa state, one who is not financially strong cannot benefit from it.
Secondly, most parts of the state lack adequate network to facilitate the smooth operation of the social media. A typical example is my village –Atabula of Obi LGAof the State. The community has a very poor network that you can hardly operate the social media. The writer equally believes this problem applies to other areas within the State.
Thirdly, many people have wrong perception of the social media. They think that social media can completely erode their cherished, religious andcultural values, hence theirdistance from it. They fail to understand that whatever one crops out of the social media is a function of one’s personal motive for even being part of it in the first place.
Fourthly, lack of electricity in many parts of the state poses a challenge to the operation of the social media in the State. This is because without constant power-supply, the social media gadgets cannot be powered to function as required. And if wishes were horses, one would wish that the government should make adequate supply of electricity in all parts of the state to facilitate the smooth running of this media in the state.
The Prospect of the Social Media:
Having dealt with the concept of the social media, its effects, and challenges in Nasarawa State, there’s yet the need to look into the prospect thereof. Firstly, in few years to come,modern technology will advance the social media to the extent that it may become the source of almost everything within the sphere of our social life.In the future, men are likely to receive food live through their mobile phones. This may sound strange and hard to believe, but the technological advancement of our day is a conspicuous pointer to this possible reality.
Secondly, time shall come when the tertiaryinstitutions in Nasarawa State mayno longer givelectures within the context of lecturer-students physical interaction as it were, but they may stayhome and receive their lectures online. No doubt, this development would certainly improve the standard of education in the State.
However, the prospects are not completely positive, as we can equally expect more vices from the social media as time goes on.The corollary effect of the gargantuan technological advancement in the social mediawill be an introduction of more sophisticated electronic crimes among the youths of our dear State. It would, as a result, become very difficult for the State Government to curb crime in the State.
Finally, the social media may continue to make face-to-face communicationamong the youths in the State practically difficult.

Conclusion
The social media has made the citizens of the state global citizens as it places the world in our palms. We need not undertake a lifetime’s trek to China to study how the covid-19 started or to the United States to count its casualties; we only need our smart phones in our hands.

But like a coin,the social media has two sides-the positive and the negative as already discussed. Whatever effects it has on one,it is determined by one’s choice.