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This is where both minor and major businesses are given a chance at success and reach their maximum target. Customers are also able to connect with brands they are convenient with by browsing through images and are able to get easy access to their requirement using the platform. Despite some of its shortcomings, Instagram has evolved over the years to become a major marketing stronghold for business and entrepreneurs and customers. 4.3 Checkout in a Click The marketing experience on Instagram is really top notch which explains the reason which is why it’s one of the most preferred platform when it comes to customer’s experience. The movement away from the traditional marketing strategy to a more digitally inclined approach is a trend that has come to be accepted by many. Companies now tend to promote their business with the use of social media platform and this can widely be credited to its easy use. In today’s world, customers rarely have the time to sit and read through a long list of product description which is why many have come to accept the visual aspect of this marketing. Pictures and videos are used to attract customers to their design and also enable users to have the opportunity to comment on the pictures or videos which makes it easy to chat up customers and know their opinion on their product. All this is just a click away with the easy-to-use and friendly Instagram interface. This eventually has also contributed to Instagram being one of the leading social media platforms for marketing 52

Chapter 5 Where is the balance? People have struggled to balance their everyday life around social media which is credited to one of the negative effects of that social media has had on our life. As documented by Facebook, they are also of the same opinion that the platform poses a huge risk of emotional well-being to users. The world is evolving with the advancement of technology, which is a god thing, but has also affected several individuals physically, emotionally, and mentally. Several millennials have had worrying concerns over how far our technology can go, but how much negative impact this will continue to have on the general population.1 It’s not a misplaced concern because several studies have shown that spending so much time on social media brings about a huge risk of depression, loneliness, and sometimes, a negative mental health. Many have remain cutoff from the real world because of their concerns for getting more like, making comparison with others lifestyles, including celebrities, and making minimal face-to- face conversation. A research conducted by University of Pittsburg was able to detect a correlation between the time checking through social media messages or updates and the negative image the body sends back. Those who spent their time scrolling through messages had about 2.2 times the danger of body image concern as well as reporting eating. While their counterparts who spends less time on these social media platforms are exposed to about 2.6 times the danger.2 Another research from the University of Pittsburg says that those spending a bulk of their time on social media are exposed to risk of depression. The more time they spend on these platforms, the less rest they get to rest their brain, which is a huge risk of depression.3 There are also some positives like learning skills on these platforms to 53

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develop oneself, or too shy to talk to people face-to-face, which may be the reason for the group chats to connect with other individuals like themselves; but from the researches given above, the negatives outweigh the positives in this regard. There are those who are subject to cyberbullying, having lots of fake friends online (who might end up scamming them), or isolation from those that matter in the real world. We can keep going about negative world of social media, but educating the world and letting them know that getting the balance right can provide healthy well-being and help keep the mental health in check. 5.1 It’s all about the Appearance In the modern world that we are living in now, people tend to share information about themselves on social media; this includes dressing, lifestyles, eating, and many other things. This has drawn many into comparison with others while some look up to the lifestyles of celebrities trying to live up to expectations the brainwashed society has instilled. People are becoming more and more conscious of how they appear to the public to the extent that they get obsessed over a particular lifestyle of a celebrity on the internet and are willing to go the extra mile to be just like that with the hope of getting accepted by others. These individuals are no longer able to differentiate between the real world in front of them and the social media world where they don’t know what’s happening with who they are obsessed over. With the new mentality of ‘appearance is everything’ that has been instilled unconsciously into the mindset of the society, there is no balancing our lives anymore. 56

5.2 The lack of Privacy The arrival of social media platforms have changed our everyday life and we interact with people close to us as well as those who are faraway; but the lack of privacy on social media these days is so alarming. Most social media sites are able to access the personal details of users registered on their website but how well they are able to protect these information has got some tongues waggling. The first social media privacy issue called shadow profile came to light in 2013 with a Facebook bug that duplicated the personal details of users’ information that have been collected on the website.1 Although this was immediately fixed, people became there suspicious because there mobile number was still on the website even though they did not fill in this detail while signing up. From the studies, it was shown that Facebook had collected details from contact list friends innocently shared with each other and completed the information on their profile. Although this does not mean a shadow profile is being created for every account, but people need to be aware that the so-called ‘privacy’ is not really private. 5.3 Different Aspects of Mental Health The issues described above affects our mental health unconsciously. There are several types of mental health that can be associated to all this social media issues. Some well-known aspects include; 57

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Anxiety disorder: These are individuals who respond to certain situations with fear or are in panic of what they are to do. Individuals like this tend to suffer from quick heartbeat and easily sweat at the slightest worry. Anxiety disorder include panic disorder, social anxiety disorder, specific phobias, and generalized anxiety disorder Personality disorder: These kinds have inflexible and extreme personality trait. They tend to have an expectation that’s different from what the society expects and don’t welcome change; always sticking to their ideas. Example include paranoid personality disorder, obsessive compulsive personality disorder, and antisocial personality disorder Depression: These are individuals who lose interest in things easily and are prone to persistent sad feeling. It affects their thinking and their behavior pattern which can lead to physical, emotional, and mental problems. Mental issues like this have a way of creeping into our lives unaware if we are not able to balance our daily activities around scrolling through social media update. The effect can be longlasting in worst case scenarios, which is why an awareness needs to be created to educate individuals of the dangers of spending so much time on social media and little time with family and friends close to us. 60

CONCLUSION Social media have been talked about as well as how it’s evolving the modern marketing strategy and its many benefits. Marketers have been able to reach out to several other customers without travelling to places, and are able to interact better to get their feedbacks which have helped improve the performance. Instagram for one has become known globally by bringing people together with little words but are able to creatively show their ideas to people visually. Social media is now actively used for most businesses and by many organization. An easy platform has been set to easily meet the needs of every individual and interact with them to make sure that the majority is not left out. It is convenient to use for the users and also without charge to them. This has been a huge plus for the digital marketing of the modern world; but like every other research out there, this also has its limitations and future risks. Although it is not easy to predict what the future hold for social media marketing, we are definitely entering into an era where the traditional marketing approach will no longer be in existence which might be something bad later in the future as this will tend to focus less on those who don’t trust the nontraditional approach and prefer their hand-written receipt. The best approach will be for marketers to pay more attention to their audience as well as a close attention to how social media evolves. This will go a long way in reassuring their audience and customers that the organization have their best interest at heart. 61

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