Impact of WhatsApp on youth: A Sociological Study

Abstract

 Today in rapidly moving world, we can see change in every moment. Therefore life is getting complicated in every phase but the technology has made life very convenient. It is evolving in the world at very fast pace and affecting people from various ways.  And Whatsapp is one of the medium of such technology. Now-a-days it is becoming a popular word among youth, which is currently available in the various electronic items such as I-Phone, Android, windows phone and computer also.

Whatsapp is an amazing application, and with the help of it we can connect ourselves to the society and the whole world. It is an effective medium for the flow of information and ideas. This application is advantageous for us from many ways which occupies a major part of our day-to-day life. However, this app has emerged as an important medium for social networking and sharing of information and ideas, even it has some harmful effect on the life of youth. Hence, it is essential to know how it is affecting the life of youth and the society at large. The present study is an attempt to study the impact of Whatsapp, with reference to youth of Agra, India. This empirical study has been conducted upon 100 respondents and an Interview schedule was used as tool of data collection.

        The study will reveal that whatsapp is a medium of making communication easier and faster thereby by enhancing effective flow of information, idea sharing and connecting people easier. Examining it empirically, it is found that whatsapp has also a profound negative impact on youth and adversely affects their education, behavior and routine lives. It messes up much of study time of students and spoils their spelling skills and grammatical construction of sentences. This app has been found to be highly addictive, which leaves a trace that becomes difficult to control. The impact is so powerful that users give up their real world interest their entire emotional quotient is restricted to the app. Their happiness or sadness depends on the reply which they receive from other users. They cannot control themselves from constantly chatting, replying and sharing of ideas.