the writer is a retired headmistress of a high school and the views expressed are her own this is helpful during discussions on television a few of your personal details could have dire consequences for you care should also be taken while uploading material on so there is no provocation to any individuals or sections of society social media has become a recent global phenomenon and it looks like it is not going anywhere anytime soon whatever happens in the world or in our country reaches the intended audience in no time if you share common interests and hobbies you can join the circle of likeminded people which can be very helpful in exchanging ideas sometimes this can have fatal consequences recently a 21 yearold girl vinupriya a science graduate near salem hanged herself to death after she saw her seminude picture posted on a facebook page various applications and devices enable the youth to use social media on their mobiles but clearly defined laws and regulatory mechanisms have to be in place some of the time spent is while people are at work reactions help comments and advice begin to pour in immediately a recent example is of the two medical students in chennai gautam sudarshan and ashish paul who threw off a puppy from a roof top of a multistoried building for fun due to social networking the speed of the news cycle has increased greatly we need to practice discretion while going through these facts and not be misled by them it is also useful for teachers to engage their students in classroom discussions but a few evils have crept into the system and therefore users have to be aware about them so that they do not become victims of social media many social networking sites have an instant messaging feature undesirable elements resort to bullying trolling defamation nasty comments and wicked pranks companies are thus losers in terms of productivity when this time is spent on nonwork related activity this will send out the right signals and remove the illusion that cyber criminals can go undetected and unpunished when this video started circulating animal welfare activists were able to identify the duo and they were arrested the police have to be trained in cyber laws and practices so that they can detect such criminals and severe punishment can be meted out to them you can make business contacts find out tourrelated information or even fall in love users of social media should also know where to draw the line between freedom of expression and infringing upon others rights they thus get deeper and deeper into their makebelieve world and move away from reality today there are millions of users and there is every possibility of the rise of incidents of cyber crime this happened when comedian tanmay bhat posted some nasty and offensive jokes about lata mangeshkar and sachin tendulkar both internationally revered icons in their respective fields social networking sites allow users to share