CMR University (Bangalore) Research Department Director Prof V N Bhat advised the tech-savy generation to make use of social network sites by understanding its limitations.

Pointing at the adverse affect of Fcaebook, he said Facebook leads to narcist tendency among the users.

He was speaking after inaugurating a national seminar on ‘Social networking media - A boon or a bane?’ organised by the Department Post Graduation Studies in Mass Communication and Journalism at SDM College on Friday. 

“There is no doubt that the social network sites have a lot of advantages that help to build new relationships, connectivity, free communication and entertainment.

But, on the other hand, the execss use of social media also leads to wastage of time, sidelining human relations, anxiety, increased psychological pressure, blood pressure and other health problems,” Bhat said.

He called upon the netizens to follow ethical and moral principles while using social networking sites.  

Senior Production Manager at Doordarshan (Bangalore) H N Arathi cautioned against the growing media’s dependency on social networking sites to gather information. Inaugurating the seminar, she said that information that are available in social network sites like Facebook may be partially true and partially false.

Social networking sites like Facebook can nourish a journalist at the same time it can also affect his growth negatively. Therefore, journalists should be cautious and wise while utilising information from these networking sites, she said.

“According to a survey conducted recently, a large number of tech-savy Indians use Facebook for about two to three hours on an average, per day. In the current scenario, it is a major challenge to effectively make use of social networking sites,” Arathi said.

SDM College Principal B Yashoverma presided over the programme. Over 300 participants from States like Maharasthra, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka are taking part in the two-day seminar. 

Apart from presenting papers, various competitions like collage making, advertisement, feature writing, reporting are held.