Myth #1: "Social Media Experts Are Indispensable for Businesses."

• According to Forbes, social media consultants talk up the importance of social media for marketing. Although social media can play a valuable role in promoting and selling your product, the uptake of social media is not universal. Not every product needs a social media platform to sell well. It's possible to develop an effective social media presence in-house, without the need to pay a hefty fee for outside expertise.
  
  

Myth #2: "Social Networks Create Revolutions!"

• Early 2011 saw popular uprisings sweeping across the Middle East. A key feature of the events of the so-called Arab Spring was the use of social networking media, such as Twitter and Facebook, to coordinate activism and share information with the rest of the world. This prompted some to point to social media as a driving engine of real-world social change. According to the Financial Post, the real picture is more complex. Although social media facilitated the uprisings, they were not sudden and spontaneous but involved long-term planning, little of it conducted via social networks.
  
  

Myth #3: "Younger People Want Social Media in the Workplace."

• "Engineering and Technology Magazine" notes that younger users are widely regarded as being hooked on social media and likely to want to use it in the workplace. A survey conducted by strategic consultancy Decode undermines this myth, with the majority of 15- to 34-year-olds asserting that the use of social media in the workplace shouldn't be allowed. Decode found that those it quizzed typically wanted to maintain a separation between their work and social spaces.
  
  

Myth #4: "Social Media Costs Real-Life Friendships."

• A 2011 study from the Pew Internet & American Life Project compared the number of online connections that people have with their real-life social contacts. The study shattered the conventional stereotype of the friendless "net nerd," demonstrating that people use social networking sites to supplement and enhance their real-world social lives. On average, a Facebook user in the U.S. has met 89 percent of her Facebook "friends" a number of times, with only seven percent of Facebook friends being people she'd never met at all.
  
  

Myth #5: "Social Media Just Impairs Education."

• It's true that spending too much time catching up with friends on Facebook or watching videos on YouTube can affect a youngster's schooling. But social media can also have positive benefits. Students can discuss classes, solve problems together and collaborate on projects via social networking platforms. Blogs and podcasts on educational topics can be a source of useful information. Since social media itself seems to be here to stay, gaining hands-on experience may serve young people well in the future.