Social Medias and Technologys Positive Effect on Teenagers and Students - Research Paper Example

Topic :Social media’s and technology’s positive effect on teenagers and Today’s world is ruled by social media and technology and its effectand influence on people can be difficult to explain. Even though technology can be defined well, it is comparatively difficult to explain social media as such. Social media can be understood as the whole social networking and communication done with the help of media instruments like television, internet, newspaper and radio. But from these the real social media, it is, internet and radio that gives a person a chance to communicate with other party. On the other hand, technology is the application of science for the invention of tools, which can aid man in living a sophisticated life. According to (Charlie)“Man has worked hard to improve technology consistently to do various tasks fast and effectively”. It is a wide known fact that, everyone in this world is influenced by social media and technology. However the most people affected positively by social media and technology are the teenagers and students. Now that every activity in the world is controlled by social media and technology, its impact on teenager and student is worth appreciating. Since teenagers and students are continuously exposed to social media instruments and hi –fi technological gadgets, their very life is overly tuned according to it. If we look at the most influential social media which affects the teenagers and students positively, then we can name it as internet and cell phones. What is social media? Social media is a phenomenon where in the people are able to communicate with each other predominantly with the use of online and technical communicative instruments. Even though, television, radio and newspaper do communicate with people in different ways, the effect which internet and mobile has on people is potential and humongous. Social media can be explained as the various online services available to people like social networking sites, web conferencing services, online chat services, forums and so on. Man being a social creature has always been inventive with regard to socializing methods. And ultimately through a long struggle and adventure, he has reached a point where things work on the movement of his fingertip. Now the whole world moves with the aid of social media and it has made the life of people more enjoyable, entertaining, creative and progressive. Social media is all about sharing thoughts and ideas, collaborating and joining together to be more creative and artistic, being commercial and vigorous, active conducting of debates and arguments, friend seeking and engaging in dating services. With the help of social media, people have become more inspirational, informative, entertaining and creative. In the arena of social media; new ideas, business tactics, services change with a blink of eye. Since teenagers and students are more vibrant and energetic, they want their world to move faster than others. To understand more about social media one should also know the important characteristics of it. Characteristics of social media As a part of studying social media we will concentrate on some of the characteristics of it. a) Participation. The main feature of the social media is that it allows participation among its users. The participation means, it allows giving ideas and sharing thought with other parties or a group of people. The forums and threads existing in internet give chance to the users to contribute, interact, interpret and be argumentative on a certain subject or a number of it. b) Openness: Social media has the quality of giving opportunity for the users to contribute and give feedback on any subjects. They encourage sharing ideas, voting and letting out comments on a specific subject or number of them. For example, when people enter a forum or thread, they can get more information and ideas about various subjects and activities. c) Conversation: The social media in a traditional way had the characteristic of being one way in communication terms. However, the modern social media is a two way process. d) Community: One another highlight of social media is that it allows fast and effective communication among different communities. These different communities have a common interest and while on internet services, the community members interact with each other about their passion and interests. For example, people who loves sport, movies and photography gets a chance to converse with each other with the help of chat rooms, forums and threads. e) Connectedness: The social media avail people of online services with the help of links which connects websites, people and resources. Different type of social media and its positive effect on teenagers and students a) Social networks: This facility allows people to create their own personal websites and communicate with each other in a fast space. Here the friends and family members of people gather together to communicate and share content of varying nature. Some of the renowned social networking sites are facebook,twitter, linkedin, myspace and google plus. According to (Boyd)“The rise of the Internet, mobile phones and social network sites has created a new public arena for teens. Such sites can be understood as a type of “networked public”, connecting spaces and people through communication technologies to create a new type of public environment”. It is mostly,the teenagers and students who explore various aspects regarding their life and study with the aid of social networking. b) Blogs: Blogging can be named as the most renowned form of social media where in teenagers and students has a chance to comment, interpret or debate on given contents. Blog as an information sharing and communicative medium allows the teenagers to enhance their knowledge on various subjects and give chance to post comments. Moreover, those who are students gets an opportunity to access various information related to their study and projects from blogging as it is an effective source for learning material. Blogging also motivates students and teenagers to write and contemplate on various global issues and human activities. c) Wikis Wikis are website which allow the teenagers and students to access information, Contribute to it and edit it according to their will and choice. Wikis act as a communal database or document which contains various enriched information which teenagers and students can use while they continue with their studies in various educational stream. For example, Wikipedia is the best renowned social networking website with more than a million articles available online and access to these online makes a student more productive and creative. d) Podcasts: The online services like Apple and I-Tunes provide audio and video files to the teenagers and students for entertainment and information. This podcasting service works through RSS feeds and gives the teenagers and students a chance to update information instantly. e) Forums: Forums are the online discussion platforms where teenagers and students can interact without any hindrance or bias. Teenagers and students in their growing up years has many queries and doubts about various worldly issues and subjects and social media channels like forums give them best chance to know things clearly and vividly. Students during their study period have to research on various subject, so forums helps them in accessing information as well as debating on various issues. f) Content communities: Content communities is a web platform where communities get together to share a similar type of content. The most famous content communities are YouTube and Flicker. Here mostly, the photos and videos are shared by teenagers and students. Teenagers being more active physically and psychologically need continuous entertainment and interaction which these e- platforms can provide. The positive effect of social media on teenagers For the large majority of teenagers around the world using social media has become a part of their daily lives. Teenage people would be the first sect which would praise the invention of social media as they are the ones who are most benefited from these social media instruments. Social media makes teenagers more active, outgoing and extrovert. The positive affect of social media on teenagers is that it makes their emotional behavior more vibrant and lively. Social media also have the tendency to make the relationship of teenagers more meaningful and deep. In her article (Novas) writes that “The number of people joining social media sites such as Face book, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Google Plus is growing exponentially, especially among youth.  In fact, 73% of American teens aged 12-17 use social networking sites”. The positive effect of social media on students It is not just teenagers who are positively affected by social media, but also the students studying all over the world. Social media acts as an important tool in opening an informal environment for learning for students who favor e-learning. Social media gives access to large volume of information along with peer to peer interaction and enable saving of lectures and data provided by educators. Social media also makes online learning possible for students by giving them access to study material and lectures provided by educators. Moreover, there are many web enabled applications which makes the learning process more engaging and reflective for students. It is also likely that , computer based learning has more positive effect on student as it provides a more focused learning service than face to face education in classroom. Apart from social media, technology also has played a huge role in upgrading the social status of teenagers and students. Technology and its positive effect on teenagers In recent times, technology has made such a progression that the lives of teenagers have greatly become interdependent on sophisticated technological gadgets. The technological gadgets like cell phone, laptop, i- pod, camera, DVDs have made the life of teenagers more interactive and active. Among them, cell phone is the gadget which has made the life of teenagers more socially interactive and communicative. Due to cell phone invention, they achieved an opportunity to connect with friends and family more effectively and this enhanced their personality and behavioral to a great extend. Apart from this, the technological gadgets like lap top, i- pod , camera, DVDs enhanced the teenagers social interacting skill and information resources. The impact of cell phone on teenagers is seriously huge, as they spend most of their time texting and calling each other. As per (Henley) “First, 75% of all teenagers (and 58% of 12-year-olds) now have a mobile phone. Almost 90% of phone-owning teens send and receive texts, most of them daily”. With technological gadgets like cell phone and camera they take pictures which gives them pleasure and entertainment at low cost and effort. With cell phone the teenagers are also able to connect to social networking sites which increase their social interactive space. Apart from this, video games which is a recent invention, provides opportunity for the teenagers to engage in a virtual fantasy world that gives them immense pleasure and enhance thier cognitive skill and tactics. Technology and its positive effect on students The positive effect of technology on students is long reaching and vast. When students technologically communicate with each other in context to education, then they take on an active role rather than passive one occurring in face to face classroom. When students interact with technology, then they obtain, generate, display and manipulate information with the help of laptop and computer. Technology allows the students to execute actions, contemplate information, act on it and make choice according to their comfort. Moreover, when the students study technically, they get opportunity to set project goals, set standards for academic achievement, evaluating their study progress and formulating design decisions. With the aid of technology, the role of the teacher gets decreased and students take over a more responsible attitude. When students learn with the aid of technology, then they get more motivated and engaged in the process of study. The students generally have the tendency and mentality to empower technology, so they learn more about technologically compatible learning applications, which in turn enhances their skill and tactics with e-learning. The e- learning process enables a student to acquire more self – esteem and confidence rather than studying in a traditional class room environment. Moreover, when students are learning with the help of laptop and computer they remain more focused and attentive, which increases their learning quality. Apart from this learning with the help of technology has made learning simpler and more interesting than ever. It is also with the help of technology that the students all over the world get an opportunity to engage in distance learning. Conclusion The world is not a same place as it was a decade ago as every day new turn to social media and technology take place. The teenage population of the world is excitingly looking every moment for new innovation in technology and social media, to make their life more exciting and novel. The social media instruments like internet, television, radio and newspaper has brought revolution in the life of teenagers and students. Now it could be very well said that, the everyday activity of a teenager or student is controlled by social media and technology. Nowadays, it is impossible for a teenager or student to attend to their life without the presence of technology and social media. They are in a way addicted to these amenities and their quality of their lifestyle also changed accordingly. When we think about the emergence of social media and technology, the highlighting fact is that their positive impact outweighs its negative effect. Even though, the addiction to technology and social media can hamper the health and mental cognitive ability of a person, the services is offer is far from best. The social media like television, newspaper, radio and internet have contributed so much to the teenagers and students that their personal and studious life excelled to a great level. With internet and cell phone, the world of teenagers have taken a great leap and given them a unique identity, confidence and self esteem boost. Finally, it could be said that there is still more to come in the social media and technological field which can turn the world of teenagers and students more exciting and entertaining. Bibliography Boyd, Danah. "Why teens really do need social network sites." microsoft.eu. Microsoft Research, 14 Oct. 2011. Web. 16 Nov. 2012. . Charlie.Importance of Technology." buzzle.com. Buzzle, 6 June 2011. Web. 15 Nov. 2012. . Novas, Caroline. "Social Networking Sites: Benefits, Problems, and “Facebook Depression”." center4research.org. NRC for Women and Families, 2010. Web. 16 Nov. 2012. . Henley, Jon. "Teenagers and technology: Id rather give up my kidney than my phone. "guardi an.co. uk. The Guardian, 16 July 2010. Web. 16 Nov. 2012. . Read More