The Effects of Social Media on Students and Their Studies - Essay Example

Download file to see previous pages... Still, despite the adverse effects of excessive exposure to media forms accessible via the internet many students still log online frequently, prompting some academicians to put social networking and social media to good use by integrating studies with social media use, and with surprising successes (Junco, Heigerbert, & Loken, 2010). This integration of media and learning was a phenomenon not foreseen, but was able to make possible changes in educating many students, and thus instead of being seen as a negative aspect of social media and networking must be seen as a step forward in bridging an education and social gap among various kinds of students, especially those who are unable to participate fully in classroom lectures due to issues such as social inhibitions or simply not having enough gist of the flow of discussions and lessons. Short History of Social Media and Networking Use Even before the advent of the internet, social networking has already been existent, but not in a large scale as what is being observed at present. Much like how networking is defined, social networking involves having connections between and among groups of people a person knows, such as family members, relatives, friends, neighbors, and so forth. However, for these networks to succeed and proliferate, there must be constant communication within people in the networks to keep everyone in the loop and informed about many things, entailing the different forms of communication accessible to everyone (Boyd & Ellison, 2007). Using traditional methods of communication such as word of mouth, telephoning, snail mailing, or planning meet-ups among members may not always be possible...
This essay approves that social media and social networking is now much more relevant today more than when these two were first thought up of, and has become the major choice of communication and information exchanges in between and among groups of people, encompassing even physical barriers and being much more accessible to a wider audience range. This rapid rate of expansion lies in the internet’s speed and ease of use, allowing many users to upload or pass on various kinds of information to other people at a rate faster and cheaper than traditional methods employed by other kinds of media. As such, this accessibility and easy-to-use interface of the internet allowed social media to flourish, and social networks gain ground over other media types.
This report makes a conclusion that despite the effective use of social media for learning, there must also be moderation in its use, as well as the instructors actively monitoring the online discussions due to potential miscommunication issues or incorrect information being passed around, or the vagrant use of incorrect spelling or grammar, problems that could get carried-over to the classroom. Due to these issues, while social media still has great potential in improving academic performance of students, there must be responsible and moderate use of it to prevent distraction from the overall learning process. There is considerable advantage of using social media for education purposes, as long as it is used responsibly and in moderation. ...Download file to see next pagesRead More