Social media and its various networking capabilities have been around for close to a decade now, and it doesn’t seem to be going away anytime soon. With over 1.9 billion monthly users on Facebook and many other social media sites such as Instagram and Twitter, it is without a doubt a phenomenon that is going to stay and continue growing. With that being said, a huge percentage of these users are in fact students and active members involved in pursuing an education. No doubt social media has inflicted its influence on education so let’s take a look at some of its effects over the years.
Negative Aspects of Social Media
Starting with the negative aspects of social media on education, one can expect the usual distraction that social media will bring about when it comes to studies. Because information is so readily available and easy to view, social media can really distract a student when it comes to checking for details online. In addition to that, because of the ease of uploading content on the internet, social media sites may not be as credible when it comes to information sharing. This can really hinder the type of information one retains and thus propagate misinformation on the internet.
Positive Influence on Education
On the other hand, the positive influence that social media has on education can be really rewarding and is definitely something that is tangible to students. For one the ease of sharing captivating videos in short snippets on platforms such as Instagram has allowed students to be actively engaged while absorbing knowledge on the go. Topics for such videos can range from general knowledge to snippets of history lessons, providing bite sized information to people from all walks of life!
Adding on to that, since social media is content created by anyone, there will always be a wide variety of education-based content out there that is new and refreshing. This includes educational tips, creative documentaries and many others!
Finally, because of the ease of collaboration on platforms such as Facebook, students are easily able to connect with each other and thus information sharing and collaborating is made so much easier. Gone are the days where people have to meet up physically in order to get things done. Students and more importantly educators can now easily disseminate information to selective groups remotely, allowing more accessible information to flow through without hitches.
How Do We Progress from Here?
With all the information laid out here, the question then changes to how educators can rightfully improve on the positive influences that social media has on education while bringing down the negative aspects. This process will not be simple but moderation here is key. Parents and teachers alike should be able to moderate the content and usage of students at the end of the day in order to really capitalize on the advantage of social media. In the long run, we’ll definitely be seeing more transformative trends when it comes to education and technology, especially on social media.