I Believe Social Media Help Students

87% of high school students and college students admit to using social media. A low percentage, in my opinion, although then again only one out of each two admit to also using internet connection for either school tasks and checking email (according to studies conducted by 2 Universities in Barcelona). 

As much as what happens with new developments, it all depends on the use you give it and how cunning you are to apply it in the correct situation and the right way. If the Internet was the biggest achievement of the early 2000s, Social Media is the achievement of the next decade, equally having us rinse our brains out to try and understand how to use it in helpful and non-harmful ways.

In addition, yes, of course, you wouldn’t encourage students to go on social media while doing homework as much as you wouldn´t encourage a firefighter to try and solve a Rubik’s cube while trying to extinguish a fire. 

However, the tool, used in the right way, is a huge booster to creativity and sharing ideas like wildfire. You can find courses, private tuition, or essay samples. You can follow prestigious minds and their opinions on Twitter. A plethora of how-to-do channels on Instagram and Youtube. And so much more…

Foreword 

Social media are computer or mobile applications that facilitate the exchange of ideas, thoughts, and information by building networks and virtual communities. They are “websites” designed to allow people to share content quickly, efficiently, and in real-time. Some may have different categories according to their various functions.

Why Do Students Use Social Media?

Many of the reasons derive from a basic understanding of human behavior: The longing to belong to a community and feel included. On social media, this is very easy, as every person, with their distinct personalities and traits, can find others out there with similarities in their origin, personality, mindset, orientation, etc.

From there on, and depending on the social media (and age of a user, one could argue) each person finds their topic and entertainment. You see, the brilliant achievement through social media is to make things accessible and fun.

Importance of Social Media for Students

Many people believe that social media is a major distraction for students, although their opinion is not entirely wrong, there are still great reasons why the impact of social media in education is beneficial:

• It can be a great educational tool
• Opportunities for non-presential learning
• Sharing information in real-time
• Spreading mindfulness through social media
• Social Media Marketing (a very useful trait nowadays)
• Job searching 
• Investigation and Doctorate use
• Boosting interaction between students, which then reflects in person and the classroom.

Role Of Social Media For Students 

Social media is a broad term for many networks that have different functions entirely amongst themselves, and also a different age sector on each of them, and can be targeted for different uses, benefiting students in various ways:

• • Facebook: A bit outdated nowadays, but a great platform for team building. Facebook markets and places give a lot of information and data on different topics.
  • Instagram and Tiktok: We could group this into a bundle, as they are visual-oriented platforms, with little description or attention to written info. However, most tendencies burst out here, and keeping up with them is a key trait to being up to date with the world around you.
  • Twitter: Probably the most informative platform, both for news, and also to follow world leaders, leaders of opinion, global companies, and varied channels that specify the broadest or more specific topics related to what any student could be studying.

• Youtube: Probably one of the key platforms when it comes to learning. You could probably find any topic in the world you´d like to learn here, from stitching buttons to quantum physics.

Conclusion

In the case of minors, it is advisable to use closed social media networks until they are of legal age. This way, teachers and other staff can be aware of the communication that is established and monitor that the use of this tool is correct. 

This avoids, on the one hand, inappropriate content and, on the other, possible distractions or content unrelated to learning. Otherwise, social media is a platform with endless possibilities used in the right way and further boosted by reconsidering our educational system and learning patterns. The way we live is evolving, so why shouldn’t the way we learn?