Karrer 1 Rachel Karrer Adam Padgett English 1 April 2014 Is Social Media A Problem For Students?

Social media is becoming a widespread past time for a lot of people in society. Sitting in a coffee shop on my college campus I couldnt help but notice the lack of communication people have and how they are constantly engaged in some form of technology. Social media provides so many people with a completely different world to engage in. In Blomfields article on the negative effects of social media he states, Individuals with little in common aside from an Internet connection now have access to an interaction medium that can neutralize tremendous cultural or geographic differences. Often I find myself using social media more than I probably should. With so many social media sites in our society its easy to get sucked into this lifestyle of selfies and electronic communication. Most of my college friends have all of the different media sites such as facebook, twitter, instagram, myspace, ect, making it very easy to get distracted from priorities. I personally think that social media is a huge problem in the lives of students today, although social media is not all bad, providing networking and enhancing some forms of communication, I think that it has a large negative impact on how students conduct their studies, and their performance in school. Pointing out the negative impact that social media has on college students emotionally and mentally might help society to see that the desire for entertainment electronically could be detrimental to their schooling and health mentally and emotionally. One of the main problems with college students using social media is that it can really

Karrer 2 affect their studies. Classes can now be taken half online; hybrid classes, and then there are completely full online classes. These online classes can really affect students grades. In some ways its very beneficial because it can help students form a schedule, knowing when their homework is do, and being on time. In other cases the online and hybrid classes can really hinder a students grades if teaching themselves is not the students common practice. Another negative reason for students using these sites is the fact that it makes using social media more available, causing more distractions. Ninety-four percent of undergraduate students currently report spending at least 2hours/day on the Internet. The recent explosion of social Internet usage has drawn interest because consumers are spending the majority of their time online in these venues (Chinsch). Being able to have these media sites at our fingertips whenever we want them really proves to be a large distraction when it comes to students studies not only because of distraction but also because of procrastination. Each social media site contains features that the other one lacks, this is what makes using social media so time consuming because generally people are switching back and forth between the different apps and sites. A very large amount of people are constantly wasting their time updating statuses and posting pictures, that it can negatively effect their time management. One of the biggest issues that comes with social media is what people decide to post, what people feel the need to show not only their friends but the entire world. In an article by Natasha Singer she goes on to explain how high school students tweets hindered them from getting into certain colleges. Students social media and digital footprint can sometimes play a role in the admissions process, its something that is becoming more ubiquitous and less looked down upon. The fact is people post things on these social media sites and dont think that there can be any consequences for their actions. As students at the high school in Singers article found out,

Karrer 3 colleges actually do look into social media sites and it can hinder their chances of getting into the college of their choosing. Aside from taking students away from their studies or hindering them from doing their assignments or achieving their goals, social media can cause a number of mental and emotional effects. One main thing that almost every human being on this planet wants is some form of respect. Everyone is created equal, and that is what we are taught, to respect others and they will respect us. Its the golden rule, but when social media portrays words and images that can be hurtful and disrespectful, there are damaging effects from that disrespect. In contrast, female youth who had an SNS (social networking site) profile reported significantly higher levels of depressed mood, and lower self-esteem, than female youth without an SNS profile. Previous research has indicated that females use the Internet to seek feedback about themselves from others and as the tone of feedback has been linked to self-evaluations(Blomfield). When people are posting pictures of themselves, otherwise known as the selfie, they are not just posting a picture but trying to gain approval from others, which often leads to ill feelings about their own selves. The things that people post and the words that they say can be hurtful and can cause depression and other emotional problems. Our generation has learned to accept this way of communication and has become accustomed to hearing about teen suicide and the negative affects from these words and actions, but continues to delve deeper into the world of social media. Why would people that see the consequences of these things continue to post them all over public venues? Is it just that the current generation has no concern for others, that they dont care about the things they say? The complete disregard for respect that the current generation has, is one of the things that is slowly making face to face interaction with other people so rare in comparison to the amount of conversing that takes place over technology.

Karrer 4 In an experiment performed by Zheng Wang, the author found that Social media (SM) have become increasingly pervasive in American society. As of 2011, two thirds (65%) of adult internet users engage in activities on social networking sites, compared to less than one third (29%) 3 years ago, and less than one tenth (8%) 6 years ago. For young adults between 18 and 29 years old, social media use is even more commonas of 2010, it was at 72%. Its not a secret that technology is being used more today than it was a few years ago. I remember when I was in middle school, I didnt really even know what facebook was, now not only do I use facebook but I also have twitter, tumblr, instagram and numerous other interaction linked social media sites. Before, when these sites didnt exist it was easier to communicate with other individuals, but the sudden advance in technology sparked a whole new field of conversation that I believe causes the problems that society faces today such as depression, ADD, ADHD and many others. Im not trying to say that social media is entirely bad; I agree that there are also positive advantages of using social media. Further on in Wangs article it says SM enables wide and quick distribution of self-disclosed information, and research has shown that appropriate selfdisclosure fertilizes and strengthens interpersonal relationships. While this may be true, its also something to be careful of because when people put things on the Internet, it goes from being personal to being completely impersonal. Anyone can hack into accounts and access peoples personal information, it happens every day. Social media can make relationships grow but it also can tear relationships apart, its almost gotten to the point where certain social media sites become so impersonal that its hard to develop real relationships with people outside of that technological sphere. Becoming friends with complete strangers is not hard to do, especially when people are often more focused on the amount of people that are viewing and following

Karrer 5 them. In the end it almost seems like social media is just another form of self promotion instead of what it was originally intended for, which was communication with others. When it comes to social media and college aged students, or any students in general, there are negative as well as positive effects of these social media sites. We know that academic and co-curricular engagement are powerful forces in both student psychological development and academic success(Junco). It is the current generations job to make sure that the new forms of media and technology that are constantly appearing, do not distract from the things that are most important such as scholastics and personal health. Although social media is a contributing factor when it comes to these negative effects, this is something that continues to be a huge part of society. With the many useful advantages of social media and the even more appealing freedom from being bored, social media does not appear to be leaving our society any time soon. By learning to use social media in a beneficial way students can actually improve their academic and social life through these sites. A study was conducted to show the role that twitter played on a students academic life and grades, Junco found that Our results suggest that Twitter can be used to engage students in ways that are important for their academic and psychosocial development. When these social media sites are used correctly, they can prove to be very beneficial, but when students continue posting harsh things and putting these sites before academics they prove to be unbeneficial. Social media causes good and bad things, just like every aspect of life, but its up to the consumer to use the sites the way that they are intended and if the consumer cannot do that then maybe its time to retire the use of social media or reevaluate their purpose for these sites. Not all social media is bad but at times it really leaves one longing for the old face to face interaction.

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Blomfield, Corey. "Social Networking Cite." Wiley Online Library. Australian Journal of Psychology, Mar. 2014. Web. Chinsch, Christian. "Http://uncc.worldcat.org/title/the-impact-of-frequent-social-internetconsumption-increased-procrastination-and-lower-lifesatisfaction/oclc/5185299533&referer=brief_results." The Impact of Frequent Social Internet Consumption. Wiley Online Libabry, Mar. 2014. Web. Junco, R. "The Effect of Twitter on College Student Engagement and Grades." Ferris.edu. N.p., n.d. Web. Mar. 2014. Singer, Natasha. "They Loved Your G.P.A. Then They Saw Your Tweets." New York Times. Bowdoin College, n.d. Web. Mar. 2014. Wang, Z. "A Dynamic Longitudinal Examination of Social Media Use, Needs, and Gratifications among College Students." Computers in Human Behavior. British Library Serials, n.d. Web. Mar. 2014.

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