USE OF SOCIAL MEDIA IN EDUCATION POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE

IMPACTS ON STUDENTS LEARNING

 Introduction

The growth of social media over past few years has changed the ways in which the internet is

experienced by most end-users. Social media is built on the idea of how people know and

interact with each other. It gives people the power to share, making the world more open and

connected with each other. Every day, more than 90 percent of college students visit a social

networking site. People have woven these networks into their daily routines, using Facebook,

Twitter, LinkedIn, online gaming environments, and other tools. Using of social media is not

limited only to professionals or elders but also it is been widely used in educational sectors by

the students. They are extremely busy in accessing number of sites other than educational site for

long hours which create a very negative impact on their mind as well as creates ample of health

issues and also creating slit in the family. Students, who attempt to multi-task, checking social

media sites while studying, show reduced academic performance. Their ability to concentrate on

the task at hand is significantly reduced by the distractions that are brought about by YouTube,

Facebook or Twitter. With the help of this paper we are trying to explain the positive and

negative impact of using social media on the students.

 Learning with Social Media

It’s no secret that most students and teachers have smartphones and have used social media in

education. In fact, there are apps and web tools that offer social media in an educational context.

With faculty using a variety of software tools and free web applications to enhance learning,
communication, and engagement, the use of social media is on the rise in higher education

classrooms. E-Learning, the social network sites handled the big problem by providing

information to the educators in the recent period. However, Social networks have helped to

resolve some of these problems, by adding interactive side with a student, and make the

participation of the students in the educational process which leads to an increase to attract them

toward e-learning and to clarify the reason behind the attraction educated about social network

sites.

 How social media affects the students

Social media not only helps to acquire knowledge but also establishing enduring

relationships with real people, connecting with fellow dorm residents through Facebook,

Twitter and various social sites can help a student overcome the kind of isolation that

otherwise might lead her to leave school. A Twitter account can provide shy student with

information about events that facilitates face-to-face encounters with other students. Such

personal interactions are vital to creating and sustaining a sense of belonging. Using technology

to accommodate students‟ different learning styles is not novel. Such personal interactions are

vital to creating and sustaining a sense of belonging. As there are positive effects of social media

there are some negative effects also. The experts have already made it cleared that social media

negatively impact learning. Studies found that middle school, high school and college students

who check social media networks at least once during a 15-minute study period achieved lower

grades. There are even some teens that are addicted to maintain more than one account on social

media networks in some cases when boys sent requests to girls and they do not accept their
requests they try to make fake accounts using feminine names and display pictures and try to add

others.

 Health Issues

Due to the use of social networking sites for long hours create multiple of health issues. Because

of continuous accessing of networking site may create an eyesight problem, back pain because of

sitting in same position for long hours and many more.

 Positive and Negative Impact of Social Media in education

 Positive Impact

Following are the Positive Impact of Social Media on education: -

1. Google and education, Google has helped over 20 million student in their education using

their tools.

2. By spending so much time working with new technologies, students develop more familiarity

with computers and other electronic devices.

3. With the increased focus on technology in education and business, this will help students build

skills that will aid them throughout their Lives.

4. Talents got discovered faster, students who were good at programming got their name out

their easily, student who were good in music, got their videos out and shared leading them to

their dreams.
5. A lot of the students were able to inform public about their issues – using social media

whichbrought awareness and helped solve a lot of problems.

6. The ease with which a student can customize their profile makes them more aware of basic

aspects of design and layout that are not often taught in schools.

7. The ease and speed with which users can upload pictures, videos or stories has resulted in a

greater amount of sharing of creative works.

 Negative Impact

Following are the Negative impact of Social Media on Education: -

1. The popularity of social media, and the speed at which information is published, has created a

lax attitude towards proper spelling and grammar. The reduces a student’s ability to effectively

write without relying on a computer’s spell check feature.

2. Many students rely on the accessibility of information on social media and the web to provide

answers. That means a reduced focus on learning and retaining Information.

3. Our ability to retain information has decreased, and the willingness to spend more team

researching and looking up good information has reduced, due the fact that we got used to the

ease of accessibility to information on social media.

4. Students, who attempt to multi-task, checking social media sites while studying, show reduced

academic performance. Their ability to concentrate on the task at hand is significantly reduced

by the distractions that are brought about by YouTube, Facebook or Twitter.

5. The more time students spend on social sites, the less time they spend socializing in person.

Because of the lack of body signals and other nonverbal cues, like tone and inflection, social

networking sites are not an adequate replacement for face-to-face communication.

According to the above study we came to know the various positive and negative impacts of

social media on education or students. It is very important to overcome this problem. How can

parents alleviate the negative aspects of social media while improving upon the positive results?

Moderating their access to social media is one excellent method. Most of the negative aspects

can be overcome by reducing the amount of time spent on social network sites. Paying attention

to their academic progress and addressing any issues will go a long way towards keeping the

negative aspects of social media from influencing their studies.

 References: -

[1] The Use of Social Networking in Education: Challenges

and Opportunities Ashraf Jalal Yousef Zaidieh ICT,

collage of information and communication technology,

IIUM KL, Malaysia

[2] The Positive & Negative Impacts Of Social Media On

Our New GenerationBy Khaama Press - Wed Nov 19

2014

[3] Using Social Media for Collaborative Learning in Higher

Education: A Case StudyNa Li, Sandy El Helou, Denis

Gillet

[4] Social Networking in Undergraduate Education .

[5] Nicole A. Buzzetto-More University Maryland Eastern

Shore, Princess Anne, MD, USA

[7] Social Media Use in Higher Education: Key Areas to

Consider for Educators Julia E. Rodriguez Assistant

Professor Information Literacy and Educational

Technology Librarian.

[8] Oakland University Rochester, MI 48309 USA.

[9] Social media in higher education, neilselwyn.

[10] Social Media and Higher Education Literature Review

[11] Social Media in Education, Christian Safran.

[12] Using Social Media for Collaborative Learning in Higher

Education: A Case Study Na Li, Sandy El Helou, Denis

GilletÉcolePolytechniqueFédérale de Lausanne

(EPFL)1015 Lausanne, Switzerland.