Social Media And Its Effects On College Students Essay

Students may easily lose their attention and concentration with easy access to such incredibly rich store of information. With such new technologies as television, internet and social networks, people nowadays tend to multitask more often as they have easy access to large amount of information. However, such easy access may sometimes be a distraction. Study report “Your Brain on Computers” shows that heavy multitaskers perform up to 20% worse on most tests compared to performance of light multitaskers. Working efficiency of people, who multitask, are claimed to be significantly lower. The same is with concentration. As a result, they are not engaged in working process. Students tend to be easily distracted with this situation. For example, combining doing homework with operating on Twitter, phone or YouTube results in poor engagement of a student into deep thinking process, according to Winifred Gallagher, who is the author of Rapt. He also points out that nowadays high school and college students have decreased capacity of serious thinking because of multitasking and distraction. Moreover, Tyler Cowen, economist and famous blogger, claims that nowadays information tends to come in shorter and smaller portions and that explains why our generation encourages short reading. Since online information is always presented in short written passages, the web prevents user from concentration and contemplation. As an illustration, Nicholas Carr, the speaker at MIT and Harvard,

Higher education law attorney Dana L. Fleming voices her controversial opinion in favor of institutionalized involvement in social network protection in her article “Youthful Indiscretions: Should Colleges Protect Social Network Users from Themselves and Others?” (Fleming). Posted in the New England Journal of Higher Education, winter of 2008 issue, Fleming poses the question of responsibility in monitoring students’ online social networking activities. With a growing population of students registering on social networks like Facebook and MySpace, she introduces the concern of safety by saying, “like lawmakers, college administrators have not yet determined how to handle the unique issues posed by the public display of their students’

Social media is defined as websites and applications used for social networking, in other words it is a way for people to interact and express themselves without being face to face. Social media has become a large part of the life of teenagers, who make up most of the population of people who are subjected to using social media in their daily lives. Many college students are faced with balancing their social lives with school and even athletics making priorities a big dilemma for them. College students in America are affected in many ways by social media whether it be their social life, their happiness, or their grades.

The use of social networking sites is rising at great rates. According to a report conducted by the Pew Internet & American Life Project in 2012, ninety-five percent of individuals aged 12-17 use the internet; and eighty-one percent of those use social network sites (Pew Interest). Although it is known that social media can have a useful impact on lives, often times people forget that with a positive comes a negative. The continual use of social network sites will impact teen lives more negatively than positively because they can cause huge distractions from valuable and critical pursuits like education; they can also cause mental health issues and a reduction in communication skills.

The English Definition of social media is “websites and other online means of communication that are used by large groups of people to share information and to develop social and professional contacts” (“social media”). In comparison a German professor defines social media like this: Social media is used for the connection of their users and their communication through the Internet (Prof. Dr. Oliver Bendel). One can see that the definition is nearly the same although the people descend from completely different countries and cultures. Additionally, there was a big change in the use of social media in the last years, which was influenced by the fast development of technology.

We often encounter distractions all around in our daily lives. Our attention is divided between different tasks, which make it difficult to focus. The internet plays an important role in distracting individuals to focus the mind and sustain concentration. According to Nicholas Carr, “When we 're constantly distracted and interrupted, as we tend to be online, our brains are unable to forge the strong and expansive neural connections that give depth and distinctiveness to our thinking.”(Carr 224). The internet plays an important role in why it is difficult for individuals to focus the mind and sustain concentration. The internet has many distractions that can often lead us to multitasks and not fully focus on one task. For example, I have seemed students in class using their laptops not for education purposes but searching

Since the birth of social media people have argued whether it has a positive or negative effect on society. Social media outlets like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram give people a chance to stay connected. Although, with the power of social media comes the possibility of cyber bullying. While there are some negatives associated with social media, the positives in communication all around, has made the world stronger and a better place to live in.

According to Renee Fricks, vice president of human resources at Imperial Capital, “Your social media profile can be more revealing that your resume” (Cohen, 10). Social media has become a normal use of technology of an average college student. From Facebook and Twitter, there is a means of connecting students on diverse planes via the Internet. This allows employers to search any potential job candidate’s social media to investigate user’s posts to determine if they fit their position and hold themselves with high moral regard. If students do not monitor what they post, potential employers may be turned away because of inappropriate pictures, conversations, or other behaviors. Learning about proper social media uses can prevent qualified candidates from losing job opportunities.

A second factor, social media could also have a huge effect on education. The use of social networks such as facebook and twitter are very well known, especially by most college students. David Gewirtz realized that some of the people who see a personal social media website could be a friend, potential employer, and even a stranger. Gewirtz warned most students to monitor what they are posting online. He says “ You could be a teenager today who is 15 and say inappropriate things, and then as an adult looking for a job as a CEO.” He is sending people a warning to monitor what they post because what is on that website might potentially ruin a chance of employment. (Michelle 1-2). College

The 21st century is defined by its obsession and advancements in technology, the younger generation in particular. Technology plays as a key factor in most lives, social media especially. Among the most popular of social media are Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, all with the main purpose to share or view personal information and experiences, communicate with others and meet new people on social or professional grounds. There are several positives and negatives effects associated with social media, making it a topic of debate whether it is creating more good or harm for today’s society.

Despite the fact that we’re already in the 21st century, society continues to show signs of progress and development strongly leaning towards the direction of advancement, constantly evolving. This pattern is no different from the world of advertising, as it has also evolved through the years and quite recently an unexpected technological innovation took the world by storm. It made such a tremendous impact that eventually led to the transformation of traditional marketing, and it’s no other than social media that we all learned to love.

Central Idea: The three ways social media is changing education has affected how the students express themselves, behave, and interact with each other.

Social media is any website that allows social interaction. Social media is growing rapidly throughout the world. More adults and teenagers are joining sites such as Facebook, MySpace, and Twitter to interact with friends, family, and strangers. The introduction of social media has changed the world in many ways. It affects each individual in different ways. Today it can be used as a very helpful tool in changing a person’s life, but at the same time cause such conflicts which can negatively impact a person. While there are some negatives associated with social media, the positives in communication all around, has made the world stronger and a better place to live in.

Thousands of websites are distracting students from studying time. In an experiment at Cornell University, students who used internet-connected laptops during a lecture did much worse on a subsequent test than students who did not use the internet (Carr, 2010). It indicated that using the internet in class impacts students’ attention span (2010). Distractions can take attention away from learning. In fact, using the internet does not promote study efficiency, but wastes time.

Studies have shown that the average person now spends more time each day on their phone and computer than they do sleeping according to Nick McGillivray (“What are the Effects of Social Media on Youth?). Social has become part of our social society, especially for the many youths. There are positives to being on social media and also equal amounts of danger that come with using social networking sites, including Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, etc. These social networking sites also have effects on today’s youth by altering the way they behave, the way they learn, in not only a classroom setting but also in the real world setting, and the way that they socialize with their peers and others.