Social Networking Sites For College Students Essay

Multitasking is usually right for those that want to work on assembly lines. Students that graduate with degrees typically aim for high paying jobs and in order to achieve this they must shut down their laptops and phones and pay attention in their classes. A startling fact is just how dependent and almost fixated college students are when it comes to accessing the internet. A few studies such as that of Jacobsen and Forste (2011) have highlighted that having access to the internet comes before everything else. Most students consider the Internet as fundamental as food, shelter, water and air. These thoughts are highly astonishing. Most of these students find that the internet is more important than going out with friends.

New media has been easily made available everywhere and Facebook in particular as one of the world most popular social networking site (SNS) can be made accessible from desktops, laptops, smartphones and tablet because of this, almost everybody can have access to Facebook anywhere they go. For the most reason, due to the introduction of new media, Facebook plays a key role communication and staying in touch with families, friends, acquaintances, businesses, groups meetings and a whole lot of others. Moreover it has also been useful in growing markets and advertising mediums through big companies, brands and highly respectable top class businesses. New media as a broad topic can be defined as a “form of communication which transmits information through a medium that uses routers and servers via high-speed internet and involves materials been received via desktops, computers, tablets and smartphones”.

They include blogs, micro-blogs, photo or video sharing services, and other user experiences. Common features of social media sites include profile pages, contact or friend lists, the ability to create and share user-generated content between users, commenting capabilities and the ability to either privately or publicly message (Mergel, 2013). Popular platforms include Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn, Snapchat, Instagram and Pinterest. Major platforms still experience growth, as evidenced by the continuing increase in users of Facebook and Twitter. Of all adults online in the United States, 72% are active on Facebook and 23% actively use Twitter (Duggan, 2015). This represents an increase usage from 2012 data indicating a 67% usage rate for Facebook and 16% for Twitter (Perrin, 2015). Further, a 2014 Pew Research report shows that 52% of all online adults use two or more social media sites, which is a significant jump from previous years (Duggan, Ellison, Lampe, Lenhart, & Madden,

Social networking helps students find a place in online communities. These communities can help them with self esteem and also show them right from wrong.

Ellison, Steinfield and Lampe identify that social networking sites are among the main use of internet today. According to the authors, social networking sites are among the social media platforms that facilitate interaction in the computer environment. The writers identify the main motives for using social networking sites, for example, Facebook. One of the benefits is that Facebook improves the quality of life both social and at workplaces. According to the writers, social media has become common in the society that a majority cannot remember previous life without them. Social networking sites have become popular among college students who find it as a major platform for social interaction.

This technology tools allows adults to keep in touch with technology, society, and learning, actually based on research from Pew Research Center (n.d) by examine a survey in November 2010 several elements were identified like the increase in social network sites are been used in order to elevated the numbers of social interaction, and the average user of social media is half likely to be in isolation from society that the average person living in North America.

1341). This type of learning is facilitated through web 2.0 applications which include online social networks and a wide variety of new learning tools that offer opportunities for group learning (Cheung et al., 2011, p. 1341). According to Cheung et al. (2011) this enhances students’ motivation to learn because in addition to the efficiency of finding online information, social networking creates a space where students can build and maintain social capital with one another (p. 1337). In other words, social networking in academic communities creates a more group-oriented learning approach that appeals to many of today’s students (Cheung et al., 2011, p. 1341). This applies not only to school-work itself, but also to general social networks that students create when they interact face-to-face in school settings. This illustrates that online communication related to academic work is intertwined with general social information. This helps students establish friendships and, in turn, helps them become more comfortable performing academic work in collaborative settings (Subrahmanyam et al., 2008, p.

As anyone who has applied to a college recently has noticed, a growing number of application forms now require prospective students to provide links to their social media profiles. Increasingly, colleges are are performing online research on students who apply for admission. A recent study by Kaplan Test Prep revealed that a surprising thirty percent of admission officers search for and read the social media pages of applicants. Worryingly, many of those polled reported finding something that made the student less attractive to the school and decreased their chance of being accepted. Clearly, the way young adults choose to use social media can have a significant impact on their future.

ii. In the article by Pollara and Zhu, they state that the students feel like they learn more when using social media because of its easy accessibility and because it is relatable. Transition: Now that we have looked at the positive side of social media in education, I would like to discuss the views of those who are against

As an educational tool, social media enriches the learning experience by allowing students and teachers to connect and interact in new, exciting ways. Web sites such as Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn provide a platform where users can dialog, exchange ideas, and find answers to questions. These sites are designed to foster collaboration and discussion.

People who want to keep in touch with friends and family commonly use Social Networking sites. The most popular of these sites include, Classmates, MySpace, Friendster, Live Journal, Twitter and the most common, Facebook. Facebook allows users to connect to others by sharing pictures, blogs, videos, interests and more and has taken over American teens and even adults. There have been sites long before Facebook was created but this fairly new site has become the most popular today by far. Since 2004 this site has gained over 175 million active users and is still growing.

Social media dates as far back as 1997. Andrew Perrin stated that: “Nearly two-thirds of American adults (65%) use social networking sites, up from 7% when Pew Research Center began systematically tracking social media usage in 2005” (2015).  Starting with one of the most popular platforms; Facebook. This social media website encapsulates all of the different kinds of social networks there are. Just about everyone has a facebook, from your parents to grandparents and even your 13 year old sibling. Facebook was launched on February 4, 2004. The founders are Mark Zuckerberg and Eduardo Saverin. As of June 2017 there are 2.01 billion active Facebook users. The most common age demographic is 25 to 34 which is 29.7% of Facebook users.

Social media users are most ordinarily young adults, aged 18 to 31. Three-quarters of adult Internet users under age 25 have a profile on a social media site (Lenhart, 2009). Facebook is recorded to be the most well-known social networking website with over one billion users (Sophy, 2013).

Jon Russell once said, “Social Media presents a huge opportunity for schools, universities and other educational organizations to reach out and connect with students and prospective students”. With no doubt, social media has influenced the way students are educated today. For those of you who do not know the exact definition of social media, the social media means ways of sharing information, opinions, images, videos using the Internet, especially social networking sites. Because of the Internet, people started finding ways to socialize through social websites and exchange information. Popular social network on the Internet such as YouTube became a sensation for me ever since I became a student in college. Today social media can be used for educational purposes. The ways social media is changing education has affected how the students express themselves, behave, and interact with each other.

Many students agree that social networking is an essential tool in education today. Feedback has become a vital tool amongst students and teachers in networking whether it’s Facebook, Myspace, or Twitter (Carey, n.d.). In a recent study, it stated that 59% of students who belong to “social networking sites” admitted that when there on the Internet they explore topics to communicate about such as college preparation and occupations. Another study shows that 50% of students use social networking to improve on their studies and teachers have found that this has helped students become more successful in their reading and writing vocabulary (“Social,”