Social Media and Student’s life |A case study|

Facebook claims to be a social networking service that gives people all the information they can gather, ask, and post and create status updates on the go. But students complain, often daily, of losing their space to fully carry out their academic interests, social lives, and the growth in students. And demanding their social media accounts as an integral part of their identity in relation to their school.

As a result, it is difficult to have those who are affected actively engage with a post by a student, including fellow students, due to being social media users in school or social media users who also attend school.

Student’s view on their Social accounts

Students, who claim their accounts are being monitored by the administration, suggest for a social media free zone for students at their own school. For example, instead of allowing social media groups to take up space on campus, students should be allowed to keep their social media sites within their own circles of friends. This way, teachers and administrators can use social media and student accounts to understand how the students are thinking about school, rather than having students promote their personal accounts.

Instead of worrying about students who openly promote or deny what they think of their institution, schools should be more worried about students who do not engage, comment, or respond to comments. After all, learning is about engaging, sharing, commenting and listening.

Student’s activities are being monitored

Media reports indicate that Facebook changed their privacy policy to allow themselves to monitor what users do on Facebook and also allowed Facebook apps like Instagram to monitor what users do on Instagram. Yet Facebook claims that students are not being monitored or made aware of what Facebook apps and sites they are accessing.

Student’s reaction to the administrator

Most students, in response to being overused by administrators in their social media spaces, find it necessary to constantly post updates and engage with other students. More students, on average, are posting every day, sharing links, and viewing other people’s posts. Students are now sharing daily activities with the world, often on social media, creating a stream of information that impacts the way students receive information. Now, instead of educating themselves to how social media can impact their learning process and deciding on how they use social media at school, students are also worrying about sharing their daily activities.

Need to change the way

As social media has a huge influence on social and media related learning, students and educators are both deciding on how to take advantage of social media at school. The practice of putting students in a box by requiring them to post regularly on social media or to post regularly on certain platforms like Facebook, creates an uncomfortable environment for students. Not only it create an uncomfortable environment for students, but it has a ripple effect on the way they use social media, more broadly.

As social media is increasingly becoming a tool to connect people in various aspects, it can only be used as a positive tool, once it is used to positively engage and create a dialogue. Social media is here to stay.

Social media for Education

In a recent article, Jill A. Duncanson and Maya Levinson-Hernandez argue that schools can promote social mobility by creating learning environments that value students’ social and cultural identities. They also explain that the tools students use to create a personal social media profile can be used to help students figure out where they stand within a social group. The article also proposes to integrate social media into social promotion and social promotion classes.

According to Farley, the role of social media in school learning can also be an empowering tool to create a safe space for social identity. Students use social media to document their identities, share their opinions, and make friends. As educators, we need to create a learning environment that fosters students’ social and cultural identities. As social media continues to expand, it is important that schools make a decision on what social media use should be encouraged at schools. After all, students, on average, are now creating nearly 50 posts each day, sharing links and listening to other people’s posts.

The students who create posts are usually more exposed to social media in their personal lives than students who do not create posts, or who comment on posts.

Conclusion

Using social media as a tool to create social and cultural identities has a positive impact on students’ social and cultural engagement at school. Therefore, rather than believing that social media is a distraction from education, schools should be open to integrating social media into their educational practices and believing that social media is a resource that can be used to promote a sense of belonging, empowerment, and safety for students.

For more information on social media in education, click here.

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