In their study, they recognized four (4) major advantages of social media usage by students in higher education which included;
enhancing relationship, improving learning motivation, offering personalized course material, and developing collaborative abilities
.
Too much use of social media can have adverse effects on students' minds, and they may also be exposed to
bad posture, eye strain, and physical and mental stress
.
The students are victims of social networks more often than others. … Students involved in activities on social media sites during the study resulted
in a reduction in their focus of attention
. This causes a decrease in their academic performance, and concentration to learn as well.
Through social media networks, they
can create new friendships, express their views and opinions, and even create ‘new identities'
. Social media also exposes students to a whole new way of learning. Research has shown that students who are frequent users of social media are more innovative and exhibit better memory.
Social media use reduces the amount of time that students spend on academic activities
. … This is because they spend time chatting online and making friends on social media sites instead of reading books. This has a negative effect on their academic performance (Owusu-Acheaw and Larson, 2015, Abbas et al., 2019).
“Too much passive use of social media – just browsing posts –
can be unhealthy and has been linked to feelings of envy
, inadequacy and less satisfaction with life. Studies have even suggested that it can lead to ADHD symptoms, depression, anxiety and sleep deprivation. ”
Such platforms provide school children the opportunity to connect, get in touch, access information, and research. …
Social Media has many positive effects on education
including better communication, timely information, socializing online, learning, enhancing skills, making a career among others.
The negative aspects of social media
However, multiple studies have found a strong link between heavy social media and an increased risk for depression, anxiety, loneliness, self-harm, and even suicidal thoughts. Social media may promote negative experiences such as:
Inadequacy about your life or appearance
.
- Having a platform to showcase technological savvy and creativity.
- Increased self-confidence by empowering introverts to express their ideas.
- The ability to create lifelong friends.
- Strengthening social awareness and empathy.
Social media use has also been associated with
cyber bullying
and cyber abuse by anonymous users online, which leads to problems of self-esteem, privacy ,etc. Most studies have shown that, social media's violent games result in increase in violent tendencies and behaviours in children.
- Online vs Reality. Social media itself is not the problem. …
- Increased usage. The more time spent on social media can lead to cyberbullying, social anxiety, depression, and exposure to content that is not age appropriate.
- Social Media is addicting. …
- Fear of Missing Out. …
- Self-image issues.
The biggest advantage of social media is
better communication
. A student can connect with anyone at any point in time via Kids Messenger or WhatsApp. They can use such platforms via their smartphone, tablet or computer, and learners can exchange questions, make phone calls or video calls.
The use of social media in education
helps students, teachers and parents to get more useful information, to connect with learning groups and other educational systems that make education convenient
. Social network tools afford students and institutions with multiple opportunities to improve learning methods.
64% of Americans say social media have a
mostly negative effect
on the way things are going in the U.S. today. … Just one-in-ten Americans say social media sites have a mostly positive effect on the way things are going, and one-quarter say these platforms have a neither positive nor negative effect.
- cyberbullying (bullying using digital technology)
- invasion of privacy.
- identity theft.
- your child seeing offensive images and messages.
- the presence of strangers who may be there to ‘groom' other members.
Children and teens who spend more time with social media or who sleep with mobile devices in their rooms are at greater risk for sleep problems.
Exposure to light (particularly blue light) and stimulating content from screens can delay or disrupt sleep
, and have a negative effect on school. Problematic internet use.