Impact of Social Media on Students and Its Importance in Today’s Time

Social networking has evolved into an essential component of the social life of a student. It is now a learning platform that aids in increasing student engagement and capabilities in various ways.

With the collaborative environment and open forum that social media fosters and the rapid pace of information sharing that it enables, students can use it to boost the development of creative, critical thinking, and communication abilities in certain ways.

How do students benefit from Social Media?

Social media encourages self-directed learning, which prepares students to seek answers and make decisions independently.  Social media also enables students to connect and collaborate outside of the classroom, which means that students everywhere can begin to experience the globally connected world long before entering the workforce.

Social learning is proactive learning, which means that students actively participate in their learning rather than passively absorbing information that they will most likely forget after the exam. Social media shapes and presents information so that students understand and appreciate it more than traditional tools, whether, through a shared article with comment functionality, a live stream of any crucial event, any course related survey, or a question posed to the larger community.

Students may give more effort into their work and online presence if they are aware from the start. They will interact better with their peers about course materials on various social media platforms.

How has Social Media impacted our lives?

The way people communicate has changed as social media has grown in popularity.

Social media has reduced physical distances and brought people closer together. For example, you can now relocate to any part of the world without worrying about separation from your family.

Social media is all about bringing people from all over the world together. When it is about connecting people through the mediums of social communication, there are no geographical boundaries. For several students, social media is successful in connecting them with other students taking the same courses.

If you’re a student, you’ve probably seen many social media groups set up to connect students studying the same subject. Furthermore, social media can serve as a platform for student exchange programmes available at many colleges and universities.

Young people can now stay up to date on the news from a global melting pot of news agencies, which may cover something not covered in their home country. You may have seen many posts on social media where people discuss current events. We should instill in our students a sense of objectivity. If we teach students to recognise biases and agendas, “fake news” will become less of a problem.

Social Media may provide the requisite help and advantages in today’s time to help stay connected or receive info without spending a fortune. Yet, there is some downside of its excess usage that brings trouble for students.

What are the Negative Effects of Social Media on Students?

• Social media can help you save time on your studies. Through social media, “perfect life/body” images can lead to low self-esteem in young people.
• Bullying has moved online, making it more difficult to track and address. Cyberbullying and cyberstalking are two of the most serious and dangerous issues students face when using social media.
• Cases of adolescent anxiety and depression are on the rise. There are strong indications that social media is to blame.
• Social media is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and young people may lack the maturity to switch off, resulting in sleep deprivation.
• Physical activity is being reduced as a result of social media. Even “hanging out” with friends is done primarily through social media.
• Many parents agree that social media is one of the primary reasons for their children’s poor academic performance. There are stories of parents sharing that students drop attention on their studies as they are easily distracted by social media notifications while studying.
• It is widely acknowledged that the life depicted on most social media platforms is not a true reflection of someone’s actual life. Due to this, students begin to lose self-esteem, which directly impacts their academic life.
• Social media influencers attempt to demonstrate “The Most Perfect” lifestyle, which a student cannot afford, and begin to make students feel inferior about themselves.

Social media has shrunk the world, making us all connected with just t a tap of a button. Yet, its addictive impact on students is changing the social, personal and economic structure of an inter-personal set-up with family and friends so that its usage should be decreased as early as possible.

Parental control should be the riding force to be able to keep a tab on their Ward’s Social media activities to help them understand the downside of its addiction.