Meta – Today, social media plays a significant role in every student’s life. But what impact does it have? Good or bad? Let’s find out!
The digital age has led to an increase in the usage of social media platforms among people of all age groups. During COVID, social media especially gained a lot of traction among students. However, some people still believe that these online platforms are just a way of deteriorating the performance of students in the academic field.
While social media is here to stay, so instead of criticizing it, we should learn to become a part of it and create an excellent opportunity from it.
Like everything around, social media also has some set of perks and shortcomings. While, on one hand, it is a source of diversion for students, it is also a rapid way of communicating, assimilating, and solving problems.
In this blog, we will discuss what social media is, its impacts on students, and how they can best utilize social media platforms to their advantage. So, let us begin!
What is Social Media?
Social media involves a set of websites and applications that offer users a wide platform to share anything in order to increase their social networking. As a part of corporate training, social media platforms also provide an interactive computer-mediated technology where one can share various ideas, information, career goals, and various other forms of expression via apparent communities and worldwide networks.
Over the years, social media platforms have gained plausibility as an integral source of exchanging information. Research shows that the most popular and commonly used social media platforms are:
- WhatsApp (84%)
- Facebook (78%)
- Twitter (12%)
- LinkedIn (8%)
- Instagram (7.6%)
- Snapchat (1.8%)
- Skype (0.9%)
Significance of Social Media Platforms
Social media plays a pivotal role in a student’s life. Here are some critical points for the same!
- Creative Exposure
Over the past few years, students have understood the importance of enhancing their creative skills and utilizing them on various fronts. Earlier, showcasing talent was a bit challenging. But presently, numerous online platforms have allowed students to show their skills and improve them via feedback. So, if you are also consistent enough, you will gain significant exposure and gain numerous opportunities in the future.
- Learning
The inception of social media platforms is a boon for young professionals and students as it helps them to assimilate different aspects. Platforms such as YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, etc., are the best platforms where students can learn visually.
In addition, these platforms help students exchange their knowledge and learn something new every day, enhancing their understanding of complex concepts efficiently. Thus, online discussions are one of the notable advantages of social media for students!
- Better Employment Opportunities
Social media is the go-to platform for students seeking a lucrative job. This method of finding a job has taken over the traditional approach where the vacancy information was printed in the newspapers.
Today, several companies use their social media accounts to advertise job openings. This way, the seekers can utilize these opportunities and apply for jobs that fit their interests and experience.
- Networking
Right from the time the pandemic hit the world, most of us have understood the significance of networking and students are no different!
Along with this, students have also started engaging in activities like Quizzes, Sudoku, etc., as they aid in building their soft skills, such as communication, collaboration, teamwork, critical thinking, and networking, to name a few!
Positive Impact of Social Media on Student Development
Social networking is an integral part of Digital Marketing Training that impacts learning in a positive way. As a student, if you are preparing for any competitive exam, social media can play an essential role! Here’s how!
- Improves Engagement
In this era of technology, students find it exciting and comfortable to use technology in order to study for school/ university or competitive exams. Moreover, videos and text content help gain sufficient knowledge of their respective subject or topic! Thus, a student’s engagement is reasonably enhanced as he/ she takes virtual help to understand complex concepts!
- Easy Sharing of Knowledge
Sharing different kinds of information is just a click away with social media. Therefore, students can share helpful information, study material, projects, practice papers, and other exam details with their friends and classmates.
Social media also has platforms that are exclusively dedicated to students and offer all the information from class notes, video lectures, book lists, etc., that all students have access to. This really helps in preparation for any competitive examination.
- Helps Gain Wider Knowledge
Since social media has no borders and boundaries, it helps students connect with numerous people across the globe and enhance their knowledge. Moreover, when students have any confusion while studying different concepts, social media can really help in gathering relevant information.
Earlier, students had to wait for the teacher to clear their doubts. But with the ever-evolving social media, it takes only a click, and you can know the answer to any complex concepts and doubts.
- Awareness
While earlier one did not have much scope to increase their awareness. But with the help of social media, you can increase your awareness about the exam, subject, and any other particular field of interest. Just a click, and you will know all about it.
Social media platforms are inherently dependent upon the internet. Moreover, social media has emerged as a new-age media technology in education and helped students increase their knowledge and interact with other students.
However, like everything else, social media platforms also have adverse effects. Therefore parents and teachers must understand the significance of timely monitoring of students. Some effective techniques include:
- Ensuring that the apps are used primarily for studies
- Limiting time on social media
- Keeping a specific time of the day for social media and spending the rest of the time utilizing reading from the books
- Writing daily targets and noting the topics you need to study online
Negative Impacts of Social Media
Besides the positive effects, social media also negatively impacts a student’s development. Here’s how!
- Worsens Mental Health
Over time, many studies have taken place regarding the impacts of social media on students and have uncovered some alarming findings. For instance, many students found that social media platforms contributed to sleep issues, anxiety, depression, FOMO (fear of missing out, and much more!
Thus, to promote better mental health, the primary thing to note is to limit scrolling and filter the content on social media websites so that students can watch educational content and learn different skills.
- Physical Inactivity
Social media can be really addictive – we know what it feels like to tell ourselves we only check notifications and end up mindlessly scrolling for hours! Social media platforms can have a detrimental effect on a student’s life. It can lead to physical inactivity, fatigue, poor sleep, etc.
- Reduces Learning & Research Capability
With the substantial use of social media, students these days are using more social media platforms to gain information and knowledge instead of looking out for the same in journals, books, notes, etc.
Because it is straightforward and easy to obtain data online, the student’s reading habits and research skills are diminishing.
Conclusion
The impact of social media in this century has made students’ life easy and convenient. While it has both positive and negative effects, using it as a tool to enhance your skills and acquire new ones can benefit students.
But unintentional scrolling brings no positive impact. Thus, it is best to limit time on social media and use it when required. Also, make sure that the internet does not rule your life. Focus more on internal work rather than internet work to gain broader knowledge.
We hope this blog gave you some tips to look at the positive side of social media. Try to implement them in your life, along with balancing them with your competitive exam preparation.
My name is Deepa, and I’m excited to share my thoughts, experiences, and ideas with you. I’ve been blogging for 3 years, and I love the way it allows me to connect with people from all over the world. I’m excited to connect with you and learn from your insights and experiences as well. I hope you enjoy reading my posts and join in on the conversation in the comments section.
