Social Networking and the Impact on College Life - Research Paper Example

Social Networking and the Impact on College Life The social network is a wonderful place to be for every individual in the world today because it provides updates from near and dear ones, assists in communicating with people living far away in remote areas of the world and also helps people to entertain themselves and keep busy. However, the social network has begun to have an adverse effect on the lives of students as well as professionals at the workplace because it has been eating into their work time. Many teachers argue that their students fail to finish their work on time because of being hooked onto the internet and on social network sites like Face book and Twitter. Social media websites have been thus affecting school and college students’ grades because students end up spending more time on websites rather than studying. Most students, when asked how they spend their day, reply by stating that they spend their hours after school or college in front of the computer, on websites like Twitter and Face book. These websites take up all their time because the new generation is obsessed with documenting their every thought on the internet. Moreover, they like checking into places on their Face book, updating their status and spend hours on a single photograph that someone would have tagged them on, commenting. All these activities eat up into their study time and they fail to get good grades or concentrate in the classroom due to being so hooked on to these websites all the time. The focus of this paper is on college students because school children can still be controlled by their parents and are under the regulation of their parent’s watchful eye. Once in college, a student is on his own, leading his own life and seldom listens to what the parents say, especially if he lives away from home. Such freedom tends to override the child’s life, leading him into spending his time in the most non productive and enjoyable manner possible. By this I mean to say that the internet can be a very productive place to be as it has so many websites full of information and learning; one can enrich himself by reading the news as well, however college students seldom tend to do that, unless the news presents itself in the form of a Face book update. Almost 96% of college students are on Face book all the time and even if they study, they tend to keep checking their Face book page for updates every half an hour, if not lesser. This hinders work because it reduced the concentration span of the student. (Akhtar, Shabbir) “As social media websites, such as Face book, YouTube and Twitter gain popularity, they are also are becoming increasingly dangerous as they create modes to procrastinate while trying to complete homework. Hence, in a survey of 102 students, 57% stated that social media has made them less productive.” Moreover, the student always has something else on his or her mind, or he keeps waiting for a particular notification to come, which makes him lose his attention from his college assignment completely. Obviously, being on the internet can exhaust a person because of all the browsing and the mental work that is being done, without even knowing it. So after browsing the Face book for even two hours, students tend to tire out easily, and thus delay doing their college work at all, again leading to bad grades in class the next day. Another aspect that hinders their work and brings them bad grades is that their smart phones are synchronized to their social networking accounts and thus even if they are away from a laptop or an internet connection; they always get notified on their phones. This way they are constantly updated and this is a terrible thing because the updates do not stop even when they are in a classroom in front of a teacher trying to teach them something. The updates never stop and the students become obsessed with going through different profiles, even if they are of no use to them. The social network is a network of people’s profiles from all over the world with a great deal of information being shared that might not even be necessary for a person’s existence, and this is what college students spend maximum of their time on. It is a wonder that they do not get tired of browsing these websites all the time because they meet their friends constantly and are in touch with them anyway. There is a school of thought on the other hand that states that using social networking websites is a good thing and is not in fact bad for college students or does not hinder their grades, and in fact helps them. Face book for example allows the use of groups and events and through this students and their teachers can be notified about the work load and even discuss class topics and share their views and ideas on the portal. These updates are useful and are necessary to their lives. Twitter also helps in providing constant updates regarding matters and if used in an educational manner, can help students update each other about their course work. Multitasking with these websites while working or studying on the other hand is a very bad idea because even if it may be for discussing work, it tends to distract the student as one always tends to click on a hyperlink that may be a tad bit more interesting than the course work, thus leading the student to completely stray away from the topic at hand. Research seems to say that if a student uses Face book a lot, he tends to be more active in campus activities. Extracurricular activities are often discussed a great deal on social networking websites, even with teachers as the platform is more informal and students like to talk to their teachers there. Thus, in this manner, it is better for students to be a part of the social network if it helps them keep up with all the activities going on in their college. At the same time however, most college students spend their time on social networking websites instead of applying for jobs or working part time which is good for them for the purpose of gaining work experience which will help them later in life. They will also be able to make some extra money, however they do not because of being so addicted to these websites. “Meanwhile — contradicting the zero-sum logic of some who might believe that a minute spent social networking is a minute spent not attending to schoolwork — the study found no substantive link between time spent on Face book and time spent studying.” (Ruiz, Rebecca) Using the social network also helps a student to feel involved with people, his college and even other people that he would not speak to otherwise. People look at each other’s profiles and it helps them connect with others on various levels like knowing their likes and dislikes. It thus helps college students be more popular and feel accepted among their peers, giving them a better outlook as compared to those students that use the social media of networking and it impacts them negatively by making them feel that they have no people to talk to that is why they are so hooked onto the internet all the time. “Furthermore, social media gives students a sense of community. Research shows that those who use social networking sites were twice as likely to feel well-liked by their peers and to participate by extracurricular activities.” (Hines, Sophie) Another aspect of life where having the social network helps is that one is always in touch with current news; for example subscribing to RSS feed for news can really help a college student in his grades as it will help him to keep up with the world, current affairs as well as the required news in the field that he is studying in. Using social networking websites can also help to bring about an attitudinal change in people – for example, students can emanate good vibes as they can boost their self esteem by uploading their thoughts and photos on these websites. “Not only do grades and finances suffer, but students might actually end up feeling more depressed or lonely. Almost half of students believe they are sadder than their friends on Facebook, and 25% of college students have shown signs of severe depression in their status updates at one time or another.” (O’Dell, Jolie) This can thus have a negative effect as using these websites tend to provide students with over confidence which they then apply in their personal lives. Using these websites more often might make them very narcissistic and self obsessed. Many students make use of these websites for the purpose of getting good grades and improving their educational skills however if they do not have a control over their use of these websites, they may tend to go overboard and distract themselves by misusing them, and that too for prolonged periods of time. Thus it has been found out that obviously, not making use of these websites will give college students more time to think about things that matter and more time to study, which will automatically result in them getting better grades. Moreover, with the above examples it is clear that even though the use of social networking websites can help college students to get good grades, counter arguments have provided that these steps are not very effective and do not work for all students – only those that are sincere in their work and retain a focus on their studies while using the internet as a secondary option. It may thus be understood that students who make use of these websites and get addicted to them in the long run, do not benefit when it comes to their career and education. It is very difficult to stop using these websites once one is hooked onto them and like a bad substance, it is terrible for one’s health as well as grades in college. It is thus advisable for students to take time out to use the internet and spend time on social networking websites only in their free time and not let these websites rule their lives. They can be used for educational purposes and for getting good grades, however only if applied well. Even though they assist in better participation in activities on campus, they still tend to lower one’s grade in assignments, which at the end of the day, are very important for one’s education and career. Works Cited Wang, Q., Wei Chen, and Yu Liang. "The Effects of Social Media on College Students."Scholars Archive (2011): n. pag. Web. 1 Dec. 2012. . Hines, Sophie. "How Does Facebook Affect Your Grades?" Studentbeans.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 Nov. 2012. . Ruiz, Rebecca. "Facebook’s Impact on Student Grades." NY Times. N.p., 21 Oct. 2011. Web. 30 Nov. 2012. . O'Dell, Jolie. "For Students, What Is the “Facebook Effect” on Grades?" Mashable The Social Media Guide. N.p., 27 Apr. 2011. Web. 30 Nov. 2012. . Akhtar, Shabbir. "Does Social Media Affect The Grades Of Students?" Social Trakr. N.p., 22 Apr. 2011. Web. 1 Dec. 2012. . Read More