Welcome to the 21st Century, a world full of new technologies and electronic devices filled with Twitter notifications and Facebook alerts! Don’t forget our other favorite social media sites like Instagram, Pinterest, or YouTube! In this exciting world of social media, what could possibly go wrong?

As our knowledge of technology rapidly grows, so does social media. As both a useful and distracting tool, social media has some major pros and cons when it comes to affecting students. So what do you think about social media?

Social media is a tool generally used for advertisement and communication. This enables people to share or discuss information with others quickly and efficiently. Through social media, people can learn from others and expand their knowledge on their own, simply by researching. Students all have a different learning style, and some students find that resources outside of the classroom can greatly improve their learning. With the help of social media, many different teaching styles are available that can benefit individual students in their studies. Additionally, social media allows students to use the knowledge they attained to teach other people.

In some cases, students find social media as a way to relax after studying for long periods of time. “When studying, I like to take a little ‘brain break’ and go on Instagram.” says 9th grader, Anna Padron.

Sometimes, however, social media can be a disadvantage to students’ study habits.  It can act as more of a distraction than anything else. It can be tempting for students to use social media during times when they should be productive instead. As told by 11th grader Emily Musselman, “When I do my homework, I’ll take a quick glance at my phone once, and all of a sudden I’m sucked into social media. It’s very distracting.”

Some students lose their ability to concentrate when they are distracted by social media. Sometimes, because of technology’s many advantages, students rely too much on the use of social media. With many features such as spell check or auto correct, students are unable to learn from the mistakes they have made. As a result, students are not able to use proper grammar without relying on the automatic grammar corrections provided in these social media sites.

Despite its pros and cons, the true result depends on the way in which you choose to use social media. However, with the variety of resources, automatic corrections, and the ability to spread our knowledge and learn from others, people must remember not to rely too much on social media. When applying social media in education, students must try to use a little more study and a little less social.