Social Media And Education

Social networking has taken the world by storm as millions of users are signing on each day. While this is a major part of society right now, it may have a dark side that most individuals do not recognize. As social media becomes increasingly involved in business, it also has an incredible affect on education around the world. People everywhere have put their trust in social networking sites, disclosing a mass amount of personal information for everyone to see. While this is intriguing, it can also be dangerous when the private and public lives of individuals clash, creating controversy, and possibly destroying a name or a career very quickly. The affect of social networking in business and education has become extremely negative as employees …show more content…
Social networking has made its way into every school across the nation. Almost every student has some type of attachment. Even some teachers have resolved to using social media to communicate or distribute homework to their students. However, if teachers do not closely monitor their students involvement, as well as their own, the situation can turn negative very quickly. The students can be exposed to inappropriate material, sexual predators, bullying, and harassment by peers. For these reasons, critics have made a strong push for regulation, or even removal of all social media from classrooms (Fine 1). The addition of social media to the education system has caused many problems across the nation, for teachers as well as students. Strongly regulated social media inside the classroom can have benefits, but as involvement furthers outside the classroom, it can become dangerous. Students on school grounds are now susceptible to many things they would not have been exposed to if it were not for social networking and the internet in classrooms. Schools and universities should be a place of strengthening learning, pushing students to their highest potential, and learning how to retain knowledge. It should not be a place that promotes the usage of social networking in the learning environment, or that forces the students into the realm of social networking if they have not …show more content…
The problems occur when users of these networks disclose every aspect of their personal and private lives online. Not only can their close friends see it, but also bosses, business connections, and an unlimited amount of other people. As the lives of these individuals become more transparent, work and private life are closer than ever and can be very hurtful to their careers and image. “Bachelorette party pictures on Facebook cost Spanish teacher Ginger D'Amico a 30-day suspension without pay last January” (Clemmit 1). This is just one example of how pictures on a social network have affected the career of an individual. By posting pictures on Facebook of a fun time she had with her friends, she also made this available to parents and her bosses. This ultimately resulted in her suspension. The private and public lives of people around the world are beginning to come together like never before. Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg said, “The days of you having a different image for your work friends or co-workers and for the other people you know are probably coming to an end pretty quickly. That’s good, because having two identities for yourself is an example of a lack of integrity” (qtd. in Clemmit 2). While this is accurate, it brings up the observation that the issues people are facing now, due to the revelation of their private and public