Social Media & its Impact 1

Social Media & its Impact: Society/Daily Lives/Education

Timothy L. Smith

Seton hall University

Social Media & its Impact 2

Social media has become this new phenomenon that has taken over the lives of the tech

savvy generations. Through social media, people are turning separate communities, based off of

geography, in a “close knit” community, only divided between interests. A perk to social media

is that a person is no longer separated into one type of group, but can be involved in a myriad of

different conversations and groups. By using social media, a person is able to be interested in the

new technology being released, while also watching out for which celebrity is dropping the next

album of the year. People use a social media sites to communicate and share information,

images, etc. with other people. There are multiple types of social media sites. Some are blog/text

based, short information based, and image/video based. The phenomenon of social media not

only effects the daily life of a student but society as a whole, thus impeding into the classroom

When thinking about social media, it is important to think about who social media

effects, the positive and negative effects of social media, and what can be done to promote

positive use, and prevent negative use, of social media. Social media does not stay at home when

students come to school. They bring it with them. However, it is pertinent that they see beneficial

uses to social media.

First, via the use of a Microsoft Form, a poll was taken of Seton Hall University’s Digital

Research and Information Literacy Summer 2018, which comes to a total of six people. The first

question was ranking the student’s favorite social media site; which Facebook had won out with

a landslide. The second question focused on the amount of time a student takes in a day on social

media and to a surprise, two thirds of the poll said that they spend less than an hour a day on

social media. This could be due to the fact everyone who had taken he poll was above the age of

twenty two. The next question was if social media is positively or negatively impacting the

world, to which the responses were either “mostly positive with little negative” or “about 50%
Social Media & its Impact 3

each way.” For the 5th question, as a group of educators or soon to be educators, everyone said

that social media should be incorporated into the classroom. Ironically, when asked if they do

use social media in the class, only half actually follow through, even though they believe that it

should be used. For those who are educators, four fifths of the teachers said that students are

using social media in the classroom, during class time, which means that the students are using

their social media when they are not supposed to. This leads into the follow-up question of if

students should have their cell phones with them during a school day. The answer to the question

came out four to two, for cell phone carrying. When asked “What does social media cause in the

student body?” and given eight characteristics to say yes or no to, the answers, from most to least

popular, were distractions, entertainment, form of communication, bullying platform, stress,

anxiety, sense of community, and no one picked depression. Ironically, depression can be caused

from stress, bullying, and anxiety. The final question asked if the form taker could remember a

time students were better behaved and focused when social media was not prevalent, and half

said yes, two said no, and one said they could not remember.1

This form was useful in showing people’s opinions on social media. As educators, an

opinion on social media can be conflicting. As much as someone may enjoy the use of social

media in their personal life, it is hard to have a positive outlook on social media when students

are constantly on their phones using social media in place of paying attention in class.

When thinking about social media in relation to society, it is important to consider who

exactly is being effected by social media, i.e. gender, age range, and geography. To start off,

social media is a global phenomenon that gives people the ability to have a global conversation

1
Smith, Timothy L. 2018. Social Media and Education. Retrieved from
https://forms.office.com/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id=InzwUbdT30S5fKEyYdcQdSlebu88d5JPjsUQIJrRHIZUNV
hHODNJSUlOSDJQVElINkUyS09DN0pSQy4u
Social Media & its Impact 4

and share information in seconds, therefore, it effects anyone around the world who has access to

computers (or smart phones or tablets) and internet.

The older generations use social media less than the younger, which is no surprise due to

the constant changes in technology. The senior citizens (age 65 and up) use social media the

least. The middle aged (40 to 65) have been known to focus on Facebook for their social media

usage. Whereas the younger generations (teens to 20's) have been using twitter, Instagram,

Snapchat, and other social media widely, with the most time spent on the social media. Plus, it

has been noted that social media is more focused on by girls in a social manner. Males are not

excluded from using social media by any means, however, it has been seen that females have

more of a focus on social media. According to Kevin Murnane, the percent of each age range

that uses social media is as follows; eighteen to twenty nine years old are eighty eight percent in

use, thirty to forty nine years old are seventy eight percent in use, fifty to sixty four years old are

sixty four percent in use, and sixty five and up are thirty seven percent in use of social media.2

For the first three groups, the percent drops about ten percent each tear but when it comes to the

last group, the drop is nearly thirty percent rather than only ten, showing those who are in the

retirement age range, tend to not use social media.

The Pew Research Center started to track the use of social media in 2005. In 2005 about

five percent of Adult Americans used one or more social media sites. By 2011, the number rose

to about fifty percent of American Adults using social media. As of February 5th, 2018, that

number grew to about sixty-nine percent. When studying which sites are most used, Facebook

has been found to be the most popular until February of 2018, which YouTube has claimed the

2
Kevin Murnane
Social Media & its Impact 5

most used site. The age range Pew has found most active is the eighteen to twenty-nine age

group. As of the last four years, it has been found that Hispanic Americans are the most active

race on Social Media. As of 2018, when it comes to gender, seventy-three percent of women use

social media and sixty-five percent of men use social media. It is noted that those with larger

incomes, per year, are most popular in using social media sixty-three percent of people making

less than thirty thousand dollars use social media, seventy-four percent of people from both thirty

thousand dollars to fifty thousand and fifty thousand to seventy-five thousand dollars per year,

and finally seventy-seven percent of those who make seventy-five thousand dollars per year use

social media. In relation to education, those who tend to have more education have a tendency to

use social media more. It is found those with a High School degree or less have about sixty

percent of their group using social media, about seventy-two percent of those with some college

use social media, and seventy-nine percent of college graduates use social media. When it comes

to a communities demographic, i.e. urban, suburban, and rural, about fifty-nine of those who live

in rural communities use social media, sixty-nine percent of those in a suburban community use

social media, and seventy-five percent of those in urban communities are using social media.3

The National Archives of the United States Government have similar data to the Pew Research

Center, thus showing the confidence behind this data.4

Social media usage has both positive and negative attributes. However, the line of what is

positive and what is negative tend to be blurred when reading relevant literature. The article

“Social Networking and Children” from the American Academy of Child & Adolescent

Psychiatry (AACAP) states that social media helps with staying connected to friends, meeting

3
“Social Media Fact Sheet” from the Pew Research Center
4
“Social Media Statistics” from the United States Government’s National Archives
Social Media & its Impact 6

new friends with shared interests, finding community and support for specific activities, sharing

art work or music, and exploring and expressing someone’s self. 5 Another article, “Social

Networking in Schools – The Debate Continues” describes the benefits of social media as instant

communications, stimulation, learning, an freedom of expression.6 Both the AACAP and Shibely

mention these benefits as ways for children to be able to use social media as an outside source

for their expressivity and social stimulation, something that they may feel that they cannot get in

person at their own schools.

To the opposing note, many sources have found that social media can have harmful

effects on children. Rachel Ehmke says social media can be a/an “barrier to clear

communication, inability to form or maintain friendships, formation of online bullying, and

cause hyper connection to others.”7 The article “Social Networking and Children,” which was

previously mentioned, described negative aspects to social media as “exposure to harmful or

inappropriate content, exposure to dangerous people, cyber bullying (a risk factor for depression

and suicide), over sharing information, exposure to excessive advertisements, privacy concerns

including the collection of data about teen users, and identity theft or being hacked.” As well as,

“interference with sleep, exercise, homework, or family activities.”8

Ivan A. Shibley goes in depth with the negatives he brings up. He describes

cyberbullying and harassment as an “increase on cyberbullying and harassment because students

can write anything without ever facing the person directly, which can spill into schools.” When

he mentions the concept of “friending” online, he mentions that “not all students are able to

5
“Social Networking and Children” from the AACAP
6
Ivan A. Shibley from the University of Scranton
7
“How Using social Media Affects Teenagers” by Rachel Ehmke, from the Child Mind Institute
8
“Social Networking and Children” from the AACAP
Social Media & its Impact 7

handle the rejection when they are not accepted as a friend.” Shibley even mentions the first

amendment rights are brought into the conversation since he says that, “parents support students

who say anything they want without restrictions and in many cases, facts. If an administrator

challenges the student, the parent responds that the school is violating the student’s right of free

speech.” When bringing up sexual predators, Shibley says, “young folks are opening up their life

to strangers.” Shibley also took into account the future for students and that any “information on

a social network site resides there forever. Potential employers have looked at the postings and

decide not to hire the person.” Therefore, Shibley went in depth to rationalize his negative

aspects to social media.9

Another concern for those who are using social media, is mental health. Mental health is

extremely important for everyone, but especially for students as their brains are still developing.

As children, hormones are unbalanced and still setting in. If an outside factor adds to the

instability of the young brain, is it really worth it? North Shore University Health System, a

teaching affiliate of the University of Chicago: Pritzker School of Medicine, states four concern

that it has for mental health from social media. The first is “Increased time, increased risk.” They

feel that the more time that students are on social media, the more at risk they are for “poor

sleep, low self-esteem, and increases in depression or anxiety. The more emotionally invested

they are in one site in particular, the more pressure and anxiety they may experience to be

available and up-to-date at all times." This causes not only pressure and anxiety but also stress

and depressing ultimately. The second negative aspect mentioned is “investigated fights” due to

cyberbullying which has not been possible until the age of social media. Cyberbullying has

become such a phenomenon due to ability to hide behind a keyboard and screen, without having

9
“Social Networking in Schools – The Debate Continues” by Ivan A. Shibleyfrom the University of Scranton
Social Media & its Impact 8

any face to face communication, thus, when typing something, it is almost as though the person

who is being hurt, it not a person at all in the mind of the bully. Rather, the person is more like a

thing, or not real to the bully. The third concept is “poorly advised”, which is described as, “It’s

nothing new; teens have always been wary of asking parents or other adults for advice. With

hundreds of friends on social media in the palm of their hands, teenagers often turn to social

networks to seek advice that is often misguided." The fourth and final concept described is a

“skewed perception and social comparison.” With the ability to Photoshop or airbrush everything

on the internet, therefore, much of everything seen on the internet is a false sense of reality.

North Shore University Health System describes this with this statement;

“The need to appear to have perfect hair, to look skinny or fit, to have the perfect group

of friends or the need to get the right amount of likes can consume teens. Not meeting

these invisible standards can cause self-loathing and self-doubt. Social comparison,

loneliness and jealousy can result when friends on social media ‘appear’ more popular

and attractive or on a glamorous vacation, which can trigger depressive feelings."10

According to Katie Hurley, LCSW, social media can have both positive and negative

effects on the mental health of teens. She found that “teens who struggle with social skills, social

anxiety, or who don’t have easy access to face-to-face socializing with other teens might benefit

from connecting with other teens through social media.” This is due to the start of

communicating with other, without having to actually face them. But it is important to note that

this should be a building block to face-to-face communication, not a substitute. Hurley has also

found “LGBTQ teens and teens struggling with mental health issues—can find support and

10
“Social Health: Teenagers’ Mental Health and Social Media” from North Shore University Health System, a
teaching affiliate of the University of Chicago: Pritzker School of Medicine
Social Media & its Impact 9

friendship through use of social media.” This is due to formatting a connection of a small group

to support on another through the use of social media, in turn showing that the one person is not

alone. Even though Hurley mentions negatives such as focusing on likes, cyberbullying, making

comparisons, having too many “fake friends”, and less face-to-face time, the positives for some,

may outweigh the negatives.11

Even though it seems the focus of social media issues is on high school students, it is

important to note that social media also have an effect on the mental health of middle school

students. According to Victoria L. Dunckley M.D. from Psychology Today, there are multiple

Concerns for middle school aged children using social media. The first is that “social media was

not designed for them.” At that age, ten to fourteen, a child’s frontal cortex is unable to manage

distraction and temptations of social media. Social media requires a form of maturity that middle

school students do not have. The second concern is “social media is an entertainment

technology.” A middle school aged child is unable to understand that social media is strictly for

entertainment rather than for learning or social development. Not to add that “a tween’s ‘more is

better’ mentality is a dangerous match for social media.” Children at that age tend to “overdo”

many things at that age, and social media is not exempt from that. More to this point, Dunckley

states that “social media is an addictive form of on screen entertainment.” Thus showing that a

child’s need for more will not always be intentional. When the brain is still developing and social

media is used excessively, “social media replaces learning the hard social ‘work’ of dealing face-

to-face with peers.” This skill, which will not develop correctly, is extremely important for

children to be able to handle real life scenarios since not everything in life is through a screen.

11
“Social Media and Teens: How Does Social Media Affect Teenagers’ Mental Health” by Katie Hurley, LCSW,
from Psycom
Social Media & its Impact 10

This under development of social skills “can cause teens to loose connection with their family

and instead view ‘friends’ as their foundation.” Due to the cognitive brain still developing,

children need to be as attached to their family just as much as when they were younger. Familial

attachments are more important than friendships at this age. The last point Dunckley makes is

that “social media use represents lost potential for teens.” This time frame is when a child’s

ability to learn is at its peak, but if a student is wasting large amounts of time on social media,

they are unable to learn other, more beneficial, things. Which due to their age, they are unable to

balance everything.12

After weighing all of these negative aspects to social media, the thought of how to

prevent, or promote, the inappropriate, or appropriate, uses of social media. North Shore

University Health System mentions that there are four things parents should do with their

children in relation to social media. The first is to educate their children on how to use social

media in a positive way and how to not use it to prevent negative use. Another way is to

communicate with their children often about their use of social media. North Shore states,

“Parents should have frequent conversations with their teens about the safety of social media,

how much personal information should and shouldn’t be shared and about cyberbullying.” It has

been proven through studies that teenagers who often talk to their parents about social media,

tend to engaged in safer behaviors online.13

Another benefical method is to monitor a child’s time on social media. By limiting the

amount of time being spent, a child is not as likely to over use social media. In order to limit

time, this may include. “no phones at the table, no phone in car rides during errands or turning

12
“Why Social Media is Not Smart for Middle School Kids” by Victoria L. Dunckley M.D. from Psychology Today
13
“Social Health: Teenagers’ Mental Health and Social Media” from North Shore University Health System; a
teaching affiliate of The University of Chicago: Pritzker School of Medicine
Social Media & its Impact 11

off WiFi at bedtime.” Parents are also to have healthy attitudes toward social media. To do so,

North shore explains,

“To minimize social comparison and envy, parents and teens should talk about the

distorted views of friends’ lives that are presented on social media. Teens should feel

confident, not more depressed, after viewing social media. Encourage using social media

not only to post about our best moments but our quieter ones.”

All these methods together can help children understand the proper use of social media,

rather than a negative, possibly hurtful, use. 14

When bringing social media into the classroom, “students see that their blogging, texting,

tweeting on social media is real writing.”15 A students writing online is still writing and if a

teacher is able to show them how to use it, they are more likely to practice a positive use. In

order to use social media in the classroom, a teacher must “establish transparent FERPA-

compliant policies,” by “Locating and reviewing the school or district’s social media guidelines,

using parental consent/opt-out forms, and to not start without the guidelines or consent forms.”16

For best practices to maintain a sense of privacy for themselves, a teacher should;

“consider creating a separate account for professional use, review the privacy settings on

any personal social media accounts, use photo-editing tools on your phone or tablet,

explain to students what they will be doing, walk around the classroom and look for

14
“Social Health: Teenagers’ Mental Health and Social Media” from North Shore University Health System; a
teaching affiliate of The University of Chicago: Pritzker School of Medicine
15
“Social Media $ Students’ Communication Skills” by Rusul Alrubail from Edutopia
16
“Protecting Student Privacy on Social Media” by Tanner Higgin from Edutopia
Social Media & its Impact 12

visible student or classroom information, and take inventory of digital files and

folders.”17

These practices are to help keep positive use of social media in the class, but to still keep

boundaries between the teacher and student.

To help her students learn an educational use for social media, Kristen Wideen, a teacher

in Ontario, whose class had been studying tadpoles, used twitter to share her accounts in class

with the world. She created a class Twitter account ( @MrsWideensClass ) so the students would

be able to be engaged in society in a controlled environment. With the account, the students were

able to learn and share their learning experiences with anyone who wanted to view their content.

Another use of Twitter in the class was in classroom in Chicago. The teachers name was Kristen

Ziemke and she teaches first grade. Mrs. Ziemke created a Twitter account ( @Burley106 ),

along with some blog use, to “share their learning with parents, other students and a broader

community. Collectively, they would discuss their learning experiences as a class, before

Tweeting out their thoughts, questions and ideas to their broader learning community.”

Both teachers generated their Twitter accounts to be able to record their learnings and share it

with the world in a controlled environment.18

Another method to introduce elementary level students to social media is to do what a

school in Mooresville, North Carolina, use a single day, in their case the 100th day, as a day of

technology. In their school they, “erected a technology museum highlighting the evolution of

everyday items that enable us to communicate electronically, listen to music, watch movies, and

17
“Protecting Student Privacy on Social Media” by Tanner Higgin from Edutopia
18
“Introducing Social Media to Elementary Students” by Beth Holland from Edutopia
Social Media & its Impact 13

play games.” This was able to show the progress “from manual typewriters to laptops, rotary

phones to smart phones, 16 mm. projectors to interactive whiteboards, and vinyl record players

to iPods.”19

This was to show student how technology can be used, and how humans, as a race, have

progressed to the modern technology that is used. Since the start of this technology day, the

Moorseville School District has ben able to equip all students, grades three through twelve, a

laptop, and all kindergarden through third grade classrooms with interactive whiteboards, iPads,

MacBooks, and Mac Minis.

At a High School level, Jim Asher has used Twitter as his personal learning network

(PLN), to be able to share ideas and content with other teachers. Once he felt he was an avid

enough user, he brought Twitter to the classroom with a classroom account. He did it to connect

the classroom to the world to have “real-time dialogues with experts, museums, publishers,

journalists, and more.” 20 Jim also mentions that Instagram can also be used in the classroom to

add the use of visuals. He does this to be able to not only keep the dialogue going, but to also

keep the parents of the students up to date on what is going on in the classroom and for them to

be able to see for themselves. He does this in hopes that they as their children questions about

what was done in class, thus reinforcing information learned.

Just as in life, there are positive and negative aspects to using social media in the

classroom. The University of Cincinnati (UC) outlines both positive and negative attributes to

the use of social media in the classroom in a “Pro/Con” list. Their pro’s include; use as an

19
“Leveraging Social Media in the Elementary Classroom” by Debbie Marsh, Volume 38, Issue 6 from the National
Association of Elementary School Principals (NAESP)
20
“Making the Case for Social Media in Schools” by Jim Asher from edutopia
Social Media & its Impact 14

educational tool, creation of an online presence and constructive conversations between parents

and their children. UC also outlines the cons as social media can be a distraction, cyberbullying

can be an issue if not monitored, and the formation of students not being able to participate in

real world situations.21 It is evident that these are heavy concepts to weigh, however, when

monitored by a teacher or parent, the pros can outweigh the cons.

It is clear that social media has become this controversial phenomenon. However,

whichever side a person may take, it is evident that social media has come, and has come to stay.

Even though social media can have its down falls, when using it for properly and safely, it can be

a tool that will benefit the user greatly in either socially, mentally, or educationally.

21
“Social Media Debate – To Use in the Classroom or Ignore” from the University of Cincinnati
Social Media & its Impact 15

References

A. (2017, February). Social Networking and Children. Retrieved June 17, 2018, from

https://www.aacap.org/AACAP/Families_and_Youth/Facts_for_Families/FFF-

Guide/Children-and-Social-Networking-100.aspx

Alrubail, R. (2015, July 14). Social Media & Students' Communication Skills. Retrieved June 17,

2018, from https://www.edutopia.org/discussion/social-media-students-communication-

skills

Asher, J. (2015, August 7). Making the Case for Social Media in Schools. Retrieved June 17,

2018, from https://www.edutopia.org/blog/making-case-social-media-in-schools-jim-

asher

Dunckley, V. L., M.D. (2017, March 26). Why Social Media is Not Smart for Middle School

Kids. Retrieved June 17, 2018, from https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/mental-

wealth/201703/why-social-media-is-not-smart-middle-school-kids

Ehmke, R. (2018, April 25). How Using Social Media Affects Teenagers. Retrieved June 17,

2018, from https://childmind.org/article/how-using-social-media-affects-teenagers/

Higgin, T. (2017, September 19). Protecting Student Privacy on Social Media. Retrieved June

17, 2018, from https://www.edutopia.org/article/protecting-student-privacy-social-media

Holland, B. (2013, June 18). Introducing Social Media to Elementary Students. Retrieved June

17, 2018, from https://www.edutopia.org/blog/introducing-social-media-lower-

elementary-beth-holland
Social Media & its Impact 16

How Social Media Effects Teenagers' Mental Health | NorthShore. (2017, September 25).

Retrieved June 17, 2018, from https://www.northshore.org/healthy-you/how-social-

media-effects-teenagers-mental-health/

Hurley, K., LCSW. (n.d.). Social Media and Teens: How Does Social Media Affect Mental

Health? Retrieved June 17, 2018, from https://www.psycom.net/social-media-teen-

mental-health

Marsh, D. (2015, February). Leveraging Social Media in the Elementary Classroom. Retrieved

June 17, 2018, from https://www.naesp.org/communicator-february-2015/leveraging-

social-media-elementary-classroom

Murnane, K. (2018, March 03). Which Social Media Platform Is The Most Popular In The US?

Retrieved June 17, 2018, from

https://www.forbes.com/sites/kevinmurnane/2018/03/03/which-social-media-platform-is-

the-most-popular-in-the-us/#60ba67dc1e4e

P. (2018, February 05). Social Media Fact Sheet. Retrieved June 17, 2018, from

http://www.pewinternet.org/fact-sheet/social-media/

Shibley, Ivan A. Debate Social Networking in Schools. Retrieved June 17, 2018, from

https://www.uscranton.com/resources/education/social-networking-in-schools-the-

debate-continues/#.WycimqdKhPY

Social media debate - to use in the classroom or ignore. (2015). Retrieved June 17, 2018, from

https://mastersed.uc.edu/news-resources/social-media-debate-to-use-in-the-classroom-or-

ignore/
Social Media & its Impact 17

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https://www.archives.gov/social-media/reports