Effects of facebook or social media in general to students

Facebook is known to be the biggest online organization prior to the communication and recreational industry. It is a great way to communicate with family and friends and stay connected with recent updates and profile information. According to research, 85% of students today use facebook to communicate with other students, family and friends to exchange quality information sometimes for research use or entertainment.

Social Impacts
According to research, social media in general have several effects on students and their academic work some of it positive but depending on the use. It is stated that students that are frequently using social media feel more well liked by the friends as this would be a result of socializing online with others through the internet and is more likely to participate and collaborate with others in extra-curricular activities. However, it is also known to be that facebook can lead to the drastic drop in grades of students as the use of social media would lead the focus of studying through books and education related information to be ignored. Apart from grades but can also lead to depression as some students may seem to be more of an introvert compared to some of their friends. For example:- if they see a status update of a friend out with other people they might feel a bit left out and would thoroughly lead to social depression.

Ethical Issues
It is proven that ethical issues such as users being used as subjects for a psychological experiment. This is evident from the recent updates facebook has implied where they changed the template of each users profile page to a timeline where some users experienced difficulties of use therefore resulting to complaints however, some users actually like the fact that there has been an update for change and evolution of the facebook interface. Facebook was also considered a corporation that harvests personal data for singular use therefore other users would be able to use this information for inappropriate use such as stalking. Posting of viable information that can be easily spread is sometimes inappropriate as the information sent may be classified information and will be vulnerable once shared to a single person or a group depending on the situation.

Personal and Public Communications

As as a part of our curriculum we had to design a working interface that shows the different developments towards technology in the modern world. As an individual we had to state the different social impacts, pros and cons towards the use of these devices. As an example of a technology I have listed the different advantages and disadvantages with the use of mobile phones, TV & radios, PDA's. GPS etc. They all had similar advantages and disadvantages, however, most of the disadvantages led to one thing which was the inappropriate use of the devices or the obstacles that might disrupt the use of it.

The discussion mainly led to the future developments of each device. I generally explained that most of them would obviously become more sleek in looks and have better aesthetics to cope with possible future needs, however, would be quite costly for users to be able to upgrade from the current technology to what is available in the future.

Below is a presentation I have made that explains the different technologies that are related to personal and public communications. Enjoy