Introduction
There exists a continuous discussion on the role of social media in education. Advocates bring to light the advantages associated with social media in present day’s digital learners whereas critics state that social media should be removed from class rooms.
This section highlights advantages and drawbacks associated with social media.
Advantages
- Improve student engagement:
Social media is regarded as being a sound means for increasing student involvement and building better communication abilities (Mangold & Faulds, 2009). Students who hardly ever speak up in class might feel comfortable putting across their views on social media platforms like Facebook, Youtube or Twitter.
- Enhance communication amongst teachers and students
Social media could improve communication between teachers and students. Instructor can easily provide answers to students’ queries through a Twitter feed or Facebook page; send updates or messages; post lesson plans or homework assignments; announce or schedule events and lastly, share content (Trainor, 2012). Students could make use of Twitter for getting assistance from other students or teachers.
- Preparing students for sound employment prospects
Drawbacks
- Social media could be a distraction
A widespread complaint amongst teachers is that the networking sites prove to be distractive in the classrooms. It is highly believed that media tools such as Twitter and Facebook divert the attention of students from what is actually happening within the class and negatively impact the learning process (Trainor, 2012).
- Cyberbullying
While social media channels offer a means for instructors and students to connect, they could prove to be a means for destructive behaviour (Trainor, 2012). As a result, institutions or instructors who make use of social media channels as fraction of their course curriculum should be fully conscious about the possible problems and plan beforehand for dealing with minor issues before they become very serious.
- Discourages face-to-Face communication
Few instructors are apprehensive that although real-time digital platform might develop a secure means for learners who aren’t comfortable in putting across their views, learners are missing important learning in real-life social abilities. Learners might see themselves at a high disadvantage at the time of job interviews or college admissions when they require commanding focus and putting across a logical message (Mangold & Faulds, 2009). Moreover, in personal relationships as well as social gatherings, they must be capable of efficiently expressing themselves and connecting with others.
Communication barriers when using social media versus using traditional media
On comparing traditional media with social media, it can be clearly stated that the communication barriers associated with social media are fewer in contrast to traditional media. The chief communication barrier associated with social media is the lack of face-to-face communication. This can be surely be worked upon by the universities by offering some additional learning opportunities to students so that they open up to freely express their views in class and in public. Being an educational platform, social media enhances the learning experience through enabling teachers and students to link as well as communicate in exciting new manners. Moving ahead, managers should take few initiatives for making sure that they communicate efficiently at the time when making use of social media. First of all, they should set up two way communication so that there could communication between both the parties. Secondly, the managers should not rely entirely upon social networks. They should have in place some other options as well along with this like group discussions and meetings.
Analysing whether business organizations should have rules for employees using social media
Taking into consideration the speedily growing advent on networking sites universities adopting media channels for interaction have set up rules and regulations to stay away from the possible issues that can take place. Same is applicable in case of organizations adopting social media channels for interaction. Rules and regulations can stop employees or other associated individuals to use media channels for destructive activities. Rules and regulations include:
- Restricting the information mentioned on the company’s page on networking sites from any third parties.
- Prohibiting employees to use the information on networking sites for their personal interest or share it with someone else.
- The employees should be restricted to use networking sites for personal use or entertainment reasons during working hours as this could negatively impact the outcome.
Conclusion
Taking into consideration the above discussion it can be clearly stated that there are several advantages and drawbacks associated with social media channels. Managers and companies should be fully aware of both the aspects before its adoption. My experience with social media has been both positive and negative. Thus, it is always suggested to not just depend completely on any one particular approach. The mangers should use social media channels to the level they don’t do any harm to the company.
References
Mangold, W. & Faulds, D. (2009). Social Media: The New Hybrid Element of the Promotion Mix, Business Horizons, 52 (4), pp. 357–365.
Trainor, K. (2012). Relating Social Media Technologies to Performance: A Capabilities- Based Perspective, Journal of Personal Selling & Sales Management, 32 (3), pp. 317– 331.
