By Rameez Mahesar and Rasool Bux Bodani ,
By tracing the history of Social media back, it can be argued that the face of social media in this juncture is quite different from what was deemed to be social media in the days of yore. It is vibrant for all and sundry nowadays but it was not like that around a decade back. Users could create their profiles and could also invite people as their friends. This way of communication was lasted till 2001 was fallen.
The social media has been entered the educational institutions for donkey’s years. But they are now backing the education nights and days by all accounts. Cheap packages have long-drawn-out the ground of its users throughout the world. Students, round the clock, use them to convey their academic activities towards their colleagues. Also, they make groups to discuss thereupon their activities. Whatever is concerned with their education, they forward as well as receive in a brisk manner at best.
The biggest social media plays in education is of “time saving”. It simply saves students’ time, decreases their expenses, and reduces their distance in the bargain. Not only the information concerning their class activities students share, but also the books, slides, assignments and notes they can share with one another. This is undoubtedly the biggest triumph of social media.
But, the studies done on social media have derided the academic performances of students. In the eyes of those studies, students consume a lot of their time on using all these tools of communication but the use of these tools slightly declines their academic achievements and performances in the bargain. For example, The American Educational Research Association executed a research study therein they declared that social media users study less and generate lower grade. On the flip side, San Miguel engrossed on the link between time consumption on Facebook and students’ academic performance. The overall conclusion declared that “more time on Facebook equals slightly lower grades”. Moreover, the average Facebook user had a GPA of 3.0 to 3.5, while the non-Facebook user had a GPA of 3.5 to 4.0. Besides, the middling Facebook user spends 1 – 5 hours on his/her study per week, while the non-Facebook user would consume 11 – 15 hours on his/her study per week.
Englander and others done a collective research in which they found social media negatively linked with students’ academic performance and lot more earth-shattering than its advantages.Also another study done by Sanchez-Martinz and Otero had found a correlation between “intensive” mobile phone use and school failure.
In Sindh (with special focus), in the days of examinations, students in a great deal display disgusting and negative remarks concerning examinations on their walls on social media. They waste their worthy of being treasured time on these kinds of revulsive things that affect savagely on their capabilities.In doing so, their prized time goes faster and their paper day comes to them in no time. They, brood over their grave mistake they have done after they find them in the list fraught with the names of those who have been failed in their papers.
In Pakistan, there is sheer need of this kind of studies to be executed. Students must be woken up to the significance of their phones having internet facility. They should be encouraged to either use it to do their research work rather than the usual chatting with friends round the clock. Students limit the time they consume on using social media sites aimlessly and rather additional those hours to read their relevant academic books and novels to expand their knowledge.
Since the studies have confirmed that the use of social media sites had negative effects on the students’ academic performance, there is a dire need for the introduction of students to the availability of information sources or materials that can back them academically. Moreover, students must also be advised during orientation of the dangers of addiction to social networking sites. Above all, the research papers concerning the detrimental impacts and perilous effects creating through aimless use of clone-media /social media throughout the academic institutes must be presented to the students per month. This is the best way to combat the prevailing chancy problem.
(The writers are Teaching Assistants at the department of Media Studies, Shaheed Benazir Bhutto University, Shaheed Benazirabad).
