Social Networking Sites Impact on Education Media Essay

Social networking sites offer people new and varied ways to communicate via the internet,

whether through their PC or their mobile phone. Examples include MySpace, Facebook and

Bebo. They allow people to easily and simply create their own online page or profile and to

construct and display an online network of contacts, often called ‘friends’. Users of these

sites can communicate via their profile both with their ‘friends’ and with people outside their list of contacts. The rapid growth of social networking sites in recent years indicates that they are now a mainstream communications technology for many people.

Social networking sites are most popular with teenagers and young adults

Research shows that just over one fifth (22%) of adult internet users aged 16+ and

almost half (49%) of children aged 8-17 who use the internet have set up their own profile on a social networking site.4 For adults, the likelihood of setting up a profile is highest among 16-24 year olds (54%) and decreases with age.

Some under-13s are by-passing the age restrictions on social networking sites

Despite the fact that the minimum age for most major social networking sites is usually 13

(14 on MySpace), 27% of 8-11 year olds who are aware of social networking sites say that

they have a profile on a site. While some of these younger users are on sites intended for

younger children, the presence of underage users on social networking sites intended for

those aged 13 or over was also confirmed by qualitative research .

The average adult social networker has profiles on 1.6 sites, and most users check their profile at least every other day.

Adult social networkers use a variety of sites, with the main ones being Bebo, Facebook and

MySpace. It is common for adults to have a profile on more than one site - on average each

adult with a social networking page or profile has profiles on 1.6 sites, and 39% of adults

have profiles on two or more sites. Half of all current adult social networkers say that they

access their profiles at least every other day. The site people choose to use varies depending on the user. Children are more likely to use Bebo (63% of those who have a social networking site profile), and the most popular site for adults is Facebook (62% of those who have a social networking profile).

Two-thirds of parents claim to set rules on their child’s use of social

networking sites, although only 53% of children said that their parents set

such rules

For many children, the rules and restrictions that their parents set on social networking site

usage are an important influencing factor in the child’s use of social networking sites. Two thirds of parents whose children have a social networking page say they set rules on their

child’s use of these sites. Most commonly these concerned meeting new people online and

giving out personal details. However, significantly fewer children (53% of those with social

networking profiles) say that their parents set rules on their use of these sites.

Attitudes and behaviours towards social networking sites

Social networkers fall into distinct groups

Social networkers differ in their attitudes to social networking sites and in their behaviour

while using them. Qualitative research indicates that site users tend to fall into five

distinct groups based on their behaviours and attitudes. These are as follows:

• Alpha Socialisers – (a minority) people who used sites in intense short bursts to flirt,

meet new people, and be entertained.

• Attention Seekers – (some) people who craved attention and comments from others,

often by posting photos and customising their profiles.

• Followers – (many) people who joined sites to keep up with what their peers were

doing.

• Faithfuls – (many) people who typically used social networking sites to rekindle old

friendships, often from school or university.

• Functionals – (a minority) people who tended to be single-minded in using sites for a

particular purpose.

Non-users of social networking sites also fall into distinct groups

Non-users also appear to fall into distinct groups; these groups are based on their reasons

for not using social networking sites:

• Concerned about safety – people concerned about safety online, in particular making

personal details available online.

• Technically inexperienced – people who lack confidence in using the internet and

computers.

• Intellectual rejecters – people who have no interest in social networking sites and see

them as a waste of time.

Introduction

INDUSTRY OVERVIEW

Social Networking sites- Overview

AA social network serviceA focuses on building and reflecting ofA social networksA orA social relationsA among people, e.g., who share interests and/or activities. A social network service essentially consists of a representation of each user (often a profile), his/her social links, and a variety of additional services. Most social network services areA web basedA and provide means for users to interact over theA internet, such asA e-mailA andA instant messaging. AlthoughA online communityA services are sometimes considered as a social network service in a broader sense, social network service usually means an individual-catered service whereasA online communityA services are group-centred. Social networking sites allow users to share ideas, activities, events, and interests within their individual networks.

The main types of social networking services are those which contain category places (such as former school-year or classmates), means to connect with friends (usually with self-description pages) and a recommendation system linked to trust. Popular methods now combine many of these, withA Facebook,A BeboA andA TwitterA widely used worldwide;A MySpaceA andA LinkedInA being the most widely used in North America;[1]HYPERLINK "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nexopia"NexopiaA (mostly in Canada);[2]A Bebo,[3]A Hi5,A HyvesA (mostly in The Netherlands),A StudiVZA (mostly in Germany),A iWiWA (mostly in Hungary),TuentiA (mostly in Spain),A Decayenne,A Tagged,A XING;[4],A BadooHYPERLINK "#cite_note-4"[5]A andA SkyrockA in parts of Europe;[6]A OrkutA andA Hi5A inA South AmericaA andCentral America;[7]A andA Friendster,A Mixi,A Multiply,A Orkut,A Wretch,A renrenA andA CyworldA in Asia and the Pacific Islands andA OrkutA andA Facebookin India.

There have been some attempts to standardize these services to avoid the need to duplicate entries of friends and interests (see theA FOAFstandard and theA Open Source Initiative ), but this has led to some concerns about privacy.

Although some of the largest social networks were founded on the notion of digitizing real world connections, many other networks as seen in theA List of social networking websitesA focus on categories from books and music to non-profit business to motherhood as ways to provide both services and community to individuals with shared interests.

Typical structure

In general, social networking services allow users to create a profile for themselves, and can be broken down into two broad categories: internal social networking (ISN) and external social networking (ESN) sites such

asA MySpace,A Facebook,A TwitterA andA Bebo. Both types can increase the feeling of community among people. An ISN is a closed/private community that consists of a group of people within a company, association, society, education provider and organization or even an "invite only" group created by a user in an ESN. An ESN is open/public and available to all web users to communicate and are designed to attract advertisers. ESN's can be smaller specialized communities (i.e. linked by a single common interest e.g. TheSocialGolfer, ACountryLife.Com, Great Cooks Community) or they can be large generic social networking sites (e.g. MySpace, Facebook etc).

However, whether specialized or generic there is commonality across the general approach of social networking sites. Users can upload a picture of themselves, create their 'profile' and can often be "friends" with other users. In most social networking services, both users must confirm that they are friends before they are linked. For example, ifA AliceA lists Bob as a friend, then Bob would have to approve Alice's friend request before they are listed as friends. Some social networking sites have a "favorites" feature that does not need approval from the other user. Social networks usually have privacy controls that allows the user to choose who can view their profile or contact them, etc.

Social networking sites typically have a section dedicated to comments by friends. On Friendster, this section is called "Testimonials". On Facebook, this section is called "The Wall". In the beginning, this was a feature that encouraged people to write messages about the person in the profile. But over time, people started writing creative testimonials back, creating a form of conversation.[32]

Some social networking sites are created for the benefits of others, such as parents social networking site "Gurgle". This website is for parents to talk about pregnancy, birth and bringing up children.

.com. This social network allows professionals to exchange information, opportunities, and ideas. Professionals are able to stay informed with new knowledge about their field

Some social networks have additional features, such as the ability to createA groupsA that share common interests or affiliations, upload or stream live videos, and hold discussions in forums.A Geo social networking co-opts internet mapping services to organize user participation around geographic features and their attributes.

There is also a trend for moreA interoperability between social networksA led by technologies such asA OpenIDA andA Open Social.

Lately, mobile social networking has become popular. In most mobile communities, mobile phone users can now create their own profiles, make friends, participate in chat rooms, create chat rooms, hold private conversations, share photos and videos, and share blogs by using their mobile phone. Mobile phone users are basically open to every option that someone sitting on the computer has. Some companies provide wireless services which allow their customers to build their own mobile community and brand it, but one of the most popular wireless services for social networking in North America is Facebook Mobile. Other companies provide new innovative features which extend the social networking experience into the real world.

Another social networking feature in a professional aspect is LinkedIn.

Emerging trends in social networks

As the increase in popularity of social networking is on a constant rise, new uses for the technology are constantly being observed.

At the forefront of emerging trends in social networking sites is the concept of "real time" and "location based." Real time allows users to contribute content, which is then broadcasted as it is being uploaded - the concept is similar to live television broadcasts.A  TwitterA set the trend for "real time" services, where users can broadcast to the world what they are doing, or what is on their minds within a 140 character limit.A FacebookA followed suit with their "Live Feed" where users' activities are streamed as soon as it happens. While Twitter focuses on words,A Clixtr, another real time service, focuses on group photo sharing where users can update their photo streams with photos while at an event. Friends and nearby users can contribute their own photos and comments to that event stream, thus contributing to the "real time" aspect of broadcasting photos and comments as it is being uploaded. In the location based social networking space,A FoursquareA gained popularity as it allowed for users to "check-in" to places that they are frequenting at that moment.A GowallaA is another such service which functions in much the same way that Foursquare does, leveraging theA GPSA in phones to create a location based user experience. Clixtr, though in the real time space, is also a location based social networking site since events created by users are automatically geotagged, and users can view events occurring nearby through the ClixtrA iPhoneA app. Recently,YelpA announced its entrance into the location based social networking space through check-ins with their mobile app; whether or not this becomes detrimental to Foursquare or Gowalla is yet to be seen as it is still considered a new space in the internet technology industry.[35]

One popular use for this new technology is social networking between businesses. Companies have found that social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter are great ways to build their brand image. According to Jody Nimetz, author of Marketing Jive[36], there are five major uses for businesses and social media: to create brand awareness, as an online reputation management tool, for recruiting, to learn about new technologies and competitors, and as a lead gen tool to intercept potential prospects.[36]. These companies are able to drive traffic to their own online sites while encouraging their consumers and clients to have discussions on how to improve or change products or services.

One other use that is being discussed is the use of Social Networks in the Science communities. Julia Porter Liebeskind et al. have published a study on how New Biotechnology Firms are using social networking sites to share exchanges in scientific knowledge.A They state in their study that by sharing information and knowledge with one another, they are able to "increase both their learning and their flexibility in ways that would not be possible within a self-contained hierarchical organization." Social networking is allowing scientific groups to expand their knowledge base and share ideas, and without these new means of communicating their theories might become "isolated and irrelevant".

Social networks are also being used by teachers and students as a communication tool. Because many students are already using a wide-range of social networking sites, teachers have begun to familiarize themselves with this trend and are now using it to their advantage. Teachers and professors are doing everything from creating chat-room forums and groups to extend classroom discussion to posting assignments, tests and quizzes, to assisting with homework outside of the classroom setting. Social networks are also being used to foster teacher-parent communication. These sites make it possible and more convenient for parents to ask questions and voice concerns without having to meet face-to-face.

Social networks are being used by activists as a means of low-cost grassroots organizing. Extensive use of an array of social networking sites enabled organizers of the 2009A National Equality MarchA to mobilize an estimated 200,000 participants to march on Washington with a cost savings of up to 85% per participant over previous methods.[38]

TheA use of online social networks by librariesA is also an increasingly prevelant and growing tool that is being used to communicate with more potential library users, as well as extending the services provided by individual libraries

Issues

Privacy

On large social networking services, there have been growing concerns about users giving out too much personal information and the threat ofA sexual predators. Users of these services also need to be aware ofA data theftA orA viruses. However, large services, such asA MySpaceA andA Netlog, often work with law enforcement to try to prevent such incidents.[citation needed]

In addition, there is a perceived privacy threat in relation to placing too much personal information in the hands of large corporations or governmental bodies, allowing a profile to be produced on an individual's behaviour on which decisions, detrimental to an individual, may be taken.

Furthermore, there is an issue over the control of data—information that was altered or removed by the user may in fact be retained and/or passed to 3rd parties. This danger was highlighted when the controversial social networking siteA QuechupA harvested e-mail addresses from users' e-mail accounts for use in aA spammingA operation.[43]

In medical and scientific research, asking subjects for information about their behaviors is normally strictly scrutinized byA institutional review boards, for example, to ensure that adolescents and their parents haveA informed consent. It is not clear whether the same rules apply to researchers who collect data from social networking sites. These sites often contain a great deal of data that is hard to obtain via traditional means. Even though the data are public, republishing it in a research paper might be consideredA invasion of privacy.[44]

Privacy on Facebook is undermined by three principal factors: users disclose too much, Facebook does not take adequate steps to protect user privacy, and third parties are actively seeking out end-user information using Facebook. Every day teens go on social networking sites and reveal their most inner thoughts for the whole world to see. Information such as street address, phone number, Instant Messaging name are disclosed to an unknown population in cyberspace. What's more, the creation of a Facebook, MySpace, Twitter etc. account is a fairly easy process to do and no identification is required, which can lead to identity theft or impersonation. "For the Net generation, social networking sites have become the preferred forum for social interactions, from posturing and role playing to simply sounding off. However, because such forums are relatively easy to access, posted content can be reviewed by anyone with an interest in the users' personal information".

There has been a trend for social networking sites to send out only 'positive' notifications to users. For example sites such as Bebo, Facebook, and Myspace will not send notifications to users when they are removed from a person's friends list. Similarly Bebo will send out a notification if a user is moved to the top of another user's friends list but no notification is sent if they are moved down the list.

This allows users to purge undesirables from their list extremely easily and often without confrontation since a user will rarely notice if one person disappears from their friends list. It also enforces the general positive atmosphere of the website without drawing attention to unpleasant happenings such as friends falling out, rejection and failed relationships.

Many social networking services, such as Facebook, provide the user with a choice of who can view their profile. This prevents unauthorized user(s) from accessing their information.[49]Parents have become a big problem to teens who want to avoid their parents to access their MySpace or Facebook accounts. By choosing to make their profile private, teens are able to select who can see their page and this prevents unwanted parents from lurking. This will also mean that only people who are added as "friends" will be able to view the profile. Teens are constantly trying to create a structural barrier between their private life and their parent

A common misuse of social networking sites such as Facebook is that it is occasionally used to emotionally abuse individuals. Such actions are often referred to as trolling. It is not rare for confrontations in the real world to be translated online. Online bullying (aka "Cyber-bullying") is a relatively common occurrence and it can often result in emotional trauma for the victim. Depending on the networking outlet, up to 39% of users admit to being “cyber-bullied”?.[54]A danah boyd, a researcher of social networks quotes a teenager in her article, Why Youth (Heart) Social Network Sites. The teenager expresses frustration towards networking sites like MySpace because it causes drama and too much emotional stress.[55]A There are not many limitations as to what individuals can post when online. Inherently individuals are given the power to post offensive remarks or pictures that could potentially cause a great amount of emotional pain for another individual.

Interpersonal communication

Interpersonal communication has been a growing issue as more and more people have turned to social networking as a means of communication."Benniger (1987) describes how mass media has gradually replaced interpersonal communication as a socializing force. Further, social networking sites have become popular sites for youth culture to explore themselves, relationships, and share cultural artefacts. Many teens and social networking users may be harming their interpersonal communication by using sites such as Facebook and MySpace. Stated by Baroness Greenfield, an Oxford University Neuroscientist, “My fear is that these technologies are infantilizing the brain into the state of small children who are attracted by buzzing noises and bright lights, who have a small attention span and who live for the moment

It is not unusual if you often hear your siblings or your friends talk about the people they have met and made friends with through the Internet as social networking is one of the phenomena that have taken the world of Internet by storm. Almost every Web surfer has an account in at least one of theA social networking sites, for these sites are the more enjoyable places to hang around in.

Pros:

Social networking sitesA have paved the way for easier communication to your friends, family, or colleagues. One example is that instead of meeting in a certain place, you and your classmates could discuss a school activity by having a conference in a certain site that you are all members of, thus saving you time and effort. Virtual communities are also formed, which are composed of people connected together by common interests, purpose, and goal. People of different races also get to mingle with each other in just a few clicks.

The idea of socializing with millions of people of different backgrounds excites the Web surfers. This is one thing that you can hardly do outside the virtual world.

Communication with distant family and friends. Meet new people, be creative, and be yourself

It entertains you when you're bored

Social networkingA websitesA are a great way of keeping in touch with family andA friends. You can post blogs, share photos, use instant messaging (Myspace has its own instant messaging service), make comments and add people to your friends list. SocialA networkingHYPERLINK "https://www.blurtit.com/q430795.html"A HYPERLINK "https://www.blurtit.com/q430795.html"sitesA allow you to create a profile, where you can share your interests with other users and also, you can make new friends. These type of sites, Myspace in particular, are also used people such as bands or authors to build up friends in order to generate interest in their music and books

Cons:

Social networking sites require or give you the option to provide personal information such as your name, location, and email address. Unfortunately some people can take this as an opportunity for identity theft. They can copy your information and pretend to be "you" when engaging in illegal activities. Bad news! So be cautious with what you enter into an online networking site.

You could fall into the trap of someone who pretends to be somebody else. For example, they might offer you a job or want to meet up with you just to get your money. This can lead to cyberstalking, where the stalker uses electronic media such as the Internet to pursue or harass you.

there is also the chance of people's profiles being hacked or identities being stolen

A Another downside is that sites such as Myspace, which allow users to add their own background, are often very slow due to backgrounds taking up a lot of memory. This has led to users'A computersA crashing every time they got onto a profile which uses up a lot of memory. Also, because these types of sites have millions of users, errors can often occur.

It hampers the students the most. Students waste a lot of time on the social networking sites. This disturbs their education. It distracts you from your work that is needed to be done.

Social Networking-Stats and figures

The way we communicate online has gone through a sea-change over last few years. In fact, majority of net users spend most of their time on social Media / Networking sites. Even thoughA India Software companies are lagging behindA in adoption of social media, others are flocking them in large numbers.

Twitter has been a rage over past 1 year, Facebook has become one of the most visited sites on the web, Professionals are flocking Linkedin and keep their profiles updated.

FacebookA claimsA that 50% of active users log into the site each day. This would meanA at least 175m users every 24 hours.

TwitterA now hasA 75m user accounts, but only around 15m are active users on a regular basis.

LinkedInA has overA 50m members worldwide..

Facebook currently has in excess ofA 350 million active users on global basis.Six months ago, this was 250m. This means over 40% growth in less than 6 months.

Flickr now hosts more thanA 4 billion images.

More than 35m Facebook users update their status each day.A 

WikipediaA currentlyA has in excess ofA 14m articles, meaning that it 85,000 contributors have written nearly a million new posts in six months.

Photo uploads to Facebook haveA increased by more than 100%.A Currently, there are aroundA 2.5bnA uploads to the site each month.

Back in 2009, the average user had 120 friends within Facebook. This is now around 130.

Mobile is even bigger than before for Facebook, withA more thanA 65m users accessing the site through mobile-based devices.A In six months, this is over 100% increase.

There are more thanA 3.5bn pieces of contentA (web links, news stories, blog posts, etc.) shared each week on Facebook.

There are nowA 11m LinkedIn users across Europe.

Towards theA end of last year, the average number of tweets per day was over27.3 million.

The average number of tweets per hour was aroundA 1.3m.

15% of bloggers spendA 10 or moreA hours each week blogging, according to Technorati’s newA State of the Blogosphere.

At the current rate, Twitter will process almostA 10 billionA tweets in a single year.

About 70% of Facebook users are outside the USA.

India is currently the fastest-growing country to use LinkedIn, with around 3m total users.

More than 250 Facebook applications have over aA millionA combined users each month.

70%A of bloggers are organically talking about brands on their blog.

38% of bloggers post brand or product reviews.

More thanA 80,000A websites have implemented Facebook Connect since December 2008 and more thanA 60mA Facebook users engage with it across these external sites

Top Social Networking sites in India 2010

Orkut.com

Facebook.com

Twitter

Bharatstudent.com

hi5.com

ibibo.Com

MySpace Sites

LinkedIn.com

PerfSpot.com

BIGADDA.com

Fropper.com

friendster

Literature Review

Literature review

Social Networking in Education

BY Geetha Krishnana

Overall, an astonishing 96 percent of students with online access report that they ever used any social networking technologies, such as chatting, text messaging, blogging and visiting online communities…Staggering as the 96 percent statistic is, it is intriguing to wonder what the other 4 percent is doing. Just e-mail and web surfing?Further, students report that one of the most common topics of conversation on the social networking scene is education. Almost 60 percent of students who use social networking talk about education topics online and, surprisingly, more than 50 percent talk specifically about schoolwork.Tempting as this statistic might sound to champions of the social-networking-for-education cause, it may be worth considering that most of the discussions that people have on education could be to do with help on homework and troublesome topics, classical problems that would otherwise get discussed in the college canteen perhaps.A It may not mean a new avenue for learning something new – it is just a new medium to get problems shared and solved. That is not to say it is not a good thing, but it may not be much more than that.Nonconformists—students who step outside of online safety and behavior rules—are on the cutting edge of social networking, with online behaviors and skills that indicate leadership among their peers. The report offers some recommendations for school board members as well.

Explore social networking sites.A This is an important recommendation because most often we tend to condemn something without really understanding it.

Consider social networking for staff communication and professional development.A This could well help achieve the previous point as well. It will also serve to integrate students and staff in the networking space.

Find ways of harnessing the educational value of social networking.A This is a seemingly motherhood statement, but it could be worthwhile for teachers to consciously think of projects and assignments to be executed through networking approaches.

Ensure equitable access.A An obvious point, strengthen the access mechanisms for students to technology.

Pay attention to nonconformists.A This has already been touched on earlier in this post.

Re examine social networking policies.A Another obvious point, come at social networking as an integral component of the education process, not as a diversion.

Facebook Impact on Student Grades Raises New Questions for Business

BY Lawrence Walsh

An Ohio State University study links Facebook use to lower grades. The study comes as businesses worry about the impact of social networking tools on worker productivity, integrity of their intellectual property and data security. Security vendors such as Websense, Fortinet and Trend Micro release new tools to combat embedded threats in social networks.As enterprises grapple with whether social networking creates security risks and productivity losses, a new study from the Ohio State University suggests there is a link between the use of Facebook and lower grades among college students.According to the survey of 219 students, those who said they use Facebook have grade point averages between 3.0 and 3.5 and study 1 to 5 hours per week. Conversely, non-Facebook users have GPAs between 3.5 and 4.0, and study 11 hours or more per week.The study found that 79 percent of Facebook users believe that it has no impact on their academic performance.

Research methodology

Research methodology

Problem Definition

In today’s era, education is seriously getting hampered through these social networking sites. In the name of connectivity, students and teens are actually wasting a huge amount of time in facebooking and orkuting. The sufferer is none other than them, and the worst part is that they do not even realise it. 80% of the teens and students in India have atleast one active account in either facebook or orkut. So the need of the hour is to find out whether these social networking sites are useful or is it a mere waste of time.

Hence, the research objective is to find the factors that motivates the students to open an account in the social networking sites and thus wasting time.

Research Objectives

1)To find out whether Social networking sites are a threat or a helping hand for education

2)To find out the reasons that compel the students to join the networking chainA 

3) To find out ways byA which the social media can be used constructively in the field of education

Research Methodology

The research design that will be used would be exploratory research and then a descriptive research. During the first week of interacting with the students who engage themselves with social networking sites sufficient information will be gathered so as to discuss which factors motivates them to create their account in social networking sites. The discussion shall be general and therefore would help in gaining insight into what would be the most important factors to focus on.

Through the following weeks data would be collected through framed questionnaire so as to allow quantification of the result.

Research Design:- exploratory research and descriptive research

Research approach:- secondary research (books, research papers) and primary research (questionnaire)

Sources Of Data:-

secondary(web, library, company projects)

primary (questionnaire)

Sampling:- Stratified (urban, educated)

Sample Size:- 100 approx

Data Analysis:- qualitative analysis of exploratory research data and Quantitative research on data obtained through the questionnaire.

Analysis

AGE:

The survey was stratified. Aimed at the urban youth, it is comprised of young/ medium adults whose opinions comprise the result of this questionnaire.

97% of the representatives are from the age group of 20-30

1% belongs to below the age of 20

1% belongs to above the age of30

Number of years they have been using Internet:

Number of hours that you spend on social networking sites ( Facebook , orkut) on a daily basis:

X axis: Number of hours

Y axis: Number of people

Motivation to use Internet:

Favourite Social Networking site:

Reason for visiting Social networking sites:

What do the students look for over the Internet:

Data regarding whether or not they use Facebook/Orkut to share educational information and articles:

Data regarding whether or not chatting and getting connected is the most vital thing in Facebook as perceived by the students:

Data regarding whether or not Socail networking sites plays a major role in education:

Data supporting whether or not social networking sites is in general used for educational purpose:

Data supporting whether or not the students would continue using Social Networking Sites if the entertainment part of it (Games, sharing pics and videos) is disabled:

Findings and interpretation, Recommendations

Findings:

Factors influencing opening an account on facebook/Orkut/Hi5/Twitter:

personal sharing (pictures, videos and events)

88% agree

12% disagree

sharing your opinion on different matters and subjects

85% agree

15 % disagree

Education related activities

25% agree

75% disagree

online gaming

70% agree

30% disagree

connectivity with celebrities

67% agree

33% disagree

connectivity with your friends

90% agree

10% disagree

show -off

47% agree

53% disagree

Sharing opinions

85% agree

15% disagree

Factors affecting the motivation to click social networking sites *There are many factors which drives you to click the link over the Internet. Tell us how important these factors are for you. (1 being the least important factor and 5 being the most important factor) 1 - Least Important 5 - Most Important

The content is attractive (colour, design, models, font etc)

40% important

60% not important

The urge of getting entertained motivates me the most

80% important

20% not important

The urge to educate myself on different important issues

45% important

55% not important

The urge to get connected with long and short distance friends

90% important

10% not important

The urge to stay connected with celebrities

67% important

33% not important

The urge to follow with the corporate professionals

57% important

43% not important

The urge to view meaningful and education related videos

50% important

50% not important

Findings

Students mostly join in social networking medias to get connected with their peers and exchange pictures and videos. This serves as a great tool to stay in touch and is cost effective as well.

This also acts as a platform that helps in exchanging ideas and information, new movie releases, verdicts. People enjoy reading these and they equally enjoy commenting on it. They find it very cool and hip to interact with long distance friends.

Students of all ages have started opening an account on Facebook and Orkut because they feel that it is something which can help them create their own identity and flaunt it. They love to put their pictures so that their peers can comment on it. Essentially it is a matter of show off for them which gives them a chance to flaunt their talent and looks.

The main and the most important reason for people to join such sites is entertainment. Social networking sites have of late become a very important and cheap source of entertainment. The very idea of staying connected to celebrities through Twitter motivates many young students to have an account on such sites.

Some students access Facebook not only from their lap top, but also through their mobile phones. This shows the kind of addiction they have with Facebook. Even if they are browsing some other sites for educational information still they make sure that their Facebook home page is opened and very much active. They do not want to miss the happenings going on in their friends life.

The most popular site among all the social networking channels is undoubtedly Facebook, it has become an addiction and the students just love to update their profile, status, videos on this site. Orkut is only second to facebook, although the majority of people have their accounts open in both facebook and orkut, still the number of active users for facebook is comparatively higher.

Along with updates and status messages facebook also provides sheer entertainment through online games. Farmville and Mafia wars are the two most popular games being played. There are many times when people log into facebook just to play Farmville and win the race.

If the entertainment part of these sites are disables then around 80% of the active users will quit facebook and jump to some other site that would provide them with full entertainment.

Not many people think that facebook can be utilised in education. Even if it is utilised by a few for the purpose of education, still not many will like it. The core function of Facebook/orkut is full on entertainment and it should remain that way. They are of the opinion that such sites provides a platform where in they can freely update about their thinking and have a proper say of their own. They do not want any sort of interference.

RECOMMENDATIONS

RECOMMENDATIONS:

The power of social media has just scratched the surface. Most believe its use in higher education is controversial, but what if we started thinking outside the box?

Individuals use sites such as Digg.com to rate other Web sites, and product reviews on Amazon.com. What if we opened up courses for student reviews on our site? New students would be able to view reviews on classes when trying to make their selections, especially for general education courses. Courses with great reviews will likely receive higher enrolments, without any additional cost to market these classes. Administrators would likely worry about the classes that would receive poor reviews – but whether you enable this feature or not, these conversations are happening elsewhere, likely on sites you have no control over.

Social media offers advancement professionals a great opportunity for keeping in touch with alumni after they graduate. Facebook is one of the more popular tools they are now using to keep in touch with recent alumni. Alumni that are more in touch with their alma mater, and individuals there, are more apt to be future donors to the college.

Social media gives us the opportunity to humanize stories of students and alumni of the institutions, which can create loyalty and earn future business (students), and ultimately their respect.

Educators have the responsibility to scaffold learning and take students from what they already know to higher levels of critical thinking. In addition, today's students are using social networks already to connect and communicate. Students need guidance, however, to learn how to use these Web 2.0 tools to collaborate, create, share ideas, and learn. Current technologies in the social network arena should prompt educators to ask just which aspects of social interaction can facilitate learning.

The idea of online collaboration or an online community is principally topic driven, such as an online forum, discussion group, or bulletin board. One’s participation is required on the question or discussion at hand, and existed in a relatively tight-knit world.

Conclusion

Social networking sites are not a replacement for learning management systems. The unique social constructs given by social networks has instructional potential. They should be an adjunct to other tools. While learners will continue to use the environments they find most engaging and useful, institutions need to be careful that they do not lose the opportunity to track what students are doing.

So arguably nothing can substitute the traditional form of learning. But with the advent of social networking sites, all attempts must be made to help the students make the best use of their time and energy by learning constructively through these social networking sites.

You tube and Twitter if used in the right way can help the students achieve management excellence.

At the end of the day it entirely depends on the individual regarding how he/she perceives the usage of social networking channels. One can use it for educational purpose while the other can use it for sheer entertainment. Of course all attempts should be made by these sites to encourage creative thinking and lateral education. Lastly it is we students who can make the very best use of any given resource. To either exploit it positively or negatively is a pure individual decision which has to be respected at the end of the day.

Facebook has great potential for education purposes, many Schools and Universities already have a Facebook Page for themselves. MySpace is not only losing ground with the general population in terms of the number of active users, but it’s also not popularly used in higher education.

YouTube has enormous capabilities and potential. This is an area where one can really see a lot of ROI with no real post-production costs and an infinite audience (vs. creating CDs/DVDs, paying for postage to mail, distributing at fairs, etc.).

Higher education hasn’t quite found the right niche for Twitter yet. It has great potential in the future, and there are a few ideas floating out there that may take off in the coming months – it will be interesting to see how this plays out.

References

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