Is Facebook actually having a positive impact on our education?

 Facebook and twitter have famously been used as the catalyst for students procrastinating in the past. However, new studies suggest that it could actually be having a positive impact in education performance.

According to data gathered from several sources by OnlineEducation.net, Facebook and Twitter are used to remarkable benefit— sometimes. Students welcome online networking and resources and around 75% of students said they’d like to do some online facilitation during lessons.

Also, social media may have a positive impact on students’ sense of themselves in the community and among their peers. Social media-using students were twice as likely as other students to feel well-liked by their friends and to participate in extracurricular activities. And 20% more of Facebook-using students said they felt connected to their school and community. 

Helje Solberg, executive editor of the norwegian paper VG, spoke at a conference recently about how her newsroom use social media. She said staff are now asked to spend 10% of their time working on social media. She went onto explain that social media can be a great tool for newsgathering, content distribution and community engagement when used correctly. Therefore, by using social networking sites as a collaboration in classes at both schools and universities, it might be actively preparing students for life in a work place. 

However, negative effects always arise.  Students who use Facebook and hit the books simultaneously found their multitasking led to 20% lower grades than those of their more focused peers. Facebook-using students also made less money during school from part-time work, putting in around five hours per week as opposed to 16 hours per week for a typical, unplugged counterpart.

Not only do grades and finances suffer, but students might actually end up feeling more depressed or lonely. Almost half of students believe they are sadder than their friends on Facebook, and 25% of college students have shown signs of severe depression in their status updates at one time or another.

In a word, the results are inconclusive. But with around 96% of all university students on Facebook, only the most dedicated academics would consider giving up social media for slightly better results.