Supposedly practiced by teens, young adults, and procrastinating students – social media often gets a bad rep.
Social media is associated with liking, mindless browsing, 0 originality, social nonsensical time-wasting entertainment.
But, according to The Weeks’s Does Social Media Make Us Smarter? all that critique is just an old-conservative-grouchy-man’s rant.
Social media does positively effect learning.
Apparently – social media engagement makes people write much more outside the classroom/workplace. Sites like Twitter that limit word space – teach economy of language, and effective expression of your opinion.
Here’s what’s up: As a young malleable teen writing a paper for class – you know the paper’s audience is limited and the purpose of the paper is artificial. The motivation is low because you’re simply writing to fulfill a grade and a deadline.
Now on an online forum: faced with an audience of thousands if not millions – how accountable/influential do you feel putting out a message into that world?
“…Once [you see a] first comment from someone outside the classroom, [your] entire world shifts, because [you] understand [you] are thinking publicly, and that catalyzes [you] to produce something better…”
[All that according to Does Social Media Make Us Smarter?]
As a fish in a small pond – social media swims you out into the Ocean.
Browsing the old Tumblr, 9gag, or pinterest you marvel at how much you are the same as your fellow people of the world …
Social media shamelessly uncovers hidden emotions, insecurities, tendencies, tricks, and inspirations – which, turns out, are common to all of us. We are all the same. The world gets smaller.
Social media helps the people of the world get on the same wavelength.
And the quicker we can all realize we all act in the same ways – the quicker we understand each other – the quicker we can move on to discussing more important things:
- politics
- environment
- goals
- group ventures
- future
If not for social media, we would waste a lot of time getting to know each other just to establish rapport. And only then move to discussing things that forward mankind.
Now you can think of social media proactively and mindfully.
Put your social media efforts to the right purposes – and they will do you good.
ksenmarkets 