Burnett 1 Michael Burnett Professor Horne IT 2010 September 23, 2013 The Benefits of Social Media on the College

Campus It is no question that social media sites have gained much attention and garnered much support over the last decade. Sites like Facebook and Twitter are staples on the internet and nearly everyone with access to the internet have a profile on one of these sites or at least knows about these social media sites. These sites allow users to stay connected and interact with their friends and family, and also stay update with politics, news, and sports if they so desire. So it seems obvious that the use of social media sites would spur the advancement of knowledge and the ability for teacher and student to interact. Social media sites help students and professors interact outside of the classroom. Sites like Facebook and Twitter have capabilities for larger groups of users to meet and post useful information for other users to see and interact with. So if a professor were to adopt the use of social media sites into their arsenal of teaching methods then the Professors could have a twitter where they could tweet/ post links to useful websites or articles that the students could then use as supplements for upcoming assignments and papers. Researchers have found that many teachers like the idea of using social media sites in order to interact with their students. They see these sites as an excellent mechanism for communicating with our students because it allows us to go where they already are; it is an environment that students are already comfortable with. (Mack, Behler, Roberts, & Rimaland, 2007, p.4).

Burnett 2 Sites like Facebook allow users to interact with other members. The basis of the site is to have a place for you and your friends/colleagues to interact with and view information about each other. Throughout the course of a students college career they are bound create connections with a varied group of people. According to Nicole Ellison, Charles Steinfield, and Cliff Lampe (2007), Such Connections could have strong payoffs in terms of jobs, internships, and other opportunities. These connections made through college and maintained on social media sites will be very beneficial to both students and alumni alike.

Burnett 3 References 1. Ellison, N. B., Steinfield, C., Lampe, C. (2007). The benefits of facebook friends:Social capital and college students use of online social network sites. Journal of ComputerMediated Communication, 12(4). Retrieved from http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1083-6101.2007.00367.x/full 2. Mack, D., Behler, A., Roberts, B., Rimaland, E. (2007). Researching students with facebook: Data and best practices. Electronic Journal of Academic and Special Librarianship, 8(2). Retrieved from http://southernlibrarianship.icaap.org/content/v08n02/mack_d01.html