It is incredible how much we rely on different aspects of social media to communicate. I believe that social media is not just a fad, but a shift in the way everyone on earth thinks. Five years ago, you could list on two hands the number of people who had Facebook, now I can not even think of someone off of the top of my head that does not have Facebook or Twitter. Even my grandma has Facebook! It is being used now by the police to catch suspects, by companies to advertise product and by 74 year old grandmothers to stay in contact with their families.
When doing research for projects now, what do students do: "Oh I'll just Google it...." Textbooks and references are not used as nearly as often as they once were since the internet came along.
If you missed the last 14 minutes of the Canada vs Russia upset, you can quickly search it on Youtube to re-watch 5 unanswered goals. (Not that any Canadian would WANT to re-watch that)
If you want to check out what your favourite band is doing or what an actor is up to, all you have to do is sign up to Twitter and "follow" them to get play-by-play updates on their happenings.
Although I sometimes wish the internet was never invented because of how fast our world has now become, you cannot put a price on the positive impact it has had on society. Social media is here to stay.
I totally agree with what you say about researching for a project. I know some teachers require 3 book references which is kind of silly seeing as with a few clicks i have access to the most current and up to date information, yet I am forced to use a reference text dated back about 6 years... The pace that media is evolving is so fast that the education system has not yet caught up (or is scrambling to catch up) by allowing web sites and technology to be used in classrooms. As a student who needs the internet and its resources to gather information from, it is hard to believe that someone would discredit it so quickly!
ReplyDeleteI can completely agree to how fast Facebook has spread! I remember my sister being in college showing me her page and I signed up soon after. Think of all the wasted hours spent since that day... Crazy, but amazing!
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