The  Effect  of  Social  Media  on  College  Students  Today    Sierra  Johnson  

TWC-­‐521:  Principles  of  writing  with  Technology  

Spring  2013    

                           

Social networking has become an everyday thing to many Americans, all

ranging from ages 18 to 64. It is said that “Americans age 18-64 who use social

networks say they spend an average of 3.2 hours per day doing so, according to

new research released by Ipsos Open Thinking Exchange (OTX)”

(Marketingcharts, 2013). Those that don’t use social media networks have

surveyed that they find that the average online American would spend 2 hours

a day on social media sites, accessing it through computers, tablets, and/or

mobile phones. Reports show “specifically, among American social network

users:

• 18-24-year-olds report spending 3.8 hours a day;

• 35-49-year-olds report spending 3 hours per day; and

• 50-64-year-olds report spending 2.4 hours per day.

In terms of the gender difference, female social networkers spend almost 40%

more time daily with social media sites than men (3.6 hours vs. 2.6 hours), a

finding consistent with earlier research from MyLife and from Burst Media

showing women to be more active than men on social media” (Marketingcharts,

2013) networks.

Other interesting demographics that also emerged from the Ipsos

research were that some social network users that had a low-income house hold

would spend more time on social network sites, 3.7 hours, as opposed to the

high household income users who spent about 3.1 hours. The level of

education and type of employment and employment rank levels all have roles in

how many hours were spent on social networking sites, such as those with low

education levels spending more time than those with high education levels (3.5

vs. 3); business owners spending almost 50% more time than those who don’t

own a business (4.4 vs. 3); senior executives and decision-makers spending 40%

more time than those not in those positions (4.2 vs. 3); and the unemployed

social networkers spending 3.5 hours a day on social media, versus 3 hours for

the employed. These interesting demographic statistics for users of social media

show that people spend hours and hours on social media sites everyday. It is

said that “roughly 1 in 5 users aged 18-34 clam to spend 6 hours or more per

day social networking” (Marketingcharts, 2013).

The rapid pace of advanced technology growing and changing has

caused social network users to increase. It has been reported that in 2008 only

24% of Americans had a social media type of an account, today, about 56% of

Americans have social media accounts. It has been said that using the phone,

emailing, snail mailing, socializing with others in person, and spending time

with household members has decreased since 2006! A chart with this data can

be found in the appendix section.

The popularity of social media networking sites have rapidly increased

within the past decade due to the use of young adults and teens being attracted

to it. “Teens and young adults were among the first to adopt and utilize social

networking tools as ways to facilitate dialogue and develop online communities.

Because social networking site usage is so prevalent among college students,

there is an assumption by many professionals and organizations that they know

how to employ them as strategic tools” (Lewis, Unknown Date). Since the main

age group of social users are proved to be young adults, this paper will look into

the impact of social media and if it have an effect on young college adults as

well as their personality, emotions (physically and mental states), relationships,

identity, cultural, economic, professional and academics. With much

information being put on Facebook, Twitter and other major social media

websites whether positive or negative there has to be an effect. Being a college

student myself, I am interested in knowing the statistics and outcomes of social

media on college students. With college students or young adults being

identified as being the majority of population on social networking sites it

would be interesting to see what the effects are, whether positive or negative, or

if there even is an effect.

“Schill (2011) states that the social media sites encourage negative

behaviors for teen students such as procrastination (catching up with friends),

and they are more likely to drink and do drugs. However, every day, many

students are spending countless hours immersed in social media, such as

Facebook, MySpace, World of Warcraft, or Sim City. At first glance this may

seem like a waste of time; however it also helps students to develop important

knowledge and social skills, and be active citizens who create and share

content” (Wang, 2011). Socializing through social media sites for young adults

can mean that they would rather communicate online, through these sites,

rather than having face-to-face interaction. Social media can easily withdraw an

individual from real face-to-face interaction by them accessing these sites

through mobile devices. A study by Yazino found that “when there is an

opportunity to see people face-to-face, on weekends for example, up to 11% of

adults prefer to stay home and communicate on their devices instead” (Fowlkes,

2012). This information has stated that although socializing through social

media sites may be quicker for young adults, it may also harm their face-to-face

interaction abilities with others.

“Social networking sites have made it much easier for students to

communicate with friends and family. Like Baym et a. (2007), the study found

that with so many people having busy lives or having friends and family that

live far away, these sites have helped to maintain contact with those individuals

that students rarely saw. Results also showed that social media has helped

maintain contact with people who the students saw more regularly. These

websites have helped students better communicate with others face-to-face as

well. A particular interesting finding was that most college students rated the

quality of communication as good, but not excellent, fair, or poor. This

indicated that quality of communication over the computer is not ideal, but it

has positive qualities to it” (Sponcil, Unknown Date).

“Emerging adulthood, which is described as ages 18-25, is a combination

of the late adolescence and early adulthood stages previously identified. It is a

time where individuals are trying to find a sense of self-worth while exploring

possibilities of love, work, and worldviews. Identity formation occurs during

emerging adulthood as young adults are figuring out who they are as a person.

Since this is a time of exploration and change, individuals may seek peer

feedback to help foster their self-identity. Emerging adults use social media

communication methods as they make life long decisions for themselves. Social

media allows an outlet for identity exploration to occur through peer feedback

and strengthening of relationships” (Sponcil, Unknown Date). Being at a delicate

age of learning and experimenting, social media sites may help young adults

find sense of what they are and help them to mature in ways that only other

young adults are able to. “Social media networks offer a straight forward way to

converse with peers and get peer feedback, as well, which may influence a

young adult’s self-esteem” (Sponcil, Unknown Date).

The uprising of social media has caused employers and even universities

to judge a student by investigating and checking their social media profiles. “A

new Kaplan Test Prep survey of 350 US college admissions officials reported

that 27% of them Googled applicants (up from 20% in 2011) and 26% of them

checked Facebook. Figures have risen from only 1 in 10 admissions officers

reportedly checking applicants’ social networking pages in 2008. Of those who

checked, 35% said they found information that negatively impacted an

applicant’s change of acceptance, a significant increase from 12% in 2010”

(ICEF, 2012). Young adults are most likely to post inappropriate photos (such as

nudity, alcoholism, and the use of drugs), statuses that make them “wonder”

about individuals and their activities, which may display illegal activities. It is

said that “with regard to college admissions, the traditional application – the

essays, the letters of recommendation – represent the polished version of an

applicant, while often what’s found online is a rawer version of that applicant”

(ICEF, 2012) which shows that college admissions are out to find this

information and get to know their applicants based off of this information they

assume is not being searched for. Using social media in a negative way may

affect the start of being a successful person for a prospective student.

As college admission offices deny students or accept students based off

of what the Internet reveals, once college students graduate there is sometimes

another online investigation done by employers. It is said that employers are

actually searching through social sites to find prospective employees by looking

for a person’s creativity, any job-related interests as well as learning about any

job experiences they may have. “Jobvite (2011), a company who sells proprietary

recruiting technologies, after conducting their annual social recruiting survey

with over 800 responders (mainly human resources and recruiting

professionals) found the greatest evidence that the social recruiting

phenomenon is on the rise as well as confirming that the upward trend will

continue. The increased interest in social media recruiting maybe explained

through success many responders have claimed. According to the survey 58%

have successfully hired through social networks. It is important to mention that

LinkedIn may be the driving force in success as the popularity was reported to

have increased from 78% to 87%. To clarify even further, 94% of responders

said that they hired from LinkedIn” (Betances, 2012). A survey showed that 72%

of advertising and public relations firms were using social networking sites to

recruit future employers.

Attracting these potential employers using social sites may be a positive

thing for “good” socializers out there, but what about the “bad” and

inappropriate posters and likers of the social networking world? “The dilemma

lies in what the potential recruiter may find on social sites, as there is a chance

the information found can also be hurtful to the prospective candidate. The

recruiter may learn candidate’s personal opinions or private thought on

religion, politics, and other areas. Through pictures and comments the

recruiter can also learn candidate’s interaction in social situations. All

information which could be potentially be viewed by the recruiter could create

a negative impression or worse and opportunity to discriminate (illegal) against

the potential candidate. As the potential job responsibilities increase (for

example CEO, CFO) what is found on social websites about the candidate may

become even more relevant for the employer as well as the candidate” (Betances,

2012). Revealed information that is found online by employers could ruin a

future with companies if used negatively and in inappropriate way in the eyes of

the recruiter.

After reviewing and researching the effects of social media on college

students it has come to my understanding that social media can have a positive

effect on college students who choose to use it appropriately and to their

advantage. It is up to the user to decide if they want to engage with others

positively or negatively. Positively being that they talk about their job, school,

and people they surround themselves in a caring and positive way. Choosing to

speak negatively could result in a situation where another viewer may view this

information the wrong way or take you as a different personality then what you

really are. Now the question is, are you going to choose use social media as an

advantage against others?

Appendix:

(Fox, 2012)

Resources: • Betances, Damaris; Solarczyk, Robert; and Bellows, Cathy (2012).

“Personal Social Networking: Affects on Companies Hiring Decisions”.

Retrieved from:

http://scholarsarchive.jwu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1009&context

=mba_student

• Fowlkes, Jasmine (October 2012). Opinion: Why social media is destroying

our social skills. Retrieved from:

http://www.usatodayeducate.com/staging/index.php/opinion/opinion-

why-social-media-is-destroying-our-social-skills

• Fox, Zoe. (2012). This is How Much Time You Spend on Facebook, Twitter,

Tumblr. Retrieved from: http://mashable.com/2012/11/28/social-media-

time/

• ICEF. (2012). The increasingly negative impact of social media profiles on

student admissions. Retrieved from: http://monitor.icef.com/2012/10/the-

increasingly-negative-impact-of-social-media-profiles-on-student-

admissions/

• Lewis, Bobbi; Nichols, Cynthia (Unknown Date). Social Media and

Strategic Communication: A two-year study of attitudes and perceptions about

social media among college students. Retrieved from:

http://www.prsa.org/Intelligence/PRJournal/Documents/2012LewisNich

ols.pdf

• MarketingCharts (2013). Social Networking Eats up 3+ Hours Per Day For

The Average American User. Retrieved from:

http://www.marketingcharts.com/wp/interactive/social-networking-eats-

up-3-hours-per-day-for-the-average-american-user-26049/

• Sponcil, Megan; Gitimu, Priscilla. (Unknown Date). Use of social media by

college students: Relationship to communication and self-concept. Retrieved

from: http://www.aabri.com/manuscripts/121214.pdf

• Wang, Qingya; Chen, Wei; and Liang, Yu (2011). The Effects of Social

Media on College Students. Paper 5.��� Retrieved from:

http://scholarsarchive.jwu.edu/mba_student/5