Tara Harms's List: Affects of Social Media

• Social media Web sites, such as Facebook and Twitter
• allow users to interact with each other
• Social media sites are mostly good. They're where kids socialize and where they connect together today," said report author Dr. Gwenn O'Keeffe, CEO and editor-in-chief of Pediatrics Now. "Kids' social spaces are shrinking. They don't have the places or the time to hang out like their parents did. Social media allows them to have time to reconnect.
• For this to happen, it works better if kids have parents that they can engage with. The best rule of thumb is to be 'friends' with your child on Facebook. If a kid won't friend a parent, it's usually a sign that something's not right
• The report found that social media encourage kids to connect with each other and to express their creativity. They also provide an opportunity for learning, and are a way for teens to access health information. And, kids that have chronic illnesses can find others with their condition and get support they might not otherwise have access to.

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• But do social networking sites have any educational benefits? Aside from helping students to make new friends, do social networking sites facilitate learning? The answer seems to be that they do. The National Literacy Trust found that social networking sites and blogs help students to develop more positive attitudes toward writing and to become more confident in their writing abilities.
• According to one of the studies, 49 per cent of young people believe that writing is “boring.” However, students who use technology-based texts such as blogs have more positive attitudes toward writing. Whereas 60 per cent of bloggers say that they enjoy writing, only 40 per cent of non-bloggers find writing enjoyable.
• The study also showed that students who write blogs or maintain a profile on a social networking site tend to be more confident about their writing ability. More than 60 per cent of students who blog and 56 per cent of students who have a profile on a social networking site claim to be “good” or “very good” writers, compared with only 47 per cent of those who don’t use online formats. Having a blog also affects writing behaviour. Students who are active online are significantly more likely to keep a journal or write short stories, letters or song lyrics than those without a social networking presence.

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• Texting and it’s impact on reading and writing

   

  “It turns out that the best texters, are the best spellers.”

   

  “The more you text, the better your literacy scores.”

   

  “The earlier you get your mobile phone, the better your literacy scores.”

   

  “What is texting?  Texting is writing and reading.”

   

  “The more practice you get in writing and reading, the better writer and reader you will be.”
•  In fact, Crystal goes further to say that kids that text read more than what we did as children because they have more access to writing.  Simply put, they do not read and write the same things that we did.  Looking at my own situation, I have actually read more “books” in the last little while than I ever have, as I carry around a huge book collection all the time on my iPhone and/or iPad.  The ease of access makes it a lot easier for me to read whether it is blogs, books, or yes, text messages and tweets.
• I distinctly remember reading that Osama bin Laden was assassinated before the announcement was
• made by Barack Obama.  Leaks of the information came so quickly and although it was chalked up to be rumour, it obviously was confirmed after.  More people are turning to the Twitter search function to find out about events in real time from people who are willing to share.  It is rare now that any reporter would not have a Twitter account so they can be the first to share the story, which is much easier from a phone in 140 characters, as opposed to a long article written even on a website.

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• The National Literacy Trust surveyed 3,001 children from England and Scotland   for what it said was the first significant study of young people's attitudes   to writing in the UK.
• 56 per cent had a profile on a social networking   site.