Social Media

Social Media

Serena Matheson, Memorial University of Newfoundland

Definitions and background

Social media is understood as a set of technologies by which people can create, collaborate, and network and share content (Woodley & Silvestri, 2014). Social media technologies, also known as Web 2.0, are made up of many different types of communication technologies such as blogs, wikis, online social networking, virtual worlds, social bookmarking, wall posting, photo and video sharing, etc. (Dabbagh & Kitsantas, 2011). The first social networking site was introduced to the public in 1997 and has grown exponentially over the years (Ahn, 2011). What was once a one-way communication tool is now multi-tiered system of communication between peers (DeAndrea, Ellison, LaRose, Steinfield, Fiore, 2012). Social media applications can be found in online gaming, education, the business world, news networks, and in social contexts such as Facebook (Poellhuber & Anderson, 2011).

Over the last 6 years, Facebook and Twitter have exploded in popularity demonstrating the growth in social media usage (Evans, 2014). Young people today use social media as their main method of communication (Casey, 2013). Students are using social media to watch and create Youtube videos, to play video games against people around the world, to communicate with their peers, and to do assignments for school (Appel, 2012).

Links

1. How Social Media is Being Used in Education by Katie Lepi

2. 10 Social Media Sites For Education by Lila Daniels

3. 6 Pros & Cons of Social Media in the Classroom by Aimee Hosler

4. Socia Media Cheatsheet For Teachers (And Other Bipeds)

5. Digitally Speaking / Using Social Media to Reach Your Community by William M. Ferriter

Works Cited

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