Five Ways that Social Media Can Affect Academic Writing

Everyone loves the Grinch? Right? Well, maybe not, but this week’s blog may have readers thinking this is the Grinch who wants to “steal” social media. Social Media is an excellent networking tool for personal, social, and professional purposes. However, social media can also have direct effects to academic writing in students.

Social Media Facts

Social media has already replaced phone calls from landlines and most cell carriers as a preferred method of communications for some age groups.  Social media is predicted to replace emails for select populations by 2020.Social Media has become common place both within the worlds of business and private life.  According to Lu et al (2014), social media can be used for entertainment, education, networking, sales, and even ROMANCE. Millennials value social media as their OUTLET in real time to the world.

These facts are important to know because social media is quickly becoming one of the most used tools for communication in real time and asynchronous communications. With the expanded use among college students, the QUANTITY of writing in an academic setting is decreasing. Reaching page minimums and/or word counts have become an issue in assignment submissions for students. The limited number of characters for social media platforms such as Twitter has students attempting to submit assignments in 140 characters or less, which is the Twitter maximum number of characters. This is just one of the ways that social media use can affect academic writing.

Here are Five (5) Ways that Social Media has a Direct Effect on the Writing of College Students: 

• Students tend to omit punctuation marks in social media, so often times, they may be omitting punctuation marks in their academic writing. Punctuation in Standard English is important, and without it, the student work is not at a collegiate level.
• Students may intentionally misspell words on purpose on social media. The top social media choices for many students are Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and Snap Chat. Each of these platforms make informal communication common. What is happening now are students may find it acceptable to intentionally misspell on their academic assignments. Some examples are these words: Rly=Really b/c=because
• Grammar errors are not frowned upon on social media. Therefore, when students post on social media do not always care if the subject agrees with the verb or if a participle is dangling. This creates a problem for college professors who expect students to use correct grammar in their assignments.
• The use of the emoji is have become popular in social media posts. Some say it is focusing on the language students use the most, which is symbolic. Many say it is creative. Others say it taps into the multiple intelligences. College professors who want college level work say it is annoying and ruins formal writing skills.
• Using letters for phrases or full sentences is a common practice in social media users. Often times, a post in social media may short cut the sentence or phrase. Here are some common examples: OMG= oh my goodness nw= no way smh= shaking my head

Suggestions or  for Faculty 

In a recent survey, White (2017), the study completed on first year college students in a first year writing class found that only 11 students of 150 (7.33%) indicated that they did not use social media in any way. This study showed how there is a percentage of students who are on some type of social media platform. It is important for faculty to understand that in an era of “new media”, students are combining digital media and social media in their writing. The key is to help them understand that digital media is formal, and the social media is not. It is also key for students to know the two types of new media cannot be used interchangeably in the academic setting. Students enjoy social media, so we can help them enjoy writing formally also. Faculty must continue to be firm in expectations for written communications in academic course by setting guidelines, giving examples, and using scoring rubrics in their courses.

Bibliography

Lu, M. Y., Newman, R.E., Miller, M.T. (2014). Connecting secondary and postsecondary   student social media skills: Recommendations for administrators. Educational Leadership and Administration: Teaching and Program Development. Vol. 25. California Association of Professors of Educational Administration.

White, W.D. (2017).  Help social media is ruining my academic writing.  Presentation. The National HBCU Faculty Development Network.  November 2017.