Spotlight on Digital Media And Learning

8.3.10 | The use of social media—no matter how intense or how frequent—has no identifiable effect on students’ grades, according to a new study by Eszter Hargittai, associate professor of communication studies and sociology at Northwestern University, and doctoral student Yu-li Patrick Hsieh.

The study, published in the journal Information, Communication and Society, also identifies “a gender difference in the level of engagement” with social networking sites (SNS). Women pursue more “stronger-tie” social media activities than men, such as deepening relationships with people they already know.  Men are more willing to explore “weaker-tie” activities, such as developing new relationships.

The study is based on the survey responses of 1,060 first-year students at the University of Illinois, Chicago, one of the most ethnically diverse campuses in the country.

In their conclusion, the study’s authors explain the reason for the possibly unexpected results concerning academic performance:

Examining the potential implications of how people spend their time on SNSs, we find that neither SNS usage intensity nor social practices performed on these sites exhibit a systematic relationship with academic performance. While users can engage in lots of potentially distracting activities on SNSs, these sites and the connections people make and maintain on them may also facilitate efforts spent on school work, which may explain the lack of connection between these variables. Our finding provides another piece of empirical evidence challenging the concerns about the negative academic implications of SNSs.

Hargittai told the Chronicle of Higher Education: “You could go on there and waste your time. On the other hand, you can connect with your classmates, get information about homework assignments, get to know people better, and feel more comfortable engaging with them on academic matters.”

Plus: Moving beyond grades, can social media play a role in getting students into college—and succeeding there?

A prospective college student asked Jenna Johnson, who writes the Campus Overload column for the Washington Post, whether following and communicating with schools on Twitter will make a “good impression.” Johnson, in turn, asked college admissions officers and social media experts what they thought.

Most of them explained that colleges are using Twitter more for PR these days than two-way communication. But Corey Alderdice, who oversees admissions and public relations for the Gatton Academy, a residential high school on the campus of Western Kentucky University, noted that using social media in an “adult-like manner” is a good idea in any case:

She also assumes that the schools to which she is applying will be checking up on her social media profiles for additional information. The only negative effect would be if they do so and find tweets that cast her in a negative light (TwitPic links of her drinking, etc.) However, this is the same advice I would give any student about representing themselves in a positive, adult-like manner in their use of social media. I guess her concern is the appearance of a series of Tweets to @stateu, @tech, @privateu and @citycollege would demonstrate a lack of particular interest in any given school. Perhaps the best suggest is not to worry about the number of schools she contacts but the manner in which she communicates with those schools.

And this advice is especially true as more colleges, like Arizona State University, begin to offer courses in “Media 2.0.”