Online social media have gained astounding worldwide growth and

popularity which has led to attract attention from variety of researchers

globally. Although with time all generations have come to embrace the
changes social network has brought about, teenagers who also students are
the most fanatic users of these sites. According to various research studies in
the field of online social networks, it has been revealed that these sites are
impacting the lives of the students greatly. Moreover, the use of social media
such as Facebook and Twitter for educational purposes has been welcomed
and encouraged by the Minister of Higher Education, Datuk Seri Khaled
Nordin (New Straits Times, 2012). This resulted from the current trend that
could be found among students nowadays who respond faster to Facebook
threads compared to official portals in universities.
As a student, I think that using social media as a learning platform in
tertiary level education have both advantages and disadvantages. The
advantage of using social media as a learning platform is because it has
more efficient way in communication. For example, for a certain subject in
university, students who take that subject will join a group in Facebook to
obtain the information given by the lecturer or other members. They will get
the notification as soon as someone update on the group. In addition, if the
group is set to be a secret group, it will have a chat box, only for the
members in the group. Therefore, students can discuss in the group and the
lecturer can easily observe them. Any doubts and any questions can be

cleared by posting a message through social media and other students can
also benefit from the feedback given by the lecturer.
The other advantage of using social media as a learning platform is
students who have difficulty in expressing their thoughts in their classrooms
can get involved in the learning process. It will help the students build their
confidence level with help from their friends through social media. I believe
that today's students need more than a class where a lecturer lectures for an
hour that has no hope of engaging student interest. Students are
continuously connected to internet through mobiles, tablets, etc. and hence
rapidly transmit information to friends, family and other connections.
Students ability to access, evaluate, maintain and share information is
fantastic without even being aware that they are actually developing such
skills day by day.
Along

with

the

advantages

social

media

also

has

several

disadvantages. Social media can be a distraction for some students, causing

the overall performance of students to decline; especially the ones who tend
to check their Facebook and twitter while studying. Students may be
distracted from their school work and the lecturers will have no option of
knowing which student pays attention. There is always a possibility that the
students will not use social media for educational purposes. They may use
social media for their personal communication. Students that use social
media regularly may lose their ability to engage in face to face

communication. Even if the world is turning to technology, students must

know how to communicate in the real world. Social media websites are
becoming notorious for cyber bullying. This has become an alarming trend.
Students may write hurtful messages about other students and this could
scar students for life. Yet another problem with social media is that it is
impossible to know whether students will use the medium in a constructive
manner.
Students

also

cannot

pay

attention

to

details,

attention

to

pronunciation and grammar has declined drastically, due to that most of the
communication that happens online is not proper. Students ability to retain
information has decreased, and willingness to spend more time researching
and looking up good information has reduced, due the fact that students
used to the ease of accessibility to information on social media.
Social media is a rather effective way for students to make friends and
also to get their education. At the same time there are certain disadvantages
as well. The true challenge lies in overcoming the disadvantages and
ensuring that the advantages create the desired impact. As technology
advances, so does the way the world works with it. Members of the young
workforce are keeping up to speed with many forms of social media. While
older generations might not completely understand or agree with the
amount of social media activity by todays student population, they will
quickly benefit from it. The social nature of social media may engage less

professional thought and behavior than we might think or want. Professionals

need to be able to manage their time well and know how to learn on their
own if they are going to succeed in a rapidly changing professional
landscape. So use of social media may not result in all positive outcomes,
and the sum of its influence on any particular student is likely complex. I
think it important then to be cautious and diligent when considering and
reporting the impact of social media on universities students, and I believe
we should be very thoughtful and deliberate when we utilize it as an
educational tool as many educators are indeed doing. Conclusions, I think
that social media are an unprecedented boon to education.