Nguyễn Thị Phương Uyên

19DH711573
Advantages of using Facebook on teenagers
Body 3
In today’s modern society, Facebook also plays an important part in providing
people great valuable sources of information. Eren (2012) supported the
possibilities of using Facebook as an educational tool. Facebook is an informal
environment that teenagers can also study on. Zaidieh (2012) also supported
the use of social networks for learning because learners felt more satisfying
when they do not have to answer questions immediately, unlike in a regular
setting where they have to answer questions face-to-face with an actual teacher.
By creating a fun and relaxing atmosphere which can help youngsters to release
their stresses from the tension given by a traditional face-to-face classroom,
which make it an interactive environment. Cain and Policastri (2011) stated the
informality of Facebook as one of the factors that make it become an effective
learning environment. Therefore, teenagers could express themselves and their
genuine ideas towards the teachers more straightforward than before. Estus’s
(2010) research proved that using Facebook can positively encourage students
to communicate about classroom assignments or other related topics. They can
also form a study group on Facebook with other people, help each other study
and exchange knowledge. Teenagers can also make academic related
interaction with their teachers or fellow students through Facebook to develop
more knowledge (Pempek, Yermolayeva & Calvert, 2009). Adolescents can
also increase their general knowledge through Facebook. Facebook has billions
of monthly active users. According to AbuSa’aleek’s study, social networks
offer many pieces of information that being shared around the Internet
community (2016:71). Therefore, knowledge about culture, geography, history,
international news, or potitics is always floating around Facebook pages and
can be shared among people with similar interests. Consequently, it can create
good opportunities for teenagers to make conversation easily from the
information which they gained to increase their knowledge. Another study,
which investigated the usefulness of Facebook in education, showed the
participant’s positive attitudes towards it as Facebook helps them gain more
confident in their English communicating and enhance their English skills, like
reading and writing while expanding their social circle (Mahmud & Ching,
2012). Everyday Facebook update news about different kinds of themes such as
environment, politics, traffic, etc so that people can always know what is going
on in their life. People can easily keep track of all the events that are happening
in the world on Facebook and keep up to trends. Thanks to the advanced in
Facebook, teenagers now can approach all kinds of valuable information
without difficulty.