According to Van Niekerk (2013), Social media has become an essential part of the

Web's evolution, and is expected to play an important role in future information-based conflict.
At its most basic level, social media is just a collection of websites and programs created to
create and improve online communities for networking and information sharing (Osborne-
Gowey 2015). On the other hand Ekundayo (2019) concludes that social media has become a
popular tool for people to share their lives and keep up with friends and family, and has been
assessed as a useful tool for addressing the information needs of individuals. Lastly Seo et al
(2016) study how social media use is associated with perceived social support and adjustment
among international students in the US, finding that it is positively associated with level of
perceived social adjustment, but not with social support.

Bode (2016) investigates the function of social media as a source of political news. She
implies that social media may have a substantial impact on how people learn about politics in the
current media landscape. In the same way, Zhuravskaya (2020), insists that social media and the
Internet have a significant influence on political polarization, xenophobia, street protests, voting,
and political behavior. Nevertheless, Matthes (2022), believes that the overwhelming majority of
young adults use social media primarily for non-political objectives, which deters rather than
mobilizes political activity. Finally, Anderson (2022) evaluates how social media has influenced
the political activities and attitudes of young individuals. It demonstrates how social media has
influenced political opinions and increased engagement in social movements, which has raised
voter turnout, civic participation, and involvement in social movements.

Social connectedness in the university network positively predicts more frequent political
discussions on Facebook, but that better connected individuals do not capitalize equally on the
potential influence. This suggests that as social network research proliferates, analysts should
consider how various types of network locations shape political behavior (Miller, et al., 2015).
According to Allam et al. (2016), respondents use social media more frequently and prefer
Facebook for political updates. They also get more political information from social media and
are exposed to more unfavorable news. Young people utilize social media to stay up to speed on
politics; exposure to unfavorable news has a moderate association with political engagement; and
increased political interest in social media leads to higher political understanding. Similarly,
Hampton, et al. (2017) explores the relationship between the use of social media, attitudinal
strength, perceived opinion agreement with social ties, and willingness to discuss a political issue
in different online and offline contexts. It finds that the use of social media platforms has a
direct, negative relationship to deliberation in many offline settings, leading to a spiral of silence.
Only those with the strongest attitudes on an issue are immune. In addition Ghassemi &
Hemmatgoshan (2019) assert that there is a connection between social-intellectual and
ideological ideas and discursive structures in media in every society. Given that people adopt
various stances in response to the same issue depending on their interests, it suggests that the
mass media are instruments for spreading ideology in society. On the other hand using social
media influences political knowledge by facilitating online debates across various social media
platforms, according to a study by Intyaswati et al. (2021). The more frequently students engage
in political discourse on social media, the more knowledgeable they are.

The use of social media can be detrimental to a child or adolescent's mental health,
especially in terms of self-esteem and general well being. It is challenging to identify the cause
and effect, which are probably related to the young person's personality (Go, et al., 2015). On the
other hand, Universities and colleges in Malaysia should educate students to positively use social
media platforms for educational purposes, resulting in a positive impact on their academic
performance according to Mensah & Nizam (2016). Additionally, Kilicer (2022), investigated
how students attending a teacher-training program made decisions and developed their
behaviors, finding that popularity and argument quality had a major impact. The assessment of
the accuracy of the information posted on social media and attitude toward the information
shared on social media were also strongly and favorably correlated.

The use of social media depends from person to person because it affects society,
including students, in both positive and negative ways. (Raut & Patil, 2016).
According to Siddiqui and Singh (2016), they assert that in some scenarios, the
widespread posting of inappropriate information online could influence the students’ decisions
negatively. There are also numerous bloggers and writers that provide inaccurate information on
social media sites. On the other hand, Stegner (2023) claims that one of the negative impacts of
social media on students is the fear of missing out. It is, unsurprisingly, one of the most
widespread negative effects of social media. Furthermore, the negative side involves
cyberbullying. Social media can easily ruin someone's reputation by fabricating a lie and
distributing it over online networking. While the positive approach of social media is that experts
and students can ask for feedback and opinions on a particular topic and are able to discuss and
exchange knowledge with others who share the same interests (Akram & Kumar, 2017).
Additionally, Ronak (2023) concludes that students can join a variety of groups through online
platforms, groups that are linked to their field of study, demographics, school, environment, and
much more. The students will benefit from joining this group on WhatsApp, Twitter, Facebook,
and other social media platforms by having access to quality information whenever they need it
and helping them expand their knowledge. Lastly, the positive influence (Raut & Patil, 2016)
argued that many students were able to educate the public about their difficulties using social
media, which raised awareness and assisted in solving many issues.

References:

Van Niekerk, B. (2013, May 30). Social Media and Information Conflict on International Journal
of Communication, Vol 7. https://ijoc.org/index.php/ijoc/article/view/1658

Osborne-Gowey, J. (2015, February 4). What is Social Media on Academia, Vol 39 No 2.

https://www.academia.edu/10463086/What_is_Social_Media

Ekundayo, S. (2019, January). International student's use of social media as information sources
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Seo, H., Ren W., Husain E., & Aldana J. (November 11 2016)
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