“Social media is perfectly designed for use in scholarly activities.” Present your well-considered and defended opinion of this statement.
Due: Tuesday 26 March 2024 by 11:55pm
Please upload your answer in the comment section below. Also, please remember not to include any personal information other than your name- eg. no student id numbers.
For evaluation criteria go to the Class Blog page.
Digital History at UWI 
While social media platforms undoubtedly offer numerous advantages for scholarly activities, it would be an exaggeration to claim that they are “perfectly designed” for such purposes. While they do facilitate networking, collaboration, and information dissemination, they are not without limitations.
One significant challenge is the lack of robust features tailored specifically to scholarly needs. For example, while platforms like Twitter and ResearchGate allow for the sharing of research findings, they may not offer the same level of organization and citation management as dedicated academic tools like reference managers.
Furthermore, social media platforms are often criticized for their role in spreading misinformation and facilitating echo chambers, which can hinder critical discourse and scholarly inquiry. A study published in the journal Science found that false news spreads significantly faster and reaches more people than true news on Twitter, highlighting the potential risks of using social media as a primary source of information in scholarly activities.
Additionally, privacy concerns, algorithmic biases, and the risk of online harassment can also impact scholars’ experiences on social media platforms. These factors suggest that while social media can complement scholarly activities, it is not without its drawbacks, and researchers should approach its use critically and cautiously.
Shameeda McDougall
“Social media platforms allow users to have conversations, share information and create web content” (“Introduction to Social Media”). While these factors can in fact contribute to the dissemination of scholarly information and activities through a digital community, to what extent is social media designed to facilitate this? Firstly, it is necessary to note that while social media can act as a hub for scholarly engagement, it is not only utilized for this purpose. This means that among the useful and factual information that one can access on these platforms, so too exists distractions and misinformation. While many social media platforms claim to filter misinformation, whether this is enforced efficiently or not is debatable and as a result, unreliable in most instances. Social media is made up of a network of communities all coexisting in the same digital space. Therefore, despite algorithmic patterns and data collection measures that attempt to tailor ones’ interests, users can easily be baited into engaging in distractive and impertinent content. According to Koessmeier and Buttner, this occurs as social cues draw individuals’ attention away from a task that they originally pursued. When identifying the shortcomings of social media’s design in facilitating scholarly activities, one might ask, what then, is a scholarly source? The University of Toronto (UofT) states that “Scholarly sources are written by academics and other experts and contribute to knowledge in a particular field by sharing new research findings, theories, analyses, insights, news, or summaries of current knowledge.” While many of these attributes may seem applicable to content seen on social media, the problem lies in verifying the information and their sources. Though many social media platforms such as Instagram, X, and TikTok have verification systems of their own and well-known and trusted scholarly organizations, institutions, and even researchers themselves can be verified and share credible information on there, that does not negate the fact that though it is scholarly information, it is not a scholarly environment. Due to its shortcomings in design capabilities such as lack of trustworthy verification, credibility of information, authority, and content regulation, social media is not ideal for engaging in scholarly activities. However, it can be of some assistance is re-directing scholarly audiences to accessing information from legitimate sources. In this way, social media is less of a scholarly platform and more of a scholarly-assistant.
Works Cited List
“Introduction to Social Media | University Communications and Marketing.” http://Www.usf.edu, http://www.usf.edu/ucm/social-media/intro-social-media.aspx#:~:text=Social%20media%20platforms%20allow%20users.
Koessmeier, Christina, and Oliver B. Büttner. “Why Are We Distracted by Social Media? Distraction Situations and Strategies, Reasons for Distraction, and Individual Differences.” Frontiers in Psychology, vol. 12, no. 711416, 2 Dec. 2021, http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8674581/, https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.711416.
University of Toronto. “What Counts as a Scholarly Source?” Onesearch.library.utoronto.ca, 5 Nov. 2015, onesearch.library.utoronto.ca/faq/what-counts-scholarly-source.
As the realm of academia continues to evolve and with the emergence of digital technology particularly the creation of social media, scholarly activities now extend beyond the traditional activities of publishing papers or heading to a local library to source scholarly articles. Social media platforms such as Twitter, YouTube, Linkedin, and even WhatsApp have transformed scholarly activities and emerged as platforms for robust academic exchange by allowing researchers to share their findings, engage in discussions, connect with scholars across differing disciplines, and even mentor the next generation of scholars. Social media’s ease of access and ability to break through barriers to academic information sharing make it a vital tool in performing scholarly activities hence why I agree with the statement, “Social media is perfectly designed for use in scholarly activities”.
To begin, social media platforms are instrumental in disseminating information and research findings, and making it easily accessible to a wider audience. As opposed to the traditional academic avenues which can sometimes be prolonged or restricted by the requirement of subscription or payment, when scholars publicly share their research, preprints, journals, or articles on social media, it makes it easier for the general public to access their work. For instance, performing scholarly activities such as creating an academic forum or group for discussion on sustainable urban development, facilitated on Facebook, where individuals can share recent scholarly findings in relation to the discussion, or on Reddit’s “Ask me Anything (AMA) sessions with experts and scholars, where individuals can ask scholars a question. These scholarly activities facilitated by social media platforms aid in overcoming some of the barriers that prevent easy access to scholarly research or findings. Including providing academic information to those without institutional access to academic journals, articles or databases. According to Ross, Claire, et al (2011), Scientists from diverse fields of study frequently use Twitter in their professional activities. This was furthered by N Paradis, et al. (2020) who explained scientists’ use of social media platforms to share real-time information, create and debate ideas, and to share their research. “The way information is collected, disseminated and consumed has been significantly changed because of social media’s encompassing and easily accessible nature”. Özkent (2022)
Besides aiding in increasing the accessibility, visibility and impact of individual’s research by reaching a wider audience. Social media platforms play a significant role in facilitating academic content sharing which is a major scholarly activity, especially among students. For instance, WhatsApp is commonly used by students to share useful articles to aid peers in assignments, YouTube is great for sharing and discovering academic content such as lectures or informational videos many of which include cited scholarly information. Twitter allows students to follow and chime into academic discussions related to their field of study using a trail of tweets, even Linkedin can be used to research scholars to ensure they are reputable or to reach out to scholars for further discussions. A study conducted by Almutairi et al. (2022) suggested that “social media can support medical students’ intellectual forms and can encourage engagement through rapid interaction and collaboration.” it also suggested that “the rise of social media has led to the broad ramifications of increased use” (Aljuboori et al., 2020 [19]). In a study conducted by Manu et al. (2021) [20], the research investigated how pupils perceive social media as a valuable educational tool. It showed how openly social media is used in education, revealing how and why it is used and how it has theoretical and didactic significance.”Education Sciences 13, no. 7: 745.
Upon further research into the topic of the use of social media platforms in scholarly research, I was exposed to the negative side which doesn’t posit that Social media is perfectly designed for use in scholarly activities. I found that many bloggers and LinkedIn members argued that social media platforms lack measures to ensure the credibility and accuracy of the information shared, it lacks the rigorous scrutiny that content undergoes when using traditional means of scholarly activity such as peer-reviewed journals, and there’s always the risk of being exposed to misleading and inaccurate information. According to an article on Linkedin by Academic Research “Using social media as a research tool also poses some significant challenges, such as ensuring the quality, validity, and reliability of the data, respecting the privacy and consent of the users, and adhering to the ethical and legal standards of the research field. Social media data can be noisy, incomplete, biased, or manipulated, and may not reflect the actual views or experiences of the users. Moreover, social media users may not be aware of or agree to the use of their data for research purposes, and may have different expectations and rights regarding their online privacy and identity.”
To conclude, despite the challenge of the credibility of the scholarly content posted for scholarly activities on social media platforms, I still strongly agree with the statement social media is perfectly designed for use in scholarly activities. This is because it truly is designed in such a way that encourages scholarly activities whether that be the dissemination of research, the discovery of academic resources, increasing the accessibility of academia, broadening academia’s reach, fostering a place for collaborations, scholarly discussion, or enhancing communication and networking among scholars. Essentially, social media, with its inherent features and functionalities, serves as an indispensable tool for scholarly activities, and whether aware of it or not, the vast majority of people use social media for scholarly activities. Social media is indeed perfectly designed for use in scholarly activities.
References
Academioc Research. “What are the benefits and challenges of using social media as a research tool?”. Retrieved from: https://www.linkedin.com/advice/0/what-benefits-challenges-using-social-media-research#:~:text=However%2C%20using%20social%20media%20as,standards%20of%20the%20research%20field.
Özkent, Yasemin. “Social media usage to share information in communication journals: An analysis of social media activity and article citations.” PloS one vol. 17,2 e0263725. 9 Feb. 2022, doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0263725. Retrieved from:
https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0263725
Paradis, Noémie, et al. “Twitter: a platform for dissemination and discussion of scientific papers in radiation oncology.” American Journal of Clinical Oncology 43.6 (2020): 442-445
Ross, Claire, et al. “Enabled backchannel: Conference Twitter use by digital humanists.” Journal of documentation 67.2 (2011): 214-237. Retrieved from: https://journals.lww.com/amjclinicaloncology/abstract/2020/06000/twitter__a_platform_for_dissemination_and.10.aspx
Amanda Henry
“Social media is perfectly designed for use in scholarly activities.” Present your well-considered and defended opinion of this statement.
In my opinion, the statement “social media is perfectly designed for use in scholarly activities” is inaccurate. While social media does provide a plethora of opportunities for scholarly engagement such as allowing for networking and collaboration and rapid information dissemination, it still has limitations and challenges with its use in the field of academia such as the spread of misinformation, privacy and ethical considerations. Therefore, it can be deduced that social media platforms are not perfectly designed for use in scholarly activities and is therefore unreliable.
Social media platforms, while it creates an environment for the rapid dissemination of information to a large population within a matter of seconds, its capabilities doesn’t come without criticism. In recent years, social media has been deemed the root cause for the spread of misinformation throughout society. According to Sugimoto et al. (2017) the use of social media platforms within the realm of academia was described as, “the poorest dissemination method” due to various factors such as lack of credibility and no practice of the peer reviewing of information before it was disseminated to the public, “Facebook was referred to as having “zero credibility” (Van Noorden, 2014, p. 129), and blogs have been described as waste of time because of the lack of peer review (Harley, Acord, Earl-Novell, Lawrence, & King, 2010)” (Sugimoto et al., 2017). Within academia, accuracy and credibility are important elements of research which is ensured through the process of peer review. By engaging in such practices, a safeguard against the spread of misinformation is established because works being published to the public would be vetted by other persons within academia before being published. By not having these safeguards in place, misinformation has the potential of causing harm and even panic within society. An example of this was seen during the COVID-19 pandemic where, “ Medical misinformation and unverifiable content pertaining to the global COVID-19 epidemic are being propagated at an alarming rate on social media” (Kouzy et al., 2020). Due to social media platforms allowing for anyone to post information, be it accurate or inaccurate, to the wider public without proper vetting, it becomes difficult to agree with the statement that social media is perfectly designed for use in scholarly activities. Within the realm of academia, information must come from a reliable source that has undergone proper procedure to ensure as much accuracy as possible. Therefore, if scholars wish to use social media within academia, they must take extra steps in verifying information before using what is posted on social media for scholarly activities.
Also, privacy and ethical considerations must be taken into consideration when conducting research on these social media platforms. While content on these sites are posted on a public platform in which anyone can access, these websites still have their own privacy policies for the purpose of protecting the platform users’ information which scholars must be knowledgeable about, take into consideration and abide by. When scholars use social media as a tool for collecting data for research without the relevant informed consent from participants, a sense of distrust can be developed between scholars and the public. An example in which privacy and ethical considerations where breached during the research process can be seen within the Cambridge Analytica Scandal in which, “a personality quiz app was used by Aleksandr Kogan to collect private data of the 300,000 users who chose to use the quiz app. The app also collected the Facebook data of an estimated 87 million users connected to those who used the app” (Brown, 2020). In this example, private data was mined from users of Facebook without consent which goes against the code of conduct when carrying out research. When scientists bypass receiving the relevant consent and maintaining proper ethics during the research process, they have the potential of losing the trust of the. For scholars to ethically conduct research via the use of social media, it is critical that academics follow ethical considerations such as seeking informed consent from the participants of the research prior to conducting their research in order to maintain credibility and researcher participant relations.
From the points presented, I believe that the statement, “social media is perfectly designed for use in scholarly activities” is inaccurate. While social media does in fact have its benefits, within the realm of academia, its cons outweigh the pros.
Bibliography
Brown, A. J. (2020). “Should I Stay or Should I Leave?”: Exploring (Dis)continued Facebook Use After the Cambridge Analytica Scandal. Social Media + Society, 6(1), 205630512091388. https://doi.org/10.1177/2056305120913884
Kouzy, R., Jaoude, J. A., Kraitem, A., Alam, M. B. E., Karam, B. S., Adib, E., Zarka, J., Traboulsi, C., Akl, E. W., & Baddour, K. (2020). Coronavirus goes viral: Quantifying the COVID-19 misinformation epidemic on Twitter. Cureus. https://doi.org/10.7759/cureus.7255
Sugimoto, C. R., Work, S., Larivière, V., & Haustein, S. (2017). Scholarly use of social media and altmetrics: A review of the literature. Journal of the Association for Information Science and Technology, 68(9), 2037–2062. https://doi.org/10.1002/asi.23833
“Social media is perfectly designed for use in scholarly activities” could be seen as an understatement. Although social media networks are useful resources for academics, their built-in constraints make them unsuitable for serious scholarly research. In this excerpt I would be looking into an in-depth analysis with social media’s advantages and disadvantages for scholarly activities and my own distinct defended answer to the statement.
Firstly, delving into the strengths of social media on scholars we see that compared to traditional academic publishing, social media allows scholars to communicate their findings with a wider audience, which may pique public interest and encourage cooperation (Priem et al., 2010). Researchers may easily share study summaries, conference announcements, and new paper publishing using social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter.
Social media also makes it easier to interact with colleagues from other fields and institutions. Researchers can identify colleagues for new initiatives, engage in debates, and join online organizations (Fortunato et al., 2018). Researchers in their early careers who are expanding their networks may find this to be very helpful.
Additionally, social media provides an accessible means for academics to interact with the public about their research. Sharing research videos, infographics, or quick explainers is best done on websites like YouTube. In addition to increasing public knowledge of ongoing research, this can promote scientific literacy (Brossard & Shanley, 2013).
Researchers can converse and collaborate more quickly thanks to social media. According to Hammeringa and Audrey (2016), researchers can use Twitter threads to debate current research, share new findings for feedback, and have in-progress discussions. This encourages a lively flow of ideas and has the potential to quicken the creation of knowledge.
Moving onto the weaknesses of social media for scholars we see that sites such as Twitter impose character counts on posts, making it difficult to provide in-depth analyses of intricate research findings. The briefness of tweets or posts may obscure subtleties and methods (Marwick & Boyd, 2011). This is especially problematic for fields where complex data presentation and in-depth analysis are essential.
Another issue with social media is how quickly and easily information can be shared. Uneven content moderation can result in the dissemination of false information and unsupported assertions, which can be harmful to academic discourse (Lazer et al., 2018). Academics should use critical analysis when consuming the data shared on these platforms.
Social media algorithms frequently give preference to content that fits in with a user’s preexisting interests. This creates echo chambers, where users are only exposed to material that supports their preconceived notions (Bakshy et al., 2019). This may limit scholarly debate and make it more difficult to be exposed to different points of view.
Virality is given precedence over content depth in social media platform metrics like likes and shares. This may encourage academics to concentrate on attention-grabbing passages rather than provide thoughtful analysis and complex research findings (Marwick & Boyd, 2011).
Finally, to a more analysed viewpoint, Scholars can benefit greatly from social media platforms, but they should use them wisely and in concert with other accepted academic practices and here’s how to minimize the negative effects and maximize the positive ones:
Conclusively, social media can be both beneficial and detrimental for academics. Although it provides useful tools for sharing, teamwork, and public participation, its distinctive features, reliability, and negative feedback pose potential limitations which make it necessary to use it strategically. By combining social media with well-established scholarly tactics, researchers can take advantage of social media’s advantages while minimizing its drawbacks.
Bibliography
Bakshy, Eytan, Solomon Messing, Lada Adamic, and Duncan J. Watts. 2019. “Exposure to Controversial Information on Social Media.” Science 363 (6424): 1086–93.
Brossard, David, and Peter Shanley. 2013. “Public Engagement with Science and Technology: New Challenges, New Opportunities.” Science Communication 35 (3): 348–70.
Fortunato, Santo, Alessandro Flammini, and Filippo Menczer. 2018. “Science and Social Media.” Annual Review of Sociology 44 (1): 759–87.
Hamminga, Ronald, and Jean Audrey. 2016. “The Rise of Social Media in Academia: A Review of the Literature.” International Review of Research in Open and Distributed Learning 17 (1): 143–67.
Lazer, David M. J., Matthew A. Littman, Emma Otis, and Matthew L. Natter. 2018. “The Science of Fake News.” Science 359 (6380): 929–33.
Marwick, Alice, and danah boyd. 2011. “To See and Be Seen: Visibility Culture in Facebook.” Participatory Culture in a Networked Era (Future of Internet Inquiry): 117–42.
Priem, Jeroen Barendse, Paul Groth, and Herbert Larivière. 2010. “Altmetrics: A Manifesto.” BioOne https://www.altmetric.com/details/53875955
– Jason H.
Megan Campbell-Thomas
Social media refers to the means of interactions among people in which they create, share, and/or exchange information and ideas in virtual communities and networks (“Social Media Overview – Communications”). The statement “Social media is impeccably designed for use in scholarly activities” is both intriguing and contentious. Breaking down this statement, it gives way to two positive dimensions which include, accessibility and collaboration. On the other hand, there negative dimensions that must be discussed that include, credibility, distraction, and ethical concerns.
Firstly, through the use of social media platforms, students are afforded incomparable accessibility to a large amount of information and resources. Students can easily share their research findings, academic information, and thoughts with a global audience almost instantly. Additionally, this rapid dissemination of information can simplify scholarly conversations and collaboration, breaking down geographical barriers and connecting researchers across the globe.
Moving on to collaboration social media platforms provide opportunities for scholars and students to network with peers, experts, and professionals in any specific field. This networking can lead to collaborations on research projects, holding informed discussions, and mentorship prospects. Platforms such as LinkedIn and ResearchGate enable scholars and students alike to engage in worthwhile conversations, share ideas, and seek feedback from a diverse range of individuals, enriching the scholarly experience.
However, despite these advantages, it’s essential to acknowledge some limitations and challenges associated with using social media for scholarly activities. One of these limitations is Credibility. The copiousness of information on social media makes it challenging to differentiate between credible sources and misinformation. Scholars and students need to critically assess the validity and reliability of the information they encounter as well as considering factors such as author expertise, peer review, and publication credibility.
Another limitation is Distraction. The fast-paced nature of social media can be distracting, leading scholars and students to spend more time on non-productive activities rather than focusing on their research. Furthermore, the sheer amount of information available on social media may be overwhelming, making it difficult for scholars to filter through the noise and find relevant content.
Finally, we have Ethical Concerns. Engaging in scholarly activities on social media raises privacy and ethical considerations, predominantly regarding data privacy, consent, and online conduct. Scholars and students need to circumnavigate these issues carefully and ensure that their use of social media complies with ethical guidelines and regulations leading research conduct.
In conclusion, while social media offers noteworthy potential for enhancing scholarly activities, it is not without its challenges and limitations. When used efficiently and responsibly, social media can serve as a valuable tool for collaboration and accessibility in the scholarly community. However, scholars must approach social media with critical thinking, mindful of its impact on research credibility, distractions, and ethical considerations.
Works Cited
“Social Media Overview – Communications.” Communications, 6 Feb. 2024, communications.tufts.edu/marketing-and-branding/social-media-overview.
Scholarly activity pertains to research of quality and significance that is peer reviewed and publicly disseminated (“Scholarly Activity”). Social media refers to web-based communication platforms that allow people to interact with each other by sharing and consuming ideas and information (Nations). On social media platforms, users are connected to other individuals and groups who share interests. The key feature of social media is that the content posted on these platforms are user-generated and others are allowed to respond by sharing, liking or posting comments. This is what drives the connectivity among users and what makes it an essential tool in collaboration and distribution of research among scholars.
The landscape of social media is very dynamic and constantly changing in terms of the various social functions offered. Therefore it is difficult to categorise them however, the following categories of sites are generally used for scholarly activity: networking, reference management, data sharing, video, blogging and microblogging, and wikis (Sugimoto et al. 2038).
Firstly, the social networking sites that are used for scholarly purposes include both those aimed at a general audience, such as Facebook and LinkedIn, as well as sites which specifically target scholars such as ResearchGate and Academia.edu. The main reasons that scholars use any of these social networking sites are to connect with other researchers, to disseminate research and to follow the research of others (Sugimoto et al. 2039-2040).
Also, reference management tools such as Mendeley or EndNote are used to organise references and to generate citations and bibliographies in a preferred style (“Reference Management”). These tools also have social networking features such as joining groups, sharing documents and following other users (Sugimoto et al. 2040).
Data sharing platforms allow users to share various scholarly objects such as datasets, software code, figures, presentation slides, videos and more (Sugimoto et al. 2041). An example is GitHub which is used for connecting on software projects allowing users to share code and work together. It enables safe global collaboration among software engineers on a wide variety of projects.
Video also allows for social interaction and scholarly works. Scholars are increasingly using YouTube videos to publish research with TedTalks being one of most successful communication initiatives among them (Sugimoto et al. 2042).
Additionally, WordPress, Blogger and Medium are examples of blogging platforms used for academic purposes. Scholars can use these to publish research, expand their audience and facilitate discussion (Tsai). Use of microbloggers such as Twitter allows students in particular to collaborate with classmates and faculty and promote informal learning activities outside of lectures (Obionwu). It also allows scholars to make small pieces of writing available online.
Lastly, a wiki, such as Wikipedia, is a platform which allows users to collaborate and add, edit or remove content. Wikipedia in particular is not considered a credible source and many universities do not allow it to be used. It is a good starting point for research, however, as content sometimes include citations to scholarly documents (Sugimoto et al. 2044-2045).
Early social media platforms were targeted to a general audience allowing the public to connect with friends and family. It has since evolved over the years, with numerous programmes now available, where one of its greatest impacts is to share information internationally. Sharing and collaboration has always been at the foundation of research and discovery. As a result, social media provides the perfect tools for scholars to collaborate, as well as disseminate and promote their research, thus making them more visible (Sugimoto et al. 2039).
“Introduction – Reference Management Tools.” La Trobe University, latrobe.libguides.com/reference-management.
Nations, Daniel. “What is Social Media?” Lifewire, 26 Jan. 2021, http://www.lifewire.com/what-is-social-media-explaining-the-big-trend-3486616
Obionwu, Chukwuka Victor, et al. “Microblogging – A means for simulating informal learning beyond classrooms.” ACM Digital Library, doi.org/10.1145/3572549.3572585.
“Scholarly Activity.” Winthrop University, http://www.winthrop.edu/uploadedFiles/artscience/CAS-RolesRewards-ScholarlyActivity.pdf
Sugimoto, Cassidy, et al. “Scholarly Use of Social Media and Altmetrics: A Review of the Literature.” Journal of the Association for Information Science and Technology, vol. 68, no. 9, 2016, pp. 2037-2062, DOI:10.1002/asi.23833Tsai, SJ. “20 Best Academic Blogging Platforms.” SCI Journal, 20 Aug. 2023, http://www.scijournal.org/articles/best-academic-blogging-platforms.
A Cumberbatch:
The statement, “Social media is perfectly designed for use in scholarly activities” is quite intriguing. Social media platforms have completely changed the way people communicate, engage, and obtain information in everyday life. Its influence reaches beyond the spheres of the personal, influencing scholarly endeavours and presenting opportunities as well as difficulties for academics. Therefore, there must be an assessment of the advantages and disadvantages of social media to determine whether it is perfectly designed for use in scholarly activities.
Firstly, a great advantage of social media is its accessibility. Social media is easily accessible to persons from all walks of life. Social media sites give scholars immediate access to a worldwide audience. Researchers can increase the impact and distribution of their work by establishing resources which can be found worldwide through social media (Exploring the Significance of Social Media). Without social media’s ease of use, people all over the world would find it much more difficult to access research through more conventional channels, like physical libraries. Additionally, social media can be an interactive form of education and can therefore make it easier for students to understand and retain information.
Moreover, scholars now have a platform to interact with the public, spread the word about their work, and tackle key social problems thanks to social media. By disseminating their research in understandable and captivating ways, academics can expand their audience beyond academia and enhance public comprehension of various subjects. Social media sites such as LinkedIn can be used to create spaces where people in particular fields of study can network and exchange knowledge. They can make connections with peers, and the public (Why Use social media). This without social media would be quite difficult to do and more costly as money would need to be spent to meet with these persons.
On the contrary, social media can be very disadvantageous in some cases. One notable disadvantage is its distracting nature. Social media can cause people to be distracted from their main work (Nelson). One can be using social media to find information on a certain topic but be distracted by other things on the app. For example, the social media app YouTube is great for finding videos related to scholarly content many research domains utilise YouTube such as health and history. However, the abundance of content available on YouTube can be overwhelming and distracting, taking academics’ focus away from their main research tasks. The platform’s recommendation algorithms might also encourage clickbait and irrelevant content, which could cause problems with time management and procrastination.
Another disadvantage of social media for scholarly activities would be that in some cases, information may not be credible. The information posted on social media sites may not be peer-reviewed like with other types of academic sources. This can result in the spread of misinformation. In a study, Kansas State University stated that unfortunately misinformation is more clicked on, and this is a result of the aspect of commercialization and making it more attractive to persons browsing these sites (Geering). Hence, without credibility, many concerns can be raised as to how reliable the information truly is and whether facts are being produced or “fake news” when research is being carried out. Hence, when using social media for scholarly activities, scholars must evaluate sources critically and verify information.
Above all, social media offers scholars with a plethora of sources. Information is easily accessible and so makes it less difficult to find, furthermore, it promotes networking and internet sharing. Nevertheless, it may not be accurate to say that social media is “perfectly designed for scholarly activities.” The drawbacks and restrictions of social media, such as problems with quality assurance, and time management, along with an overload of information must be considered by academics. However, social media makes a way for all to access scholarly information. Researchers can use social media to further their knowledge, encourage innovation, and have a positive social impact in a variety of subject areas by utilizing its advantages while addressing the challenges.
References:
“Exploring the Significance of Social Media for Universities.” The Brand Education – Reputation Management and Strategic Branding for Leading Higher-Education Institutions Worldwide., thebrandeducation.com/blog/exploring-the-significance-of-social-media-for-universities/. Accessed 21 Mar. 2024.
Geering, Michelle. “How Researchers Are Analyzing Misinformation.” Kansas State University, http://www.k-state.edu/seek/fall-2021/how-researchers-analyze-misinformation/. Accessed 20 Mar. 2024.
Nelson, Hope. “Pros and Cons of Using Social Media as a College Student.” Concordia University, Nebraska, 28 Sept. 2023, http://www.cune.edu/news/pros-and-cons-using-social-media-college-student. Accessed 20 Mar. 2024.
“Why Use Social Media?” Why Use Social Media? | MyCumbria, my.cumbria.ac.uk/Student-Life/it-media/Social-Media-Guidance/Why-use-social-media/. Accessed 20 Mar. 2024.
Although social media has its limitations, it can be a useful tool for academics. Social media has several advantages, including facilitating networking and communication, public participation, and teamwork. Through social media, academics may communicate with peers worldwide, share research results, and receive immediate feedback. Transmitting information far more quickly than with traditional publication. Additionally, this makes it possible for scholars to share their work with a larger audience. Research groups, databases, and project collaboration can be formed through the usage of platforms like Facebook groups or specialized academic networks. According to (Atikuzzaman 2021) Few studies have investigated how students in Bangladesh use social media for schooling. Facebook can be utilized for a variety of academic purposes without shortening study sessions or degrading academic performance, according to several studies. Others have discovered that there is a favorable mindset regarding social media’s function in educational environments and how it affects students’ academic achievement. Social networking sites provide students with special features and advantages that let them participate in professional and academic activities in a contemporary way. They give useful individual information about social and emotional history, cognitive abilities, and scenarios of psychosocial growth. Social networking platforms are essential for social media analytics and education due to the exponential rise of user-generated content. With increasing user base in Facebook, twitter, Instagram, or LinkedIn (Abrahim, et al. 2019). However, there are drawbacks to using media for education. For example, content on social media isn’t always subjected to peer review, which makes it harder to obtain credibility. Because social media platforms are meant to catch users’ attention, concentrated study work may get sidetracked. Platforms such as ResearchGate, which are created to facilitate sharing and collaboration among scholars, provide some alternatives to the current circumstances. Researchers can communicate their findings in greater detail and complexity on academic blogs like this one than they’re able to on social media.
Social media is a helpful tool for academics overall, but it should be utilized carefully and in tandem with other scholarly communication techniques.
Bibliography
Abrahim, Shugufta, Bilal Ahmed Mir, Hayato Suhara, Fatin Amirah Mohamed, and Masahiro Sato. 2019. Springer Link. July 22. Accessed March 25, 2024. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s41239-019-0157-y.
Atikuzzaman, Md. 2021. University of Nebraska Lincoln. December. Accessed March 24, 2024. https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=12671&context=libphilprac.
The statement “Social media is perfectly designed for use in scholarly activities” may seem inaccurate, as it suggests that social media platforms are ideally suited and were created for academic pursuits.
While some social media platforms such as Twitter, Instagram or Tiktok are used by academics to disseminate information, one must keep in mind that the constraints of limited post sizes on these platforms could detract from the depth and nuance of academic messages, potentially leaving viewers with an incomplete understanding.
Additionally, these platforms may be subject to sensationalism, where the poster might try to exaggerate the findings/the information in order to generate more views and engagement with their post, which may undermine the integrity of the scholarly discourse. Research conducted by Kilgo et al, found that “sensational stories accounted for about half of all content shared via social media (45.8%)”(Kilgo et al 2016). The findings in this study support the point that sensationalism could be used by posters when sharing content that’s supposed to be academic/scholarly, despite the expectation of unbiased dissemination in academic pursuits.
On the other hand, social media is defined by the Cambridge Dictionary as “websites and computer programs that allow people to communicate and share information on the internet using a computer or mobile phone” (Cambridge Dictionary 2024). Under this definition, (rather than the colloquial perception of social media as being just platforms like Twitter, Instagram, Tiktok or Facebook) online scholarly sources, websites and archives would be included. These scholarly websites are not beholden to the same limitations on content size as the more popular social media platforms are, nor would they be subject to sensationalism in the same way as those engagement driven platforms are.
To conclude, I believe popular social media platforms such as Tiktok, Instagram or Twitter can be a great gateway to lead one to further scholarly/academic research (by piquing one’s curiosity/bringing it to one’s awareness) but they shouldn’t be one’s sole source for academic or credible information, given the limitations and biases that may be potentially present in social media content. Instead, one should rely on digital or physical scholarly sources for more reliable information.
References
Kilgo, Danielle K., Summer Harlow, Víctor García-Perdomo, and Ramón Salaverría. “A New Sensation? An International Exploration of Sensationalism and Social Media Recommendations in Online News Publications.” Journalism: Theory, Practice & Criticism 19, no. 11 (December 30, 2016): 1497–1516. https://doi.org/10.1177/1464884916683549.
“Social Media,” March 20, 2024. https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/social-media.
The Southern Albertha Institute of Technology defines scholarly activity as the process in which research or creative work is conducted, peer-reviewed, and publicly disseminated. Is social media perfectly designed for this? It might not be a perfect method, but I do believe it is useful. Social media can provide access to a large and diverse population of potential participants, data, and insights. Users of social media generate vast amounts of content that can reveal their opinions and researchers can use that information to recruit participants, conduct surveys, observe interactions, analyze trends, and even test hypotheses.
Researchers also have ways to use social media in their scholarly activities to facilitate the use of social media as a research tool. They use techniques such as web scraping, which means extracting and collecting data from social media, text mining which refers to processing and analyzing textual data to extract information, patterns and insights, sentiment analysis, which is measuring and interpreting the emotions, attitudes and opinions expressed in the data, network analysis which is the mapping and examining the connections and relationships among the users or the data. Finally, visualization, which refers to presenting and communicating the data and findings in a clear and engaging way.
There have already been studies conducted as well, which prove that social media can be perfectly designed for use in scholarly activities. These studies show how social media provided data for research. For example, one study used Twitter data to explore the public perception and discussion on COVID-19 vaccines. Hence, because there are methods and tools in place to use social media, that there is readily available information on social media which can be used educationally and that studies have already been utilized using social media for scholarly tasks, I agree with the statement that “Social media is perfectly designed for use in scholarly activities.”
-Sonika Singh
The use of the internet has made life become easier and smoother than ever. We now have the ability to easily access, store, retrieve, and browse for any information we could possibly think about. Social media is just one subset of the internet designed to encourage social interaction, content sharing, and networking among individuals (Kenan, 2023). Some major social media platforms that we all use every day are Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, YouTube, Tik Tok just to name a few (Alrubail, 2017). Social media has definitely woven into the fabric of everyday life, making it a powerful tool for spreading ideas and communicating with one another. While it aims to enhance the educational experience and foster academic success, this blog aims to assess the diverse array of benefits that social media offers to scholarly activities.
The impact of social media networking in an academic environment is beyond description. Educators are always looking for new innovative, engaging ways to motivate students and social media technologies are quickly becoming a supplement to traditional learning. Students and teachers use desktop computers, laptops, tablets, and phones on a daily basis, engaging with one another through texting, blogging, etc (Alrubail, 2017). Studies show that it is much easier and more convenient to access information, provide information, and communicate through social media. It even allows teachers and students to stay connected off campus and allows lecturers to host live lectures and offer office hours for students (Newton, 2015). Al-Rahmi, a university lecturer, investigated the relationship between academic performance and social media with students from his university. His research proved that social media has an impactful effect on a student’s academic performance (Al-Rahmi & Othman, 2013).
In another study, Rochell R. McWhorter, Kerri M. Camp, and Julie A. Delello aimed to research the importance of social media in the educational sector as a whole. They used multiple social media platforms with the aim of the framework of the study focusing on forming 3 key concepts, personal meaning, engagement, and community building (Newton, 2015). What was found during the analysis of the findings was that social media was viewed as a beneficial tool in classroom learning among all 3 concepts. Some studies have also focused on the educational use of social media, in particular, Tower, Latimer, and Hewitt surveyed to examine the perceptions of the efficiency of using Facebook as a study tool (Hewitt et al., 2015). This survey was done among a group of nursing students and it was found that social media sites like Facebook have made students more self-efficient in learning and actually help students develop their education to a deeper level (Hewitt et al., 2015). It is safe to say that social media poses many benefits to scholarly activities, from extending learning opportunities to creating connections with students and alumni, keeping students and teachers updated on alerts and broadcast updates, using social media platforms for live streaming lecturers and discussion and so much more, the possibilities are endless.
Though several studies expressed the pros of using social media for scholarly purposes, we can not wonder if this can also have negative effects on students. Using social media for scholarly purposes can also create an environment for cyberbullying, ease of distraction, and blur the boundaries between public and private life between a student and a teacher. Social Media can also lead to reduced time spent on assignments and studying (Adelakun & Adelakun, 2023). Studies have shown that this addiction to social media has greatly affected the average student’s grade point average (GPA) and psychological well-being. Spending excessive time on social media also encourages less academic involvement in class activities and exam preparation (Qureshi, 2023).
In conclusion, while social media presents challenges, we can’t deny that there is great potential benefit for scholarly activities. By channeling its collaborative, communicative, and informative advantages, educators can use social media to create inclusive, engaging learning experiences that help students to be successful. However, it is crucial to ensure that proper guidelines are given to mitigate risks and ensure the responsible use of social media among students. With the right guidance, social media can be a powerful tool for enhancing learning and students can thrive in today’s world.
References
Alrubail, R. (2017, August 31). An Academic Use for Social Media. Edutopia. https://www.edutopia.org/article/academic-use-social-media/
Al-Rahmi, W. M., & Othman, M. S. (2013, January 1). The impact of social media use on academic performance among university students: A pilot study. ResearchGate. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/308631869_The_impact_of_social_media_use_on_academic_performance_among_university_students_A_pilot_study
Hewitt, J., Tower, M., & Latimer, S. (2015, January 1). An education intervention to improve nursing students’ understanding of medication safety. Nurse Education in Practice.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nepr.2014.11.001
Qureshi, T. (2023, June 30). EFFECTS OF SOCIAL MEDIA ON PSYCHOLOGICAL WELLBEING AND ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE AMONG UNIVERSITY STUDENTS IN SINDH. Pakistan Journal of Educational Research. https://doi.org/10.52337/pjer.v6i2.789
Newton, J. Z. (2015, January 1). https://digitalcommons.ciis.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1079&context=ijts-transpersonalstudies. International Journal of Transpersonal Studies, 34(1–2), 172–186. https://doi.org/10.24972/ijts.2015.34.1-2.172
Adelakun, N. O., & Adelakun, N. O. (2023, September 8). The Significance of Social Media in Shaping Students’ Academic Performance: Challenges, Benefits, and Quality Assurance Outlook Featured, Translation Education adelakunnajeem@gmail.com The Significance of Social Media in Shaping Students’ Academic Performance: Challenges, Benefits, and Quality Assurance Outlook – The Significance of Social Media in Shaping Students’ Academic Performance: Challenges, Benefits, and Quality Assurance Outlook – Information Matters. Information Matters – Information Matters. https://informationmatters.org/2023/08/the-significance-of-social-media-in-shaping-students-academic-performance-challenges-benefits-and-quality-assurance-outlook/https://informationmatters.org/2023/08/the-significance-of-social-media-in-shaping-students-academic-performance-challenges-benefits-and-quality-assurance-outlook/
Kenan, J. (2023, October 3). 15 ways to use social media for education. Sprout Social. https://sproutsocial.com/insights/social-media-for-education/
“Social media is perfectly designed for use in scholarly activities.” Present your well-considered and defended opinion of this statement.
In the realm of academia, the integration of social media platforms has sparked debates regarding their efficacy in scholarly pursuits. As an individual studying Digital History, I am often asked about the role of social media in academic research. Contrary to skepticism, I assert that social media is indeed perfectly designed for use in scholarly activities. In this discourse, I shall elucidate upon the symbiotic relationship between social media and scholarly endeavors, while drawing upon relevant quotes and references to substantiate this claim.
Harnessing Social Media for Research:
Social Media as a Repository of Primary Sources:
Challenges and Ethical Considerations:
In conclusion, the integration of social media platforms in scholarly activities holds immense potential for advancing research agendas and democratizing access to knowledge. As a student of Digital History, I firmly assert that social media is perfectly designed for use in scholarly pursuits. By harnessing these platforms, scholars can engage in interdisciplinary dialogues, access primary sources, and disseminate their findings to diverse audiences. However, it is imperative to acknowledge and address the challenges and ethical considerations inherent in utilizing social media for academic research. Through mindful engagement and adherence to ethical standards, social media can serve as a catalyst for innovation and collaboration within the academic community.
References:
Anderson, J. (2017). Misinformation and Social Media: Towards a Framework for Evaluating Fake News. Economics of Disinformation, 107–130.
Jones, S. (2020). Ethical considerations in social media research. In S. Lee (Ed.), The Sage handbook of social media research methods (pp. 47-60). Sage Publications.
Lynch, J. (2019). Social Media and Historians. Oxford Research Encyclopedia of American History.
O’Malley, A. (2018). Unboxing History: Material Culture and Vernacular History in the Digital Age. The Public Historian, 40(1), 23–46.
Rosenzweig, R. (2016). Can History be Open Source? Wikipedia and the Future of the Past. The Journal of American History, 93(1), 117–146.
Jada Bellamy
The statement “Social media is perfectly designed for use in scholarly activities” warrants critical examination. While social media platforms offer connectivity and access to diverse perspectives, they often lack robust mechanisms for ensuring the accuracy and reliability of information. Scholarly activities require rigorous evaluation of sources, which may be compromised on social media due to the prevalence of misinformation and limited peer review. The format of social media, characterized by conciseness and immediacy, may not align with the depth and complexity required for scholarly discourse. Although some scholars leverage social media for dissemination and engagement, its suitability for substantive research and discourse remains questionable. Therefore, while social media can complement scholarly activities, it falls short of being “perfectly designed” for them.
“Social media is perfectly designed for use in scholarly activities.”
Many social media platforms exist, offering avenues for social connections, sharing multimedia content and fostering diverse professional, educational and academic engagements. Among these platforms are well-known names like Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Pinterest, TikTok, LinkedIn or Twitter, just to name a few. While social media undeniably serves vital roles in society, by highlighting pressing issues like the crisis in Haiti or trending events on both local and global scales, its use for extensive scholarly activity remains somewhat limited. An integral aspect of social media lies in its capacity to swiftly disseminate information and serve as a catalyst for further research. It serves as a medium for sharing knowledge and communicating thought provoking ideas among peers within similar fields, facilitated by the formation of specialized groups tailored to specific interest.
Indeed, platforms such as Instagram can offer snippets of current events for scholarly discussions, which can be useful starting points for deeper investigation. For instance, reputable media channels like the BBC, The New York Times, The Guardian, Barbados Today and Nation News, which I follow on Instagram, have proven beneficial for initial stages of research, these incite thoughts to assist with supplementary research. During my research I found an excerpt from Barbados Today while using Instagram which vastly enriched a presentation I was preparing. However, social media usually presents information at a surface level, which may not be sufficient for the depth required in scholarly papers.
The task of meticulously sifting through vast amounts of content to find reliable and in-depth content is significant and must be done thoroughly to produce quality papers. It is essential to acknowledge that social media was not designed to replace traditional scholarly sources but rather complement them. Moreover, the potential for distraction on social media platforms can impede the research process, making it difficult to maintain focus and conduct thorough research. Effective navigation is essential to ensure that it complements rigorous academic research rather than distracting from it. Critical evaluation holds paramount importance when utilizing social media as a research tool. This entails assessing the credibility of sources and necessitates cross-referencing information found on social media with peer-reviewed scholarly literature.
Additionally, addressing the ways in which social media can be strategically used to follow academic institutions and research groups informs us that there is a need for a balanced approach to using social media in academia. Recognizing its benefits while also being mindful of its limitations is fundamental. Social media can be a useful tool designed for scholarly activity, however social media falls short of being perfectly designed for use in scholarly activities. A study examining the role of social media in supporting academic studies among campus students emphasizes that although there is much debate among educators regarding its potential for enhancing learning, there are inherent limitations. Hrastinski & Aghaee noted despite frequent use of social media a phenomenon termed “digital dissonance” surfaced, with only a minority of students perceiving that it supported their work, it indicated a disparity between usage and educational benefit. Professor Neil Selwyn mentioned an ongoing debate within the educational community regarding the role of social networking sites like Facebook and Myspace. His article discusses the role of these platforms in education, highlighting the mixed views of their impact on traditional learning. In addition, some educators view them positively as tools for engaging learners, while others express concerns about their potential to have a disruptive influence on traditional educational methods.
To conclude, the role of social media in scholarly activities is complex, while it undoubtedly offers benefits such as rapid dissemination of information, facilitating communication among peers and providing convenient access to current issues, it also presents significant limitations. Moreover, critically evaluating the credibility of sources and verifying information when using social media for scholarly purposes is extremely vital. In essence, despite its usefulness, social media’s role in scholarly activities is far from perfect.
Works Cited
Selwyn, Neil. Faceworking: Exploring students’ education-related use of Facebook, Learning, Media and Technology, 34:2, 157-174.
Hrastinski, S., Aghaee, N. M. How are campus students using social media to support their studies? An explorative interview study. Educ Inf Tecnol 17, 451-464 (2012).
Eunique N.
When examining social media in totality against the backdrop of education, there has been a great debate on whether social media is beneficial or detrimental to students and their education. In my opinion, social media can both be beneficial and harmful towards students if there is no supervision.
An article by Jamia Kenan ’15 ways to use social media for education’, discusses some ideas in which social media can be used, for example, extending learning opportunities, creating connections with students, and the use of live streaming for lectures. These are some of the positives that can be seen using social media in education, however, there are also its negative outcomes.
Another article written by Ajay Singh, ‘Positive and Negative Effect of social media On Education, lists the negatives that can come from social media with regards to education. The improper use of social media can cause classroom distractions, a decline of learning and research capability and can negatively impact a student’s mental health. This shows how social made is not ‘perfectly’ made for scholarly activities, but it can be beneficial is used and monitored correctly.
Citation
Singh, Ajay. “Positive & Negative Effect Of Social Media On Education.” The Asian School, 27 Jan. 2023, http://www.theasianschool.net/blog/positive-negative-effect-of-social-media-on-education/.
Kenan, Jamia. “15 Ways to Use Social Media for Education.” Sprout Social, 6 Sept. 2023, sproutsocial.com/insights/social-media-for-education/.
Dominic Bell
Social media is perfectly designed for use in scholarly activities
The pervasiveness of social media platforms and the accessibility they provide make them exceptional educational platforms. Academic goals become well suited to the design because of its direct communication, large network, and content-sharing facility (Vandeyar, 2020). In general, social media makes it convenient for all universities in the world to unite. Researchers can easily connect through social media platforms like Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook. This, therefore, promotes communication, criticism, and the exchange of ideas across the disciplines. Collaboration, as well as information exchange, may blossom as a result of these platforms due to the ease with which users can communicate with one another.
Furthermore, one could view social media as a dynamic repository of resources and knowledge. Places like Facebook and Reddit have academic groups and pages where members can interact by making suggestions, debating research, and sharing relevant posts. Experts stay updated on new innovations, enhancing accessibility and availability (Vandeyar, 2020). Social media could attract and engage the public. Scientists can enhance scientific communication and make intricate concepts easily comprehensible to a non-scientific audience by using a simple explanation. Blogs, podcasts, and live streaming allow academics to connect with the audience at every level, to feed their thirst for new information, and to start thought-provoking discussions.
Through the power of social media, academics and their work can become known to the public. Researchers can interact with people who are like-minded, monitor citations, and publish their works on Academia.edu and ResearchGate platforms (Vandeyar, 2020). Such exposure may lead to teamwork and professional development, as well as networking between students. Social media does have positive sides; however, there are drawbacks as well, like information overload, problems with legitimacy and data security, and privacy issues. Academics must be careful when tackling these problems, gaining critical thinking abilities, and obeying moral values.
Reference
Vandeyar, T. (2020). The academic turn: Social media in higher education. Education and Information Technologies. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10639-020-10240-1
“Social media is perfectly designed for use in scholarly activities.”
Social media is defined by Merriam-Webster’s dictionary as “forms of electronic communication (such as websites for social networking and microblogging) through which users create online communities to share information, ideas, personal messages, and other content (such as videos). It further defines ‘perfectly’ as “to a complete or adequate extent”. Scholarly work is usually academic in nature and always fact based. Combining these two definitions in the context of the standards used for scholarly work, social media cannot be an acceptable source base for scholarly work.
Anyone can use social media to upload content. Most people utilize some form of social media as it allows the layman a means to express themselves with pictures bits of information and news. However, trusting social media as it is typically presented for use in scholarly activities is ill-advised as its design and function is to entertain and not educate. Of course, educative, and informational texts and images can be found in the slew of social media options available but it does not validate the ‘perfectly designed’ theory proposed in the statement.
Generally, social media apps are not dedicated to scholarly integrity where academic, peer-reviewed, sourced-backed information is studied and vetted before being declared as true. Once a person has access to the internet they can create and account and begin to post, Facebook, Instagram, and X/Twitter can be thought of as an apartment building. Each apartment in that building could be considered a space for particular types of people with similar thoughts and ideas to converge; this is called a page. Anyone can create a page or group and invite like minded persons to join. As such, a person who loves history can create a page dedicated to the memory of the Myan age; this does not mean this person is an authority or in any way qualified to validate information before sharing it . Because of this, it would be unwise to use this person’s page as a credible reference for any academic work.
Recently, because of a slew of questionable information and sometimes agenda setting, social media sites have employed the use of fact checkers. Ouoted and contracted for brevity, Facebook describes the process below-
It seems Facebook understands the importance of accurate information dissemination and has moved to restrict the spread of inaccuracies. However, this does not mean that they will go through with a fine toothed comb to make sure every page under their brand is giving 100% accurate information. This confirms the unreliability of this and similar social media for scholarly research.
Academic and scholarly work takes focus and concentration. To dispel the idea of social media being perfectly designed for scholarly work, we can look at the layout, colour, and page activity during interaction with the social medium in question. Both Instagram and Facebook run reels across the top of the page displaying about five seconds of movement for each of the five reels. Upon scrolling, one will notice that the posts and associated information are varied and drift from one topic to another; oftentimes, the headlines of many posts encourage one to ‘read more’ with one click. There is a continuous slew of advertisements throughout any video being watched. Academic study demands structure, organised grouping of logical ideas, and tidy presentations which is not generally found on the aforementioned apps.
That being said, the same way X/Twitter and Tic Toc are obviously created for entertainment, some social media has been specifically designed for academic use. http://www.academia.edu is an excellent example of this. Users, who are the contributors, subscribe to the site’s dedication to scholarly advancement. (Their)“Our mission is to accelerate the world’s research.” Upon visiting the site one can observe the difference in presentation. The font and format follow MLA standards. The site is primarily filled with text. There are no moving videos and flashing colours and all the content is research based and sourced.
It is advisable that scholars refrain from using most social media as a reference point but if it is a must, determining the legitimacy and mission of the chosen medium should be the priority before citing it as a reference. To rephrase the statement of discussion for a conclusive last word, social media is not perfectly designed for scholarly work but finding a social medium dedicated to academic integrity can be considered.