Kierstin Goodman

 Social Media within Families, Education, and Workplaces Kierstin Goodman Department of Communication, Southern New Hampshire University COMM 500: Communication Media & Society Dr. Matthew Charles November 1, 2020 Advancements in technology have allowed users to communicate in ways they’ve never before imagined. A simple text can be sent across the country to inform a friend or loved one they are being thought of, a zoom call can bring together families from all over the world, and social media sites, like Facebook, allow users to communicate regularly with classmates or friends from different parts of their lives. Technology has changed the world and opened up pathways to communication. Social media continues to create new ways for users to communicate with each other from all across the globe. Facebook Messenger allows for private conversation with friends, while Twitter allows up to 280 characters per tweet for someone to share their thoughts with their followers. Instagram makes sharing family photos and adventures easy with a few taps on the screen; and TikTok is full of short videos with music, dances, make up tutorials and more. With all of these social media sites constantly being updated, families, relationships, education, and workplaces are being impacted, but not always for the better. It is rare to meet someone who is not on one of the many different social media platforms offered. Because of this, relationship dynamics and family environments have changed. It is no longer necessary to meet up with or call a family member to find out what is going on in their lives; chances are, it’s posted on their social media. Family photos, birthday wishes, gender reveals, proposals and marriages, and more than one could ever think of gets posted to the newsfeed for Facebook every second of every day. In an article from the Journal of Family Theory & Review titled “The State of Family Research and Social Media,” research found that parents use a multitude of social media and technology to communicate in regards to their family. This media multiplexity, as it’s known, means that families, parents in particular, are communicating with their partners through text message in regards to the family, but also sharing content, such as a family celebration, to social media sites that talks about their family, but is not meant to directly share with their family (Dwork, Rudi, & Hessel, 2018). The evolution of the telephone to the cell phone to the smartphone has caused a shift in family relationships as well. The smartphone is designed for users to be able to access applications, such as Facebook, Messenger, Instagram, or Text Messages allowing communication to be done a number of different ways. Because of this evolution, families now struggle to have face-to-face communication. It is often easier to send a quick text to a partner in regards to who is picking up children than it is to spend time making a phone call that lasts minutes and eats into time that can be used for other tasks, just to confirm who is picking up children vs. who is heading home after work to start dinner (Masur, Scharkow, Trepte, 2018). If the family dynamic has changed with social media, the educational realm has surely changed. Homework went from being printed on paper and sent home, to now being done online and submitted through a portal. Technology advancement has allowed for this. According to Sarah Hentges, author of “Toward #SocialJustice: Creating Social Media Community in Live and Online Classrooms,” “social media thus enhances face-to-face courses and provides opportunities for distance-learning students to experience ties of community beyond a typical online course” (Hentges, 2016). It’s not just Facebook or Twitter when social media comes to mind. Many school districts and universities use Blackboard, D2L, or Brightspace to enhance in-person learning, or in the case of a pandemic, create online learning so students can still be taught. Without online submission, discussion boards, and the ability to video conference, teaching would have come to a screeching halt in early 2020. Teachers, students, and families had no choice but to embrace online schooling and do what was best for the student. These discussion boards and integration to online learning allowed no student to be left behind and ensure the participation and voice of each student to continue to be heard. Another advantage to social media in education is the ability to take a college class from anywhere in the world, at any time. Deadlines are still goals put into place for the online student, however, technology allows the student to learn and grow their education, while simultaneously working or caring for a family. Since there is no dedicated class lecture time, online courses give many students the flexibility to further their education without having to stick to a strict time schedule. Social Media in the classroom comes with many disadvantages as well. There is the obvious case of distraction. When a child is placed in front of a computer to learn, the internet is at their fingertips. Facebook can easily be logged in to and social media feeds can be perused as a teacher attempts to educate young minds. In college classes, where the cell phone policy may be more relaxed, it’s easy to check out friends uploads or stories on Instagram or tweet about how bored one may be in class. Teachers have always had to compete with distraction in the classroom, but this distraction is on a level completely new to education. As teachers struggle with students incorporating social media in to the classroom, they must also incorporate it into their workplace. Schools and universities utilize social media differently in the classroom than they do in the community just as other organizations and businesses adapt to the constant change of social media. Depending on the workplace, social media can be seen as a way to communicate directly with customers or consumers of a brand, product, or organization. A hospital organization can post a YouTube video to Facebook detailing the importance of a woman receiving a yearly mammogram for early breast cancer detection, while a clothing company can promote their new Breast Cancer Awareness line they collaborated on with an organization that raises money for research. When employees of all of these companies are involved on the social media page, word spreads to those employees’ friends and family creating more awareness. Companies rely on social media and its networking qualities to gain followers, comments, or likes. This creates revenue for the company. However, just like in the classroom, social media also creates distraction in the workplace. Human resource departments are quick to explain how detrimental one’s personal social media page can be to their company’s reputation. If an employee acknowledges their employment on social media, then they must also keep their employers reputation in mind when posting their own content. In many cases, employees are told that negative connotations about their employment on social media can cause consideration for termination or suspension in employment (Banghart, 2017). When social media and the workplace mix, more cons than pros can be thought of. Workplace dynamics can be just like a high school. Cliques are formed and the popular crowd becomes the envy of the office. Social media cultivates this dynamic because employees are friends with each other inside and out of work and this can cause problems for those that feel like they are always left out. Posting on social media of coworkers gathered together outside of work makes for drama in the workplace. This can be a distraction to actual work getting done during work hours, but also create a hostile environment for workers and create unrest and unhappiness within the defined 40-hour work week. While it is a pro that coworkers can be friends outside of work, it is often followed along with drama. Social media allows for those who feel left out to see posts or even to comment or message those that posted and stir up trouble in order to get even. Bullying is always an issue, both in the workplace and the classroom. Social media has seen an increase in bullying and now even home-life does not free the victim from their bully. However, social media bullying is often witnessed by many others online and these platforms give a voice to those who are reluctant to speak up in person. Overall, social media has brought the world together in ways we were never able to experience before. Students sitting in a classroom in the United States can video call and meet a classroom of students sitting in China. Workplaces have further reach in their communities by posting on their social media sites. Family dynamics are changed because no matter how close or far in distance a family lives to one another, there are even more channels of communication now by utilizing social media. While social media can and should be used for enhancement in the family, education, and workplace environments, it is important to remember that not everything is always done for good. There are hurdles to overcome and continued education on social media in these environments, but ultimately, with this research, social media can be utilized for the greater good in classrooms, business, and families. References Banghart, S., Etter, M., Stohl, C. & Woo, D. (2017, May 1). Social Media Policies: Implications for Contemporary Notions of Corporate Social Responsibility. Journal of Business Ethics 142, 413-436. https://doi.org/10.1007/s-. Dworkin, J., Hessel, H., Dworkin, J. (2018, December 1). The State of Family Research and Social Media. Journal of Family Theory & Review, 10, 796-813. https://doi-org.ezproxy.snhu.edu/10.1111/jftr.12295. Hentges, S. (2016, December 1). Toward #SocialJustice: Creating Social Media Community in Live and Online Classrooms. Transformations. 26(2). 230-238.  https://doi-org.ezproxy.snhu.edu/10.5325/trajincschped-. Masur, P., Scharkow, M., Trepte, S. (2018, January 1). Mutual friends’ social support and self-disclosure in face-to-face and instant messenger communication. The Journalof Social Psychology-. https://doi.org/10.1080/-.