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- by Charlotte King
- In Other
Posted Sept. 2, 2013
Facebook: Good or Bad for Postgrads?
As our long history with technology, tools, substances and habits shows us, the value of a thing is often secondary to the way people use it. Facebook has taken a lot of heat in recent years for being habit-forming and lacking in substance. But according to the unofficial Facebook Blog , 96 per cent of students use Facebook. If they’re smart about it, postgraduates use Facebook as a means of connecting with peers and specialists while sourcing information that is highly specific to their particular area of study. Niches can be cultivated, and newsfeeds of other users turned into a daily broadsheet focussed solely on something like Neurobiology, or the cross-cultural dialogue around human rights and freedom.
According to that same blog, however, students who checked Facebook while studying – i.e.
instead of studying – received on average 20 per cent lower grades. By the time a student has worked their way to postgraduate level, they are assumed to be of sufficient self-discipline that they won’t become drawn into frivolous, time-killing activities like playing games. Unfortunately, this isn’t always the case. You could equally make the point that TV is an opportunity to develop knowledge through documentaries, but the prevalence of titillating trash TV all-too-often becomes the basis of people’s habit. It’s just too hard to avoid.
Perhaps the generation gap between students and lecturers or other advisers has relegated a discussion of how to use Facebook, instead of being used by it, to blogs such as this one. In some cases Facebook seems to have a worse reputation than Wikipedia, but the key difference is that postgraduates – if they are skilful about it – can befriend authors, researchers, speakers and specialists who regularly provide links to peer-reviewed articles, breaking news and professional insights.
The difficulty is that pulling off this networking feat can be difficult for postgraduates who haven’t cultivated a respectable or discerning friend list over the years.
Advice on writing dissertations can be applied to compilinga useful Facebook resource, but the problem is that many people simply haven’t considered using Facebook for anything other than small talk and blurry weekend photos.
Postgraduates who struggle to sort the Facebook wheat from the pop-culture chaff can try setting up a separate, self-contained ‘Academic Profile’ that they use only for this purpose. This will prevent all those shiny but pointless posts littering their newsfeeds, and keep them protected from requests, emails and funny videos. Try liking us on Facebook , and see if good info makes a difference.
The best advice is this: know what you’re getting. Studies show that the more friends people have on Facebook, the more isolated they feel. As a postgrad, try flexing the discernment necessary to tailor your social networks towards the exchange of information, and not social interaction. Avoid the disappointment of unmet expectations.
Making a strategy can help , but if you know you've got a bit of a problem with self-discipline, maybe avoiding Facebook whilst that essay is due is a good plan.
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According to that same blog, however, students who checked Facebook while studying – i.e.
instead of studying – received on average 20 per cent lower grades. By the time a student has worked their way to postgraduate level, they are assumed to be of sufficient self-discipline that they won’t become drawn into frivolous, time-killing activities like playing games. Unfortunately, this isn’t always the case. You could equally make the point that TV is an opportunity to develop knowledge through documentaries, but the prevalence of titillating trash TV all-too-often becomes the basis of people’s habit. It’s just too hard to avoid.
Perhaps the generation gap between students and lecturers or other advisers has relegated a discussion of how to use Facebook, instead of being used by it, to blogs such as this one. In some cases Facebook seems to have a worse reputation than Wikipedia, but the key difference is that postgraduates – if they are skilful about it – can befriend authors, researchers, speakers and specialists who regularly provide links to peer-reviewed articles, breaking news and professional insights.
The difficulty is that pulling off this networking feat can be difficult for postgraduates who haven’t cultivated a respectable or discerning friend list over the years.
Advice on writing dissertations can be applied to compilinga useful Facebook resource, but the problem is that many people simply haven’t considered using Facebook for anything other than small talk and blurry weekend photos.
Postgraduates who struggle to sort the Facebook wheat from the pop-culture chaff can try setting up a separate, self-contained ‘Academic Profile’ that they use only for this purpose. This will prevent all those shiny but pointless posts littering their newsfeeds, and keep them protected from requests, emails and funny videos. Try liking us on Facebook , and see if good info makes a difference.
The best advice is this: know what you’re getting. Studies show that the more friends people have on Facebook, the more isolated they feel. As a postgrad, try flexing the discernment necessary to tailor your social networks towards the exchange of information, and not social interaction. Avoid the disappointment of unmet expectations.
Making a strategy can help , but if you know you've got a bit of a problem with self-discipline, maybe avoiding Facebook whilst that essay is due is a good plan.
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