Students Relying on Social Media for News
Students Relying on Social Media and Texting for News
You’re sitting in class, trying to pay attention to your teacher drone on and on about World War II when you feel your iPhone vibrating in your pocket. You reach down and, making sure it’s hidden under the desk, see a text message from your friend telling you that Kim Kardashian finally had her baby! That kind of news is way more important than listening in on a classroom lecture. Students today rely heavily on social media and texting to find out the latest news of the world, rather than mainstream news sources; but there are many reasons why news coming from social media and texting cannot be counted on. Students don’t care about actual, important news. Most teens only care about what their friends care about. In a culture where society only cares about themselves, students miss out on a lot of current world news. As Brian Williams states in his article in Signs of Life in the USA, “Americans have decided the most important person in their lives is… them, and our culture is now built upon that idea.” (473) Teenagers prove that statement correct daily. The thing that students choose to talk about has nothing to do with the real, important issue of the topic. They choose the most “interesting” topic to them to talk about and tell their friends. This news most likely is something that they can relate to, or has something to do with them personally. This is why through social media and texting, students aren’t filling their minds with important issues of the world. Mainstream news sources are a better way of spreading accurate, important news. Through texting and social media, most students want to be the first one to spread “important” information around. When a student hears news from a friend, it is automatically news they want to hear, even if the story is not true to begin with. They don’t want to watch mainstream news go on and on about things that they don’t care about. That is why when a teenager
You’re sitting in class, trying to pay attention to your teacher drone on and on about World War II when you feel your iPhone vibrating in your pocket. You reach down and, making sure it’s hidden under the desk, see a text message from your friend telling you that Kim Kardashian finally had her baby! That kind of news is way more important than listening in on a classroom lecture. Students today rely heavily on social media and texting to find out the latest news of the world, rather than mainstream news sources; but there are many reasons why news coming from social media and texting cannot be counted on. Students don’t care about actual, important news. Most teens only care about what their friends care about. In a culture where society only cares about themselves, students miss out on a lot of current world news. As Brian Williams states in his article in Signs of Life in the USA, “Americans have decided the most important person in their lives is… them, and our culture is now built upon that idea.” (473) Teenagers prove that statement correct daily. The thing that students choose to talk about has nothing to do with the real, important issue of the topic. They choose the most “interesting” topic to them to talk about and tell their friends. This news most likely is something that they can relate to, or has something to do with them personally. This is why through social media and texting, students aren’t filling their minds with important issues of the world. Mainstream news sources are a better way of spreading accurate, important news. Through texting and social media, most students want to be the first one to spread “important” information around. When a student hears news from a friend, it is automatically news they want to hear, even if the story is not true to begin with. They don’t want to watch mainstream news go on and on about things that they don’t care about. That is why when a teenager
Cited: International Center for Media and the Public Agenda. “Students Addicted to Social Media.” Signs of Life In the USA. 7th Edition. Ed. Sonia Maasik and Jack Solomon. Boston, MA: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2012. 483-487. Print. Williams, Brian. “Enough about you.” Signs of Life in the USA. 7th Edition. Ed. Sonia Maasik and Jack Solomon. Boston, MA: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2012. 472-474. Print.