The usage of social networking sites by students is growing in numbers since the beginning of online classes. Choosing the right platform for networking is the most crucial part.

Research shows that the most popular social media platform among students are;

WhatsApp (83.3%), Facebook (78.0%), Twitter (12.8%), Linkedin (7.9%), Instagram (7.5%), Imo (2.6%), Snapchat (1.8%), Myspace (1.3%), and Skype (0.9%).

But these platforms only brag all day about how people are enjoying their life, spending  24 hours scrolling to know what is happening in other’s lives. This way one can only get exposure to social anxiety, cyberbullying, depression & to the content which is not age appropriate.

Social media has continued to grow in popularity with both teens and tweens. According a BBC survey ,more than three quarters of younger children between 10 and 12 years old are using at least one social media network. If your child is eager to start tweeting, posting or sharing but you feel they’re not ready to use the likes of Facebook or Instagram, then there are a number of alternative social networks made for children that you can point them to.

These offer child-friendly features which  can be used as a teaching tool to get them sharing safely.

The negative impact is dumbing down students of plastic brains  due to following of the so called social media influencers where wrong kind of messages are shared by them  most of the time .

There are many social learning platforms which are social learning and networking platforms exclusively for higher education. They have exciting features like the digital library of eBooks, online skill courses with certifications and even job and internship opportunities using Al. The best part about it is that the students can connect with the top industry experts, alumni, and educators.

There are plenty of social networking sites available. What would be more helpful for the students are active clubs where real thought sharing, discussions and activities take place. However, this could be done online where students from universities across the globe come together to share and create collective knowledge base.

To ensure safety measures parents should keep an eye on the activities of their children on social media platforms . To set up the child’s account parents are required to go through age-verification.

Parents can control all aspects of the child’s account such as contacts and profile. Parent  should have the access to the account on their phones as well to keep an eye on what is being shared on screen in real- time .

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