Thetruthbehindsocialmedia
Is Social Media Killing Your Grades?
Fishing Forum & Blog
Let's dive in
How many times have you found yourself trying to study but you feel that little phantom buzz and immediately you go to grab your phone? Next thing you know that one Tik-Tok your friend sent turned into you falling down the endless rabbit hole of the new Wednesday Adams Dance. Hey now, don't worry we have all been there and most likely are still doing it even though we know social media can be distracting. I mean maybe that's how you started reading this blog and for that I say congratulations because you have finally reached the first step in making a change.
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Why change?
Honestly, the hardest part in changing anything is recognizing the problem maybe you don't recognize it yet or you do but acknowledging the problem is the golden gas pedal. When you change it is because you want to better yourself or become the best version of yourself. In doing so you can succeed and put your work to good use. Changing your social media habits can lead to achieving more and stressing less.
Now as s we know the way we study is crucial in acing our exams and many of us even have different study methods when it comes to different professors but how can we retain the information if our heads are buried in our phones rather than a book?
Exploring the reality of social media and study habits
As a student, we all know there are so many things we rather do than sit down and study that information we may not truly care about. With social media being heavily influenced in our day-to-day lives it is hard to know when to take a break or when to push through. Many times students get caught up in the endless scrolling to find out the ten-minute assignment has turned into two hours and a sheet filled with unanswered questions. So, why is it so hard for students to focus? According to authors Roberts and David, one reason is the fear of missing out; aka FOMO. As they state' humans have the innate drive to seek information."(Roberts & David, 2019) When we are asked to sit down and focus on one little thing sometimes it can be difficult not to think about what your sister is doing.. or how that trip your friend went on was. These are all part of the human mind and as we know curiosity tends to get the best of us. So, you grab out the phone telling yourself "oh I'm just going to check real quick"; then you end up right back to where you were. As social media has continued to boom we know there's not a day that goes by without us checking out Instagram feeds, and tweets, and even catching a few Tik-Toks here and there. For us, this is normal because social media is engrained into our lives. A study was performed by a student named Lucky Oghentega who found that 99% of students use social networks and over 20% use those networks daily. Now you may be thinking well that's not too high of a percentage but it was found that the majority of the students had a hard time getting off of their social networks.
One of the main reasons social media has become an issue is that people don't know how to set their phones down. There is the constant FOMO and fear that if our phones are not attached to the hip. Then we are not in tune with society. So, we ask ourselves why can't we let it go. Well first, we are trained to have our phones on hand. It's a way we study or a way we find out quick answers. Most of the time we ask Siri to give us definitions of even simple things. We are reliant on our electronics and because of this our social media addiction becomes stronger. When we are bored we grab the phone or even when we need help with homework. We search for an answer and suddenly you are distracted by the buzz article on is Justin Bieber a lizard? Next thing you know you are posting it to Twitter. Then you fall into the massive spiral of tweets that fight over the fact that he may or may not be a reptile. So, congrats you wasted 40 minutes of your life because you had to ask google what the word "ambidextrous" means. This social media addiction is hard to get away from when everyone is doing it. This is the "norm". Honestly, it is pretty weird if you aren't attached to your phone and are constantly on social media. Welcome to the real world! We don't quite understand it either but your study habits aren't the only thing wrong.
Social media addiction has become an all-time high due to the amount of content being produced. For many, this addiction can cause mood swings, lack of focus, and mental health problems. Now this where the type of content we follow comes in. When we have addicting content its hard to put down the phone. When we have productive content that will help us with our studies we become disinterested. Why is that in order to be happy we have to look at content that sparks our curiosity? What happened to the good old days where you grabbed a book from the library and got right down to work. A simple answer to that is our attention spans. As I mentioned before social media addiction is a humane thing. We no longer are able to focus on things because the need to constantly stay up to date with the media is stronger than our own goals. As internet addiction is spread through different majors and people it is seen that those who do suffer from it tend to struggle with even basic lifestyle tasks. One of the biggest excuses found was people believe they are multitasking. A study found that when students thought they were multitasking they were not learning the material as well and mixing up the information. They then performed worse on exams than how they would have if they studied without any distractions. In the end it has been shown that when studying it's best to put the phone down and create some guidelines on how to handle your addiction.
Why social media can be a distraction
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What does this mean for me?
As distracting as social media can be there are ways to take your content in small bites. Now, this doesn't necessarily mean your bad grades are because of social media distractions but it can be a possible problem. If you are unsure find out where you get stuck and create a schedule. Figure out the hard parts that might lack discipline and flip the script. Don't forget to remember you do not have to be too hard on yourself if you don't get it right the first time. It takes time to get out of a cycle and into a new one. It can also be incredibly hard to keep yourself afloat when school can be stressful. So, slowly take time away from social media and do things that make you happy. Try not to fully do this with only studying because then you may grow a strong dislike even more for studying when you withhold activities you like to do. But the most important is believe in yourself and stick to your goals! For you are the creator of your destiny.
My truth
Do you remember when I said it's not just you? I was being sincere when I said that because I also struggle a lot with this. The amount of times I hopped right onto my phone as I was working on this blog was probably astronomical but upon realizing what I was doing I followed my new found steps on how to limit my social media time and knock this right out! The truth is I have struggled a lot with balancing my time between studying and social media. Many times it led to my downfall of bad grades and hysterical crying. Unfortunately I'm easily distracted and when it comes to a topic I'm not very interested in. I tend to find myself searching for the nearest object to buy my time; which usually ends up being my phone. Sometimes I even felt guilty for pushing off all the work I did not do and found a weird acceptance in knowing I wasn't the only one procrastinating. But the thing I found was I shouldn't be comparing myself to others because what I wanted to change was my work ethic. I was tired of missing deadlines and pushing off my work to only find I was more stressed than before. It took me quite a bit of time to be able to recognize when I was doing it. When I would study at the library I would find myself subconsciously grabbing my phone when I was bored with the assignment and scrolling through Instagram to see what everyone was up to. It wasn't until I wasted about thirty minutes that I realized I even grabbed it! I then would quickly put my phone down in my line of sight and work for maybe five to ten minutes before i would snatch it up again. I realized that my main reason for doing this was because I could see my phone. It was staring at me in my peripheral vision and subconsciously I had to check it. So, I started to put my phone away out of line and out of sight. I found myself working harder because I no longer could see it sitting there taunting me. I started to get better grades and even enjoyed the content I was studying because I fully immersed myself and wouldn't give up. Now don't get me wrong it was not as easy as it sounds. I often felt the "phantom vibration" of my phone and was quickly check all my pockets to realize I had put it away. I then found myself feeling quite silly over the fact I was so eager to check my texts. At the end of the day I would laugh at the little moments and pat myself on the back for the progress I made.
Furthermore, as you take on the hard journey of figuring out what works for you and what may not. I found it best to treat yourself with care and internal support because addiction is hard; especially when you may not believe/know it is addiction. Take it day by day and soon you will see exactly what I have been talking about.
Best of Luck,
- Anastasia Schnell
Tips on how to limit your time on social media
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Put Your Phone Away
The best way to get things done is to put it out of mind and out of sight. Not being able to see your electronics can help you subconsciously put your work first. You will become less tempted to grab it or feel as though it is taunting you. You will also be less likely to be distracted by texts, Snapchat's, Dm's, and notifications. So, put it away in a safe location where you won't stress and get to working!
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Take scheduled digital breaks
I get it, studying can be extremely hard and frustrating. Studying a certain subject for too long can kill brain power and make you overwhelmed. It is okay to take a break and set a timer. Social media is not bad when you use it in a way to benefit you. Taking in different content can help cool your brain off and reset the brain. This then can help you release stress and get back into gear because as soon as that timer goes off you know you have a fresh/open mind.
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Close internet browsers
This is very similar to our first helpful tip. When distractions are out of sight it is easier to focus on the things you are working on. Having ten open browsers and jumping between them is not the fastest way to complete them. It can make the brain more fatigued and cause unwanted anxiety. So, do yourself a favor close Netflix and set a timer on how long you want to work. When you get that free time watch a little bit more of your show. I promise Bridgeton won't be going anywhere but your grades sure will.
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Find a non distracting study space
Having a study space that is calm and quiet will help you focus. How many times do you lose track of your thoughts when that one annoying person starts clicking their pen or opening that bag of Cheetos? It is not fun and it can make you agitated. Once you are agitated that can come off in your work and even cause you to feel overwhelmed. So, don't yell at Brian for clicking his pen over and over; go find a closed-off study space and knock it out!
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Use an app to reduce phone usage
With how many apps we have there's no doubt there is an app to help with time management and social media intake. Try out a few safe apps that will keep you on track and cut off your social media usage. And before you say "oh I don't need that it's for kids". Try it and see if it helps if not there are five other tips to help you become successful in your studying endeavors.
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Create a Plan and stick to it
99% of the time something doesn't work out is because people don't push through and stick to the goals they make. Now this doesn't have to be so huge that it seems almost impossible to accomplish. The best thing to do is start small and reasonable. Keep believing in yourself even if it gets hard because its just like what they use to say. "Rome wasn't built in a day"
3 Positives of Social Media
It allows you to decompress
One great thing about social media is that it allows us to destress and relax when used at the right times. It can be a great way to focus on other things when school gets too hard or seeing that you are in the same boat as your peers. One of the best forms of stress relief is laughing at something funny or reading positive affirmations. Finding positive content that makes you happy is a great way to set the hard work aside so you can start anew.
It keeps you involved
As humans, we are created to desire social connection. Social media is this way for us now and it can be a positive thing. Keeping up to date with positive news and creating friendships no matter how far teaches us how to be human. We connect all around with just the tap of a button and it's incredible. we find out events happening not only in our community but the world. Which creates strong social connections and experiences.
It allows expression
Another positive thing about social media is that it allows our artistic expression to be celebrated. Sometimes people do not fit in where they were born and seek out their "people" across the world through art. This is a healthy way to not only release anxiety but build on creativity and share new ideas. We are being educated each day we scroll through media whether we believe it or not. There is always new art forming and new concepts being born. Social media allows us to quickly find it and even share.
App recommendations and videos to
help you start
"Make as much time to dream as you do scroll. A dream after all comes before every goal."
" The function of education is to teach one to think intensively and to think critically. Intelligence plus- character that is the goal of true education" - Martin Luther King Jr.
