If you're like me, you probably get on your laptop, check you're email, then head straight to Facebook. Then throughout the day you may check it once or twice more just to see what people are saying in their status' or if you have any new messages or comments. Like me, you are not alone because according to this article 65% of Facebook users do the very same thing. Well, researchers are now saying that this could be lowering your grades more than you think. It has been found that those who utilize Facebook are underachieving by a whole letter grade compared to those who do not have a Facebook! GPA's of Facebook users were also significantly lower than those who do not use the social networking site. One researcher's explanation is that people are getting of Facebook as opposed to studying. The article cites one student's experience of trying to write a 2,000 word paper with the distraction of Facebook. Her decision as a result of that distraction was to deactivate her Facebook account. This sounded extreme to me, but I remembered a friend of mine who did the exact same thing at the beginning of the school year! Most of Facebook users (79%), however, don't believe the time spent on Facebook has any impact on school work and grades.
I would have to say I'm partially a part of that 79% because when I read this article I was shocked! I know that Facebook is a distraction and I find myself constantly logging onto the site (even when I have to blog or do other homework online) but I would have never contributed my getting a B instead of an A to a social networking site.
Reeve (2009) discusses Relatedness being a psychological need to have social interaction that is warm, close and affectionate (p. 161). With technology advancing sites like Facebook seem to make our friendships less affectionate, but I think our rejection of homework for Facebook is to fulfill our need of Relatedness to a degree.
What kind of impact do you see Facebook having on the quality of your relationships as well as your studies?
I understand that we are an evolving society that revolves on technology tremendously, but what is our motivation for logging onto Facebook several times throughout the day when we are facing deadlines as college students? Have any of you deactivated your Facebook due to the distraction or know someone who has? Does anyone is this class NOT have a Facebook account?
Article: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/education/article6078321.ece
I would have to say I'm partially a part of that 79% because when I read this article I was shocked! I know that Facebook is a distraction and I find myself constantly logging onto the site (even when I have to blog or do other homework online) but I would have never contributed my getting a B instead of an A to a social networking site.
Reeve (2009) discusses Relatedness being a psychological need to have social interaction that is warm, close and affectionate (p. 161). With technology advancing sites like Facebook seem to make our friendships less affectionate, but I think our rejection of homework for Facebook is to fulfill our need of Relatedness to a degree.
What kind of impact do you see Facebook having on the quality of your relationships as well as your studies?
I understand that we are an evolving society that revolves on technology tremendously, but what is our motivation for logging onto Facebook several times throughout the day when we are facing deadlines as college students? Have any of you deactivated your Facebook due to the distraction or know someone who has? Does anyone is this class NOT have a Facebook account?
Article: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/education/article6078321.ece
You know, this really caught my eye. I would have to say that I have let my facebooking get out of hand. I have caught myself getting of facebook out of habit even when I am getting on my computer for something else. I start looking at people’s updates, start looking through albums and before you know it I have forgotten all about what I had gotten on for and so much time has passed. I also have found myself getting on facebook almost on purpose to procrastinate, knowing that logging on will put off doing my homework for just that much longer. I personally have never thought of deactivation my account before now, but thinking about it, it probably wouldn't be a bad idea for me. However that most likely will never happen.
Funny that you mention it, as I just deactivated my Facebook account.
However, I didn't do it as much for my grades. Like you, I don't think that it did ever hinder my ability to do well in a class. In fact, if anything, I would say that it was better, as I spend a LOT of time doing homework and studying, and it was an easy, quick way to get a break so I could get back into my schoolwork.
I got rid of my account to gain some control. According to Reeve (2005), individuals with a high desire for control (DC) are more motivated to influence their lives and have control over what happens in them (p. 378). To me, Facebook has gone downhill from the time when I first could get it - with a college email. Remember that time? When middle schoolers couldn't have it, when parents didn't have it... when it was exclusive to a certain population? Well, there were a few things that totally opened my eyes to the prospects of getting rid of Facebook. First, I realized that I had 1300 "friends," some of which I didn't know. So I started purging, and after about an hour or two, I deleted 500 people. Yes, 500. Then, I started thinking about who I really want to stay in touch with.... the people I wanted to stay in touch with, I already did by phone and visits, etc. So what's the use of having a Facebook to stay in touch with them?! But I had 2 real revelations that caused to me deactivating. First, my grandma got a profile. Yes, you read correctly - my 81-year-old grandmother. Ridiculous. Conscientious that I would hurt her feelings by not accepting, I accepted her and then gave her access to basically my birthdate and school info. My friend that I've spoken of in previous posts, finally broke up with her boyfriend. Her relationship status went to "single," and I watched as people began writing on her wall, asking what happened. Not her true friends, the people she has been talking to about everything since Day 1. This really upset her, as it felt intrusive. She didn't see it as them genuinely caring, but just wanting to be in the "know." This really made me realize that it is an intrusive thing. Sure, we all have control over who can see the information we CHOOSE to post, but we also all know the times where we have "Facebook stalked," and know that other people have stalked our profiles as well.
I have decided that I'm going to move in June, to where I will be attending grad school in the fall. My long-time boyfriend has decided (to no surprise) that he will not be moving with me. Too much of an Iowa-lover. So, it's inevitable that we will be breaking up soon (I know, it sounds weird). I don't want to go through the same Facebook issues that my friend has gone through with her breakup. The questions, the fake caring, the fake pity... Not for me.
From Reeve's (2005) description of high-DC people, I would totally fit that mold. I like having control over what happens, like making my own decisions - especially when it's something nobody would expect, am independent, and am completely proactive. I plan for everything... I have a plan to make a plan.
So, because I am high-DC, I would say that that's what has motivated me to get rid of Facebook. I like having control over my life.
However, I think that Facebook is not always a detrimental thing for grades. As long as you balance it out, or just get on and look around when you don't have more important things to do, it can be a fun thing. The problem, as the original post stated, was that the majority of people don't realize that it can negatively affect someone's grades. You may not necessarily need to fit Reeve's (2005) mold of a high-DC individual, but I think it is important to not be a low-DC person either. Like everything, there needs to be a happy medium.
Reading this article bring back many memories of freshman year. As a freshman I spend a lot of time on facebook, it was new and exciting and complimented my new found freedom (College) very well. However, now that I am a senior i hardly ever get on facebook. Every once in a while i will receive a message from one of my friends who is planning her wedding and she is updating us on the event-in this case ill get on a respond. Personally i think this article makes a lot of sense. I know my study habits have changed immensely since I was a freshman and ironically so has my facebook obsession. When someone turns on their computer to write a paper and spends an hour facebook stalking people and then starts to focus on their paper it could seem like they have spend hours on the computer and relate that the have spend on their paper. With the new chat application and other facets of the social networking site there are many ways in order to get distracted. Therefore, I do not think that it is facebook that is causing these declining GPAs but rather how much self control the person elicits while working on the computer.
I find this article to be very interesting. Last semester I found myself on facebook 24/7. This semester I tried cutting back and I did find myself more focused and motivated to get things done. It used to be that everytime I had an online assignment or a paper to write, I would check facebook or have conversations on it with other people every 15-20 minutes, and I wondered why I couln't get anything accomplished. Although I still have an account,I do not go on it nearly as much as I used to, and I tell myself that I have to finish my work before I a get on it. I've seen it make a difference for me, so I'm sure those that have never had an account or those who have deactivated an account stay more focused and motivated, as well. It's amazing how although technology is great and helps us with many things in life, it also can be a huge distraction that can end up doing more hurting than helping in the end sometimes.
This article was interesting to me. I can see both sides of it. But I can't say that I agree that students who use Facebook have a whole grade lower than those students who do not use the site at all. I can most definitely see how Facebook could be a huge distraction for students, but so can any other site or any other activities. Video games and television and telephones are also huge distractions for students. I also can see why it would be a distraction because in my experience Facebook has been nothing but a drama field and a place for people to start problems and hurt other people over. This can get people so upset over the silliest and childish things and I know it sounds dumb but I have seen it happen many times. Facebook can also be beneficial though because it gives us a way of communicating and finding other students in our class if we have a question on an assignment or test or something, I have used Facebook for this many many times. For me Facebook is not an issue and does not effect my test scores because I do not become consumed by it, but I know there are students out there who are constantly on Facebook every hour of the day they check their Facebook or change their Facebook status. I know it is distracting when you are working on school work or studying and you have your Facebook page up and then somebody instant messages you and before you know it you are engaged in a 30-40 minute conversation and have not gotten any work done. That is why I always turn my chat off so nobody can message me and distract me. I definitely believe that Facebook can be a huge distraction for students but I'm not sure if I would say these students earn such worse grades. Maybe though, I can see how it could. In this case I think students need to have more discipline to not play on Facebook when they know they have work to get done first, it's a lack of discipline and effort in my opinion.
This article is really interesting to me. I also find myself getting onto Facebook without even thinking about it. I will look at stuff on their without realizing how much time has passed. It has not affected my grades, because i end up getting things done, it just takes me longer to get started on the task.
I do have a couple of friends who have deactivated their accounts and reactivate them once the semester is over. I think this is a good idea if you know that your semester will be hard. I also think that if you know you cannot control yourself this would be a way to help.
This article is really interesting to me. I also find myself getting onto Facebook without even thinking about it. I will look at stuff on their without realizing how much time has passed. It has not affected my grades, because i end up getting things done, it just takes me longer to get started on the task.
I do have a couple of friends who have deactivated their accounts and reactivate them once the semester is over. I think this is a good idea if you know that your semester will be hard. I also think that if you know you cannot control yourself this would be a way to help.
This blog immediately caught my attention because I have heard this argument before, that Facebook is self-motivating and becomes a student’s first priority over school work and studying. In my opinion Facebook can become a major distraction for some, but I personally feel it is not hindered my grades in school. When I sit down to type a paper or complete online homework I don’t waste my time with Facebook. Instead I use my spare time to sign on to my Facebook account or may use Facebook as a motivator to complete my homework first then I can reward myself with an endless amount of time on Facebook. I tend to use Facebook to modify my behavior in the fact that I use it as a reward, and I feel guilty or punished if I ever stray from my homework and waste time on the site. According to my opinion I feel the motivations behind the purpose of each person’s Facebook account is what may or may not cause the site to become a distraction and in turn hinder a student from doing well in school. For example, I feel that the students who are doing worse in school because of Facebook use their account because they are too wrapped up in their “profile” or how others view them on Facebook and are also too busy trying to get into other people’s business or life. It all depends on what motivates a person to use Facebook. Like I stated before I use it more as a reward system, but I have found another positive way in which I can use Facebook. If I have a long paper to type or lots of online homework to complete, it helps me to take breaks every so often just like if I were to read a long chapter in a textbook. When it comes time for these breaks I give myself a preset amount of minutes that I can spend on other sites, possibly Facebook. It is very important to stick to the time though because like any Facebook user knows time goes by a lot faster if you are finding interesting stuff to look at. Overall, I feel motivations shape a lot of the reasons why some Facebook members are distracted and tend to do worse in school.
This post is very intriguing, especially as a college student with a facebook account. Every student knows that if you are looking for something to procrastinate homework with, Facebook is the place to be. I personally have spent much too much time on Facebook instead of doing homework, but I never thought about how majorly it could affect my overall performance. However, it does make sense because if you log on to Facebook every time you sit down to do homework, it will indefinitely affect each assignment which determines your overall grade. I deactivated my Facebook account earlier this year for about a month and it really was a liberating experience and I noticed that I was a lot more capable of focusing on other things in my life, including homework.
I really liked this article! I admit, I procrastinate all the time and usually end up on facebook. It’s even worse now that technology is everywhere and we have internet on our phone or our ipods. I don’t have the internet on my phone because I made myself draw the line there. I don’t really need it! I have an ipod that if I have with me and there happens to be wireless internet I can access what I need to. I also haven’t let myself have it hooked up to the UNI wireless because I know that as soon as I do, I’ll sit in class and be able to check my facebook when I’m bored. I agree with the person who posted this in saying that it has to do with our relatedness to people and feeling the need to always be connecting with people. I have never thought about facebook affecting my grades until now. I can see how it could easily do such a thing. Maybe now I’ll try to be a little bit more conscious about the number of times I check my facebook page.
I always knew that Facebook ruined people's lives and now I have proof. Since the beginning of instant messaging and MySpace, people have had the ability to communicate in ways that were never used before. This means of communication was very attractive to people and created all types of new behaviors. Some of these behaviors were productive and offered efficient means of communicating to family, friends, and co-workers. Other behaviors lacked productivity and resulted in individuals over-using these social media tools. This overuse led some individuals to explore those tools in novel ways. Some of these newly explored areas included talking to strangers and sharing personal information to individuals whom the user did not know. Some of these experiences were harmless and were done to gain a small sense of rebellion and others led to more serious consequences. The news frequently highlighted these cases when I was in high school and warned users not to add people they did not know. They made this warning to ensure that children were safe. The basis for their warning came from a number of cases involving rape, kidnapping, and murder. Although I am unaware of the statistics involving the number of people who were victims during the time, the media portrayed it as a common occurrence.
It is important the education children who start using social media in order to avoid worst case scenarios and to encourage them to spend their time on things that are productive. Although Facebook and other social media tools can be very useful in academic areas, students should learn how to use it and be guided on how often they should use. It is also important for people to create separation from social media and themselves. Teaching children at a young age is a good way to ensure that they use Face
I read this blog and article and I would have to say I definitely fall in the category of the 79% of facebook users who do not believe that facebook lowers your grades. I am one of those facebook users who will log on several times a day for absolutely no reason...other than to see whats changed on the newsfeed and look at other people photos. I believe that I probably do waste a lot of time on facebook but I manage to have great grades as well. I think the issue comes down to when you are able to part with facebook. I have no problem avoiding logging on when I have an exam coming up or I have lots of homework. If I do log on it is only for a few minutes to take a break from my studying. I think it's very important to take a breaks when your studying. Some people choose to use facebook while others might choose to watch a tv or read a book. If you can manage your time properly facebook should not be related to lower grades in school. I have not deactivated my facebook but i have several friends who choose to do this during finals week. I think that it's helpful for some people so they don't have that added distraction but it's not necessary for everyone.
I would also have to say that I also disagree with the later statement that facebook is helping to fulfill our need for relatedness. I think that the best way to fulfill this need to spend time with other people. I would much rather spend time hanging out with my best friend or boyfriend than looking at other peoples profiles as a means of feeling close to them. I think that facebook may be taking away from forming close bonds with those around us but a way to keep us connected with people who live far away. I have family who live in other states and facebook is a great quick way for us to communicate since we only get together in person about once a year. However, facebook can hinder relationships that are closer to home such as those with your roommates. Just the other day I noticed that one of my roommates was talking about an issue that she was having with her boyfriend and meanwhile my other roommates were sitting on facebook and obviously showing more interest in their computer. I think that this is a great example of how facebook can be hindering relationships rather than helping them.
I used to be one of the people in the 79% category, but I deactivated my account several years ago because I thought it was a huge distraction. I also thought it was making me so aware of everyone’s business and I just didn’t need to know everyone’s business. Even though you can control your settings to a degree, I just felt like I was using it for the wrong reasons. I thought hours of lost productivity I will never get back! Although this information is interesting, it does not surprise me. The technology that most students need to do assignments, research, projects, is based off the same technology that also houses many distractions. To say that people who utilize facebook are achieving a letter grade below what they should, is not so alarming to me, makes sense.
I also think that when people are pressured or on a time constraint to get an assignment done they will, it is just harder with the distraction of Facebook. I do agree that it can be a nice break from studying, to do something that does not require effort and possibly entertaining for a couple of minutes is good relaxation for the brain. Time management is huge; I could remember thinking how I will just spend 10 minutes on Facebook then get to my assignment and before I knew it thirty minutes had gone by. I don’t think my grades ever suffered, but I definitely came down to the wire on some assignments
I’m not really disagreeing with the post above about relatedness, but maybe relatedness is changing as technology is changing. I think technology such as Facebook is the new relatedness instead of spending time face to face to fill that need now you can do it through a computer. So many people have facebook, it’s a way to stay connected with people and if you don’t have it you may be seen as not part of the group. By not having it you are not being involved in social interactions that everyone seems to have on Facebook. There are countless ways to have relatedness through many forms of technology. Ideally the best way to achieve relatedness would be to spend time with other people, but how much time does one spend on facebook per week versus time spent with friends per week? Is it more, equal, the same? If you know true relatedness is spending time with other people and forming close bonds then why bother with Facebook in the first place?
I do agree that Facebook is taking away the close bonds with other people and hindering relationships. Instead of the gossip heard in the hallway, it’s now at your fingertips and can be accessed via computer, I Ipad, or cell phone. I will acknowledge that it does help you keep in touch with persons who may live a great distance away.
I would like to know more about how this study was conducted considering the large number of Facebook Users. Specifically sample size, age, and the method in which the data was collected as I was not able to access the original article.