Final Essay

“The PC has improved the world in just about every area you can think of. Amazing developments in communications, collaborations and efficiencies. New kinds of entertainment and social media. Access to information and the ability to give a voice people who never would have been heard.”- Bill Gates. How? Well, social media is providing a window for all new types of sharing. Rising musicians and artists can share their art and music to anyone around the world. In addition, nonprofits can fundraise for their cause and share pictures of who they help. Last, social media is changing the social, political, economic and environmental standpoints in the current era are easier than ever before thanks to social media. Despite the positives, some people

Even the strongest tools have faults, and social media can not escape this. Social media and networking can lessen respect for students who are trying to be accepted into a college or university. In a Kaplan Test Prep study taken in 2014, it was discovered that 35% of admissions have looked at one or more social media accounts of a student that would like to go to their school, but only 3% of students applying for schools believe that their accounts are being looked at or that having social media can hurt their chances of being accepted into a university or college. While these are valid reasons why social media can be negative, the social media is not what is being destructive; the users are choosing what they post and what they don’t post. Social media cannot be blamed for not being accepted into a school because of what is posted on their social media account. Because social media is such a broad tool, we need to be wary about what we post: we never know where it will end up or who will see it. Social media is not discouraged by colleges and universities, in fact, 96.6% of four year institutions use Facebook, 83.4% use Twitter, and 79.3% use Youtube to recruit students. The boards that approve who gets into the schools all know that not everyone is who they portray to be in an interview; social media provides a window to see what a person is really like. For example, on the talk show Ellen, Ellen DeGeneres shows pictures that were on a person’s social media. While the person looks put together at the show, the pictures often show what they are really like. Colleges use social media to their advantage, so shouldn’t the users show their best self? This is also outdated; in this day in age, we are teaching people what to post and what not to post on social media. We are learning what