Study on Social Networking

Exploring the Impact of Social Media on Students' Creative Writing Skills

by Nirupama M.*, Dr. M. S. Mishra,

- Published in Journal of Advances and Scholarly Researches in Allied Education, E-ISSN: 2230-7540

Volume 17, Issue No. 2, Oct 2020, Pages 424 - 429 (6)

Published by: Ignited Minds Journals


ABSTRACT

Students therefore utilise social media to strengthen their abilities in particular for students. What is the impact of social media on creative writing of students in this study? And why students utilise academic abbreviations and acronyms. The results suggest that most students have found that social media have a little influence on their formal writing, and the major reasons behind the use of academic abbreviations are to gain time, make the communication process easier, become a habit and forget about word form. In order to explore the influence of the students' creative writing skills, The results revealed that the writing of high school students with the good impacts overweighs the negative effects of digital social media has various influences. The results indicated that both students and teachers may engage in groups where they can exchange ideas, share resources linked to their courses and invite their students to take up jobs that can assist students improve their creative talents in writing. The 21st century has called for the development of new skills and practices in education systems that are explicit and intentional. The goal is to prepare students for the complexity of complex problems that they will face in today’s world. In 2009, the OECD urged governments to improve the skills and competencies of their students in order to prepare them for the end of compulsory schooling. Various groups like the European Commission, The Organization for Economic Cooperation, and the US National Research Council have provided rigorous research on 21st-century skills.

KEYWORD

social networking, creative writing, students, social media, academic abbreviations

INTRODUCTION

Digital Technologies

Individuals born between 1996 and 2000 are called as the generation Z and are believed to have a tendency for higher acceptance for digital learning. The study conducted by Galindo, Ruiz, and Situ (2017) revealed that despite the increasing number of people who are digitally natives, there is a lack of preparation to compete in the world of digital work. It research also highlighted that the majority of them spend more than three hours a day connected to the Internet. Despite having a broad knowledge of the world of information technology, the researchers concluded that, despite having familiarity with it, they are not able to make the most of it. Their findings also indicated that, despite having grown up with the digital world, they are still not equipped to use it successfully. Certain elements of digital competitiveness can be seen in the way that people use it, such as social networks and personal interactivity.

Century Skills

Researchers believe that the necessity to engage students in problem solving and critical and creative thinking has ―always been at the core of learning and innovation‖ (Trilling &Fadel, 2009, p. 50). The 21st century has called for the development of new skills and practices in education systems that are explicit and intentional. The goal is to prepare students for the complexity of complex problems that they will face in today‘s world. In 2009, the OECD urged governments to improve the skills and competencies of their students in order to prepare them for the end of compulsory schooling. Various groups like the European Commission, The Organization for Economic Cooperation, and the US National Research Council have provided rigorous research on 21st-century skills. While a skill is seen as being able to perform a task, a competency is seen as being able to apply learning outcomes in a defined context. A competency can also be defined as an individual's ability to perform a particular task or function according to established principles or procedures. It also includes functional skills (e.g., managerial skills, interpersonal skills, etc.). a) Critical Thinking: John Dewey called critical thinking as ‗reflective thinking‘. He defined it as active, persistent and careful consideration of any belief or supposed form of knowledge in the light of the

thinking an educator would take for granted, and what kinds of thinking would be critical thinking, then one can conclude that they typically have at least three features that make them think critically. b) Communication: In a 21st century context, communication refers to the ability to communicate effectively in various ways. This includes the ability to listen and learn. The ability to navigate digital platforms and resources is becoming more critical to success in today's world. Communication is the sum of all the things one person does when he wants to create understanding in the mind of another. It involves a systematic and continuous process of telling, listening and understanding. (Louis A Allen).MW Cumming explains that the word Communication describes the process of conveying messages (facts, ideas, attitudes and opinions) from one person to another, so that they are understood. (M.W. Cumming). Effective communication skills are often linked to various disciplines such as information technology (ICT), management and leadership. c) Collaboration: In the future, people will be able to work together in groups, regardless of their distance. This will enable them to improve their skills and increase their personal productivity. d) Creativity and Innovation: Creative process refers to the process of coming up with useful solutions to problems or ideas. Generally, ideas that are both new and useful are not considered creative. Amabile (1996) views creativity as a process and/or a product, and is generally considered as the production of useful solutions to problems, or novel and effective ideas. An idea that has novelty, but lacks in value or effectiveness to other people, cannot be considered ―creative‖ (Cropley, 2003). Studies show that creativity is linked to higher economic growth and social development. There are also studies that show that being successful in business can help boost one's social development. Creativity or innovation is a process or concept that involves the realization of a new idea or a new product or service. Creative ideas are often a response to a need .Creative ideas are often formulated with the goal of meeting a need or creating a new product or concept that can be useful in a particular field. Competencies connected with creativity and

Creativity

People have always valued creativity as a source of cultural progress. It is valued as an intangible object that can be used to express one's own creativity. Its various facets are acknowledged by society as a whole. Creative works are often valued as they contribute to the development of society and its people. Creativity is an attribute that has fascinated various individuals and groups. It is valued as a source of knowledge and ingenuity. Different perspectives can be explored regarding creativity. It can be seen as a person or a process. The relationship between intelligence and creativity is still being debated. In one extreme scenario, creativity and intelligence seem to be totally independent. This concept is based on the idea that creativity is a mental operation that can be performed by everyone. Their position denies not only intelligence, but also creativity. Despite the numerous studies that show that intelligence and creativity are not linked, this argument might be too neglected or mainly reflective of the limitations.In the early years, the concept of creativity was seen as beneficial to the development of one's personal well-being. This concept was then refined by theorists such as Carl Rogers and Abraham Maslow. Jane Piietro remarks that personality attributes, cognitive ability, talent, environmental factors, motivation, and knowledge of the field are necessary in developing one‘s creativity.

a) Definitions of Creativity

Ancient views on creativity include that of Plato who quotes on creativity as ―great souls and creative talents produce ―offspring‖ which can be enjoyed by others: wisdom, virtue, poetry, art, temperance, justice, and the law.‖ Aristotle however treated creativity as a gift from the gods, something that resulted not during rational thought but when one was ―bereft of his senses.‖ The definition of creativity is elusive. "The concept of creativity has traditionally proved an elusive one to pin down" (Craft, 2001). There seems to be an agreement with in the research community on what creativity is, but it is not clear how it should be defined. Creativity is not confined to fine art, literature, performing arts, music, and similar artistic domains, but also occurs in fields such as business, manufacturing, technology, medicine, administration, education, even defense (Cropley, Arthur. (2011). Reid and Petocz (2004) mention that creativity is viewed in different ways in different disciplines: in education it is called ―innovation‖; in business ―entrepreneurship‖; in mathematics it is sometimes equated with ―problem-solving‖, and in music it is ―performance new correlates.‖ Drevdahl proposes that ―Creativity is the capacity of a person to produce composition products or ideas which are essentially new or novel and previously unknown to the producer.‖ The following figure is a representation of various definitions.

Fig. 3: Creativity overview b) Theories of Creativity

One way of understanding creativity is to understand its functional domain. Sternberg and Lubart (1999) categorized the different approaches to creativity into six major diagrams, including mystical, pragmatic, psychodynamic, psychometric, cognitive, and social-personality. Theories of creativity are categorized, viz. developmental, psychometric, economic, stage & componential process, cognitive, problem solving and expertise-based, problem-finding, evolutionary, typological, and systems Kozbelt, Beghetto, and Runco (2010).The key concepts, which are the 6 P‘s Person, Process, Product, Place, Potential, and Persuasion, focus on the levels of creativity. The personality approach focuses on creativity as a combination of non-cognitive and cognitive traits. Creative problem solving and divergent thinking are associated with these personality traits as propounded by Guilford and Torrence.

c) Stenberg‟s Investment Theory of Creativity

According to Stenberg, creative individuals tend to be spontaneous and go off their own path. They do not follow the crowd. He further suggests that people are not born with uncreative ideas. Instead, they develop a set of attitudes that describe their own life. The greatest obstacle to creativity is not necessarily the constraints imposed by others, but rather the limitations of one‘s own thinking. This is because, in most cases, the limits are subjective. According to Stenberg creativity comprises i. abilities iv. personality attributes v. motivation(intrinsic motivation) and vi. environment

d) Vygotsky‟s Theory of Social Constructivism

According to Vygotsky, creativity comes from the human activity of creating something new. It could be anything from visual art to a new mental construct. Vygotsky believed that creativity exists in all people, even very young children. Imagination was also considered an integral part of creativity, as it helps in the production of new combinations of pre-constructed things. Vygotsky stated that ―When we consider the phenomenon of collective creativity, which combines all these drops of individual creativity that frequently are insignificant in themselves, we readily understand what an enormous percentage of what has been created by humanity is a product of the anonymous collective creative work of unknown inventors‖ .Vygotsky‘ social constructivist theory emphasizes the cultural and social contexts in learning.

OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

1. To study on Social Media 2. To study on Social Networking

SOCIAL MEDIA

While it's not clear who coined the term ―social media‖, it seems that it emerged during the early 1990s, when web-based communication tools such as Facebook and Twitter were still relatively new. In 2019, Merriam-Webster defined social media as "forms of electronic communication such as websites for social networking and microblogging through which users create online communities to share information, ideas, personal messages, and other content such as videos (Wikipedia). Social media is a platform where people can connect and exchange information. The concept that social media are simply tools that allow people to connect and communicate has been seen as too broad. In reality, it is possible that different technologies such as the telephone and telegraph are also social media. Kaplan and Haenlein (2010) characterise social media as "a web-based application collection that is built on the conceptual and technical principles of web 2.0 that allows the creation and sharing of information provided by users." The use of social media as electronic forms of communication is commonly referred to as social networking and micro blogging Websites via which

media is seen as the research equipment that people use to interact and socialise by exchanging and commenting on diverse networks. The rise of the internet and its variegated services has greatly impacted the dissemination of knowledge and information globally. The emergence of social media platforms has also changed the dynamics of communication (Kietzmann et al., 2011; Lewis, 2010). With the rise of digital media, interaction on a large scale was made easier than ever before. This new media age was born when people were able to interact with each other in a way that was not possible before.(Manning, 2016)

Categories of Social Media

Social media has several categories, and is a broad term. • Social Networking: It's a subset of social media. It includes renowned websites such as Facebook and others where users may comment on profiles, join groups and post videos, and keep in touch with friends online. • Social News: engage with and comment on stories by voting. If articles reach a lot of people and favourable feedback and comments, they are considered good. The most obvious example is the Yahoo news, since individuals may react to particular problems. • Social bookmarking: another type of website that allows you to go through book-marked pages. • Social photography and video exchange: engage with user submitting by exchanging images and films. • Wikis: engage with articles and current articles editing (Wikipedia, Wikia).

Social Networking

Social networking is the use of the Internet to provide information about oneself, especially to individuals who are interested in sending messages. Boyd and Ellision, 2007, identify social network sites as "web-based services that (1) enable individuals to create a public or semi-public profile in a boundary system, (2) articulate a list of other people with whom they share a link and (3) view and review their list of links and those established by others within the system" William, Boyd, Densten, Chin, Diamond and Mergenthaler (2003) claimed social media is Internet users' groups that wish to connect with others, whether from a personal or academic viewpoint, on communicating with thousands of individuals. Social media facilitates people-to-people connection. As Cain (2009) explains, the websites of the social Network facilitate connectivity, free and after joining, news, information and other material, videos and photos can be posted. Only in 2013 was the internet (3G mobile) broadcast. Social media will therefore probably be more important in Indian future media because Indian users of social media are rising day after day, particularly among young people and students who need social media in their studies, and because interacting with various people across the globe have been made easier.

Social Media and Social Networking

The words social media and social networks are confused. The difference, though, is that networking is a subset of SM. The difference is that social media is a bigger word, whereas social media is one type of social media (DavisIII et.al 2012). The simplest way to change things is to consider the word "media" and "networking" personally. The media is related to all the information a person shares, whether it be an article, a video, a simple status or whatever. As stated by Festinger (Festinger, 1954) people evaluate their opinions and abilities by comparing themselves to peers they feel affinity to. Individuals observe the images portrayed by others and, subsequently, make comparisons between themselves, others and the ideal images. Networking is a connection with their networks between people who might be friends, family members, colleagues and entirely alien. For example, users can share a media with their social networks to collect and comment on a sort of social network. This applies to social networking, social data, wiki and so forth (Daniel Nations, 2017). In other words, any social networking site is considered as the social media subcategory which is embraced among students and academics as communication tools. Social media and social media have become more and more a new method of communication and cooperation, and the increased usage of social media among university students has therefore become a worldwide event.

Social Media and Traditional Media

Electronic, including computers, smart phones and the Internet are the most common social media. But TV, radios and newspapers are traditional media. Significant distinctions between them are traditional media (one-way conversation, closed system, controlled communication, formal language, passive involvement, and polished involvement, authentic content, free platform). Social media follows the communication process, therefore allowing individuals to engage, which implies sending and receiving the information. The information is only received via conventional media.

The Role of Social Media Traditional media only have one-way communication in which only information is provided by the content. TV is an example; it offers visual data, but the recipient of the information cannot supply the sender with any reply. Social media are, however, two-way communication, since individuals can communicate, send and receive messages. Social media follow a communications process that includes different parts, namely the message, the sender, the channel (Internet) and the recipient. According to the theory on cognitive dissonance, people who are similar are good at evaluating each other (Suls, Martin, & Wheeler, 2002). This is the main mechanism that leads individuals to be expressive of their position in relation to other people and even among groups. The recipient is allowed to offer the sender feedback, so the sender will know the recipient's opinion and if his message was given adequately. Through social media, businesses can reach out to potential customers and promote their products and services. It allows them to save costs while increasing their reach and effectiveness. Every day, millions of people publish their content on various platforms such as YouTube and Facebook. The rise of user-generated content became mainstream in 2005.In 1996, the advent of Internet communication systems enabled people to communicate globally. It paved the way for the development of multi-media exchange and simple text messaging. Social Media Features

i) Personal Accounts: Social media Sites allow users to create their own accounts. This allows them to interact with other users without requiring them to register. ii) User Profile: A profile page is an essential part of a person's profile. It provides details about the user, like their bio, photo, and website. iii) Groups: Users of the site may connect with their friends, follow and form communities. iv) Information feed: Social media sites like Facebook allow users to connect with another user and get updates from them in real-time. v) Customised experience: Social media platforms allow users to customize their details is definitely playing the game of social media. These notifications are managed by the users and can be customized according to their needs.

vi) Giving approval: Social networking sites have the feature to allow the users to validate the information or post shared by their friends. The users may like or comment on the post.

CONCLUSION

Social media has become an integral part of our lives. It is a platform that enables people to connect and share their experiences. It is also widely used by students to keep up with their learning activities. Social media can be boon to teach students creative writing and also encourage students‘ self- learning. As the most significant 21st century skill, digital media literacy is imminent for the success of our students. Similarly, creative writing skill an offshoot of creative thinking will be one of the most sought after skills in the future. While every aspect of the material world can be mechanised, man‘s thinking power and creativity cannot be mechanised. As teachers, it is our prime responsibility to promote creativity in thought and actions of our students. Social media provides plethora of information on its numerous platforms and freedom of expression. Students at universities and colleges should have the knowledge to consume the internet content prudentially and judicially. This study doesn‘t cover the teacher attitude towards social media as pedagogical tool .How university teachers can facilitate creative language development can be studied in future researches.

REFERENCES

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Corresponding Author Nirupama M.*

Research Scholar, Department of English, Kalinga University, Raipur, Chhattisgarh