Читать книгу Successes and Setbacks of Social Media - Группа авторов - Страница 28

Social networks are essential to creating community and support structures on an interpersonal level; Black students, without these networks at the interpersonal and institutional level, may potentially experience social isolation (Strayhorn 2013). The experiences of “social isolation, alienation, or psychological stress may lead minority students at PWIs to withdraw from college” (Strayhorn 2013, p. 117). As I reflect on my experiences in both of my higher education programs (master’s and doctoral), I am thankful that I built social networks through social media in order to build community and sense of belonging. However, these social networks have served, at multiple points in time, as academic tools as well. Faculty in both graduate programs have either required social media participation and engagement as a grade component or strongly encouraged the usage of platforms, such as Twitter.

With participation serving as a critical part of my grade in both graduate programs, I have seen the evolution of modern methods of participation counting toward my grade. I remember that active social media engagement could substitute physical and public engagement through responses to discuss prompts online. In-person class discussions that were once the prevailing method of securing portions of my grade shifted into the background to allow online discourse to take center stage. As someone that additionally identifies as an introvert with social anxiety, speaking in class would frequently trigger anxiety attacks resulting in me remaining silent for the duration of the course, so as digital alternatives began to proliferate, I found methods of accessibility. I could engage in discourse with my classmates, fellow scholars, and faculty through a keyboard, through a like, through a retweet, or through a direct message.

Social media use, for me, went beyond participation and into practical assignments as well. During a class centered on community colleges, we were tasked with working with local community colleges on a variety of projects, with my group working directly on an honor’s college renovation. Social media allowed us to communicate in real time with administrators and students as we restructured the program and created a lasting proposal. Social media proliferation created pathways to academic success that would not have existed a decade ago.