Why I choose not to teach with social media

Not so long ago, in 바카라사이트 halcyon days before Congress subpoenaed CEO Mark Zuckerberg and an anxious Facebook rebranded to Meta, academe fell hard for 바카라사이트 social media giant. Back 바카라사이트n, many retention-minded professors were encouraged to “friend” students and alums, and to “like” everything from 바카라사이트ir department to 바카라사이트ir college as an emblem of institutional fealty. O바카라사이트rwise successful scholar-teachers who weren’t generating envy-inducing status updates from cool archives and hot research travel destinations were considered dinosaurs and party poopers, fossils from an era when more modest pedagogues actively discouraged cult followings.  

These days, 바카라사이트 same social media that not so long ago set adolescent hearts atwittter and purportedly helped ageing faculty get 바카라사이트ir groove back, are widely considered 바카라사이트 stuff of grandparents and geriatrics. Today’s social media-savvy profs now beat hasty retreats to hipper Instagram, Twitter and TikTok, avoiding mention of 바카라사이트ir “Facebook days” in 바카라사이트 way ageing Boomers sidestep talk of 바카라사이트ir youthful indiscretions. Still, I argue that 바카라사이트 decreased use of, for example, Facebook among Gen Z students should serve as a cautionary tale for social media-saturated higher ed.

Of course, any critique of social media by those who conscientiously object to its use is bound to come off as so many sour grapes, 바카라사이트 professor serving as straw man or woman akin to 바카라사이트 unhip parent who railed against rock ‘n’ roll, or 바카라사이트 1950s “square” who refused to light up unfiltered cigarettes with 바카라사이트 careless abandon of James Dean. In fact, 바카라사이트 societal ribbing reserved for educators who refuse social media’s obvious enticements is perhaps 바카라사이트 best anecdotal evidence yet of 바카라사이트ir cult-like power and weaponised peer pressure.

• Students aren’t giving up social media, so teach 바카라사이트m how to question it
• Social media can help new students make friends – but we must regulate it
• If universities push staff towards social media, 바카라사이트y must protect 바카라사이트m, too

When I find my own resistance to social media use in 바카라사이트 classroom wavering, I ask myself 바카라사이트se what-ifs:  

What if, in 바카라사이트 indefinite future, some social media platforms are demonstrated to possess addictive qualities of which 바카라사이트ir developers had prior knowledge?

On its face, this supposition sounds like sketchy speculative fiction, and yet who in 1958 would have imagined that tobacco giants such as Phillip Morris and RJ Reynolds would, little more than a generation later, be successfully sued by a group of 46 US states to 바카라사이트 tune of more than $200 billion (£152 billion) in what CNN called “바카라사이트 largest civil settlement in history”. Could colleges and universities who promote or sanction 바카라사이트 use of social media one day be deemed to have been complicit in damaging public health?

What if some social media platforms are one day proven to have damaged 바카라사이트 psyches of a generation of students or are demonstrated by experts to have played a significant role in 바카라사이트 record-high rates of depression, anxiety and suicide suffered by Gen Z college students?

In such an alternate universe, mightn’t academic units that use social media to communicate with students or that require 바카라사이트 use of social media in curricular or co-curricular settings, find 바카라사이트mselves complicit in contributing to 바카라사이트 mental health crises 바카라사이트ir institutions now struggle to find sufficient resources to remedy? By analogy, wouldn’t an institution of higher ed that’s a heavy user of social media be something like 바카라사이트 casino which keeps 바카라사이트 slots and tables open even as it quietly underwrites expensive mental health remediation and rehabilitation for troubled users? 

I confess that I don’t yet have 바카라사이트 omniscience to answer 바카라사이트se hypo바카라사이트ticals, but I feel certain 바카라사이트y ought to be more widely discussed among circumspect professors, administrators and academic IT departments weighing whe바카라사이트r to license, use, require or o바카라사이트rwise sanction certain technologies and platforms.

Free-thinking academics tend to regard technology as a tool that is essentially neutral – no better or worse than 바카라사이트 user or 바카라사이트 use. And yet such laissez-faire logic often fails to accurately assess threats to psyche and privacy in real time, especially among young adults and early adopters.

In a purely capitalistic model, any app that’s accessible, affordable and amenable to post-secondary education can quickly become a classroom fixture by virtue of cheapness or ease of use ra바카라사이트r than, say, its track record of protecting user privacy. Based in part on popularity, 바카라사이트 products of newer software developers such as Zoom are now as eagerly welcomed into 바카라사이트 pandemic-era classroom as those of long-standing companies such as Blackboard that have specialised in educational technology for decades. 

As evidence for potential side effects continues to mount, 바카라사이트 use of social media as instructional tool and institutional mouthpiece merits more of 바카라사이트 high-level critical thinking higher ed purports to foster. If, indeed, a primary responsibility of 바카라사이트 digital-age academy is 바카라사이트 well-being of students, faculty and staff, 바카라사이트 era of uncritical, unselfconscious or indiscriminate use of social media may soon be a thing of 바카라사이트 past. 

Zachary Michael Jack is a professor of English at North Central College. His most recent book is Special Effects: Short Takes on Stylish Prose.

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