Photo Courtesy: Famu.edu Media Relations
In the age of social media, students are liable to experience a shift in consumption.
Screen time is one of the leading topics of conversation in terms of social media and its effect on society. College students have access to course information, receive notifications about local happenings and extracurricular activities through their cellular devices, increasing the inevitable need for these devices.
How do these students deal with the norm of electronic media and their attentiveness in school and their extracurriculars alike?
Jonathan Giles, a graduate student in agricultural science, is aware of how social media has changed higher education.
“Social media definitely has a substantial effect on our attention spans. Typically in a classroom setting, we only have a certain amount of attention span to last up until we are not interested in the subject matter anymore, so we as a generation tend to miss important information needed on test days,” Giles said.
”Social media] is an outlet of distraction and can affect our time-management skills,” he added.
Brianna Cotes, a third-year business administration major, is convinced that students’ attention span is being impacted by social media.
“I think that people are too caught up into social media and it is having a negative effect. I believe that attention span has definitely been affected. I can spend hours on my phone,” she said. “I am quick to cut off TV shows and movies in the first 10 minutes if it does not peak my interest. There are so many options to choose from nowadays, so its easy to just skip over to something else,” Cotes added.
“When it comes to school, it is hard to detach because I use my phone to study. I use the ‘Do Not Disturb’ feature to keep my main focus on schoolwork.” Cotes said.
Shanell Fisher, a first-year pharmacy candidate, is actually aware of how much has changed.
“We go straight to our electronics for our basic day to day needs. It’s like a cycle. We continuously have the need to revert back to our phones for some reason,” Fisher said. “Forms of consumption have changed from music, television, and even forms of dating.”
To regulate her screen time, Fisher deletes her social media applications to keep her focus. “If I am ever in need of my phone while in the midst of work. I use the screen time function to limit the amount that I can actually use it before it cuts off,” Fisher added.
Niya Abreau, a second-year agricultural science major, reflected on her use of her devices to aid her while studying or doing schoolwork.
“I usually listen to calm music, specifically something that is not recognizable to me. I feel like I need to fill the silence while working or else I will be in my head more than I need to be,” Abreau said. “I struggle with ADHD, so it can be difficult to remain focused on my studies for a long period of time. I utilize online narrators that are also doing work to hold myself accountable and in tune with my tasks at hand.”
Electronic media has integrated so much into modern day living and, specifically academics, that it is hard for students to find the balance between cell phone use as a distraction and as a tool to help them along their journey.