Recent studies show that lately students rely on Internet trends when preparing their school papers, using user-generated content that?s being shared on the popular social networks. Professionally published content is receiving less of their attention. Supported by these numbers certain experts argue that these popular social websites are bad for students, how they shorten students? attention span, encourage selfishness and inspire instant gratification.
But this isn?t always true. In fact, the advantages are much greater than these potential negative aspects of?being social. Popular social media websites can be used as truly extensive research tools, complimentary to the traditional methods, to help students prepare even better when writing their essays and student papers. Here are some of the best social networks and how they can help improve your essay writing skills:
Though Facebook is usually considered as the baddest of all when concerning the previously mentioned negative aspects, this social network isn?t completely harmful for students. You can successfully use Facebook as a research tool, searching through the popular groups where your interest topic is shared and discussed, or using the Facebook questions feature to gather ideas, ask for opinions, or even conduct small surveys.
You ask me how? Answer is easily:
Try to search over the web for the?idea holders on the topic you are researching. Search for them on Facebook, engage and ask questions. Try not to be pushy, people have some work to do. And ask, ask, ask questions. This method is going to increase your mark significantly.
If you want to conduct a small survey use Surveymonkey. Promote the link for your survey to your friends. Try to keep your questions straight and easy to understand.
Twitter can also be a great research tool for students essay writing. You can search previous conversations on a certain subject using #hashtags, ask up to 140 characters long questions, start your own discussions, search through the archive and library Twitter feeds, or look for bloggers debating on your topic or experts in the field and maybe ask for their assistance and professional opinion. Just by using the search tool. Easy!
YouTube
This global video library with thousands of music videos, films, documentaries, news and interviews uploaded each day has a truly great value for students as an immense source of knowledge they can certainly find useful when writing their essays. There also are great educational YouTube channels you can turn to for inspiration like YouTube EDU, TEDTalks, National Geographic, Discovery Channel and many more, and you can also reference these official sources in your student papers. You can contact the channel owners directly and enhance your essays with proof of your research.
eHow
eHow is a question-and-answers website and maybe one of the most useful social media tools for getting fast and relevant information on almost any subject you may be interested in. Students can research a certain topic, or look for specific answers provided by people from all over the world who are sharing their thoughts and personal experiences, as well as providing expert opinions on questions related to their profession.
Edublogs
Edublogs are primarily created for educational purposes, for students to share their ideas, participate in discussions, find classrooms and educators to collaborate and learn from. They can also use the large educational blogs directory to research on their essay topics or find ideas to include in their writing.
Digg
When writing about current events and topics, students can search Digg for the most interesting and talked about stories on the Internet at the moment. You can look up any topic for the best matched or most recent stories, and even search results only related to a certain date range. This social bookmarking website can help you find great ideas you can later use and elaborate on in your papers.
Students writing essays on literature can find these next book-related social websites very useful:
Shelfari
Shelfari is a global community of book lovers where students can discover popular books, create their own bookshelves, participate in online book groups, share and discuss, connect with and learn from like-minded peers and/or admired authors.
Goodreads
Goodreads is another great social space for bookworms where students can get access to a large network of peers, friends and total strangers with whom they can share their literary inclinations. You can find great ideas on what next to read, see what your friends are reading or discussing about, follow the latest bestsellers in your particular fields of interest and enhance your overall reading experience.
Anobii
Anobii is similar to the previous social cataloguing websites. You can also create virtual bookshelves, get book recommendations, exchange opinions and express interests, as well as read and write review and rate and share books with other people. Of these three social media websites, Anobii is the only one where users can also buy and download ebooks.
The development of the Internet and online communication brought information closer to everyone, but quantity isn?t always quality, and that?s why it is crucial for students to only use official and authoritative websites when researching their essay topics and doing other school assignments.
Alex is one of the writers from bestessays.com. He has MBA degree at Wisconsin International University.You Might Also Find Interesting:
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