http://time.com/9207/social-media-is-making-you-stupid/
A new study published by the Journal of the Royal Society Interface suggests that the use of social media can actually make one more stupid. Supposedly, it is not the idea that playing games, messaging, stalking ex-boyfriends, and poking people is dulling our senses. Our IQ's are dropping because of our lack of original ideas. So many people are posting their political and religious beliefs along with their opinions on Coke vs. Pepsi that we are supposedly losing our ability to decide for ourselves. Maybe instead of reading the posts of manic homophobes on Facebook we should truly be educating ourselves with some reliable sources. We are all students, maybe we should use our academic library to gain some insight into these topics.
The research that was done in able to come to this conclusion consisted of volunteers utilizing two forms of social networking. One was a more closed system and the other was more tightly knit in which all of the participants were able to connect. Then, the participants from each group were given standardized tests. The group of tightly-knit "friends" had higher scores, but this was not due to actually learning the material. These participants were copying the answers of others.
As a group, this could be a positive outcome. However, for individuals is can deplete one's ability to think analytically and make decisions.
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