Don’t be a TWIT!

Yeah, you heard me, don’t be a twit! Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, MySpace… They’re GREAT, but don’t be a twit and waste your life surfing and playing on the net when life is lived in the REAL WORLD. Your school grades are determined in a CLASSROOM.

Students And Media (Over) Use

Students And Media (Over) Use

The number of media options available to kids today is having an impact on their grades – but not in a good way. If study material was as addictive as Facebook, Twitter and other social media platforms, straight A’s would be rampant – but they’re not.

Ohio University conducted a study in which researchers determined college students who use Facebook spend less time studying and score lower grades than those who don’t waste time ‘poking’ their friends.

It’s not called social NOTworking for nothing…

Perhaps even more disturbing was a study done by the Straits Times that found those who were addicted to online games generally did worse in school than those who were not addicted. In fact, 14 percent of addicts reported scoring Cs  or worse, while only 6 percent of their non-addicted counterparts scored just as low. [1]

While it would be easy to quickly blame the social networking craze and even Facebook for the students’ performance, distractions from school work are nothing new. Students bent on ignoring their responsibilities don’t need Facebook or Twitter to produce poor performance; these platforms simply provide an easy excuse.

Multitask your way to Bs, Cs and Ds.

One Fox News report suggests this problem could be related to continuous partial attention, which is the state in which you multitask, but continue to be motivated by the desire to not miss anything. Studies continue to show that those who multitask do each of their tasks worse. If multitasking for students includes interacting via Facebook while studying, it’s safe to assume rote memory and concentration will be noticeably affected. [2]

Just in case you might think I’m anti social networking, I’m not. In fact, in the UK, some are taking a different approach to these latest media sensations. School curricula have been altered to include instruction for Twitter and Wikipedia. While some traditional focus will remain, students will be expected to know how to use and manipulate different sources of information and forms of communication. [3] Let’s face it, if you’re going to do it, you might as well do it efficiently and effectively!

I wonder if a university was to implement a Facebook 101 class, what would the homework actually be? How could you get an A+ if you’re on Facebook 24/7?!?!

That’s a conundrum and dilemma wrapped up in a paradox isn’t it?

Hmmmmm…. Something to tweet about!


[1] http://www.straitstimes.com/BreakingNews/Singapore/Story/STIStory_460196.html?vgnmr=1

[2] http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/fox_news_says_facebook_will_ruin_your_grades.php

[3] http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2009/mar/25/primary-schools-twitter-curriculum

3 Responses to “Don’t be a TWIT!”


  • thankyou for not mentioning karpinski, the teacher from ohio. i have to do this research paper for school and every other website mentions her and the same stuff. thanks for giving me the RIGHT in formation.

  • Hi,
    I just bought your study book How to Get Better Grades With The Least Amount of Effort. I am amazed. However, I do not understand how to use some techniques such as the 80-20 rule. Is it something I should write on paper or just something I should master with my brain? I’m quite confused.

    The #2 Take Action is something to do on a regular basis or what?

    Next, page 35 step 5 : Create A Monthly Schedule. I didn’t get anything you said about that step and it is not clear enough for me to understand. You just showed the graph but you didn’t actually tell how to create it. ” The Other Dimensions of Your Life”… is it something that I’m supposed to draw or just keep it in my head? :S

    Then there’s the circle of influence, how should I implement that technique?

    In short, how can I implement all the techniques?

    Your book is of course easy to read, but hard to apply (for me). It takes a lot of commitment (as you say in your book) and a lot of patience. Anyway, I’m glad that I actually bought this book, because I am fully committed to follow your techniques and I do believe those techniques are guaranteed to make my grades better despite that it’s quite hard for me to master them, which why I guess they will be so valuable.

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