Introduction

If you are like me, new and social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Pitchfork, Youtube, Collegehumor, Failbog, Google search, and too many others are my escape from everyday life. I spend the majority of time – hours a day – on these platforms, no matter what the circumstances. They are my bread and butter, my vice. 


The problem is that these new media platforms can get in the way of my studies. I have found that I am procrastinating more, my attention-span has lessened and I get stuck scrolling down through the endless content, craving for more. For me, it is a constant battle to avoid wasting my time online. Though, I try to find new music on Pitchfork, uplifting articles and videos on Collegehumor, and keep in-touch with friends and family in America on Facebook, with just these three things, I can spend 3 hours in one siting; accentually wasting my time. 


Within this blog I want to look at the impact of social media and new media platforms on students ability to problem solve, as well as the impact on their intellectual, cognitive development. I want to see if there are major issues that can come about from spending too much time on these platforms. I want to look at studies that are related to this issue and possibly come up with some solutions that could help counter the time wasted online. I also want to dive deep into Googles effect on the brain. There is a very interesting article  called, Is Google Making Us Stupid By Nicholas Carr, that I will spend some time on in later posts. I would also like to talk about Net Neutrality and it's connection to the co-operation between Google and Verizon (see my logo here :) Veroogle). 


Lastly, I hope to inspire students, teachers and all individuals to keep a watchful eye on these developing platforms. In our day-and-age, new technology is created to make things easier for individuals, but what I have seen so far is that these new developments have the potential to cause harm, make way for control, manipulation, and induce dependance and procrastination that is not needed for life and living.


If this post has interested you, please stay tuned for more to come!