What is the role of social media in education?

I would say social media has more than one role in education, and these various roles confer significant advantages and disadvantages. Educators have the responsibility to ensure students benefit from social media in a classroom setting.

Social media can be thought of as another technological tool in a teacher's toolbox. Social media can constructively be used in many ways. For example, a classroom project might be creating a Facebook page for a literary character by choosing favorite quotes, books, and music for the character and uploading photos of what the character might like.  Think about what a page for Jay Gatsby might look like! It might include photos of gangsters and flappers or a clip of people doing the Charleston. Many authors have a Facebook presence today, too, and students could comment on their pages, saying what they like or do not like about their writing. Many authors are happy to accept new Facebook friends. A group can be created on Facebook for group projects or for the entire class. Twitter can be used to summarize a story or to write poems such as haikus. LinkedIn, a form of social media used for professional networking, can be used to construct a student's professional appearance. Social media can also be used as object lessons in how not to bully others or how not to have uncivilized discourse online. These are just a few of the ways a creative teacher can use the resources of social media in education. 

The disadvantages of social media lie in its ability to distract, celebrate the trivial, present negative behaviors to others, and harm mental health and relationships. Students today often cannot seem to put down their devices and focus in their classrooms or on their homework assignments. Some teachers require all electronic devices to be off in the classroom, since it is difficult to control their use. There is little of educational value in learning what a classmate ate for breakfast or looking at more pictures of animals. They have also caused harm in the lives of students foolish enough to post pictures of themselves drinking alcohol or using illegal drugs. Relationships on social media, for teachers and students, can be fraught with risk. Feelings are frequently hurt on Facebook, I am told; people are bullied, and research supports the notion that young people who are users of social media can have feelings of social isolation and depression because of it. While this is not a direct educational harm, it can take away from the feelings of community that every classroom should ideally have. Teachers must be very careful, too, in their social media participation, since all of it can be scrutinized. The faces we present on social media must be above reproach!  

Social media is here to stay, I think. It can be a force for good or evil. It is up to educators to use social media in a way that enhances learning.