The advantages and disadvantages of using Social Networking Services （SNS） such as Wechat or Youku for university students currently studying Media

With the use of the internet growing worldwide，China has become one of the countries which has the largest number of people using the internet.It’s very common that every family has computers and smart phones，surfing on the internet is much easier than before.Many people use social media like Wechat，Youku and Weibo at a young age.It’s useful for some students whose major is related to media.There are lots of advantages and disadvantages of using Social Networking Services for university students currently studying media.

There are three main advantages of using SNS for university students currently studying media.Firstly，it is very convenient to get and share information quickly.Claywell said that some social media sites offer a platform to let people exchange information with each other.For many university students，smart phones are one of the most important things.Media students should learn their own ways to report the news，and there are many ways to get some experience by using SNS.There are many applications in China which just report news，such as UC News，Headline and so on.These applications are made by different companies，and every company has its own way to report the news.Media students can just use their phones to get the news in a short time，which will help a lot for their news study of how to write attractive news.Secondly，using SNS lets media students find job easier.In China，many graduates will send their personal information on some websites such as 58 City，51 Job，LinkedIn and so on.Heathfield （2017） talked about the ways that the employers use LinkedIn to find talented employees and it is a quite useful website.Lots of companies will look at students’ resumes and find good employees.Thirdly，for media students，using SNS can broaden students’ horizons.It is one good way to let students communicate and know more.There are many popular video websites like iQiyi and Youku in China.More and more creative videos are appearing on the website which includes lots of new things.Students can learn from these videos which encourage creative thinking and inspire fresh ideas.

There are three main disadvantages of using SNS for university students currently studying media.Firstly，it is very easy for students to spend too much time on the internet.Many university students are addicted to the internet，they spend most of the time on the internet. Kong （2013） pointed out：” it distracts us from doing the really incredible work.” Some of these students are still in the feeling of freshness of the internet because in their previous schools may not allow them to bring their phones，some students put themselves into games.These students who have large interests in the internet spend their time in chatting，making friends and experiencing the feeling of using social media.It causes a waste of time and influences their study time.Secondly，many students lack personal information protection awareness，some students’ personal information will be leaked.There are two different ways，one is some students always put their specific personal information such as their home address and telephone number，it will lead to personal information leak.Another way is some companies utilize fake information to get their information.Many students are bothered by some advertisement because their phone numbers are known by others.Thirdly，it is easy to cause plagiarism problem.Being different to foreign universities，many students copy their final essays from the internet.It is a very common phenomenon because the lack of awareness and laws of copyright are inadequate and remain on paper.

In conclusion，for university students currently studying media，there are lots of benefits and handicaps.For university students，it would be a good help if they can weigh the pros and cons，then arrange the time they spend on SNS reasonably and communicate with people face to face.

References

[1]Claywell，C，R.（n.d.）Advantages and Disadvantages of Social Networking [online] Available from：[10 June 2017].

作者簡介

董昱彤（1998.11—），女，本科在读，河北大学——中央兰开夏传媒与创意学院，广播电视学。