In the newly revolutionizing world of technology, social networking media has become a need in communicating with others. Due to a majority of social network users being kids and teens, parents are starting to be concerned about their children’s education and study time. In fact, many argue that social networking sites have no educational value at all, and that they are just a waste of time. This statement is not necessarily true, though, because there are actually many skills that we can attain through social networking; the importance of these values vary from a point of perspective, and this creates the controversy of whether or not we gain educational values from social networking sites.

Of the many features social networking provides to its users, creativity is the most important. In essence, socialization itself can be defined as an exchange of conversation, feelings, and ideas; what our minds unknowingly absorb are these interactions between people. Small things such as conversations and pictures may not seem useful at first; however, these social events which are added to your vocabulary of ideas not only increase your general knowledge, but also broaden your perspective of imagination. Many movies such as the horror, “Human Centipede”, are inspired by the jokes that pass from person to person; the artist Picasso was inspired by many social phenomena, which resulted in the many periods of his artworks. As you can see, ideas that originate from social networking can have a great impact and influence on our world and life.

In addition to nourishing user creativity, social networking sites also aid in the development of technological experience. Interacting with the internet and other online users requires the knowledge and experience of dealing with bugs, viruses, and formatting problems. At school, students would apply to a computer applications class to become educated in the use of computers, and they might not even be guaranteed a seat in the class. Sites such as Facebook and Twitter, though, provide these experiences free of charge. Although beginners might feel uncomfortable interacting with an electronic social environment, that feeling changes as more experience is gained through the often use of these sites. Many Facebook Apps, such as Scribd and Diamond Dash, have attracted over 15 million users. These apps, created by regular Facebook users, teach users the concepts of business.

Basic business and entrepreneur techniques can also be considered one of the most important skills gained through social networking sites. Again, this valuable skill is rarely taught in school. Users are exposed to basic business techniques such as advertising, product promotions, and pricing. More experienced users have the opportunity of creating and sharing their own “Facebook Apps”, which could be anything ranging from a game to an educational program, and novices will eventually learn to do that in a matter of time. The social networking sites themselves are an example of the product of business. Facebook encourages its users to advertise on its sites, because that is the source of its income; currently, Facebook is producing revenue of nearly $1 billion per year. This alone demonstrates how social networking sties can inspire business and entrepreneurship, two skills that are both uneasily achievable and contain enormous educational value

To sum it all up, although social networking can be very time-consuming on a large scale, the benefits received are totally worth one’s sacrificed time. It just depends on what values you care about more. From every perspective, there is a skill that you gain, and a skill that you lose. Some people just don’t believe that it is worthwhile to spend time on skills that are not directly achievable in school.