As the freshly seasoned college sophomore comes home from another night out, he realizes the annotated bibliography for that term paper is due in a few hours. Frantically rummaging through his dorm leads to the sticker swarmed laptop that holds the key to a successful project: Scholarly Articles.
The fan exhales a mighty breath as the smudgy screen becomes vibrant with color and sound. In seconds he pulls up fresh pixelated paper and the search engine which will drive the turnpike all the way to turnitin.com. One letter into "Freudian Slips" rips him into the abyss of attention surrounded by the familiar blue and white graphic.
The issue at hand plagues the most disciplined of College students: The availability of a wide variety of varying Social Media platforms prevents the efficiency of online research.
Social Media plays a major role in mass communications as well as the distribution of personal inquiries and statements to the online world. Some cannot stand a day without checking Facebook or Twitter. Platforms like Instagram and Reddit cause students to wander away from their studies, using visual stimulation to entertain and distract. The more sites one adheres to, the more time they spend off of JSTOR and other scholarly databases.
But what can be done when the tale of the tape has online research in the red corner and social media in the blue?
Well, the fact is that Facebook and other powerhouse sites are going nowhere. The only real solution is a healthy combination of both. As the old proverb goes, "There is a time and a place for everything."
Having the diligence to stay on the 50-page article rather than checking on Donald Trump's newest address to the "twitterverse" takes practice, as with any skill. The easiest way to stay on task is to assure oneself of their passions for their studies.
Usually after the first academic year -- and Major change for a good amount -- one can be confident in their irrational need to know everything about the field. After internalizing that feeling, the need to check on Lady Gaga's newest fashion statement or that video with the [enter favorite breed] puppies and their antics becomes less urgent.
The desire to drag the mouse down the Facebook feed to the bellies of asinine information of yesterday, or as this writer likes to call the "Social Media Scroll," will indefinitely provide readily available procrastination to any and all who seek it. The easiest method to alleviate the desire to deter is the reminder of academic passions and to enjoy the little things of scholarly research. The end result of this may reach a publication of undergraduate gold or even just a solid passing grade.
As for the sophomore's slip into serenity...
The passing nuances of exciting lives and shared opinions on social media comforts him. As he glances at his acquaintance's attempt at a crochet rug, he remembers just the reason he ended up living in that dorm in the first place, "I have a huge man-crush on Sigmund, so why am I ignoring him with comments on a fake news article."
After his epiphany, he braces for landing from the cloud of cat videos to the information superhighway. "Click," and the 200th attempt at the mannequin challenge sweeps away to distracted doctoral students down the hall. He races through the library catalogs and types away until the final period, completing his Intro course on Freudian Theory and allowing his Psychology Major to live on past the semester.
