To teach students to ambitiously interact with the world, drop social media, says THE contributor

Academics would be well-advised to stay away from social media, according to Times Higher Education contributor Gabriel Egan.The author argues that using social media infantilizes students by “overfeeding their innate cravings” for acceptance and approval, and notes that this effect runs counter to the need for students to break away from the status quo to engage with new viewpoints and academic ideas. “Students must discover that it is OK not to be popular with the in-crowd,” Egan notes, “OK to be something of an oddball with unusual tastes.” With the mandate to teach students to think ambitiously about their interactions with the wider world, the author encourages academics to “stop using social media and to wean students off of them.” Times Higher Education