Executive Summary
A consulting agency specializing in public sector business communications is preparing a proposal in response to a State of California RFP. The state is offering a $3.5 million grant to fund a Social Media Literacy campaign in Central California Valley, focusing on school districts in Stanislaus and Tuolumne Counties. The campaign aims to educate educators, parent groups, students, and student clubs. The agency is fully mobilized to compete for this opportunity with the following project proposal.
Action Plan
In today’s world, social media has become more than just a communication tool. The impact of social media on our lives and how we seek information has changed drastically. Students, teachers, and parents can access information wherever and whenever needed (Abbas et al., 2019). Therefore, parents and students need to know how to utilize this tool for better results and better upbringing.
Social media is a medium to communicate with friends, family members, and even entire communities. It has also done so in a way that has brought many benefits to people worldwide (Bovée et al., 2019). However, it has negative impacts on both individuals and society. This can disadvantage educators, psychologists, and stakeholders since they have limited resources for educating students concerning the topic. This paper has discussed the various strategies that will be employed in the campaign to educate students on the negative impacts of social media.
Posters
The campaign will use posters designed by the University of Southern California’s game-design undergraduate students. This will be distributed around campus to help educate students about the adverse effects of social media (Abbas et al., 2019). The posters are bilingual and can be printed in both English and Spanish. The language in which the posters are printed is vital in passing the information needed; for example, social media can pose several threats to users, such as cyberbullying and online harassment. By using posters as a campaign strategy on the adverse effects of social media and encouraging students to consider their actions and the broader impact of their actions, the students are more likely to remain aware of their actions and the consequences for themselves or others.
Blog Posts
Blog posts are good tools for effective communication in the modern world. The adverse effects of using social media have been highlighted in the past, but more recently, there has been a resurgence of people isolating themselves from friends and family online. People who are constantly connected to their own devices are more likely to end up feeling isolated and lonely and may experience depression as a result (Bovée et al., 2019). Social media has a lot of positive potential; however, it can negatively impact the way we communicate and be perceived by others. With the constant increase in social media users, blog posts will be a good learning point as they will likely appeal to more people.
Demographic Analysis
The target audience for the campaigns is parents, teachers, students, and academic stakeholders. They are the key to success in ensuring that the students are well brought up and are not exposed to the negativity of social media. Most high school students and those at the tertiary level access social media frequently, and this may eventually expose them to the brutality of social media, something that will affect their psychological functioning, leading to stress and depression.
The campaign is vital in creating online awareness on a particular subject to ensure it reaches many people. Social media is a good learning tool since much material is constantly uploaded. However, like anything else, it can be abused—creating problems at school, at home, and online (Mishra, 2020). Kids should be taught about social media’s negative impacts with real-life examples to understand the precautions they should always take when accessing social media. Social Media Awareness was created to help students know what they do on their phones or computers and how to stay safe using them.
The strategies used for the massive awareness of the adverse effects of social media explain that it is possible we can do more to save students from social media abuse. Reaching many people who are the younger generation’s custodians will help spread the news on how to help them from the negative impacts of social media. These can be done by introducing new lessons on technology to be taught in schools. The use of technology as a life skill and motions on adverse effects of social media on schools.
Recommendations
Students have the right to know about their liberties, given that the internet is the most essential tool in modern life. They should also be educated on the importance of knowing their online privacy and anonymity. Some of these are tremendous benefits of using social media while considering its negative impact on students’ safety. The main way students can safely use social media is by taking their time to consider the potential outcomes of their actions.
Students are at an age where they make mistakes and need to be able to assume responsibility for their actions. Social media is an excellent source for connecting with others, but it is not a good preparation for life away from school (Abbas et al., 2019). Because of this, students need to learn how to navigate online relationships properly and understand their responsibilities as internet users. This mainly applies to those without on-campus responsibilities that require them to be online or access information off-campus.
Parents and all education stakeholders to introduce parental control on the social media used by students. Parental control helps monitor what the students are doing and be able to advise them accordingly and, in extreme cases, provide restrictions. Parental control features also limit access to the exposure of wrong content on social media to students, which will help them grow healthy minds.
References
Abbas, J., Aman, J., Nurunnabi, M., & Bano, S. (2019). The impact of social media on learning behavior for sustainable education: Evidence from students from Pakistan’s selected universities. Sustainability, 11(6), 1683.
Bovée, C. L., & Thill, J. V. (2019). Business communication essentials: Fundamental skills for the mobile-digital-social workplace. Pearson Higher Ed.