Are Twitter And Facebook Good For Democracy? [INFOGRAPHIC]

As the use of social media has grown in the United States, so too has students’ appreciation for the First Amendment, suggests a new study by Knight Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting journalism and supporting communities across the USA.

However, teachers aren’t quite as positive about the merits of platforms such as Twitter and Facebook as their students – almost half believe that social media actually harms the learning process.

The study revealed a visible and positive relationship between social media use and appreciation of the First Amendment – 91 percent of students who use social networking sites on a daily basis to get news and information agreed that “people should be allowed to express unpopular opinions”, but only 77 percent of those who never use social networks felt the same way.

Perhaps surprisingly, the majority of teachers polled did not support free expression for their students – only 35 percent...

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