Distinguished lecture explores Social Media’s impact on students

Riverside City College welcomed its 64th distinguished faculty lecturer, instructor Adviye Tolunay, on May 12. The lecture was a part of a district-wide, three-stop distinguished faculty lecture series that took place across Riverside City College District’s multiple campuses.

Tolunay is a psychology instructor at Moreno Valley College with over 25 years of teaching experience. In her lecture, she discussed the growing role technology plays in our daily lives and how the younger generations are increasingly online due to constant engagement with technology. 

Tolunay presented research on how social media and modern technology may affect students’ learning, communication and mental health. The lecture included research studies, graphs and references to the book, “The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood Is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness” by Jonathon Haidt.

According to Tolunay, the lecture stemmed from years of personal research and infatuation with the influence social media has on its viewers’ behavior and education.

“This is something I’ve been reading about for the past two or three years,” she said. “This is the first time I decided to put it all together as a talk.”

Tolunay continued by saying that technology was once developed to meet human needs, but she believes society is now rapidly changing to adapt to it.

“We integrate technology into our lives,” Tolunay continued. “But technology is evolving in a way where, as human beings, we’re trying to catch up.”

She also reflected on how social interaction among college students has changed over time. As a social psychologist, Tolunay said it pains her to see groups of students physically together but remain focused on their phones rather than having face-to-face conversations.

“When I was in college, students would sit together and talk,” Tolunay said. “Now you see people sitting in groups, but everybody is looking at their phone.”

Interim RCC president Eric Bishop was among the audience members at the lecture. “I think the topic was extremely timely,” Bishop said. “I’ve been working to reduce my own social media use. Some of the things she talked about, like getting caught up in the echo chamber, are very relevant.”

Bishop went on to praise the program for continuing to bring the best RCCD has to offer to students all across the district.

“I love the idea of having a distinguished lecturer and all the colleges getting exposed to it,” Bishop said.

Students attending the event shared a variety of thoughts about the lecture. Some audience members were strongly concerned about excessive social media use. Others had more questions about whether avoiding social media is even possible at all in today’s digital-first world.

Ethan Sagastume, a psychology student at RCC, described the whole lecture as “insightful.” Sagastume said he regularly uses social platforms such as Instagram, Discord, and YouTube, and doesn’t plan to stop, but appreciated hearing about the effects of online engagement and technology dependency.