Social media as learning tool in higher education

As a social being, man is inextricably linked to others in every aspect of life. In this new millennium, social media has started to gain ground on traditional media, being the preferred means of communication and conveying ideas and values. Communication is a basic feature of all societies and all human activity. We cannot live and survive without communication, just like we cannot survive without food and water. Communication takes place routinely in everyday life (Kasturi & Vardhan, 2017, p. 59). We communicate every day, and it is an essential part of our life. We communicate to persuade and give or provide and seek information to express our emotions. The term communication originates from the Latin word communis, which means common. To communicate means to make common or to make known (El-Badawy & Hashem, 2014). According to them, communication is the process of sharing information with the intent of gaining shared understanding. In other words, communication is the act of conveying information through words, visuals, signs, or actions. The pragmatic definition of communication is a verbal exchange and the physical expression that conforms to combinatorial, contextual and coherent rules.