Education is a wrong concept. When we think about it, we’re pretty much devoid of any options other than schools and colleges to think about. We’ve always been sticking to crafted education systems, relying on merits of degrees and certificates that made us look similar to lab rats, more than anything else.

We were happy with education systems that we assumed would work, education systems that were risk free, that wouldn’t take chances, that was all about teaching – not learning. Most of the time, it was a monologue, it still is in most parts of the world.

But today, with the advent of social media, we’ve challenged ourselves to better possibilities, bigger canvases, and we’re seeing the magic happen right in front of our eyes. I would like to boldly state it as the new way of education, the new way of learning.

By the way, when we talk about Social Media, I do not mean social networks alone. While admitting that “social media” is a vague term, it represents a multitude of channels. And one thing common with all of them is – Learning. I cannot think of any successful, popular social medium out there that doesn’t support learning. In fact, for any social channel/medium to be successful, it has to support learning. Think about it.

One might ask, what’s kind of learning would one expect from a network like facebook or Twitter ? Even though I haven’t tested this, my understanding is that we all learn a lot of things from these networks. Many of which we’ve never learned in books, or classes. And most of these are subconscious.

Passive Learning

The might of the social mediums we see today are so huge that even a passive user, who doesn’t indulge much in it, takes away a point or two by just listening or observation. The information is just flowing around, and its powers are supreme. Observe and listening itself can teach you a thing or two, so imagine if you take the plunge.

A self organized discipline

Today, social media has organized itself into many compartments without trying to be. The wisdom of crowds and the might of content shared has made numerous interconnected networks and compartments within itself, it might confuse you trying to figure out what is what. But good thing is that its evolving and many things are becoming more evident as time goes by. When social media started it was a clue less subject and today we have a snowballing process where more and more people, ideas, concepts and virtues are jumping into the mix.

Good listeners, learn more

And what does it take to learn ? A keen sense of listening and an analytical mind – that’s all what you need. Listen to all the conversations that are happening around you, filter out what’s good, absorb what you like and learn new things. Social Media has a unique nature of information in packets. Picking up the right packet is the way to do it.

Learning has become second nature

The fact is that, with all the social networking platforms and information sharing happening, learning becomes an automatic process, even if you didn’t realize it. Today, everyone on social media learn something new every time they’re involved with it passively or actively. For some, this is a deliberate attempt while for some its involuntary.

So, my point is, Social Media today has revolutionized the way we think and make decisions. Most of it can be attributed to the learning process.

You acknowledge it or not, at this point, an average social media user consumes so much of information like he’s never come across ever in his entire life. So realize it, some do not – but the learning process is the underlying truth in either case.

The question is – Are you making use of it ?