ADVANTAGES OF USING SOCIAL MEDIA TO IMPROVE STUDENTS' WRITING SKILLS

Abstract. This article examines how the everyday use of social media platforms can support and accelerate the development of writing competence among learners of English. Drawing on recent research in computer-assisted language learning, the study argues that networked communication reshapes the conditions under which students write: it supplies a genuine audience, invites frequent low-stakes practice, and blurs the boundary between formal instruction and informal literacy. The paper reviews the theoretical grounding for these claims, then organizes the observed benefits into five areas — audience-driven motivation, collaborative composition and peer feedback, exposure to a broad range of written genres, rapid response to student work, and incidental gains in vocabulary and fluency. The discussion weighs these advantages against practical concerns such as register control, digital distraction, and equity of access, and offers recommendations for teachers who wish to integrate social platforms purposefully rather than incidentally into the writing curriculum.