307         Academics and students across the globe are increasingly using social media (SM) for personal interactions, social connections and educational purposes. The article reviews the awareness and use of SM in teaching by academics and whether they can utilize this platform for effective communication to engage students in learning activities. The overall objective of this research study is to identify how academics can best integrate SM into traditional teaching methods by examining both the advantages and disadvantages of this innovative medium.         The research study was conducted during 2015 at a New Zealand tertiary educational institution in a business school comprising various departments. A total of 58usable responses were obtained via an E-survey using survey monkey and then analysing the responses. Suggestions are made to educators regarding a viable social digital educational environment using SM. It is concluded that academics are communicating with students in a positive way via the use of SM for educational purposes and that much scope exists to improve the use of SM for educational purposes by academics. https://jbrmr.com/details&cid=307 https://jbrmr.com/cdn/article_file/content_98905_17-10-04-21-07-47.pdf Volume 12 Issue 1 30 2017-10-01 2017-10-05 no Social media academics education Facebook Twitter students social networks none 1015412 77 3 Michael C. Cant Department of Marketing and Retail Management University of South Africa Pieter Nel Business and Enterprise Network Unitec Institute of Technology Johannes A. Wiid Department of Marketing and Retail Management University of South Africa Denisa Hebblethwaite Business and Enterprise Network Unitec Institute of Technology