Relationship between Time Spent on Social Media and Academic Performance among Students

Introduction 

Social media had exploded in the recent past as a preferred online platform over which people can instantly create content share information and idea. The speed of information exchange enabled by social media has popularized social media among youths all over the world. In recent years, people have exchanged pictures, videos or even personal information over social media at an alarming rate (Pempek, 2018). Moreover, the availability of smartphones has made it easy for people to not only own such phones but also equally use them to access social media sights. One of the major groups of people that have largely been affected by social media is students. Recent research demonstrates a growing tendency by students in different parts of the world to use multiple platforms of social media for social interactions as well as in the sharing of knowledge and information. Acheaw and Larson (2016), note that 85% of all undergraduate students use Facebook. Different students spend different durations of time daily on social media. Therefore, the times spent on social media correlates to academic performance among students in several ways. 

Historical development 

The current prevalence in the use of social media among student has been progressive traction that is largely pinned to the progress of technological development. While most social media sites have been developed in the recent years and hence their use has become prevalent in the recent past such developments are a result of years of development and subsequent traction to use by students. The 20 th century saw great technological development. The first supercomputers were developed in the 1940, and subsequent research led to the development of the internet in the 1960s. However, many students did not have access to the internet at this due to the high cost of computers and lack of smartphones at the time. Moreover, social media sites did not develop during this time. The emergence of the contemporary social media use had its roots in 1999 when the first blog was developed. Consequently, social media sites such as LinkedIn and MySpace were developed in 2000 (Kist, 2013). At this point, few numbers of students could access these social media platforms since such platforms could only be accessed over computers. 

The prevalence of social media usage among students greatly increased from the year 2006. There are two major technological developments during this time that led to this prevalence. First, there was a growing development of smartphones during this period. The Apple Company had just developed the first iPhone that had greatly gained popularity. Moreover, other companies such as Samsung were developing android based Phones that largely supported social media application. Secondly, popular social media sites were developed during this time. Social media platforms such as Facebook and tweeter were developed during this time and started gaining popularity among the young majority of whom were students (Kist, 2013). Subsequent development in smartphones and the field of social media has led to the contemporary use of social media among students. 

Statistics 

As already noted, the use of social media has greatly increased in the recent past among students. Statistics indicate that 78% of all students in the United States and Canada were using one or more platforms of social media by 2014 (Al-Khoury & Daw, 2015). The students use social media for diverse reasons. Acheaw and Larson (2016) noted that 86% of all student social media users only use such social media platforms for chatting and social interactions. As such, only 14% of such student users have devoted the social media use to information gathering and related academic discourse. The extent of the use of social media among students also varies from one site to another. Acheaw and Larson (2016) further noted that 85% of all undergraduate students use Facebook making it one of the most popular social media sites in the world. 

Stakeholders 

The major stakeholders on the issue of social media use among students are the students themselves. The students determine their respective use of social media and intern how it affects their performance. The students who spend most of their time communicating on social media about issues that are less related to their academic works subsequently get little time to review their class work (Al-Khoury & Daw, 2015). Consequently, the students who spend most of their time on social media in effect devote a substantial fraction of their time on non-academic related issues. On the contrary, students who spend less time on social media gets more time to study and undertake other academic activities. As a result, such a student gets a deeper understanding of the academic concept taught in class. As such, the student’s performance is greatly enhanced when they spend less time on social media. There higher durations of using social media lead to poor academic performance while lower durations of using social media lead to higher academic performance. 

Teachers are the second groups of stakeholders. The teachers are interested in the performance of their students. Therefore, anything that affects such performance in effect affects the teachers. Most teachers hold the view that increased use of social media among students negatively affects their academic performance. Therefore, teachers try to prevent their students from excessive consumption of social media. According to them, students who use limited social media have enough concentration in academic work and hence perform well. 

Policy makers in the educational sector are equally interested parties on the issue of social media use among students. The development of policies to regulate the use of social media among students ought to be informed by knowledge on its impact on academic performance among learners. There is an increasing need among policymakers for more studies that explore the impact of social media use among learners on the overall educational system (Al-Khoury & Daw, 2015). However, colleges and schools in most jurisdictions have few policy regulations regarding social media usage. As such, policymakers are major stakeholders on this topic. 

Debates 

There is a growing debate on whether or not social media use among students has adverse effects on learner’s academic performance. Proponents of social media among students argue that learners who use social media primarily for sharing academic related information and for related academic activities, social media improves their understanding of academic concepts and hence improves their overall academic performance (Pempek, 2018). For such learners, social media offers a platform that complements their classroom learning. For instance, such students use social media to discuss different academic concepts taught in class and hence enhance their understanding of such topics. The opponents of social media use among students argue that spending a higher duration of time on social media leads to less concentration on academic activities (MehMood & Taswir, 2013). They further hold the opinion that extensive use of social media equally affects the memory of students and consequently their ability to remember their academic learning. 

Conclusion 

In conclusion, there is a great correlation between the duration of time spent on social media and the academic performance of the learners. However, this study did not find sufficient information about the extent to which each of the ways identified in the paper affects academic performance among the students. This topic will be narrowed further to determine the extent to which the duration of time spent on social media impacts on the ability of the learner to concentrate on learning and consequently how that impacts their academic performance. The subsequent research question will be “in what ways does the social media use for extended durations of time impact on a student’s ability to concentrate on learning?” This research question will focus our research on the various ways through which duration of media use relates to learner concentration. 

References 

Acheaw, O., & Larson A. (2016). Social media usage and its impact on reading habits: A study of Koforidua Polytechnic students.  International Journal of Social Media and Interactive Learning Environments,    4 (3), 211. 

Al-Khoury, P., & Daw, D. (2015). Social Media Effects on Academic Performance of Students: A Cross-Sectional Study of Lebanese Higher Education Students.  Review of Business Research, 15 (4), 31-36. 

Kist, W. (2013). I gave up MySpace for lent: New teachers and social networking sites. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy 52 (3)245-257 

MehMood, S, & Taswir, T, (2013). The effect of social networking site on the Academic Performance on students in the college of applies sciences, Nizwa, Oman. International Journal of Arts and Commence . 2 (1) 111-123 

Pempek, G. (2018).  Social media in education: Breakthroughs in research and practice . Hershey PA: IGI Global, Information Science Reference (an imprint of IGI Global).