Exploring the relationship between social media use and academic performance

Abstract

Social media platforms have altered how individuals communicate, disseminate information, and interact with their surrounding environment. University students at forefront of embracing technology and digital culture exhibit heightened engagement with social media platforms. This phenomenon has generated significant interest and concern among educators, researchers, and parents due to its potential implications for academic achievement. Hence, it is crucial to examine relationship between utilization of social media platforms and academic performance of university students. This study aimed to identify social media use and relationship between the overall academic grade point average (GPA) and patterns of social media use. This study employed a quantitative methodology, and 192 university students were given questionnaire. The results revealed that the students most commonly utilized Telegram, with a usage rate of 85.9%, YouTube (59.9%), and WhatsApp (53.1%). The social media platforms most commonly utilized for educational purposes were YouTube (68.8%), Telegram (53.1%), WhatsApp (21.9%), and Google+ (19.3%), respectively. The results showed that more than 70% of the students spent at least two hours on social media, and most (67.7) spent more than 15 minutes. The results about reasons for social media use showed that the majority of students used social media for entertainment (63.6%), socializing (80.2%), staying up on breaking news (65.1%), shopping among females (48.4%), being productive while studying (46.4%), and distracting themselves from schoolwork (51.0%). Regarding social media use, the results showed that most female (61.1%) and less than half of male (45.5) participants reported being addicted to social media.