Impact of Internet and Social Media on Academic Performance, Social Interaction, and Mental Health among a Sample of Iraqi University Students

Background: Social media is an online communication tool that is now a necessary component of our everyday existence. It enables people to communicate, exchange data, and produce web content. This article aims to display the effect of social media on academic performance, social interaction, and mental health among a sample of Iraqi university students. Patients and methods: The study was conducted on 440 Iraqi students from different colleges, and the data were collected through a questionnaire. Results: The majority of the sample (98.4%) mentioned they currently use social media, and the mobile phone was the most used device (95.9%) for viewing social media. The study found that social media has both positive and negative effects on social interaction and academic performance. Most of the participants (60.7%) and (21.6%) agreed and strongly agreed that the use of social media is improving connection and information exchange with others. However, (30.9%) strongly agreed that social media may lead them to limit their time with friends and family members. Regarding academic performance, most of the sample (44.5%) strongly agreed that the use of social media may lead to wasting time specified for studying, and 26.8% of them strongly agreed that it distracted them from studying. More than half of those students (53.4%) agreed and strongly agreed that social media harms their academic performance in general. Conclusion: The study concluded that social media has a significant impact on the academic performance, social interaction, and mental health of university students, and it is important to spread awareness among them to reduce excessive and bad use of social media.