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The Effect of Social Networking Sites On The Performance of Academics
The Effect of Social Networking Sites On The Performance of Academics
The Effect of Social Networking Sites On The Performance of Academics
Onyeka Ndidi Camilia, 2, Sajoh Dahiru Ibrahim & 3, Bulus Lucy Dalhatu
Department of Computer Science, Federal Polytechnic, Mubi, Adamawa State Nigeria
-------------------------------------------------------------ABSTRACT-------------------------------------------------------These days most of the students and young adults in Nigerian tertiary institutions are mostly and always
engrossed in the social networking site usage. Have you thought of what they might be doing there? This paper
surveyed students social networking sites usage and how it affects them. It examines the role which frequent
use of social networking sites playin their studies. Questionnaires were designed and sent out to 600
respondents of the different tertiary institutions in Mubi Educational zone, Adamawa state, Nigeria. A
Polytechnic, a State University and a State College of Health Technology were used for the study. Out of the
600 questionnaires distributed, 536 were completely filled and returned giving a return rate of 89%. The data
collected were analyzed using frequencies; percentages and graph representations while the hypothesis was
tested using chi square (X2). The hypothesis that the frequent use of social networking sites by student of tertiary
institutions in Mubi, Adamawa state Nigeria has no effect on their studies was accepted at 5% level of
signifance. It was recommended that students should learn to manage their time properly and teachers should
use social networking sites to promote teaching-learning process.
KEYWORDS: Social Networking Sites, Study, SNSs, Tertiary institution, Usage, students
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Date of Submission: 1 July 2013
Date Of Publication: 20.July 2013
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------I INTRODUCTION
With the nature of the cyber world around us today and how students are immersed in it, there is
growing concern on how it affects them.The Internet is more than just a means of seeking information. People
discovered that the Internet could be used to connect with other people, whether for business or commercial
purpose, make new friends, reawaken old friends and long lost relatives. The emergence of social networking
sites (SNSs) simplify the whole process as they are easier to use and navigate. Their use does not require
advanced knowledge and experience of the internet and are made up of a wide array of different formats and
topics; this means that just about anyone can connect[3].Kuppuswamy& Narayan [12], observed that the
internet is more about blogs, podcasts, Facebook, Myspace, and Orkut. These are some of the tools and
technology associated with a recent phenomenon called social networking and is present everywhere. In [2],
Social Networking Site (SNS) was defined as a web-based service that allows individuals to:
A.
B.
C.
The history of SNSs dates back to the late 1990s, suggesting that they are not as new as they may
appear in the first place. With the emergence of SNSs such as Facebook, Twitter, Linkedinetc, overall SNS
usage has accelerated in such a way that they are considered a global consumer phenomenon. Today, studies
suggest that between 55% and 82% of teenagers and young adults use SNSs on a regular basis [13].Relative to
the general population, adolescents and young adults are the heaviest computer and Internet users, primarily
using it for completing schoolassignments (46%), e-mail and/or instant messaging (36%), and playing computer
games 38%; (DeBell& Chapman, 2006 as cited in [11]). Social networking sites are the latest
onlinecommunication tool that allows users to create a public or private profile to interact with people in their
networks [2].
II
PERCEPTIONS OF SOCIAL NETWORKING
Social network sites deeply penetrate their users everyday life and, as pervasivetechnology, tend to
become invisible once they are widely adopted, ubiquitous,and taken for granted (Luedtke, 2003 as cited in
[4]).Social networking has become part of the daily life experiences for an increasing number of people. The
rapid adoption of social network sites by teenagers in the United States and in many other countries round the
world raises some important questions. Why do teenagers flock to these sites?
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Frequency
494
420
140
109
16
42
Percentage(%)
95
81
28
21
2
8
From table 1, of the six social networking sites used by students, Facebook is seen to be mostly used by
student with 95% (494) respondents using it on a typical day. This is followed by 2go with 81% (420)
respondents, You Tube with 28% (140) respondents, Twitter with 21% (109), Myspace with 8% (42) and Skynet
with 2% (16) respondents using them daily. This shows that Facebook is the social networking site mostly used
by students of tertiary institutions in Mubi, Adamawa state, Nigeria. Fig. 1 below further displays the graphical
distribution of the percentages above.
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Frequency
203
270
26
21
520
Percentage (%)
39
52
5
4
100
Table 2shows that 39% of the respondents use the SNSs for about one hour each day, 52% of the
respondents use it for about 2 to 4 hour per day, 5% of the respondents use it for about 5 to 7 hours per day and
4% of the respondents use the SNSs for about 8 to 10 hours each day. From this study, it means that most
students of higher institutions in Adamawa state, Nigeria use the SNSs for 2 to 4 hours daily. Fig. 2 shows the
distribution of hours spent by students on the SNSs
Frequency
265
146
26
83
520
Percentage (%)
51
28
5
16
100
As seen from table 3 above, 51% of respondents use the SNS to keep in touch with friends and family members,
28% use it to while away time, 5% of the respondents say they use the SNS just to belong while 16% use it to
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Frequency
135
166
218
520
Percentage (%)
26
32
42
100
Table 4 shows that 26% of respondentsagreed that the use SNSs affect their academics positively, 32% are
affected negatively while 42% are not affected in any way by their use of the SNSs. This shows that though
students devote their times on the SNS, their studies and academics are not affected by it as seen by the
percentage of no effect(42%).Fig. 4 below further displays the distribution of the effect of SNSs on the studies
of students.
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Effects
Yes
No
Total
Frequency
385
135
520
Percentage (%)
74
26
100
Table 5 shows that 74% of the respondents agreed to using the SNSs for their academic assignment while 26%
said they do not use it for their assignments. Fig. 5 below shows the distribution of the use of SNSs for academic
assignments.
1
2
3
4
Total
Yes
239
130
78
161
608
No
281
390
52
359
1082
Total
520
520
130
520
1690
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Observed (O)
239
281
130
390
78
52
161
359
Expected (E)
187.08
332.92
187.08
332.92
46.77
83.23
187.08
332.92
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|O - E|
51.92
51.92
57.08
57.08
31.23
31.23
26.08
26.08
(O - E)2
7.21
7.21
7.56
7.56
5.59
5.59
5.11
5.11
(O - E)2/E
0.04
0.02
0.04
0.02
0.12
0.07
0.03
0.02
0.36
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df = (4-1)(2-1)= 3, = 5% ;
= 7.815;
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
We acknowledge all the respondents of the questionnaires for their cooperation.
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BIOGRAPHY
Onyeka, Ndidi Camilia is a Lecturer in the Computer Science Department, Federal
Polytechnic Mubi, Nigeria. She holds M.Sc. in Computer Science from University of Ibadan,
Nigeria. Her research interests include Information Security, Social Networks, Software
Engineering and Pervasive Systems.
Sajoh, Dahiru Ibrahim is the Project Leader of Software Engineering Group at Federal
Polytechnic, Mubi. He got his M.Sc. in Software Engineering from De Montfort University,
Leicester in 2012. He received a B.Tech in Computer Science from Federal University of
Technology Yola, Nigeria, in 2008. His interest areas include Software Engineering, Pervasive
System and Artificial Intelligent.
Bulus, Lucy Dalhatu is a Master student Computer Science at Adamawa State University,
Mubi Nigeria. She is a member of Software Engineering Group. She obtained her BSc in 2007
from Adamawa State University, Nigeria. Her area of interest includes Database management
information system and computational modelling. She is a member of NCS.
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