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“The Effects of Social Media on the Study Habits of Grade 8 Students of

SFS-Manila S.Y. 2017-2018”

Chapter 3

Review of Related Literature

This section of the research paper presents the studies that are

found related to the study being conducted:

The findings of the first study states that social media has grown

exponentially throughout the years. It has been a portal for all forms of

entertainment within the click of a mouse. (O'Keeffe G. , Clarke-Pearson K. ,

2011)

Not only students use social media but businesses also use social

networking sites such as Wikipedia, Facebook, Twitter, MySpace and

YouTube. Businessmen are finding ways on how can they profit from these

social media firms. (Kaplan A. , Haenelein M. , 2010)

Media can have an influence to the mentality of its users. This

includes the type of media selection the user prefers. This can also extend to
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the social identity of political groups, religious groups and lifestyle groups.

(Slater M. , 2007)

Social media not only affects High School students but also College

students. It can have an impact towards their academic pillars which can cause

them to fail their standardized tests and it can be hindrance to their academic

success. (Credé M. , Kuncel N. , 2016)

Social media has an integral role in a student’s successful

adjustment to college. Social media provides information for students on their

arrival in their college campuses. Results indicated that site usage increased

students' perceptions that they would have a diverse social support network

during their first semester at college, even when controlling for other potent

predictors. (DeAndrea D. , Ellinson N. , LaRose R. , Steinfeld C. , Fiore A. ,

2011)

The modern youth is termed as the “Digital Natives” or “Homo

Zappiens” with respect to their abilities to simultaneously process multiple

channels of information with the click of the mouse. Or in other words the youth

of today is good at multitasking. (Kirschner P. , Karpinski A. , 2010)

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“The types of actions users take and the kinds of information they are adding to

their profiles are a reflection of their identities.”

Many psychologists are worried about the identity crisis that our present generation

may face today. The lives of people, especially students, are largely influenced by

what is posted by other people on their profiles. The habits that students learn are

decided more by what their friends do and less by the teachings of parents or

professors.

The most important things in a student’s life are studying, learning good habits and

gaining knowledge to become a person with moral character. But today, as we see

in various studies, this optimal learning process is seriously jeopardized by

students becoming entrapped by the ploys of social networking. Students neglect

their studies by spending time on social networking websites rather than studying

or interacting with people in person. Actively and frequently participating in social

networking can negatively affect their grades or hamper their journeys to their

future careers.

Getting too involved in social media can lead to an addiction that inculcates bad

habits. Students prefer to chat with friends for hours, and this leads to a waste of

time that could have been used for studying.

The system generates a competition to make as many new friends as possible and

the so-called “social quotient” of a person is decided by how many friends they
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have and not on how good-natured and congenial the person really is. Often,

students who are not old enough to accurately analyze the world “like” or comment

on social or political issues, and this leads sometimes to serious controversies.

Considering all of the above pros and cons, it is necessary to develop certain

regulations over the use of such social networking sites, especially for high school

and college students. But still, students should get the choice to spend time

socializing in an effective way. It should not hamper their school performance, and

it should be kept in mind that social networking sites create virtual worlds that

drastically differ from reality. Students should develop the cognitive and intuitive

ability to analyze how much time they want to spend on social media. It is left up

to the students to decide what really matters in their life and how much of this

virtual life translates to real life.

(http://www.technicianonline.com/opinion/article_d1142b70-5a92-11e5-86b4-

cb7c98a6e45f.html)

According to research Nearly four in 10 college students said they could

not go 10 minutes without checking one of their mobile devices, “about the same

amount of time it takes to walk to class,” according to a 2011 study by

CourseSmart, a leading eTextbook company based in California. Basically, that

means that social media is taking over the youth like a viral disease. (Carter D. ;

2013)
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In 2012, United Kingdom conducted a survey on social media use and its

effects on emotions. Results show that 53% of the participants said social

media sites had changed their behavior, while 51% of these said the change

had been negative. (Whiteman H. , 2015)

A research was made in Ghana to see how social media affects the

academic performance and the students’ social media participation. But in

order to conduct this study, the researcher used a variety of approaches which

involved the survey of students in four senior high schools and interviews of

heads of the senior high schools. The study revealed that majority of

respondents used Whatsapp and Facebook for making friends and chatting. In

addition, majority of respondents experienced negative effects. (Mingle J. ,

Adams M. , 2015)

Social media serves as a pathway for each person to connect with one

another. As said by Marshall McLuhan, a philosopher of communication theory,

“The new electronic independence re-creates the world in the image of a global

village.” (Karakdar A. , 2015)