Keywords: Social Media, Communication, Academic performance, Grades, Online

education/DL, COVID-19

Introduction

Social Media is defined as a collective term for all and any applications as well as websites
with a focus on primarily communication and interaction but also content-sharing,
community-based input and collaboration. According to a recent survey in January 2020
approximately 37 million social media users existed in Pakistan which was a 7% increase
from that in April 2019, out of this a majority share of users were students. The exponential
increase in use of social media has brought forward numerous consequential changes in the
dynamics of a student’s life. (datareportal.com) Most noteworthy platforms include
Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat, YouTube and very recently TikTok. What started as
a niche activity has turned out to be a world-wide phenomenon with a significant global
impact. The advent of smartphones has made these platforms all the more accessible
especially for students. Social media with its increased accessibility is not only used on an
individual level but on a professional level too and now in recent times in the wake of a
pandemic it is being used as an academic tool.

Research Objective

Since our youth is the future of the country, the building-blocks of the nation it is essential to
research what is the impact of social media on the academic performance of our young
generation which is the purpose of our research paper. We will research and address along the
way any changes brough forward by the pandemic and critically analyze any changes in the
dynamics of social media usage due to the COVID-19 outbreak. Our prime objectives for this
paper are as follows:

1. What is the relationship between academic performance and use of social media?
2. How do students perceive the impact of social media on their academic engagement
and performance?
3. What is the relationship between each of the following three variables on use of
social media, and perception of the impact of social media on academic engagement:
 Number of hours (social media),
 Number of study hours
 GPA

Literature Review

We will divide our research into four main themes thus increasing the efficiency and
effectiveness of our analysis. These four main themes are: Creation of academic
opportunities by Social media, Negative influence of social media on academics, Gender
usage of social media and Social media usage in the current pandemic.

Gender usage of social media

We believe there is an underlining difference between the usage of social media between
males and females in nature of usage as well as the time spent on social media. There is a
rarity of studies that mainly focus on the role of gender in regard to academic performance
however certain information can still be inferred. According to Ularo 2017, a research from
Pew research center concluded a difference in active social media users between males and
females where active member ratio was lower for males. Similarly, in a study conducted by
Boogart (2016) investigating effect of Facebook on campus life concluded that Females spent
a significant more amount of time than their male counterparts.

Creation of Academic Opportunities by Social Media

A few researches state that social media does create unique learning opportunities for
students even if the effectiveness may be at a lowly level. Camilia, Sajoh, & Dalhtu (2013)
conducted a study of how Nigerian students perceived and interacted with such tools as they
surveyed 536 students out of which only 32% believed it had a negative impact whereas a
quarter of these students believed it impacted positively on their academic performance. The
social media sites in question for this survey are mainly Facebook and YouTube. Another
research i.e., Wodzicki, Schawmmlein and Moskluik (2012) referred to the potential in
development of the self-directed skills in students as social media serves as a mutual platform
between like-minded students that can exchange ideas constructively, builds knowledge
through formal and/or informal activities and etcetera. Moreover, Facebook was concluded
by Rambe (2012) as a collaborative “safe” “third space” facilitating student expression
alongside developed learning communities and stimulated knowledge construction. An
experimental study carried out by Junco, Heiberger, & Loken (2011) concluded that as long
as students allocated their time effectively there was little to no negative impact on their
academic performance due to social media.

Negative influence of social media on academics

A plethora of studies believe that social media has a significant negative influence on a
student’s academic performance and this trumps the positive effects as it is used more for
socialization rather than academic activities. Raacke and Bonds-Raacke (2008) surveyed
college students who were in their 20s about the nature of their social media (Facebook
account) usage and the results showed that only 10.9% of them used it for academic pursuits
whereas 96% used it to keep in touch with friends. Another study, Junco (2013), ran a linear
regression analysis to observe the relationship between GPA, Facebook Activity and time
taken for class preparation for a sample of 1839 students. The results for this study concluded
that their GPA was pointedly negatively correlated to amount of time spent on Facebook.
Numerous studies like Michikyan, Subrahmanyam, & Dennis, 2015 and Fogel, and Nutter-
Upham (2011) scrutinize social media platforms as escapes from the pressures of academic
and social life and assert these platforms are predominately a strategy for guiltless
procrastination.

Social media usage in the Current Pandemic

The outbreak of COVID-19 has forever altered the dynamics of the world where everyone
has adapted to a new reality where social distancing is the new normal. This has resulted in
an influx of more active social media users as outdoor activities have become next to non-
existent. Educational institutes also have adopted new forms of teaching as most of them are
now in distance learning mode. These apprehensive times have increased the need for not
only innovation but accessibility too and that is where social media comes in. There is little
literature regarding the impact of the pandemic on social media and academic performance of
students. However, we would use this as an opportunity to research and analyze the ever-
changing dynamics of the academic world and address these issues in our paper.