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EFFECTS OF SOCIAL MEDIA ON ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE OF STUDENTS OF

TERTIARY INSTITUTIONS IN OGUN STATE

Conference Paper · July 2020

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 EFFECTS OF SOCIAL MEDIA ON ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE OF
STUDENTS OF TERTIARY INSTITUTIONS IN OGUN STATE

BY

ABATI, MOBOLAJI OLUWASEUN

DEPARTMENT OF MASS COMMUNICATION
THE FEDERAL POLYTECHNIC ILARO
mobolaji.abati@federalpolyilaro.edu.ng

&
SALAKO, OLUWASEUN ADEWALE
DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION
THE FEDERAL POLYTECHNIC ILARO
oluwaseun.salako@federalpolyilaro.edu.ng

BEIGN A PAPER PRESENTED AT THE MASS COMMUNICATION INTERNATIONAL

CONFERENCE HELD BETWEEN 29TH OCTOBER AND 2ND NOVEMBER 2017 AT THE
FEDERAL POLYTECHNIC ILARO
Abstract
There has been a phenomenal effect of social media on the academic performance of tertiary
education students, especially in Nigeria. The paper considered the causes and the effects of
addiction to social media on the academic decadence among tertiary education students. The data
was analyzed through simple frequency method in which it was deduced that addictions to social
media affect students’ academic performance negatively and that there was direct relationship
between the use of social media sites and tertiary education student’s academic performance. The
paper recommended that students with internet mobile phones and other gadgets should be
encouraged to use the internet to supplement their academic research in their various fields of study
rather than the usual chatting, and catching funs with friends and family all the time. It equally
recommended that students should reduce their commitment to social media to allow them have
adequate time for their studies among others.

Keywords: Addiction, Academic Performance, Social Media, Tertiary Education Students.

Introduction
Various factors have been accountable for the dwindling academic efficiency in tertiary institutions

in Ogun state Nigeria, out of which is the addiction to social media by the students of tertiary

institutions. It should be noted that the way and manner in which students use social media as their

addiction to these social media derail them from academic efficiency and thereby resulting in

academic standard defect in Nigeria and Africa as a whole.

There has been a sporadic change in the online world in the last one decade in which some of these

social media surfaced in Africa and Nigeria in particular. Kudos to the inventors of these social

media as people irrespective of their demographic variables can contact and relate to family and

friends from other parts of the world and relate effectively and exchange ideas, feelings, personal

information, pictorial messages and video at a rate.

Social media according to Lusk (2010) is the use of Facebook, Twitter, Blogs, My Space and

LinkedIn for the purpose of communication, sharing of photos and videos. For the purpose of this

paper, social media will be viewed as the use of internet through Facebook, Whatsap, Twitter,

Skype, My Space as well as Yahoo Messenger for the purpose of communicating and sharing of

pictures, videos by the users.

Social networking websites provide tools by which people can communicate, share information, and

create new relationships. With the popularity of social networking websites on the rise, our social

interaction is affected in multiple ways as we adapt to our increasingly technological world. The way

web users interact and talk to each other has changed and continues to change. These users now

socialize through the internet and it takes away from the person socialization that has been around

forever. Social networking websites have affected our social interaction by changing the way we

interact face-to-face, how we receive information, and the dynamics of our social groups and

friendships (Asur and Huberman, 2010).

The increased use of Social Networking Websites has become an international phenomenon in the

past several years. What started out as a hobby for some computer literate people has become a

social norm and way of life for people from all over the world (Boyd, 2007). Teenagers and young

adults have especially embraced these sites as a way to connect with their peers, share information,

reinvest their responsibilities, and showcase their social lives (Boyd, 2007). In the past years, social

media websites have become common; giving young people a new way to interact with each other

and communicate with the world. Social networking became popular between 2004 and 2006, after

Facebook and Myspace were created. Facebook, for example has over 500 million members and it is

still growing and approximately 85% of undergraduate students are Facebook users (Schneider,

2009). These numbers are expected to grow since Facebook users will continue to grow. And this is

not only true for Facebook; numbers for YouTube users closely follow as well (University of New

Hampshire, 2009).

Statement of the Problem

The world today is a global market in which the internet is the most important source of information.

Since the advent of social media sites in the1990s, it is assumed in some quarters that the academic

performance of students is facing a lot neglect and challenges.

The educational system in Nigeria is faced with so many challenges which has certainly brought

about a rapidly decline in the quality of education. There is deviation, distraction and divided

attention between social networking activities and academic works of students. It is observed that

students devote more attention to social media than they do to their studies.

Students’ addictiveness to social networks, exposure and the influence of social media as a medium

of interaction between students had been part of discussion in recent times and which have imparted

on their academic performance. Instead of students reading their books, they spend their time

chatting and making friends via the social media and this might definitely have influence on their
academic performance. Students find it so difficult to link up with academic sites to acquire

knowledge, instead prefer to visit entertainment and sometimes pornographic sites at the expense of

their academics. It is a common sight to see a student chatting in sensitive and highly organized

places like church, mosque and lecture venues. Some are so carried away that even as they are

walking along the highways, they keep chatting. The manufacturing and distribution of sophisticated

cellular phones has complicated the situation as students no longer need to visit a cybercafé before

they send and receive messages. Attention has been shifted from visible to invisible friends, while

important ventures like study and writing might be affected in the process. This phenomenon has

become a source of worry to many who believe in knowledge and skill acquisition.

It is therefore of great importance to explore some of the trending issues facing students’ academic

performance as a result of social media. Students at all levels of learning now have divided attention

to studies as a result of available opportunities to be harnessed from social media. Whether these

opportunities promote studies is a question that needs to be answered. Thus, it is necessary to

examine the effect of social media on the academic performance of students in higher institutions in

Ogun State.

Objectives of the Study

The objective of this study is to examine the effect of social media on the academic performance of

students in tertiary institutions in Ogun State. The study aims to:

• To find out the various social networking sites the students have access to and how often the

students visit the social networking sites and to particularly ascertain how the use of social

media has affected the academic performance of students in tertiary institutions in Ogun

State.

Research Questions
For the purpose of the study, the following research questions were raised:-

1. To what extent would student addictiveness to social network influence their dedication to

academic activities?

2. What impact does participation in social media have on the academic performance of

students?

3. Is there any gender difference in the students’ usage of social media network?

Methodology

This study is a descriptive research that employed the survey approach. The population of this study

involves students of The Federal Polytechnic, Ilaro and students of Crescent University, Abeokuta,

Ogun State. For this study, the sample size was chosen with the use of simple random sampling

technique and one hundred (100) students were decided upon to be the sample for the study. The

study adopted simple random sampling technique to select one hundred students from both schools

comprising of fifty (50) students from each school to form the sample size.

The research instrument used in the study was questionnaire. A questionnaire is a list of questions to

be answered by respondents to get their views about a subject. It is preceded by a covering letter,

introducing the researcher, explaining the purpose of the research and soliciting assistance in

providing the required information. (Onweluzo, 1999) The questionnaire contains total number of

sixteen (16) items drawn to elicit responses to the research. It is divided into two sections; section A

contained items on the demography of respondents and section B answered the research questions.

Result

One Hundred questionnaires were administered to the respondents, the researchers were able to
collect all questionnaires back and all were filled. This represents 100% response.
Percentage method was used in analyzing the data collected. Sixteen questions were used in the
questionnaire and each was subject to simple frequency and percentage analysis while the data
collected is presented in the table.

The average number of the respondent was obtained by dividing the total responses by the number of
questions used for a particular research question. The responses given to each item were shown in
columns such as SA for Strongly Agreed, A for Agreed, SD for Strongly Disagreed and D for
Disagreed.

Research Question 1: To what extent would student addictiveness to social network influence their

dedication to academic activities?

Table 1: Result of Question 1-5

Question Items Total SA A SD D

Number Response
FIG % FIG % FIG % FIG %

1 I cannot do without social media 100 92 92 8 8 - - - -

daily

2 My academic life is not complete 100 90 90 - - - - 10 10

without social media

3 Social media influenced my 100 95 95 5 5 - - - -

academic activities positively

4 The use of social media has 100 95 95 5 5 - - - -

improved my academic
performance

5 I use social media to carry out my 100 89 89 9 9 2 2 - -

daily activities towards achieving
positive academic result

Total 500 461 461 27 27 2 2 10 10

Average 100 92.2 92.2 5.4 5.4 0.4 0.4 2 2

Table 1 shows that 92.2% of the total respondents Strongly Agreed, 5.4% Agreed, 0.4 strongly
disagreed while 2% Disagreed. With an average of 92.2% Strongly Agreed, the research question is
upheld.

Research Question 2: What impact does participation in social media have on the academic
performance of students?

Table 2: Result of Question 6-12

Question Items Total SA A SD D

Number Response
FIG % FIG % FIG % FIG %

6 I engage in academic discussions 100 96 96 4 4 - - - -

on social media and this has
improved my academic
performance

7 I cannot do without social media 100 90 90 6 6 - - - -

in disseminating and receiving
information from my class mate

8 Social media affects my English 100 98 98 - - - - 2 2

Language usage negatively

9 The usage of Wikipedia for 100 100 100 - - - - - -

research has helped improved my
academic performance

10 Engaging in academic forums on 100 89 89 9 9 - - - -

social media increase my rate of
understanding

11 I use materials gotten blogging 100 75 75 20 20 4 4 1 1

sites to complement what I have
been taught

12 I will not perform well in my 100 99 99 - - - - 1 1

academic if I stop using social
 media

Total 700 647 647 39 39 4 4 10 10

Average 100 92.4 92.4 9.8 9.8 4 4 2 2

Table 2 shows that 92.4% of the total respondents Strongly Agreed, 9.8% Agreed, 4% Disagreed
while 2% Strongly Disagreed. With an average of 92.4% Strongly Agreed, the research question is
upheld.

Research Question 3: Is there gender difference in the student’s usage of social media network?

Question Items Total SA A SD D

Number Response
FIG % FIG % FIG % FIG %

13 Male and female students use 100 40 40 10 10 49 49 1 1

social media networks
differently in different
frequencies.

14 Female students use social 100 5 5 7 7 68 68 20 20

networking sites more to
explicitly to foster social
connections.

15 Gender determines the level of 100 76 76 5 5 15 68 4 20

social connections

16 Males are more effective at 100 65 65 20 20 2 2 13 13

using social networking sites
for non academic purposes.

Total 400 186 186 42 42 134 134 33 33

Average 100 46.5 46.5 10.5 10.5 33.5 33.5 8.25 8.25
Table 3 shows that 46.5% of the total respondents Strongly Agreed, 10.5% Agreed, 33.5%
Disagreed while 8.25% Strongly Disagreed. With an average of 46.5% Strongly Agreed, the
research question is upheld.

Discussion of Results

Research Question One

The result of the research which states to what extent would students’ addictiveness to social
network influence their dedication to academic activities Shows an average of 92.2% of the
respondents strongly agreed. This could be interpreted that majority of the respondents assumed that
the use of social media has a large effect on students dedication to their academic activities. The
results show that most student put attention to social activities on the social network sites and
thereby doing this at the detriment of their study.

Research Question Two

The result of the second question which states: What impact does participation in social media have
on the academic performance of students reveals that an average of 92.4% strongly agreed, 9.8%
agreed, 4% disagreed while 2% strongly disagreed.

This is an indication that students’ participation on social media has effect on academic
performance. The addictive use of social networking sites results in drop in students CGPA as their
attention to academic is impaired.

Research Question Three

Research question three states: Is there any gender difference in the students’ usage of social media
network; reveals that 46.5% were strongly agreed, 10.5% agreed, 33.5% disagreed while 8.25%
were strongly disagreed.

The research question is upheld because majority of the respondent were of option that there is no
gender difference in the usage of social media.

Conclusion

The result from the findings of this study showed that, social media have negative effects on students
such as lack of privacy, distracting students from their academic work, taking most of their
productive time. However, social media have greater and better benefits which can be used
appropriately by students to actualize their academic potentials. For instance, students can form
online communities in order to plan for a project, have group discussions about class assignments or
use the Social Networking Sites (SNS) as a way to keep in contact when a student who has been
absent needs to be updated on current academic information.

The findings of this study and earlier ones showed some noteworthy results. The first independent
variable influencing the academic performance of students, that is, social media participation was
negatively related with students’ outcome, while the other independent variables were positively
related with students’ outcome.

Recommendations

In the light of the findings of this study, the following recommendations are made:

• Students should be educated on the influence of social media on their academic performance.

• Students should be monitored by teachers and parents on how they use these sites.

• Teachers should ensure they use the social media as a tool to improve the academic
performance of students in schools.

• Students should better manage their study time and prevent distractions that can be provided
by the social media. There should be a decrease in the number of time spent by students
when surfing the net.

• Social Networking Sites should be expanded and new pages should be created to enhance
academic activities and avoid setbacks in the students’ academic performance.

• The students should create a balance between chit-chatting and academic activities. More
attention should be directed to research.

• The use of Social media network by students should focus on the academic relevance of
those sites instead of using them for negative purposes.
 References

Asur, S. & Huberman, B.A.(2010) Predicting the Future with Social Media. Social Computing
Lab: HP Labs, Palo Alto, California. pp 1-8.

Boyd, D.(2010) Taken Out of Context: American Teen Sociality in Networking Publics Berkeley

Lusk, B. (2010) Digital Natives and Social Media Behaviors: An Overview. The Prevention
Research, Vol.17. pp 3-6

Schneider N. (2010) Facebook, Other Social Network Sites Could Lead to Lower Grade for
Students.
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article.1650000/facebook_other_social_network_sites.
html?cat=4. Retrieved 12/10/17

University of New Hampshire (2010) Student Grades Not Affected by Social Networking
http://www.newswise.com/articles/students-grades-not-affected-by-social-
networkingnewresearch-finds. Retrieved 12/10/17.

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