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Investigating The Effects Of Social Media On Students' Academic Performance

And Well-Being During The Pandemic

Article in International Journal of Scientific & Technology Research · July 2021

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 INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF SCIENTIFIC & TECHNOLOGY RESEARCH VOLUME 10, ISSUE 07, JULY 2021 ISSN 2277-8616

Investigating The Effects Of Social Media On

Students’ Academic Performance And Well-Being
During The Pandemic
Rodge Daniellette A. Tan, Erech Jyne A. Pañares, Frenche Jyne A. Pañares, Erika D. Pagonzaga,
Jannah Amor M. Jumawid, Rhesa T. Hinampas and Denis A. Tan

Abstract: This study investigated the effects of social media to the academic performance and well-being of Grade 10 students in Central Mindanao
University Laboratory High School. The study aimed to know the advantages and disadvantages of using social media and on how and why does it
affect the students’ and academic performance and well-being. Explanatory case study design was utilized in the study. A questionnaire adapted from
Portsmouth University and a semi-structured interview protocol was used for collecting data. Participants are purposively selected based on their
exposure to social media, academic performance, and well-being. Qualitative analysis indicated that the use of social media is of advantage to students
because it enhances communication, gives information, offers entertainment, and provides safety. However, it is disadvantageous since it stimulates
isolation/lack of physical interaction, increases probability of misdeeds, decreases motivation and focus, contains toxic side, and may spread
misinformation. Social media affects students’ academic performance and well-being in many ways. It can decrease attention span, promote health
deterioration, expand explanations on lessons, heighten stress, enhance proper communication and seeking assistance, encourage motivation and
independence and trigger relationship and personal issues. These effects can be attributed to too much information and tasks, household
responsibilities, lack of sleep, more screen time, lack of physical activities due to staying at home, access to unlimited information, procrastination,
difficulties in learning, access to different media platforms, flexible schedule and more time in social media.

Index Terms: academic performance, social media, well-being.

——————————  ——————————

1. INTRODUCTION Telegram. Social media is a very popular, extremely fast,

TODAY, it is very easy to access the internet and because of
that, it is the most popular media for seeking information [1].
Internet also allows individuals to be connected even though
they are miles away from each other in different platforms
through Social media like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and
————————————————
 Rodge Daniellette A. Tan is currently a junior high school student of
Central Mindanao University Laboratory High School (CMULHS). She is
the President of the CMULHS Supreme Student Council Organization of
CMULHS, College of Education, Central Mindanao University, University
Town, Musuan, Bukidnon, 8710, Philippines. + 639362315366,
s.tan.rodgedaniellette@cmu.edu.ph
 Jannah Amor M. Jumawid is currently a junior high school student of
CMULHS. She is the Auditor of the CMULHS Supreme Student Council
Organization of CMULHS, College of Education, Central Mindanao
University, University Town, Musuan, Bukidnon, 8710, Philippines. +
639171101515, s.jumawid.jannahamor@cmu.edu.ph
 Erika D. Pagonzaga is currently a junior high school student of CMULHS.
She is the Vice President of her Class of CMULHS College of Education,
Central Mindanao University, University Town, Musuan, Bukidnon, 8710,
Philippines. + 639651957552, s.pagonzaga.erika@cmu.edu.ph
 Erech Jyne A. Pañares is currently a junior high school student of
CMULHS. She is the Vice President of Internal Affairs of the CMULHS
Supreme Student Council Organization of CMULHS, College of
Education, Central Mindanao University, University Town, Musuan,
Bukidnon, 8710, Philippines. +639554397768,
s.panares.erechjyne@cmu.edu.ph
 Frenche Jyne A. Pañares is currently a junior high school student of
CMULHS. She is the Assistant Secretary of the CMULHS Supreme
Student Council Organization of CMULHS, College of Education, Central
Mindanao University, University Town, Musuan, Bukidnon, 8710,
Philippines. +639268396649, s.panares.frenchejyne@cmu.edu.ph
 Rhesa T. Hinampas is currently a faculty of Central Mindanao University
Laboratory High School. She is teaching Science Research to junior high
school students in the same instiution. +639068822042,
rthinampas@cmu.edu.ph
 Denis A. Tan is a faculty of the College of Education, Central Mindanao
University (CMU), Philippines. She is currently the Director of the Office of
Admissions, Scholarships and Placement in the same university.
+639177103100, teacher.tansined@gmail.com
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broad, has proven to be highly effective cmoomunication
channel which is trusted by billions of people to share and
discover content concerning individuals, brands, information
and entertainment [2]. Social media has become a global
phenomenon, it became the means of communicating to
friends, peers and families. Social media, since introduced to
the public has attracted many people and many of which are
students. They utilized social media in communicating,
searching, entertainment and a lot more. It has become more
of an entertainment to students and it becomes alarming to
some of the people especially the parents. More than eighty
(80) percent of youth are spending a large amount of time on
social media. Social media steals the time on learning, most
of youths get absorbed by various platforms and loses
interest in their studies [3]. During this pandemic, students
have obviously spent their time in front of their phones
scrolling through social media and communicating with their
friends online. The fact that they cannot go outside and hang-
out have been quite depressing for them.
Social media is mostly what the students are occupied of
aside from schoolworks and household chores. Surely,
without a doubt, students are finding it hard to maximize their
time among schoolworks, household chores and social
media. Social media is a major cause of procrastination. It
takes the time from studying, making projects and helping
inside the house. In a poll by the Huntington News, seventy-
four (74) percent of the participants (students) opinionated
that the degree to which social media fueled their
procrastination is significant and worrying [4]. A direct
relationship exists between social media usage and the
academic performance of students [5]. It affects students’
performance and makes it really hard for students to focus
and not to mention the transition from face-to-face classes to
online class. The daily life of the students changed from
waking up and going to school to waking up and opening
their laptops. School was brought into the screen of the
students’ laptops. Many researches have been conducted on
the effects of social media to the academic performance and
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well-being of students but were made separately,
quantitatively and most of all during normal circumstances [6,
7, 8, 9, 10, 11]. Little had been done on a qualitative
investigation of the effects of social media on student’s
academic performance and well-being, hence this study. This
qualitative research investigation was conducted to examine
the effects of social media on students’ academic
performance and well-being during the pandemic at Central
Mindanao University Laboratory High School (CMULHS).
Specifically, this study sought to answer the following
questions: 1) what are the advantages and disadvantages of
using social media; 2) how does social media affect the
students’ academic performance and well-being; 3) why does
social media affect the students’ academic performance and
well-being?
2. METHODOLOGY
2.1 Locale of the Study
This study was conducted in CMULHS, Musuan, Maramag,
Bukidnon during the 4th Quarter period of SY 2020-2021.
CMULHS is a department of the College of Education of
Central Mindanao University and it offers K to 12 Science
Curriculum [12]. It is a prestigious school with lots of students
coming from inside and even outside Bukidnon. It offers
quality services to the community by providing quality
secondary education. This school is full of students who are
achievers, words of mouth confirms that CMULHS is offering
academic excellence [13], and at the same time extreme
users of Social Media.
2.2 Research Design
This study utilized the qualitative research methodology using
case study design. Explanatory approach in the case study
design was specifically used in this in-depth investigation to
know the hows and the whys of social media in its effects to
academic performance and well-being as well as its
advantages and disadvantages. The participants were the
Grade 10 students from CMULHS who use social media and
are officially enrolled in SY 2020-2021. They were selected in
a purposive way according to their academic performance as
determined by their grades and their well-being. Researchers
adopted a questionnaire [14] on well-being to all Grade 10
students who voluntarily took part in the research. The
following are the description of the participants, and to protect
their privacy their names are confidential. Participant Group
1. Students who use social media with high grades and
varying levels of well-being. Abby, Evans, Bella and Selardi
belonged to this group.Participant Group 2. Students who use
social media with average grades and varying levels of well-
being. Gemma, Farah, Harold, Ice and Kirk belonged to this
group. Participants who used social media with low grades
and varying levels of well-being were not represented
because there were no students that fell to this category. This
study made use of purposive sampling technique to choose
the participants who met the qualification based on the
purpose of the study. They were purposively selected based
on their exposure to social media (extreme, moderate or low),
academic performance (high, average, low) and well-being
(good, poor). These participants are bonafide Grade 10
students who voluntarily participated in the study.
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2.3 Research Instruments
The study made use of two (2) research instruments: the
adopted questionnaire [14] and the researcher –made semi-
structured interview protocol. The Questionnaire has two (2)
parts in which the first part contained the basic information of
the participating students (name, average number of hours
using social media, etc.) and the second part encompassed
the evaluation of their well-being. It was pilot-tested to 22
Grade 11 students of CMULHS before the conduct of the
study. This was to establish reliability of the instrument. The
questionnaire has a reliability index of Cronbach alpha equals
0.803 which indicates a very high reliability. The Semi-
Structured Interview was designed by the researchers based
on the statement of their problem. This was used during the
Focus Group Discussion (FGD) and interview which was
conducted via Zoom App. This protocol was also pilot tested
to determine its clarity, simplicity and capacity to get the
appropriate information from the interviewee. The interview
was recorded and transcribed in verbatim. After inspection of
the transcripts, ambiguous words used were rewritten with
simple terms to be understood by the interviewee.
The following quantitative and qualitative description
were used in the interpretation of quantitative data:
Average Grade Qualitative Interpretation
90.00 – 100.00 High Academic Performance
80.00 – 89.99 Average Academic Performance
below 80.00 Low Academic Performance
Source: CMULHS Handbook (2013)
Scale Qualitative Interpretation
3.01 – 4.00 Very Good Well-being
2.01 – 3.00 Good Well-being
1.01 – 2.00 Bad Well-being
0.00 – 1.00 Severely Bad Well-being
Source: Portsmouth University (2021)
Number of Hours Qualitative Interpretation
8 hours and above Excessive usage of social media
0.6 to 8 hours Moderate Usage of social media
0.5 hours and below Low usage of social media
Academic Performance of Grade 10 students has three (3)
qualitative interpretations adopted from the CMULHS grading
system, guidelines in the selection of honor students and
retention policy [12]. These are as follows: students with high
academic performance (90.00-100.00), average academic
performance (80.00-89.99) and low academic performance
(below 80.00). Well-being of the student has (4) qualitative
interpretations which are adopted [14]. As stipulated, in
students with very good, good, bad and very bad well-being
have an average rating of 3.01-4.00, 2.01-3.00, 1.01-2.00
and 0.00-1.00, respectively. Moreover, the duration of social
media usage has three (3) qualitative interpretations which
are adopted [9] and the average hour of online learning in
CMULHS. These are interpreted as students who have
excessive usage of social media (8 hours and above),
moderate usage of social media (0.6-8 hours) and low usage
of social media (0.5 hours and below).
2.4 Data Collection
The gathering of data commenced upon approval of the
School Principal on the conduct of this research. A letter of
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consent was given to the principal requesting access of
report cards of Grade 10 students and to the Grade 10
students who voluntarily answered the questionnaire on well-
being in Google Form. The questionnaire contained two (2)
parts in which the first part included the basic information of
the participating students (name, average number of hours
using social media, etc.) and the second part emcompassed
the evaluation of their well-being (poor, average and
outstanding). Responses were analyzed to determine
possible purposive samples that would represent those
students who had: outstanding, average and poor well-being
(check questionnaire on well-being specifically on qualitative
interpretation). This comprised the first kind of data collection
of triangulation. Participants were identified to represent
these categories, namely: 1.) usage of social media (Low,
Moderate, Excessive), 2.) academic performance (high,
average and low) and 3.) well-being (very good, good, bad,
severely bad). FGDs and interviews followed using the semi-
structured interview protocol. The participants consent was
asked before the FGD and interview. Privacy and anonymity
of the participants were kept. The FGDs and interviews were
recorded and transcribed in verbatim.
2.5 Data Analysis
Explanatory approach in case study research using co-
variational analysis [16] and cross-case analysis [17] were
used to analyze the data in order to present the results and
identify the similarities and differences on the responses of
the participants, respectively. The data gathered were from
the questionnaire, average grades, and the responses which
comprise the three kinds of data which serve as the
triangulation method.
3. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
The thoughts and perceptions of the selected students from
Central Mindanao Laboratory High School were classified
into the advantages and disadvantages, and the hows and
whys of social media on their academic performance and
well-being.
4.1 Advantages and Disadvantages of Using Social
Media
There are four (4) advantages of social media as classified by
the researchers based on the responses of the nine (9)
selected Grade-10 students, namely: safety, communication,
information, and entertainment. Based on the selected
participant’s answer from the interview, two (2) of them
thought that using social media gives them safety during the
pandemic, ―tungod sa pandemic, kanang walay face to face,
so mas safe siya‖, (Because of the pandemic, there is no
face-to-face, so it is safer). Four (4) of the participants
answered that social media helped them to keep up with their
friends and peers via online communication during this
pandemic so that they would not feel isolated and alone, ―-
with my friends both online and irl nga gakastoryahan nako
about saakong kakapoy (since I know na most of us are
experiencing the same thing) na ease akong kakapoy kahit
papano‖(with my friends both online and in real life whom I
can talk to about my boredom, since I know that most of us
are experiencing the same thing, I feel at ease in a certain
degree) . There are also three (3) students who think that it
provides them the information they need, ―you can also be
updated with the latest news‖ and ―dali raka maka-kuha ug
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information‖ (You can easily get information.). Three (3) of
the participants made mentioned about entertainment in
social media which diverts their attention from the negativities
happening around them, ―scrolling through my feed in twitter,
facebook, reddit, tumblr or any platform is daghan kaayog
memes (too many memes). Haha, memes make me laugh so
I think healthy man ang pag use sa social media para sa
akoa (for me).‖ The selected students’ views coincide with
findings of the researchers [18] when they found that social
media aids students by connecting them to one another on
class activities. It keeps them connected even though
separated by distance. It is also beneficial to users that as
they find it entertaining and users are also kept informed with
the newest updates. Social media makes the world a smaller
place, now that it contains more information, more
knowledge, and have better opportunities to use it [19]. It is
known to be the main source of the exchange of data and
communication. Moreover, it ensures people the safety of not
having to interact with one another personally. It has become
a powerful tool for users to interact socially, assist ongoing
education, and facilitate collaboration between other users. It
has also brought the healthcare professionals, patients, and
the public a new feature to healthcare by providing a common
channel to communicate regarding health issues, with the
potential to improve health outcomes [20]. On the contrary,
based on the selected participants’ answers from the
conducted FGD and interview, disadvantages such as
isolation/lack of physical interaction, probability of doing
misdeeds, feeling unmotivated, can be a distraction, a factor
of health deterioration, and toxicity of social media immersed
from the data. In contrast of being connected through
social media, one (1) of the selected students emphasized
that she feels isolated due to lack of physical interaction,
―mas bugat siya in the sense kanang feel nimo wala kay
kauban kay ikaw raman isa, you just see your classmates
and teachers on screen but you can’t see them physically so
murag kanang mu hit sa imoha ang loneliness. Murag feel
nako karon mas bugat siya murag wala nako ni siya na feel
nga ka bugat atong face to face pa nga mga workloads and
whatnot kay tungod pud siguro nga naa koy kauban, ana
bitaw siya‖(It is very hard in the sense that you feel like you
are alone, you can just see your classmates and teachers on
screen but you can not see them physically. So, it hits you
with loneliness. I think I feel this time is harder because I
haven’t felt this before during the face-to-face tasks and
whatnot. Probably because I have companion, I guess that’s
it.) One (1) student also highlighted that social media
increases their tendency to do bad deeds on their online
exams and quizzes during the flexible learning, ―Ga create
siyag opportunity for misdeeds like kuan gyud cheating‖ (It
creates an opportunity for misdeeds like cheating). Five (5) of
them also said that they became unmotivated and/or
distracted, ―Sometimes kay murag imong most of the time
like, is ano siya sa social media nga wala naka sa reality. Ma
unmotivated dayon ka usahay‖ (Sometimes like, most of the
time you are into social media and you are not anymore in
the reality. You will then sometimes become unmotivated).
One (1) student said that social media has a toxic side,
―Gaemerge gyud ang mga toxic nga communities sa different
platforms‖ (There emerges toxic communities on different
platforms), and misinformation is common, ―first major
disadvantage is the spread of false news‖. Table 1 shows
the summary of the advantages and disadvantages of using
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social media during the pandemic as emerged from the data
gathered by the researchers. Among the advantages, the
ability to communicate with their peers is frequently of using
social media as per the result of the participants answers,
followed by entertainment and information that social media
has brought to people in relation with the happenings during
the pandemic as well as its ability to help students to cope up
with the negativities they experienced, and safety comes last
as social media helps people in containing and mitigating the
Corona virus by being able to communicate without physical
meet ups. The results for the disadvantages show that being
distracted and unmotivated is the most repeated answer out
of 9 participants followed by misdeeds, misinformation,
isolation/lack of physical interaction and toxicity of social
media.
Table 1. Advantages and Disadvantages of using social
media.
Advantages Disadvantages
 Enhances  Stimulates isolation/lack of physical
communication interaction
 Gives information  Increases probability of misdeeds
 Offers entertainment  Decreases Motivation and focus
 Provides safety  Contains toxic side of social media
 May spread misinformation
The findings presented in table 1 are supported by the results
of the study which revealed that the more time students
spend on these online networking destinations, the less time
they will go through interacting face to face with others.
Students scroll through feeds without realizing that they threw
away precious time to do productive things [21]. The
misuse of online media once a day have a lot of adverse
impacts on the physical and psychological well-being of
students resulting to them being lazy and unmotivated. An
article on Teacher Boards mentioned that on social media, on
the academic level, it can have a negative effect on student
productivity when it comes to concentration in the classroom,
timekeeping, and conscientiousness. Added to that,
researchers concluded that a huge amount of health-
threatening misinformation is spreading at a faster rate than
the Corona virus [22].
4.2 How Social Media Affect the Students’ Academic
Performance and Well-being
Social media has both positive and negative effects to a
person in their academic performance and well-being
according to many studies. Through results, negative effects
were said when respondents mentioned having decreased
attention span, health deterioration and getting easily
stressed. Based on one (1) student’s answer from the
interview, she mentioned that her attention span decreased
during flexible learning in the pandemic,‖ akong attention
span is kanang dili siya-ah mas taas-taas siya, akong
attention span compared karon. Kay karon murag 3 seconds
nalang, ma wadan nakog kanang gana‖ (My attention span is
not anymore long compared this time. This time, I think I have
only 3 seconds attention span then I feel like zooming out).
Social media can also be a factor of health deterioration
according to three (3) of the participants, ―gatukar ang mga
sakit sakit sa lawas‖ (There are felt discomfort of the body).
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Two (2) participants mentioned about getting easily stressed,‖
gakastressed out ko‖ and ―dali ra mi ma stress‖ (I am
stressed out and easily get stress). On the other hand, some
of the respondents felt benefits from using Social Media in
flexible learning. A few of them mentioned being still able to
properly communicate with classmates and teachers, the
class lessons expanded from books only to including social
media, started to feel motivated, and became more
independent. Based on the student’s answer from the
interview, one (1) of the respondents mentioned being able to
properly communicate despite lack of physical interaction;‖
maka ask ka sa mga teachers ug student teachers or
classmates nimo for help sa acads nimo‖ (You can asks help
in your academics from your teachers and student teachers
or classmates). One (1) stated about expanded explanations
due to easy access of information,‖ ’ amo gyung ma search
ang answers‖ (I can easily search answers). And one (1) of
them also said that he is motivated and become more
independent, ―ako raman ga buot sa tanan bah like wala
nako nag salig sa akong classmate‖ (I decide on almost
everything and I do not depend on my classmates anymore).
Two (2) of the selected students talked about relationship
issues affecting them,‖ sa among family. Kay kanang naay
issue usahay nga kanang murag away tapos kanang murag
dili magkasinabtanay‖ (In our family, there are issues which
are somewhat disagreement and misunderstanding), and
―kanang problems sa friendships and whatnot‖ (There are
problems about friendships and others). This indicate that
issues with other people can be a reason affecting their over-
all performance and well-being.
Table 2 below displays the summary of how social media
affects the student’s academic performance and well-being
during the pandemic.
Table 2. How social media affects student’s academic
performance and well-being
How social media affected student’s academic performance and well-
being
a. Can decrease attention span
b. Promote Health Deterioration
c. Expand explanations on lessons
d. Heighten stress
e. Enhance proper communicate and ask for help
f. Encourage motivation and independence
g. Trigger relationship and personal issues
Health deterioration is the most repeated answer as to how
social media affect the student’s academic performance
negatively followed by getting easily stressed out and
decreased attention span. But a few only mentioned positive
effects of social media to the students which are still able to
properly communicate with classmates and teachers, being
motivated and independent and classes expanding
explanations of lessons. These findings are in consonance
with an article from a study from the National Centre for
Biotechnology Information that claimed that the average
human attention span has lowered from 12 seconds in 2000
to 8 seconds in 2013 due to accessible of information in
social media [23]. Another study also determined that the
frequency and duration of usage of social media increases
students stress and anxiety levels [24]. One of the most
important advantages of the use of social media is the online
sharing of knowledge and information among the different
groups of people. This online sharing of information also
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promotes the increase in the communication skills among the
people especially among the learners/students of educational
institutions. Online tools and technology has not only
mediated communication in countless ways, but that the very
ways users communicate and even the ways they talk and
think about communication are changing as a result [25]. An
online classroom, ―Eliademy‖, is accessible, can promote
time management, promptness and a challenge for the users
although it requires strong internet connections and time
pressured [26]. This suggests that flexible learning like online
classrooms can develop independence to students. Some
thoughts of the participants relate that social media affects
interpersonal relationships due to distraction, irritation, and
decreased quality time with significant others in offline
settings [21].
4.2 Why Social Media affect the Students’ Academic
Performance and Well-being
During the interview and FGD, the participants stressed out
that their academic performance and well-being are greatly
affected due to too much information and tasks, household
responsibilities, lack of sleep, lack of physical activities
outside the house due to staying at home, procrastination,
difficulties in learning, access to unlimited information, access
to different media platforms, more screen time, flexible
schedule, and more time in social media.Another two (2) of
the participants said that they were occupied by household
responsibilities‖ ako ra gyud ang katambayayong ni Mama‖ (I
am the only helpmate of my mother), and ―pabantayon ug
tindahan. So murag dili pirminti maka kuan, maka trabaho sa
school works, sleep-deprived sad ko, so mao sad gakatukar
ang migraines‖ (I am tasked to look over the store, so I can
not always make time for school works. I am also sleep
deprive so I experience migraine), which can be a factor
affecting their academic life and well-being. Two (2) of them
also emphasized that personal problems also affect their
performance and well-being, ―and of course, personal
problems which dili na nako eelaborate hehe private siya. So
tungod ana gakawad.an kog motivation nga magtuon and
gakadiscouraged nako mupadayon ug tuon ug pagayo para
mulambo‖(And of course, I have personal problems which I
can not disclose because it is private. So, because of that I
lost the motivation to study and I am discourged to continue
to learn well to succeed). And there were also two (2)
students who claimed that social media can be a factor of
procrastination, ―I think it happened because of
procrastination because sometimes I spend too much time on
social media‖. Two (2) of them also pointed out their
difficulties in learning as some of them are ―visual learners‖,
stating that, ―these days kay module naman kay basahon so
galisod kog inana.‖ (These days that we are using modules
that need to be read, so I find it very difficult), and ―Mas lisod
pud ang like during pandemic nga Pag teach‖ (Teaching is
more difficult this time of the pandemic). One (1) participant
stated about more access to information/answers, ―amo
gyung ma search ang answers‖ (I can easily search
answers). Two (2) participants answered that they had
access to diffirent media platforms and they have more
screen time, ―Ah kuan, karon is facebook, tapos maag tiktok
usahay, dayon Discord, didto ra ko gaadto‖ (Uhmm, now I
use Facebook, then sometime Tiktok, next is Discord, those
are the platforms I am using), and ―Scrolling to my feed in
Twitter, Facebook, Reddit, Tumblr, or any platforms‖. Also,
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with these, it is apparent that they have more time in social
media.
Table 3. How and why social media affects student’s
well-being and academic performance.
Effects of Social Media on Students’ Academic Performance and Well-
being
HOW WHY
a. Can decrease  too much information and tasks
attention span  household responsibilities
 lack of sleep
 more screen time
b. Promote Health  lack of physical activities due to
Deterioration staying at home
 lack of sleep
c. Expand explanations  access to unlimited information
on lessons
d. Heighten stress  too much information and tasks
 household responsibilities
 lack of sleep
 procrastination
 difficulties in learning
e. Enhance proper  access to different media platforms
communicate and ask
for help
f. Encourage motivation  flexible schedule
and independence  household responsibilities
g. Trigger relationship  access to different media platforms
and personal issues  more screen time
 more time in social media
One (1) participant claimed that he has flexible time during
this pandemic, he said, ―Mas ganahan ko karon kay murag
ako ang magboot kanus-a nako na buhaton ang mga
pangbuhaton ba, so murag flexible na akong kuan, schedule‖
(I like it more this time because I can decide on when will I do
things, so it’s like my schedule is flexible). Table 3 reveals
the summary of the responses of the participants on why
social media affects students’ academic performand and well-
being. It is presented alongside the ―how‖ for clarity as results
of cross-case analysis. These thoughts of the participants are
supported by the findings that the top three highest
responses for undesirable effects of social media usage on
emotions were frustration, depression, and social comparison
and the top three responses for negative effects of social
media use on interpersonal relationships were distraction,
irritation, and decreased quality time with significant others in
offline settings [27]. Accordingly, the relationship between
home responsibilities and academic performance may be
bidirectional and differential in a way that for in-school
children, chores take time away from the studies, but for out-
of-school children, they provide some limited mathematics
exposure. Social media can affect a person’s well-being and
academic performance in the interconnection of the brain’s
condition and the body’s physical health [28]. When the brain
is stressed and is fabricated by social media’s inaccuracies, it
can proceed to affect its mind negatively. Then the nervous
system damages the body’s health, or body strains due to
straining too much [29]. Also, students who waste too much
time on virtual life have less time to spend on their studies
would have lower academic performance, attend smaller
quantity of lessons, submit their assignments late and
subsequently they have lower self-confidence. Moreover, it
was said that most teens waste a lot of time on social
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platforms like chatting which can affect their health. The
unnecessary use of such platforms affects the person
mentally and physically where students cannot have their
meals on the right time and rest properly [30].
5. CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION
5.1 CONCLUSION
The effects of using social media on students’ academic
achievement and well-being were classified into the
advantages and disadvantages and its hows and whys during
this pandemic of social media. Based on the findings of
the study, the following conclusions were drawn: Social
media is of advantage to students because it enhances
communication, gives information, offers entertainment and
provides safety. However, it is disadvantageous since it
stimulates isolation/lack of physical interaction, increases
probability of misdeeds, decreases motivation and focus,
contains toxic side, and may spread misinformation.
Social media affects students’ academic performance and
well-being in many ways. It can decrease attention span,
promote health deterioration, expand explanations on
lessons, heighten stress, enhance proper communication and
seeking assistance, encourage motivation and independence
and trigger relationship and personal issues. These effects
can be attributed to too much information and tasks,
household responsibilities, lack of sleep, more screen time,
lack of physical activities due to staying at home, access to
unlimited information, procrastination, difficulties in learning,
access to different media platforms, flexible schedule and
more time in social media.
5.2 RECOMMENDATION
Based on the conclusion, the researchers have the following
recommendations: Students are encouraged to get the most
out of the advantages of using social media for their benefits
and to be aware of its disadvantages. They need to find time
to have physical interaction with families to avoid isolation.
They need to avoid circumstances that will lead them to do
misdeeds. They are encouraged to practice self discipline to
limit using social media and to be critical in believing
information posted via online platforms. Teachers and
parents are advised to monitor the academic performance
and well-being of their students/children. Teachers need to
consider giving just enough activities and online task for their
students. Parents are invigorated to supervise their children
in the use of social media and double check their health
status, provide support to their children’s academic
requirements to lessen academic stress and find ways to
spend quality time with them. Moreover, it is highly
encouraged that students, parents and teachers will utilize
social media to enhance communication and motivation.
Students are encouraged to seek for assistance when
experiencing difficulties in learning. They are also advised to
manage their time properly and find ways to do physical
activities at home. Teachers and parents are adviced to work
collaboratively in order to ensure that students’ academic
performance and well-being will not be negatively affected by
social media during the pandemic. The future researchers are
advised to not only focus in the advantages and
disadvantages of using social media which may hinder the
ability of the participants to think beyond their capacity and
therefore elaborate each of their ideas presented. They will
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have a group of participants from below the average
academic performance to further understand and compare
the difference with them using social media. Lastly, future
researchers are suggested to not focus only in a certain
school but also in a much greater scale as for the reason that
the whole world is experiencing this feat and having
participants in different locations or school will improve the
result of the study and to have better comparisons between
the results.
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