The Impact of social networking site usage on Academic Performance: An analytical study among college students

These last several years have seen the rise of the Internet as the dominant global communication medium. Developed nations are not the only ones seeing a rise in internet use. As of June 2017, the continent of Africa has 388,104,452 internet users, or a penetration rate of 31.2% based on global figures. As of June 2017, 16,037,811 people, or almost 15.4% of the total population, were using the internet in Ethiopia. From 2000 to 2017, this figure increased by 160,278.1%, which may not seem like much when compared to other wealthy and developing nations.  At the same time as Internet use is increasing at an alarming rate, new apps are cropping up to facilitate global communication.  Regardless of the physical location of the individual, information is being shared rapidly. Data storage and retrieval are both enhanced. A variety of web technologies have emerged to bolster the realm of information and communication. Social networking sites are one example of this kind of technology. An intriguing feature of SNSs is their accessibility; users are not restricted to using them just on desktop or laptop computers; they can also use their cellphones or other portable devices, which makes them incredibly user-friendly. Social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Google+, LinkedIn, Skype, and many more are widely used. As of the end of June 2017, 4,500,000 people in Ethiopia were using Facebook.  The academic community is one of the most active users of social media platforms. Leaving their families behind, the majority of Ethiopian university students go on a journey to school, where they begin to develop skills in critical thinking, communication, and information retrieval. They are also good at adapting to new situations and sharing what they've learned about technology with other kids.   But there have been a lot of changes in Ethiopia's higher education system since the year 2000, and those changes have an impact on both the quality of the programmes offered and the students who graduate. This was necessary because several variables have a detrimental impact on kids' success in school. These include the amount of time children spend studying, the quality of their teachers, the techniques used in the classroom, and the amount of time students spend reading and preparing for tests.

Millions of individuals throughout the world use social media websites on a daily basis. When you use the Internet, you're getting more than simply information. Through the advent of the Internet, individuals were able to establish professional and personal relationships, reconnect with long-lost relatives and friends, and meet new people. The meteoric rise in popularity of social media platforms has piqued the interest of scholars and businesspeople all around the globe, including us. Academic commentators are showing a growing interest in studying Facebook, Twitter, and other social networking services due to the likely influence they have on academic performance. A large number of social science researchers are currently investigating these sites. In addition to becoming fluent in social media use, today's students are giving in to peer pressure and joining various online communities. Although there are commonalities between social media platforms, the cultures and reactions that emerge from using them are diverse. Most of these services facilitate strangers meeting together with people who share their interests, whether those interests be in politics, economics, or just plain old leisure activities. Some sites cater to certain demographics, while others draw users who share commonalities whether that's a language they speak or their religious, ethnic, sexual orientation, or nationality affiliation. But there is one thing that all social media sites have in common. The goal is to promote innovative means of communication and data sharing.

Students are very motivated to use social networks because of the academic scientists who provide them this opportunity. According to research and anecdotal data, students spend a considerable amount of time on pages. The website caters to college students and their interests by tracking their online activities, particularly in relation to networking. Most academics who engage in research are involved in some way with social networks or scientific applications. According to Living stone and Brake (2010), "World Network Platforms for Scholars and Politicians, as also on the internet, are a moving target." Ibid. "There has been a recent awakening to the fact that opportunities for learning, job training, and school preparation can be found through social network resources."

In an effort to become a useful tool for human interaction, technology has sought to play a supportive role in human social environments, educational settings, and research. Scholars in the field of higher education have long speculated about revolutionary ways in which new technologies can be embraced by schools, faculty, and students. Thanks to technological advancements, such as social media, individuals are able to engage with one another and the world has become a global village. To swiftly engage with individuals outside of the classroom and experts in a particular field, digital channels such as Facebook, Twitter, Google Plus, and Flickr are used. Students' ability to think patterns and solve problems was significantly affected by the innovation. Students in higher education are impacted by SNSs. In this setting, students, faculty, and administrators work together to achieve excellence in the classroom. Class discussions and group projects benefit greatly from the use of social media platforms.

Academics and teachers are always finding new ways to use technology to foster students' capacity for critical thinking, teamwork, and the expansion of their understanding. Students' intellectual environments have changed due to the rise of social networking sites, and polls reveal that college students hold significant roles in society. By providing new and engaging methods to connect students and instructors, SNSs bolster education as a medium to enlighten them, encouraging a holistic approach to learning. The what, where, and how of a student's education may be greatly expanded by a flexible curriculum. The international e-learning approach is only one of several types of study that it promotes.

Platforms for social media have come to terms with the fact that they may facilitate more idea exchange and connection to various resources for students in higher education. Given the widespread use of social networking sites among students, the surge of interest in studying their impacts is not surprising (Greenhow & Askari, 2015; Rodrı et. al., 2015). Conclusions taken from very few testimonies despite previous research studying the link between SNSs use and academic achievement (for a recent review, see Doleck & Lajoie, 2017). Specifically, (a) used tests like correlation of regression-based models to try to assess the relationship between SNS use and academic success (e.g., Junco, 2012a); (B) formulated the relation linearly based on two main assumptions; and (c) relied on expected success or a quantitative indicator of academic achievement (e.g., grade point average, ratings) to draw conclusions. The link between social media usage and academic achievement is especially contentious. All things considered, the apparent discrepancy has the potential for more research into the subject, as long as researchers focus on the specific relationship between social networking site usage and academic performance. Furthermore, these connections are not discussed in the existing literature in relation to the results of SNSs within the same particular theoretical framework.

Mohamed, Awil & Ali, Mohamed. (2023). One example of an online platform is a social networking site, where users may make public profiles and engage in user-to-user interactions. The proliferation of social networking sites has increased the number of online contacts, interactions, and communications among individuals all over the world. These social media networks have millions of daily users among students. Because of the time wasted on social media, the mistakes made in language and spelling, and the fact that it takes their focus away from schoolwork, many students have begun to blame these sites for a gradual decline in their GPAs. Finding out how students' use of social media affects their grades in secondary schools in Hargeisa, Somaliland is the driving force behind this study. Four secondary schools, including two public and two private secondary high schools (SHS), participated in the quantitative study. Ilays Secondary School, Noradin Secondary School, Mohamoud A. Ali Secondary School, and 26 June Secondary School are the ones under question. Using a probability selection approach (random number table), a well-structured questionnaire was circulated to students. As a last step, we estimated the impact of SNS on students' grades using a simple linear regression. Students' academic performance was significantly impacted by social networking sites.

Asante, Edward & Martey, Edward. (2015). University students in Accra and Tema Metropolis, Ghana, were the target of this research, which aimed to determine if there was a correlation between social media use and academic achievement. Data was collected via a questionnaire. Only 70.0% of the 1,000 questionnaires sent out really yielded valid responses. Descriptive, correlational, and regression statistics, among others, were calculated using SPSS software. Facebook, WhatsApp, Yahoo Messenger, Skype, and Twitter were all determined to have a positive and statistically significant link with academic achievement (the dependent variable) at the 0.01 level.

Alshanqiti, Asma & Alharbi, Ohood & Ismaeel, Dana & Abuanq, Leen. (2023). Prior knowledge Websites and programmes that allow users to interact, exchange material, and create their own content are known as social media. Some worry that college students' heavy social media use and convenient access to these platforms during class and study time would negatively affect their grades. The purpose of this research is to find out how much of an effect students' exposure to, and use of, social media has on their grades. Methods During the 2021–2022 school year, undergraduate medical students in Medina, KSA participated in an online cross-sectional survey that used convenience sampling. To find out how social media use affected students' grades, we used chi-square and fisher's exact tests. Final Product We had 842 aspiring doctors take part in the survey. Of the total, 57.1% were female, 24.8% were in their fifth year of school, and 56.5% had a GPA between 4.5 and 5. Additionally, more men than girls are hooked to social media, and 26.1% of students use these sites for three to four hours every day. We found that compared to other students, those with high GPAs (GPA ≥ 4.5) are less prone to be hooked to social media networks (54.8%) and believe that utilising these platforms does not help them enhance their grades. Additionally, it was shown that those prone to social media addiction might enhance their academic performance by using these platforms. Using social media as if it helps them enhance their grades is not significantly different across the sexes. There is also no correlation between the adolescent years and excessive social media use. In summary the results showed that students with greater degrees of addiction were less likely to use social media for academic purposes, whereas addicts might actually use it to their advantage. We urge college students to use social media as a tool to help them succeed academically.

Asadullah, Dr-Muhammad & Anwar, Atifa & Gulzar, Saba. (2020). The potential effect of social media on college students' grades is the focus of this study. First, what are the most popular social networking sites (SNSs) among students and why do they use them? Second, does SNS use have an effect on students' GPAs? Third, does SNS use have an effect on students' ability to focus and complete academic assignments? Finally, do students use SNSs for study purposes? The analysis of the research is based on qualitative data. The phenomena will be studied with the help of 114 students who were randomly chosen. Focus groups and semi-structured interviews provided the data that was then analysed using content and topic analysis.  Researchers found that students' use of SNSs had both beneficial and bad effects on their grades.

Khan, Laiba & Musani, Kashif & Dilshad, Waqas Bin. (2023). Understanding what constitutes social media use that has a propensity to impair academic performance among students at a public sector university is the primary goal of this research, which aims to establish the preference, amount, and persistence of social media usage. A public sector university in Karachi used a simple random sampling approach to choose 53 students from various disciplines. The original data collection tool used was a questionnaire developed by Osharive (2015) called the "Social Media and Academic Performance of Students Questionnaire (SMAAPOS)" with five-point Likert scale items. Primary data was gathered via this questionnaire, while secondary data was sourced from a variety of sources including relevant books, journals, polls, and websites. Excel and SPSS, both programmes developed by Microsoft, were used for data processing. Descriptive analysis of percentages and frequencies was used to evaluate the replies. A significant number of the participants use different social media platforms for educational and entertaining purposes, according to this research's results. Students are worried about being addicted to social media and being distracted by it. According to the study's proponents, students can benefit from social media for educational purposes by enhancing their academic performance, reducing the likelihood of social media addiction, and enhancing their ability to focus on schoolwork. The goal is to reduce academic attainment barriers by striking a balance between kids' increasing engagement with social media and their participation in extracurricular activities.

Research Design

The current investigation used a mixed-methods descriptive research strategy. It explains how SNS impact the academic performance of Jaipur district degree college students in a certain scenario (S1) and time frame (T1). Undergraduates enrolled in the 2019–2020 academic year at nine degree-granting institutions in the Rajasthan area made up the study's population. Hence, 900 students from each of the nine institutions were chosen to participate in the survey. One hundred students from each of the chosen universities made up the study's sample, which was chosen using basic random selection (100*9=900). Four of the nine colleges were exclusively for one gender, two were for a particular academic field, and three were for all academics and genders.

Tools and Techniques of Data Collection

An important part of every research project is gathering relevant data. Researchers were able to get a full picture of the issue because they used quantitative and qualitative research methods to gather data. In order to achieve this goal, methods such as focus groups and internet questionnaires were used to gather trustworthy and unbiased data. The key justification for this form of mixed option was the fact that this synthesis permits a more comprehensive and synergistic use of data. For collecting massive amounts of data from a representative cross-section of the population, questionnaires were the method of choice. Plus, every single responder could read and write. In order to provide some guidance in the design and wording of the questionnaire, the relevant existing literature was studied and examined.

Sources of Data Collection

There are two ways that data is gathered: primary and secondary. Questionnaires, focus groups, interviews, and observations are examples of primary data sources that gather information directly from respondents. Information gathered from secondary sources includes things like books, journals, articles, reports, theses, newspapers, and eBooks. The current investigation made use of secondary sources in addition to main ones. Primary sources were gathered using online questionnaires and in-field focus groups to get first-hand information. Publishing works such as books, e-books, chapters, research papers, theses, and government reports were all considered secondary sources.

Awareness and Usage of Social Networking Sites

When we say that we are aware of something, we usually mean that we know a lot about it. To be more precise, it is the state of having an intuitive grasp of the reality of a situation. Usage, on the other hand, may be either the method something is utilised or the total quantity that has been used. The rise of social media in the modern technological age is undeniable. Social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and WhatsApp have seen massive growth in user engagement. The reason for this is because social networking has completely transformed people's communication and social life, making it an integral part of their daily routines. Communication, reading, commenting, sharing, like, and content creation are just a few of the many uses for social networking sites. Knowing the extent to which college students are familiar with SNS and whether they are active members of these sites was crucial for this study.

Awareness Level of Social Networking Sites

In order to gauge the extent to which people are aware of SNS, we asked them to indicate if they were familiar with the term. You may see the results in table 1:

Table: 1: Awareness level of SNS among the respondents (multi-response)

According to table 1, all respondents were familiar with at least one social networking site. The results demonstrate that 100% of the sample, or 900 people, were familiar with WhatsApp. The majority of respondents were familiar with WhatsApp. This confirms what Bhakta, K. (2017) found, that among college students, WhatsApp is by far the most popular social networking site. Instagram (84.56%), Google Classroom (86.44%), Zoom (86.44%), and YouTube (95.56%) were among the other top SNS that the majority of respondents were aware of, according to the data. The remaining social media platforms that the majority of participants were familiar with were Facebook (79.67 percent), Messenger (68.22 percent), Google Meet (68.00 percent), Twitter (63.11 percent), and Tik Tok (50.33 percent). Among these SNS, Telegram was well-known by 46.78 percent and Pinterest by 46.22 percent. In addition, twenty percent of respondents were somewhat familiar with LinkedIn, twenty-six percent with Classmates, seventeen percent with Webex, sixteen percent with Academia, and fifteen percent with ResearchGate. Friendster (11.56%), Delicious (7.11%) and Mendeley (7.00%) were, nevertheless, determined to be the least popular sites among the respondents.

Membership of Social Networking Sites

A social networking site is a type of online community that allows users to (1) create a public or semi-public profile within a limited system, (2) describe other users with whom they have a connection, and (3) see and navigate their own and other people's connections. These sites are similar to other types of online communities that enable computer-mediated communication.4 Social networking sites revolve on profiles. When users sign up for the service, they have access to a number of benefits, including the ability to make public profiles on the site, communicate with other users via their connections, and more. Users, particularly financially reliant college students, find it easier to join such a site since membership is often free. So, we looked at the responder membership data, which you can see in table 2.

Table 2: Membership of SNS of Respondents (multi-response)

In terms of social media membership, most people who took the survey have an official account with at least one site where they may pursue their interests. In this context, table 2 shows that 500 (or 100%) of the respondents were YouTube subscribers, whereas  (or 90%) were WhatsApp users. It also shows that out of 500 people who filled out the survey, (or 80%) were already Google Classroom subscribers. 76.0 percent of the  people who took the survey were Instagram users, (76.44 percent) of Zoom,  respondents (61.33 percent) of Facebook,  respondents (57.33 percent) of Google Meet, respondents (46.22 percent) of Messenger, respondents (44.00 percent) of Twitter, respondents (33.11 percent) of Pinterest, respondents (30.44 percent) of Telegram,  respondents (19.56 percent) of Classmates,  (19.33 percent) of Tik Tok,  respondents (15.33 percent) of LinkedIn,  respondents (13.22 percent) of Webex,  respondents (9.11 percent) of Academia,  respondents (7.33 percent) of ResearchGate, respondents (6.89 percent) of Friendster,  respondents (5.33 percent) of Delicious and only respondents (4.33 percent) were members of Mendeley. Thus, it is evident that all 500 respondents (100%) were not only familiar with WhatsApp but actively used it.

Second place went to YouTube with 90.22 percent, then came Google Classroom with 80 percent, Zoom with 76.44%, Instagram with 76.0 percent, Facebook with 61.33%, and Google Meet with 57.33%. Additionally, there is a small but dedicated following on Pinterest (33.11%), Messenger (46.22%), Twitter (44.00%), and Telegram (30.44%). Notably absent from the sample were participants from academic networking sites such as Classmates (19.55%), Academia (9.11%), ResearchGate (7.33%), and Mendeley (4.33%). Studies conducted by Bhakta, K. (2017)5 and M.S., Mohan Kumar et al. (2017)6 have also demonstrated a similar pattern, demonstrating that college students choose WhatsApp over other sites.

Use of Social Networking Sites for the Academic Purpose

Among the 900 respondents, 739 (or 82.11% of the total) utilised SNS mostly for academic purposes, as shown in table 3. The replies were grouped into seventeen categories to determine the academic goals of SNS: 1) Communicating with instructors and peers 2) Always be aware of what's happening in the world 3) Learn new things and improve your existing knowledge and wisdom 4) File, link, and document sharing 5) The process of gathering data in preparation for paper writing 6) Figure out how to fix questions and difficulties in the classroom 7. Take part in academic partnerships and work together to learn. 8) Taking in knowledge by reading literature, periodicals, and other sources 9) Purchasing articles, books, and newspapers 10) Take part in courses offered online eleven) Take part in scholarly debates and discussions that take place online 12. take part in webinars for academics Thirteen) Take part in various forms of assessment, such questionnaires and quizzes 14) Acquire more tech-savvy abilities 15) Learn more about the school year 16) Familiarise yourself with programmes offered by higher education institutions 17) Find out more about scholarship opportunities and educational workshops. Here is a table displaying the gathered responses:

Table 3: Use of SNS for the Academic Purpose by the Respondents (multi-response)

Table 3 shows that out of 900 respondents, the most common academic reasons for using SNS were for communicating with teachers and classmates (95.66 percent) and for staying updated on news and current events (94.33 percent), with 852 and 849 respondents, respectively, affirming these uses. Afterwards, 93.78 percent shared academic papers, links, and data; 93.33 percent took part in online courses; and 93.11 percent participated in academic partnerships and collaborative learning. 91.22% of the 821 people who took the survey said they gained new insights, ideas, information, and wisdom from social media. In addition, the results showed that 820 respondents (91.11 percent) utilised these sites to find out when classes were. The majority of the 809 respondents (89.89 percent) found out about college and university courses via social media. An significant academic objective for a high number of respondents (88.44 percent) was to find solutions to academic difficulties and problems using these internet vehicles. Finding out about educational seminars and scholarships (83.33 percent), gathering information for notes and articles (78.11 percent), reading books, newspapers, magazines, and other information (74.11 percent), and learning new digital literacy skills (66.78 percent) were among the other prominent reasons why the majority of respondents used SNS for academic purposes. Some of the most common academic uses of social networking sites were taking part in online academic debates and discussions (66.78 percent), academic surveys and quizzes (61.00 percent), and academic webinars (57.22 percent). While 44.33% of respondents used SNS to purchase books, articles, and newspapers, 44.81% used them to engage in academic question and problem solving, and 44.81% used them for other academic objectives.

Information technology (IT) has seen remarkable changes in the modern age. One of them is the rise of social media, which has profoundly altered the trajectory of the current generation's existence. Websites that facilitate the creation, maintenance, and maintenance of interpersonal connections are collectively known as social networking sites. The proliferation of these digital meeting places has the potential to revolutionise human existence in many ways, including the ease, speed, and accessibility of global communication. The reason why millions of people utilise this technology daily is because of this. On the other hand, among college students, its popularity and prevalence are on the rise. Students utilise these sites for a variety of reasons, including keeping in touch with friends and classmates, exchanging information and ideas, chatting, posting and uploading photos, expressing themselves emotionally, etc. This also applies to college students from Kashmir. College students in Kashmir utilise these sites more than anybody else. Some examples of the social media sites they frequent are Facebook, Myspace, WhatsApp, Instagram, YouTube, and many more. Some parents are blaming these sites for their children's poor academic performance, even though it's becoming more popular among college students because of all the perks it offers. Concerns regarding the impact of social media on college students' academic performance have arisen among educators, parents, and guardians due to the significance of academic performance—defined as students' attitude towards and performance on academic assignments—in shaping students' future success and self-esteem. Therefore, the purpose of this research was to find out how college students in Kashmir use social media and how it affects their study habits.