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An Overview of Social Media on the Academic Performance of University Students in Nigeria

1^AMADI, Eric Chikweru (Ph.D) & 2EWA, Cecilia Jabe

1Department of Educational Foundations, Faculty of Technical & Science Education, Rivers State University, Port Harcourt-Nigeria

2Department of Educational Foundations, Faculty of Technical & Science Education,

Rivers State University, Port Harcourt-Nigeria

* amadi.eric@ust.edu.ng; joesac2000@gmail.com; joesac2000@yahoo.com,+2348035452254

ABSTRACT

An overview of social media on the academic performance of university students in Nigeria is a

conceptual foray of the uses and gratification theory of the concept of social media and social

networking sites (SNSs) focusing on the positive and negative effects zeroing down on why students

make use of it. ,

Keywords: Social media, students , social networking sites, students

INTRODUCTION

The time displacement theory assumes that people have a limited amount of time to do a particular

thing (Mutz, Roberts & van Vuuren, 1993). Increased amounts of time on a particular activity will

displace other activities. According to Neuman (1991), when people increase the time they spend

online engaging in social and/or recreational activities, time sacrifices will have to be made in other

areas, such as time spent on studying, reading, and doing homework.

In terms of students‟ use of the internet, it has been opined that this displacement may happen because

the internet, which entertains young students with stimulating images as well as visual and auditory

effects, is more attractive and immediately gratifying than school-related activities (Kim, 2011).

Consequently, using the Internet will result in the displacement of academic activities, as television

once did, and will eventually decrease the students‟ academic achievement as held by Koshal, Koshal

& Gupta, (1996), Aderson, Huston, Schmitt, Linebarger, Wright, & Larson (2001), Shin (2004), and

Shejwal and Purayidathil (2006). Researchers have further reported that problematic Internet use

among adolescents brings negative outcomes in school performance, as well as to social skills

(Caplan, 2005). Therefore, it is anticipated that Nigerian university students‟ use of the social media

for educational purposes will positively affect their academic achievement, while their non-

educational use of social media, especially their recreational use, will negatively affect their academic

performance. This theory is thus relevant to this work as it will explain whether or not the time spent

by students on social media has any displacement effect on their studies and by extension, their

academic performance.

Uses and gratification theory: The Uses and Gratification Theory (UGT) is of the notion that there

are distinct benefits the media message consumers envisage to get from any medium they would

expose themselves to. Once the medium does not deliver to the people those purposes, needs and or

benefits they anticipate from the organ, the tendency is that they (the audience) will desert the very

channel or content that does not satisfy them. The import is that the media audience is not an „idle‟

soccer spectator that accepts what his football team plays: failure of a medium to satisfy the

audience‟s basic desire regularly will give them room to search for another medium (Ezeah et al,

International Journal of Innovative Information Systems

& Technology Research 6(1):1-14, Jan-Mar. 2018

© SEAHI PUBLICATIONS, 2018 www.seahipaj.org ISSN: 2467-8562

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2013). Thus, according to McQuail (2010), “the central question posed [by the theory] is: why do

people use media, and what do they use them for?”

While McQuail (2010) stated that the first research conducted on the uses and gratifications theory

“dates from the early 1940s, and focused on the reasons for the popular appeal of different radio

programmes, especially „soap operas‟ and quizzes”, however, it is generally agreed among scholars

that the theory as it stands today was developed by Katz, Blumler, and Gurevitch in 1974 (Weimer &

Dominick, 2011; Anjugu, 2013; Mehmood & Taswir, 2013).

The theory is applicable to this study because the students in the university communities usage of the

social media channels depends largely on the specific satisfaction they derive from them. Therefore,

this study focuses on ascertaining the purposes and the benefits which the new media serve for their

student-users that invariably sustain their usage. It presupposes that there are certain satisfactions the

new media provide to the students without which their usage would have been waned. This study shall

unearth the benefits or gratifications which the social media or the new media present to their teeming

number of student-users within the Rivers State University of Science and Technology.

Review of Concepts

This subhead reviews the following concepts: social media, social media for academic purposes,

academic performance, Rivers State University of Science and Technology, and effect of social media

on academic performance.

a. The Concept of Social Media: Social media has emerged as a term frequently used (and variously

defined) to describe different types of communication platforms and electronic ways of interacting

(Mozee, no date). Kaplan and Haenlein (2010) defined it as a group of internet – based applications

that build on the ideological and technological foundations of Web 2.0, allows the creation and

exchange of user- generated content and depend on mobile and Web based technologies to create

highly interactive platforms through which individuals and communities share, create, discuss and

modify user- generated content.

Bryer and Zavatarro (2011) saw it as “technologies that facilitate social interaction, make possible

collaboration, and enable deliberations across stakeholders”. Anjugu (2013) describes social media as

“a group of internet based application that allows the creation and exchange of users generated

content”, while Ezeah et al (2013) defines it as “modern interactive communication channels through

which people connect to one another, share ideas, experiences, pictures, messages and information of

common interest”.

Social media has been classified by Anjugu (2013) into:

Social Bookmarking – interact by tagging website and searching through website book

marked by others (Blink List, Simple);

Social News – interact by voting for articles and commenting on them (Digg, Propello).

Social Networking – interact by adding friends, commenting on photo and profiles, sharing

groups for discussions (Facebook, 2go, Blackberry Messenger chat);

Social Photo and Video Sharing – interact by sharing photos or videos and commenting on

the user submission (YouTube and Flicker); and

Wikis – interact by adding articles and editing existing articles (Wikipedia).

Social media is fast becoming very popular means of both interpersonal and public communication in

Nigeria and the world at large. As Daluba and Maxwell (2013) put it, “The traditional way of meeting

each other is long gone and now the world meets at social media websites”. What distinguishes social

media from the conventional means of communication is their interactive nature which allows the

audience to participate in it from any part of the world they reside. McQuail (2010) differentiates the

social media from the traditional mass media when he noted that “traditional mass communication

was essentially one-directional, while the new forms of communication are essentially interactive”.

This interactive aura of the new media confers an unprecedented popularity on them. Social media by

their nature have the capabilities of educating, informing, entertaining and „inflaming‟ the audience.

Above all, they possess a „contagious and outreaching influence‟ which the conventional media lack

(Ezeah et al, 2013). While generally, social media is a broad term which encompasses many websites

with social networking sites (SNSs) being just one example of social media websites (Tamayo &

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Cruz, 2014), this research is however primarily concerned with the use of social media through social

networking sites (SNSs).

b. Social networking sites (SNSs): Boyd and Ellison (2007) defined Social Networking Sites as

“web-based services that allow individuals to (1) construct a public or semi-public profile within a

bounded system, (2) articulate a list of other users with whom they share a connection, and (3) view

and traverse their list of connections and those made by others within the system”. Ahmed and Qazi

(2011) state that the first official social networking site was Classmates.com launched in 1995 to

provide students with a means of connecting during or after graduation from school.

Boyd and Ellison (2007) however, while recognizing that classmates.com was created in 1995,

pointed out that given their definition of social networking sites as quoted above, “the first

recognizable social network site” was SixDegrees.com launched in 1997. It was the „first‟ because it

allowed users to create profiles, list their friends and surf friends lists which classmates.com could not

permit as at when it was created. According to Ahmed and Qazi (2011): “After it [Classmates.com], SixDegree.com was created in 1997 leading towards the chain of

emergence of Cyworld (2001), Friendster (2002), Skyblog (2002), Orkut (2004), Myspace

(2005), Yahoo 360 (2005), Twitter (2006) and Facebook (2006). There is an availability of

over 100 social networking online connecting millions of users, that is, 500 million members

on Facebook; 130 million members on MySpace.com; 75 million members on Linkedin.com;

90 million members on Friendster.com; over 10 million users on Stumbleupon.com;

Orkut.com with membership of 100 million users; 50 million members on Classmates.com; 2

million members on Meetup.com; Xanga.com with 27 million members; Care2.com with

Over 9 million members; Ryze.com with 500, 000 members and so on” (p.5023).

The researchers also reported that internet users who visit SNSs or any blogging site comprise two-

third of world‟s internet users consuming about 10% of the whole time spent on internet and accounts

for 65% of internet usage. Similarly, 44% of the America‟s Internet traffic accounts for social

networking sites usage. The 20 most-visited social networking Web sites have more than 145 million

users (Ahmed & Qazi, 2011).

The same trend has been reported in Nigeria. While Ahmad (2014) noted that as at 2007, the number

of Nigerians on all social networking sites was below 40, 000, however, in 2009 and 2010, there were

212,000 and 657,360 Facebook users respectively who indicated Nigeria: almost 53% increase and

more than 60% indicated they were students. The author, relying on data from the Internet World

Statistics, stated that in 2014, there were not less than 6,630,200 Nigerian Facebook users. Given the

popularity of social networking sites among young people especially, there have been moves to

incorporate it in the educational process.

c. Social media for academic purposes: Social media is generally used on a regular basis by millions

of people across the globe for different reasons. A big portion of social media users is made up of

youths where most of them are college students. In fact, a recent survey of 3000 students from across

the US shows that 90% of college students use Facebook and 37% use Twitter (Dahlstrom et al.,

2011). Given the popularity of social media, a number of universities are using them as marketing

program and as a means of communication with current and prospective students and also the alumni.

University professors are embracing the social media for effective discussions and dealing with their

students in matters relating to academics and improving learning benefits through better

communication within and outside the classes (Al-rahmi et al., 2014).

Studies have shown that Facebook is the most popular social tool used where 85 to 99% of college

students use it for different purposes (Hargittai, 2008; Jones & Fox, 2009; Matney & Borland, 2009).

On this basis, curriculum developers have been examining the learning environments and different

activities with the aim of internationalizing learning and teaching in the way that will recognize and

respect and also usefully engage the ethnic and cultural diversity of students. Social media

communication and collaborative technology capabilities such as threaded bulletin boards are used to

support internationalized teaching and learning and have been found to be effective in this case

(Leask, 2004). The value of interactive social media technologies in high institutions of learning is

now recognized in the way that teaching and learning strategies is in an increasingly globalized

process (Gray, Chang & Kennedy, 2010). One of the most commonly cited benefits of social media

by scholars is their ability to facilitate collaborative learning and communication among peers and

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with people outside academia (Collins & Hide, 2010; Rowlands, Nicholas, Russell, Canty &

Watkinson, 2011).

Another frequently reported advantage of social networking is its remarkable ability to facilitate

information distribution. Among the examples include blogging tools which are used by many

students to disseminate information within their area, their peers and also to everyone globally

(Bukvova, Kalb & Schoop, 2010; Luzon, 2009). The ability to explore unasked questions inside a less

formal atmosphere, getting a strong voice through web technology, and getting a location to go over

issues within an open, public format are other provisions of social media (Kirkup, 2010). Other than

communication, scholarly Twitter users cite information distribution among the primary advantages

of social networking and have proven to become popular especially in academic conferences

(Letierce, Passant, Breslin & Decker, 2010; Ross, Terras, Warwick & Welsh, 2011).

Social networking is playing a big role in boosting academic like in social sciences and in education

systems as a whole. Many studies have addressed different aspects of using social networking at

various academic and social levels. Social media may be applied by schools in various ways, like the

Facebook was recommended as a way of communication for getting together with students (Mack,

2007).

Undergraduate students of IT attest that social networking has continuously improved their academic

success from 2007 to 2010 (Smith & Caruso, 2010). Most students in higher institutions of learning

wish their institutions alter their means of communication to social networks for strengthening class

instruction because it is where they spend most of the time. Social media usage enhances educational

access and interaction and it fills the learning gap informally between students and the instructors

(Bull, Thompson, Searson, Garofalo, Park, Young & Lee, 2008).

Integrating social media for both entertainment and learning is common among students in higher

level of education. College students use various social media applications to the extent that it is now

an indispensable part of their everyday life for personal and learning purposes (Cao & Hong, 2011;

Dahlstrom, 2012). Mobile technologies and smart phones interweave social media in their palms and

at their simple and customized command (Dahlstrom, 2012).

Many academicians have a fear that time spent on social media is beyond the required time, this may

lead to plagiarism and privacy issues and in most cases contribute minimally to actual student learning

outcomes. They often view the using social media as superfluous or simply not conducive for better

learning outcomes (Moran, Seaman, & Tinti-Kane, 2012). Studies have proved that most students

invest time and efforts on social networks in building relationships around on shared interests and on

same grounds (Maloney, 2007). It has convinced some experts in education that to incorporate social

media towards the conventional interaction and dialogue between students and teachers simplifies

most of the difficulties used to be in education. Some students even welcome the capability of social

media services to provide teachers a forum for simple networking and positive networking with

students.

There are however challenges attendant upon the use of social media for educational purposes. It has

been reported that one of the problems associated with using social networking sites for scientific

studies is the possibility of students spending a lot of time on them and denying other important

aspects the time they deserve (Rowlands et al., 2011). Rithika and Selvarag (2013) also pointed out

that though social media can increase student learning through student interactions, challenges arise

when social media are incorporated into an academic course.

The assumption that students are familiar with and agreeable to using certain types of social media

can cause educators to inadvertently fail to provide the resources or encouragement necessary to

support student usage and learning. When social media is used for an educational purpose, students

incorporate the technology into their lives in a way that may differ from the intentions of the course

instructor. For example, off-topic or non-academic discussions occur on social media because of its

primary design as a social networking tool. Further, as a student‟s age increases, the frequency of off-

topic discussions also increases. This indicates that while social media may encourage broader

discussions of course content, older students may spend more time than younger students engaging in

unrelated discussions.

Notwithstanding, the key advantage of using social media to aid learning and teaching can only be

fully achieved with the existence of clear rules that stipulate the dos and don‟ts so as to ensure that

whatever students engage in are aimed at gaining the educational benefits of social media (Rutherford,

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2010). In most cases the prospective benefits have been achieved where institutions of higher learning

regulate to a certain level the use of social media (Kear, 2011). However, due to the rapid growth of

usage of social media many institutions of learning have not created strategies for using social media:

this is dangerous and should be revisited.

d. Effects of social media on academic performance: It is generally agreed that social media has

both positive and negative effects on the academic performance of students across the world:

Positive effects: Eke et al (2014) has noted the following positive impacts of social media on

the academics of students:

i. Web engagement: In a word where online engagement is important for businesses, students

are becoming experts at developing a sense of internet presence. Not only do they know how

to interact with others on the internet, they know how to use basic and even complex

functions in order to do so. Thus, students use social networking sites to interact with their

peers and even teachers about class-related subjects.

ii. Informal knowledge and skill: Social Networking sites can facilitate learning and skill

development outside formal learning environments by supporting peer- to peer learning, skills

collaboration and diverse cultural expression. The knowledge and skill young people are

learning through SNSs are directly relevant to the „participatory web‟ in which „user

generated content is now integral in a rapidly developing online business model that

capitalizes on the social networks, creativity and knowledge of its users; and this means that

new business models are expected to emerge.

iii. Education: Social networking sites help in schools and universities programmes. Such social

networking sites for example, blogs help to leverage or complement formal educational

activities and enhancing outcomes. SNSs are also used to extend opportunities for formal

learning across geographical contexts. Thus, social media can enhance the interactions of

marginalized young people with their teacher and increase their confidence in educational

activities.

iv. Individual identify and self-expression: Because SNSs are essentially flexible and designed to

promote individual customization , they are used to experiment as well as find legitimacy for

their political, cultural or sexual identity. Social networking sites can provide users with a

space to work out identity and status, make sense of cultural cues, negotiate public life and

increase user‟s sense of personal belonging. This sense of personal belonging and identity has

been positively correlated with academic performance.

v. Strengthening interpersonal relationships: generally, studies have found that having positive

interpersonal relationships is an important predictor of wellbeing. Social media by and large,

has been found to strengthen individual interpersonal relationships. Email, instant messaging

and social networking can address new barriers people may face to forming and maintaining

public places together, limited transport to get there, and time free of structured activities such

as school and sport.

Negative effects: Social media has been noted to have some negative effects on students‟

academics:

i. Displacement effect on academic activities: since majority of students use social networking

sites socializing purposes, they therefore tend to spend more time for socializing rather

than learning. Thus, excessive use of SNSs reduces student‟s academic performance since

time meant for studies is used on non-academic issues like chatting and making friends

(Salvation &Adzharuddin 2014).

ii. Psychological disorders and health problems: anxiety, depression, poor eating habits, and

lack of physical exercise; increasingly short attention spans and subverted higher-order

reasoning skills such as concentration, persistence, and analytical reasoning among

frequent users of social media; a tendency to overestimate one‟s ability to multi-task and

manage projects; and technology being seen as a substitute for the analytical reasoning

process. Collectively, these play roles in a student‟s educational process to various

degrees and at various times (Mozee, no date).

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Review of Empirical Studies

There is a tremendous body of growing literature on the effect of social media on the academic

performance of students across the world (Hargittai & Hsieh, 2010; Salvation & Adzharuddin, 2014).

While some of these studies (Kirschner & Karpinski, 2010; Shah et al., 2012) have only examined the

subject within the context of specific social media like Facebook, other studies (Anjugu, 2013;

Okereke & Oghenetega, 2014) have however studied the subject holistically. Given the fact that some

of these studies overlap, it will be most appropriate to review them under separate headings vis-a-vis

the research questions for clarity purposes following the organisation of study review along the line of

the research objectives as recommended by Nwankwo (2006).

(a) Why students make use of social media:

Studies across the world show that young people, and indeed, university/college students make use of

social media. Over the years, researches have sought to figure out the purposes behind students‟ use

of social media. McLoughlin and Lee (2008) asserted that online social networks allow learners to

access peers, experts, and the wider community in ways that enable reflective, self-directed learning.

Joinson (2008) provided a list of factors that motivate people to join online social networks that

included social connection, shared identities, content, social investigating, social network surfing, and

status updating. Similarly, Kimberly, Charles, Nicole, Sittie, Gemeile and Ikka (2009) argued that the

involvement of a student in activities such as making friends on online social networks should be seen

as a way of having access to up-to-date information that can be channeled towards improving

academic performance which they described as how students cope with or accomplish different tasks

given to them by their teachers. Santos, Hammond, Durli and Chou (2009) studied students in

Singapore and Brazil, and discovered that many of the Brazilian students used online social networks

to socialize and discuss their studies while the Singaporean students used them for social interactions

only.

Mehmood and Taswir (2013) in “The effects of social networking sites on the academic performance

of students in College of Applied Sciences, Nizwa, Oman” found that students use social media for:

downloading/uploading music/video, posting photos, chatting, blogging, creating polls/quizzes,

submitting articles to website and communication with teachers/class. Thus, while the first three are

basically for entertainment purposes, the last three however, are for academic purposes. The

researchers therefore pointed out: “This reflects that SNS were used by students for entertainment

mostly and less for educational purposes. While most students used social networks for entertainment

purposes, 72 % agreed that they used to social networks while working on classroom

assignments…This high score indicates that students find social networks helpful in getting guidance

and information related to their subject”. Helou and Ab.rahim (2014) studying the subject in the

context of Malaysian university students also found that students use social networking sites for

making friends, receiving and sending messages, chatting with friends, playing games, sharing files,

and communicating with supervisors or lecturers.

The same trend appears to be the case in Nigeria. Thus, Onyeka et al (2013) in "The effect of social

networking sites usage on the studies of Nigerian students" researched how the use of social media

affects students of tertiary institutions in Nigeria. 600 respondents were drawn from 3 tertiary

institutions from Adamawa State. One of the research questions was: “Why do students of tertiary

institutions use SNSs”. It was however found that students use social networking sites so as to: keep

in touch with others; while away time; maintain a sense of belonging; and to solve social problems.

Similarly, Ezeah et al (2013) in “Social media use among students of universities in South-East

Nigeria” found that Nigerian students use social media to watch movies, to expose themselves to

pornography, and for discussion of serious national issues like politics, economy and religion. Eke et

al (2014) in “The use of social networking sites among the undergraduate students of University of

Nigeria, Nsukka”, researched the use of social networking sites among the undergraduate students of

University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN). The study adopted the descriptive survey research design to

derive responses from a random sample of 150 undergraduate students of the university. Data was

collected from the subjects using questionnaire. The result of the study revealed that UNN students

use SNSs for the purpose of: communicating and interacting with friends; online learning; finding

friends online; leisure and personal socialization; searching for job; academic discussion and getting

study partners online; watching movies; connecting and interacting with business partners;

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communicating, mobilizing and organizing national issues like politics, economy and religious

matters; updating profile information.

In sum, it can be deduced from the empirical studies across the world that students use the social

networking sites for various reasons ranging from entertainment and communication to education and

socialization. Given these multiplicity of reasons why students use social media, studies have also

looked into the amount of time students invest in social media

b. Time spent by students on social media: Rosen (2009), quoted in Kirschner and Karpinski (2009,

p. 4) declared as follows about the modern generation of young people: "Welcome to the Net Generation. Born in the 1980s and 1990s, they spend their days

immersed in a “media diet” accumulating a fulltime job plus overtime devouring

entertainment, communication, and every form of electronic media. They are master

multitaskers, social networkers, electronic communicators and the first to rush to any new

technology. They were born surrounded by technology and with every passing year add more

tools to their electronic repertoire. They live in social networks such as Facebook, MySpace,

and Second Life gathering friends; they text more than they talk on the phone; and they

Twitter the night away often sleeping with their cell phones vibrating by their sides".

This clearly indicates that social media is part and parcel of youth life today. Thus, over the years,

scholars have examined how much time students invest in social media. Lin (2010) found that

majority of college students in the United States used SNSs at least one hour a day. Ahamed and Qazi

(2011) in a study of 6 universities in Pakistan, found that majority of the students spent 1-3 hours

daily on social networking sites. Tham (2011) in a study conducted at St. Cloud State University in

Minnesota found that, while both males and females spent time spent on SNSs, the said time however,

decreased as the age of the respondents increased and the results revealed that female college students

spent more time on SNSs than male students. Jagero and Muriithi (2013) in the context of students in

private universities in Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania, found that a majority of the students spent 30

minutes to 1 hr daily on social networking sites.

In Nigeria, Onyeka et al (2013) found that majority of university students in Adamawa State spent 2-4

hours daily on social networking sites, while Anjugu (2013) in a study of students of the University of

Abuja found that: “92 respondents (70.8%) spend 6 hours online, 30 respondents (23.1%) spend 4

hours online, 6 respondents (4.6%) spend 2 hours online, and 2 respondents (1.5%) spend 1 hour

online”. Akubugwo and Burke (2013) in the "Effect of social media on post graduate students during

academic lectures and library session: A case study of Salford University Manchester, United

Kingdom" examined the attitude of post graduate students to social media usage during academic

lectures and library session. The researchers randomly sampled and administered questionnaires on

120 students and interviewed six (6) students. After analyzing data quantitatively and qualitatively, it

was not only found that many students use social media especially Facebook, Myspace, and Twitter

during academic classes, but also that social media negatively impact on the students‟ academic

progress. It was thus concluded: "The study has shown that social media affects students performance during academic and

library session. It therefore suggest that University social media policy must be made

mandatory for every institution and remain implemented since findings from this study shows

that academic work is negatively affected. Software developers should create software that

could be used to control social media usage in the campus so that students will not lose their

primary aim of being in the University" (p.49).

Asemah et al (2013) examined the influence of social media on the academic performance of the

undergraduate students of Kogi State University, Nigeria. The study, anchored on social information

processing theory and media equation theory, adopted a survey method, employing a questionnaire as

an instrument of data collection. The study found that social media has a negative effect on the

academic performance of Nigerian students in that students: spend more time on social media than

reading their books; rely on social media to do their assignments without consulting other sources;

who spend more time on social media are likely to perform poorly in their academic activities than

those who do not.

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Iorliam and Ode (2014) in “The impact of social network usage on university students academic

performance: a case study of Benue State University Makurdi, Nigeria”, sampled 1,596 students,

focusing on three key impact areas: the time spent on social media, the frequency of visiting social

media and the relationship between the volume of social friends and a student‟s academic

performance. Correlation and regression analyses were used to determine and measure the extent to

which the three variables were related to students‟ CGPA and it was found that the time spent on

social media, the frequency of visit and the total number of online friends has a statistically significant

relationship with a student‟s academic performance. The researchers therefore recommended that

access to social media should be restricted and controlled, and the idle time should rather be

channeled into studying: “In examining the amount of time spent by those using social media, 402 of the 1596

respondents indicated they spent less than one hour per day; and 258 of the 1596 respondents

indicated they spent between one to two hours per day using social media. Overwhelmingly,

750 respondents representing 47% of the respondents revealed that they were always active.

This is made possible by the sophisticated handheld devices that are connected to the internet

24 hours a day” (p. 276).

Given the amount of time invested by university students on social media across the world, studies

have directly studied its possible effect on students‟ grade.

(a) Social media and students grades: Since the rise of social media in recent times, studies have

sought to determine its possible effects on students‟ academic grades. Studies on the subject may be

grouped into three:

a. those who claim that social media positively affects students‟ grades;

b. those who claim that social media negatively affects students‟ grades; and

c. those who claim that the nature of the effect largely depends on the user and the intensity

of usage.

Researchers across the world have found a positive relationship between use of internet/social media

and the academic performance of student users. Thus, students using internet more were found to

score higher on reading skills test and had higher grades as well (Ahmed & Qazi, 2011). Pasek,

Kenski, Romer and Jamieson (2006) not only found that Facebook usage is not directly associated

with lower grades of the students as reported in some studies, but also that Facebook users score

higher grades. No association was found between GPAs of student users and Facebook usage in a

study conducted by Kolek and Saunders (2008). Social networking sites have even been found to

provide a rich mean of interaction between teachers and students (Roblyer, McDaniel, Webb,Herman

& Witty, 2010).

Onuoha and Shaeed (2011) in “Perceived influence of online social networks on academic

performance: a study of undergraduates in selected universities in Ogun State, Nigeria”, investigated

the perceived influence of online social networks on undergraduates‟ academic performance using

data from a descriptive survey of 402 respondents from Babcock University, Federal University of

Agriculture Abeokuta, and Olabisi Onanbanjo University. Data collected were analysed using

frequency and percentage counts. Results revealed that majority of the respondents make use of online

social networks even though motivation for use is more for social interaction than academic purposes.

Most of the respondents, however, agreed that the use of online social networks have positive

influence on their academic performance.

Mehmood and Taswir (2013) investigated pedagogical impacts of social networking sites on the

linguistic and social behaviours of undergraduate students at the College of Applied Sciences, Nizwa,

Oman. The study on the whole, found positive effects of social media on the academics of Oman

students and concluded: " ...students have started using social networks for academic purposes. While some students perceived

SNS as a distraction and were hesitant to share their feelings, a high percentage of respondents found it

an avenue to search for information, join educational networks and look for career opportunities. The use

of SNS gave them a sense of belonging to an academic community, as their online friends were mostly

those who they met in college. Two step flow interactions, student to student and teacher to student

favored academic learning through social networks... The beneficial results of this campaign and the uses

and gratifications highlighted in this study, shows social networks as a significant influence in the

academic performance of students. Yet the use of these networks has to be disciplined as it can lead to

distraction from education".

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Morallo (2014) in the effects of social networking sites on students' academic performance in Lyceum

of the Philippines- Laguna, found a statistically significant positive relationship between time spent

by students on SNSs and their academic performance and that the higher the time spent on SNSs

showed the lower is the time spent on studying. Hence, correlation analysis showed an inverse

relationship between the GPA and the number of SNSs accounts being maintained by the students, the

frequency of SNSs use, since when they have SNSs, length of SNSs use, and the number of study

hours. The results revealed that as these mentioned variables increases, the GPA also increases,

showing that SNSs had made a contribution in the attainment of higher grades. However, such

relationships are not significant. Therefore, the study found that SNSs usage had no significant

relationship on student academic performance. The improvement in the grade relies on other factors

within the teaching-learning process and thus could not be attributed to the use of SNS alone.

Helou and Rahim (2014) in “The influence of social networking sites on students’ academic

performance in Malaysia”, found that:

"Most of the students are engage[d] in the use of SNSs for socializing activities rather than for

academic purposes. However, most of the respondents do feel that SNSs have a positive

impact on their academic performance, due to the fact that SNSs can be used for various

academic activities such as communicating with the faculty and university authorities,

communicating with lecturers and supervisors, discussing academic topics with classmates

and chatting with friends on topics of educational interest. Meanwhile, the negative impacts of

SNSs on their academic performance are considerably low. Therefore, based on the positive

preliminary findings of this study, universities and other academic institutions could take

advantage of the popularity and positive impact of SNSs to formally incorporate their use in

the teaching and learning process." (p. 251).

On the other side of the scale, other studies have found that social media negatively affects students

grades. Thus, Boogart and Robert (2006) declared that use of SNSs has detrimental impacts on

academic performance of student users. Similarly, Banquil and Burce (2009) cited in Ahmed and Qazi

(2011) found a continuing drop of grades among student users of social networking sites, while

Grabmeier (2009) observed lower GPAs among students who log in any SNS. Some researchers have

also looked at specific social networking site, Facebook, and its impacts on students‟ grades. Thus,

Karpinski (2009) found that Facebook usage is negatively correlated with collegiate grade point

averages (CGPAs) of its users. He observed that CGPAs range 3.5 - 4.0 for non users but lesser for

users i.e. 3.0 - 3.5. But the most interesting finding was that 79% Facebook users denied having any

adverse impact of this usage on their CGPAs. It means they are not even aware of the fact that their

networking habits are affecting their academic performance. The researcher also found that among

various unique distractions of every generation, Facebook has been proved as the major distraction of

current generation. Kirschner and Karpinski (2009) stated that Facebook users devoted lesser time to

their studies than the non users did and subsequently had lower GPAs. In the same vein, while

Wilson (2009) proposed that university results are harmfully affected by Facebook usage, Khan

(2009) found that Facebook users had poor performance in exams.

Thuseethan and Kuhanesan (no date) in “The influence of Facebook in academic performance of Sri

Lankan university students”, concluded thus: “The study found the correlation between social media usage and academic performance. Most

of the heavy or frequent users received low grades, compared to light users. We found similar

results with lower grades. By considering Test Cases there is a significant difference in Grade

Point Average between those considered to be heavy or frequent users of social media and

those considered to be light or occasional users. As we employ more time on Facebook, a

significant performance decrement should be there. The results of our study indicate that time

and the frequency of using Facebook were predictors of academic performance. In addition, it

could predict the quality of life as well” (sub-head v.).

In analysing the subject in the Philippines, Tamayo and Cruz (2014) studied the relationship between

social media and the academic performance of the students of Bachelor of Science in information

technology at Centro Escolar University-Malolos, Philippines. 138 respondents were sampled using a

stratified random sampling. After correlating students‟ preliminary and mid-term average and the

frequency of their use of social media using Pearson (r), it was found that there is significant

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relationship between social media and the academic performance of students of the university. It was

thus concluded: "1. That more than 50% of the respondents performed below satisfactorily at school. Students

diversion from school activities to social media usage largely affect their academic

performance. 2. Based on the results of the study, using social media has effect on student‟s

academic performance. Students who participated in the study rarely participate on class

activities, perform well on [sic: in] class and attend class regularly." (p. 9).

In the context of the Nigerian university students, Enikuomehin (2011) in “ICT, CGPA: consequences

of social networks in an internet driven learning society” evaluated the effect of the use of social

networks on the Cumulative Grade Point Average (CGPA) of students of the Lagos State University,

Nigeria. Using a survey method, the study sampled 1, 860 students who provided information about

their current and last CGPA as well as the amount of time they spent social media. An adverse effect

was found: combining social media exploration with real studying leads to lower CGPA of student

users: "It can be concluded that most of the students cannot get CGPA above 3.50 because they [are]

often wasting their [time] on social networking sites. It further shows that lower grades are

some effects of social network since the time spent could have been invested on home work

and assignments which all contribute to higher grade... Our study points to lower grade due to

the prevalence of less studying time and more Facebooking time: non-users had GPAs

between 2.5 and 4.0. A correlation between the time spent and the GPA is directly deduced."

(pp.13, 14).

An undergraduate project work by Anjugu (2013) “Impact of social media on students academic

performance (a study of students of the University of Abuja)”, adopted a survey method and sampled

150 students from four faculties in the University. On administering questionnaires and analysing data

elicited therefrom, it was found that: majority of the students used 2go and Blackberry Messenger

(BBM) chat very often than any other social networking sites, spent within the range of 6 hours daily

on social media, browse more on entertainment than educational issues, and believe that social media

has negatively affected their academic performance though without specifying the exact nature of the

'negative' effect whether in terms of time spent, distractions or grades.

Okereke and Oghenetega (2014) in "The impact of social media on the academic performance of

university students in Nigeria" analysed the subject in the context of Nigerian universities.

Purposively sampling 100 undergraduates drawn from Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Delta State

University, Madonna University, and Anambra State University, the scholars adopted the causal-

comparative research design. It was found social media has negative effects on the academics of the

students as the majority of the students: use social media for non-academic purposes and perceive that

social media use leads to low academic performance.

These negative impacts of social networking sites on students‟ grades have been noted to be related to

addictive use of SNSs. This appears to be the reason why Englander, Terregrossa and Wang (2010)

found that internet usage is negatively associated with academic performance of student users which

is in tandem with Nalwa and Anand (2003) proposal that addicted internet users prefer using the

internet to set back their personal and professional responsibilities and this ultimately leads to poor

academic performance.

Still, another set of studies have found that the said positive or negative effects are not automatic, but

largely depends on the individual user and how well students can manage their academic

responsibilities despite making use of social media. Hence, Ahmed and Qazi (2011) observed that: “A

student, who fulfills his study requirements effectively, does not face any drop of grades that is why

SNSs usage does not affect their academic performance adversely”. Kalra and Manani (2013) found

that “…students are managing their time efficiently and hence, use of Social Networking Sites does

not harm their academic performance. Findings suggested that despite of spending time on internet or

on using Social Networking Sites, and even with the personality differences students are efficient

enough for their studies that they do not face any deficiency in meeting their studies‟ requirements"

(ibid). Jagero and Muriithi (2013) also pointed out that, “An interesting conclusion has been drawn

on the basis of the findings of current study that students were managing their time efficiently and

hence, use of SNSs did not harm their academic achievement however" (ibid). And, the hypothesis

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that the frequent use of social networking sites by student of tertiary institutions in Mubi, Adamawa

State, Nigeria, has no effect on their studies was accepted at 5% level of significance by Onyeka et al

(2013).

Summary of the Review

The foregoing review of concepts and studies have shown most evidently that social media- as

exemplified by social networking sites- have both negative and positive effects on the academic

performance of students and the said effect largely depend on the general personality of the student-

user, the intensity of usage, and how well a student can balance social media use with academics.

While the foregoing has been demonstrated by research in various higher educational institutions

across the world, and indeed in many parts of Nigeria, there however appears to be no publicly-

available research work that has studied the subject within the context of the Rivers State University

of Science and Technology. This study therefore seeks to fill that scholarly void by examining the

effect of social media on the academic performance of students of the Rivers State University of

Science and Technology, Port Harcourt.

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