The Impact of Social Media on the Academic Development of Grade10 High

School Students
INTRODUCTION

Social media use is very popular amongst students as it provides them the freedom to do whatever they
want to do using social media. They can create and share the content, comment on anything they wish to,
connect and chat with their friends as well as make new friends. Social media can also be used as an
educational tool for learning amongst students. Students can connect with their professors or classmates
online, if they face any issue related to their studies. This will help them to connect with their teachers
and classmates in a new way providing flexibility in learning. However, there is also a darker side
associated with the social media use amongst students. Many students start losing concentration in studies
due to their addiction to social media use and this results in a fall in their overall academic performance.
Academics is a very important aspect of a student’s life. A good academic performance helps to build a
successful and secure future. However, social media has a ffected students’ focus towards learning in such
a way that it has started interfering with their educational performance and thus indirectly their future.
This report shall include a brief explanation of social media impact amongst students.

BODY

There are many effects associated with the social media use amongst students related to their academics.
Students can connect with various educational groups related to their field of study on social media and
easily access all the important and authentic information shared by others. They can also share some good
information they found out on such groups, which in turn will boost their confidence and this will help in
the learning process. Ability to form groups on social media enable professors to connect with the
students to share important instructions for the class as well as necessary study material for the students.
Students can also share their viewpoints, innovative ideas or even doubts related to studies with their
classmates and professors on these groups. This will help students to actively participate in such group
discussions and this in turn will help to improve their knowledge. Professors can also provide a link for
students to upload their homework or assignments on such study groups. All of this will save a lot of time
and effort of students which can be utilized for studying. Social media helps students to collaborate, if
they are working together on some group project. This helps them to communicate and exchange
information for the project easily, thus saving their energy and commute time that can be utilized for the
project work. Students use social media platform such as YouTube, which have millions of educational
videos, which help students to broaden their scope of knowledge as well as develop various other good
skills and talents. If students find some good and informative videos related to their studies, they can
share it with their friends or classmates who can benefit by watching them There are many students who
do not actively take part in class or group project discussions. Some of them do not prefer even face-to-
face communication with their classmates. Such students find it easy and comfortable to take part in
online study discussions on social media. Presently, there are many academic counsellors on social media
who can help students to solve their academic problems. Students also have exposure to contact experts or
refer to their blogs in various fields of study using social media, to gain proper information and
knowledge for their own field of study. This can help them to gain some real-world and actual knowledge,
which will increase their knowledge scope. Students can use social media platform like LinkedIn to
search for internships related to their field of study. This can help them gain practical knowledge, which
in turn may help in improving their academic performance. Students can also read various educational
blogs which can help to improve their knowledge and thus help their studies.As per Deng and Tavares
(2013), social media help students to think clearly and this helps them to make make wise decisions in
their day-to-day lives. As per the study conducted by Apeanti And Danso (2014), students felt that their
grades would be better if they can contact professors openly through social media to get their doubts
clarified. Yunus and Salehi (2012) pointed out that, social media use enhanced students’ vocabulary and
writing ability. Thus, it is clear that if used wisely for educational and constructive purposes, social media
can have positive influence on students’ academic performance. Despite the various positive e ffects that
social media can have, if not used properly and vigilantly it can also a ffect students’ academic
performance negatively. Many researches have shown that there is a close correlation between the use of
social media and degradation of overall academic performance of students. This means that, when a
student gets too involved with the use of social media, it a ffects his overall academic performance. Many
students use social media solely for social networking, chatting and just whiling away their time. This
wastes their study time and thus they are not able to complete their homework, assignments or projects on
time. This affects their studies which eventually hampers their GPA. Also, while studying, students keep
checking their social media accounts for new updates and notifications. This distracts them and results in
loss of concentration in studies which can a ffect their academic performance negatively.It has been
observed that social media use is prevalent even during lectures amongst students. They do not pay
attention to what is being taught and told in the class and instead chat with their friends on social
networks or waste time reading some unnecessary stu ff on social media. As a result, they might miss
some important information being shared in the class related to study, assignments or even exams. This
can affect their grades negatively. Social media has hampered students writing skills in such a way that
they tend to use short forms of words or phrases everywhere. For example: ‘k’ instead of ‘okay’, ‘coz’ or
‘cuz’ instead of because and so on. Use of such short forms in exams or assignments may not be
appropriate and can affect their grades negatively. Also, there are many students who only take part in
online class or group discussions on social media and do not prefer to have face-to-face communication
with their classmates or even professors. As a result, they may not develop good communication skills
and might even lack confidence to interact with their peers or lecturers in the class or in person. As they
will not be able to share their viewpoints with others in class or group discussions, they might end up
getting lower grades. Social media addiction poses many health issues. These issues include back pain
owing to the use of social media for a very long time in improper or wrong posture, irregular sleep
patterns, mood swings, continuous strain for eyes, mental stress and many more. These health issues
affect their effectiveness in studying and thus can cause a fall in grades. Also, excessive social media use
can lead to various mental health issues amongst students such as anxiety, depression, isolation from real
world as well as psychological problems. These issues can lead to loss of focus towards studies and
seriously affect their future. As per Paul, Baker and Cochran (2012), the time spent on social media was
dependent on the attention span of the students. Attention span is the amount of time for which students
can concentrate on their study without getting distracted. They found out that, higher the attention span,
lower is the time spent by students on social media. As per Junco (2011), time spent on Facebook was
very strongly negatively related to the overall GPA of the students. Kirschner and Karpinski (2010) found
out that, over indulgence with social media can affect students’ academic performance negatively.
CONCLUSION

Thus, it can be concluded that impact of social media on students’ academic performance is two-way.
This means that if used smartly and judiciously social media can have positive e ffect on academic
performance of students, while if used carelessly and without awareness, it can a ffect students’ overall
academic performance, thus endangering their future.The use of social media amongst students must be
moderate. They should be made fully aware of the di fference between the real world in which they are
living and the virtual world which they have created using social media. Students should know that the
virtual world on social media is not going to help them build a successful future, but good academic
performance will. This will help them to be more focussed and responsible towards their studies. Students
should try to create a balance between social media use and their studies, so that they do not get distracted
while studying. When using social media, students should try to use it more often for educational
purposes such as acquiring or sharing information, seeking help from friends, classmates or professors to
get their doubts clarified, collaborating with classmates for group tasks and so on. They must try to limit
the social media use for enjoyment purpose or just to waste their time. Hence, if used e ffectively for
constructive purposes such as learning or sharing information online, social media can prove to be a
helpful tool for students. On the other hand, excessive social media use for social networking or
entertainment can seriously negatively affect their academic performance