The Impact of Social Media-Shared Legal Information on the Academic

Preparation of Legal Management Students

A Research Paper
Presented to the Faculty of the College of Arts and Sciences
UNIVERSITY OF BATANGAS
Batangas City

In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for

Research Methodology

By:
Abarintos, Alyanna Louriz O.
Alilio, Joseph Andrei
Bondoc, Engelyn M.
Egar, Zoe Yzabel R.
Villena, Kirsten Jannika G.

LM3-1
 CHAPTER 1

THE PROBLEM AND ITS BACKGROUND

Introduction

The use of social media in education is commendable. It also aids in skill

improvement by fostering knowledge and creativity. Information sharing via social media

is a common practice among academics, as well as others, that brings substantial

benefits. Students' use of social media is unquestionably on the rise across five popular

social media technologies: social networking sites, micro-blogging sites, wikis, online

forums, and online blogs, is not only a way of interacting and sharing opinions that have

to do with friendship, common interests, beliefs, and businesses, etc. but it is also a

good facilitator and can significantly improve the academic performance of every

student specifically for Legal Management students. Nowadays, shared information is a

more reliable platform to target audiences in a timely manner. This is a result of the

wide user base and the rapid spread of information it affords to subscribed users

(Sjöberg, 2010, Wu and Pinsonneault, 2011). Social networking sites such as

Facebook, Tiktok, and YouTube, are mainly used to browse information. Microblogging

sites allow viewers to see and react to short messages. Wikis are typically websites

created to provide educational information. Online forums are discussion sites where

participants hold conversations that are posted to a discussion board.

In the current emerging world, the utilization of technologies such as social media

has become very influential and impactful amongst citizens of various age ranges. With

the surge of the pandemic in the previous years, people all over the world were forced
to home isolation tending to the use of non-contact interaction. This is where the use of

online platforms and social media comes in. Online education and schooling were

proposed to be the alternative due to the circumstances. In accordance with this, the

use of social media platforms among students for educational purposes, sharing

information, and learning new data has escalated. In this study the researchers aim to

determine the purpose of students in using social media shared legal information.

Social media technologies are computer-mediated communication technologies

that are typically used to connect people, as well as to produce and share user-

generated content (Lewis, 2010). It has exploded as a category of online discourse

where people create content, share it, bookmark it, and network at a prodigious rate.

Because of its ease of use, speed, and reach, social media is fast changing the public

discourse in society and setting trends and agendas in topics that range from the

environment and politics to technology and the entertainment industry (Asur and

Huberman, 2010). The evolution of social media and other technologies like Web 2.0 is

unprecedented (Lenhart, Purcell, Smith, and Zickuhr, 2010). Social media has become

an integral part of people’s lives as this technology enables people to network with

friends and associates, share photographs, generate content, and interact in games and

real-time conversations. Paul (2013) stated that the ever-increasing proliferation of

mobile technologies has increased the use of social media, more especially in

universities where the technology is transforming the way students communicate,

collaborate, interact, and learn.

Information is easily accessible in the day and age we live in. Despite the fact

that we are always surrounded by information. Millennials want to learn about a topic,
read about it, comprehend it, and then express their opinions. Social networking can be

useful in this situation. People can't avoid social media because it is one of the most

important things in our lives. It is a group of websites, programs, and other platforms

that let us exchange or produce information while also assisting with social networking.

A lot of useful tools are also offered by social media, which is not just used for blogging

and photo sharing. That is because the impact of social media is very high and far-

reaching.

Due to its user-friendly qualities, social media is a technology that is becoming

increasingly popular worldwide. Courtesy of social media sites like Facebook,

Instagram, Twitter, and others, people may now communicate with one another from a

distance. To put it another way, social media has opened up the entire world to us.

Young people in particular are one of the greatest segments using social media. You

might be perplexed as to how anything this potent and having such a wide-ranging

effect could possibly be entirely beneficial. As a result, different people have different

opinions on this touchy subject.

The utilization of social media to disseminate legal information has grown in

popularity among law students. According to research, distributing academic, or legal

information on personal social networking sites can help students in training achieve

greater amounts of academic and employment preparedness. Furthermore, studies

have found that people actively use social media to communicate details about school

crisis preparedness, which can have impacts on workplace education and healthcare

response. However, given recent controversies surrounding data privacy and the

misuse of personal information, it is critical for students as well as educators to be

conscious of the risks that could be linked to sharing legal information on social media

platforms.

Information-sharing activities have a strong connection with knowledge-sharing

activities. According to Ruggles, information sharing is an important element to support

knowledge management in the organization. This makes information-sharing activities

necessarily similar to knowledge-sharing activities. Wu et al. formulated knowledge-

sharing activities in social media in general that also apply to information-sharing

activities i.e. information seekers identifying information needs; sending questions

related to these needs in the form of messages on social media; comparing available

answers to needs; if not in accordance with the needs of the searcher will continue to

seek answer (Roch & Mosconi, 2019). Then, the answer will be shared with other users

on social media (Ruggles, 2019).

The use of social media has brought a significant change in the way people

consume and share legal information. Social media platforms such as Facebook,

Twitter, LinkedIn, and Instagram have become increasingly popular as a means of

sharing legal information among legal practitioners, academics, and students.

Legal professionals, including lawyers, judges, and legal scholars, often use social

media to share legal news, insights, and opinions on current legal issues. This is due to

the fact that these social media platforms reach a large number of people and are also

very easy to use.

Education professionals are also aware of the possible advantages associated

with integrating social media into their teaching methods in order to better equip

students for future jobs. Nonetheless, there are worries concerning students' improper
use of social media, such as unsuitable sharing of material and online harassment. In

order to address such worries, some educational institutions adopted policies that limit

the use of social media during class time and offer social media training workshops.

Social media, on the other hand, can be a useful tool for offering important legal

knowledge to school board directors and students.

Newer communication technologies have increased the possibilities for how

people can send and receive information. Social media are one such technology that

has seen increased usage as an information source (Pepitone, 2020). For example,

social media are being used to seek information about serious topics, such as

circulating up-to-the-minute information about cholera outbreaks in Haiti and identifying

clean water sources during this outbreak (Sutter, 2019).

The use of social media as a data source for academic purposes has a number

of potential advantages. It makes a variety of viewpoints and opinions available. Social

media platforms can give users access to a wide variety of viewpoints and ideas on

numerous academic subjects. This can deepen your knowledge of a subject and aid in

the development of a more well-rounded opinion. Engaging with peers and experts is

another possibility. Social networking can help you connect with academics in your field

of study and other students who share your interests. Discussions, partnerships, and

educational opportunities may result from this. Real-time news and updates are also

available.

Social media is used to share information. The information can be truthful,

untruthful, or an opinion of the writer. Truthful information can be difficult to ascertain,

but can most likely be found on the majority of national and local news profiles. Major
news publications have the burden to ensure the information they release is truthful and

accurate. News sources are also famous for printing a retraction in the case of false

information being released by the news source. Retractions are printed to gain (or

regain) the trust of followers. News sources are known for tracking down sources to

verify the authenticity of the information. Un-truthful information can be spread

purposely or accidentally. Untruthful information that is spread purposely can be done

as a satire or to instigate an emotional response. Un-truthful information is also spread

un-purposely by the thousands of users of social media. Social media users can share

information or spread the information that shows up on their news feed without checking

to ensure the information is accurate and truthful. Recent studies have shown that an

estimated 59 percent of social media users will share information without actually

reading an article but will share information based on the title alone. An opinion can be

disguised dangerously or spread as truthful when it is solely the opinion of the writer or

speaker.

Social media has the power to affect social change in society. Social media has

allowed thousands of people, if not millions, to have a voice and spread the information

that the user feels is relevant and important. Unfortunately, a side effect of giving so

many people a voice is the spread of false information disguised as truth. Information

passed by social media can change the belief of an individual or a group. In our most

recent Presidential election, both candidates had a very strong social media presence.

Social media is one such technology that has seen increased usage as an information

source (Pepitone, 2010). Social media are a general category of channels and

applications that highlight collaboration and working together to create and distribute
content. This collaboration not only consists of creating content together but also

discussing the content in an attempt to improve it collaboratively and to come to a

shared understanding of it. Thus, social media are built upon a fundamental

characteristic of Web 2.0: they are sites for harnessing collective intelligence (O'Reilly &

Battelle, 2009). Many examples of social media exist (e.g., Facebook, Youtube, Tiktok),

but one that holds great promise as a social medium for legal information today is

Facebook (www.facebook.com) as most of the content creators utilize different features

of the application such as the Facebook page, groups, live streaming and even group

chats.

In the study of Silver (2019), there are fields of risk and crisis communication that

have undergone a rapid transformation over the last 20 years. With the development of

the Internet, Web 2.0, and mobile phone applications, the traditional “expert-to-receiver”

model of communication has become largely outdated. Social media has allowed

citizens to actively engage in and contribute to crisis dialogues, thus becoming

influential content creators themselves. This chapter will explore the various strengths

and weaknesses of social media as a crisis communications tool. Issues of trust,

credibility, misinformation management, crowdsourcing, and public safety are also

explored. The chapter concludes with a discussion of social media and community

resilience. It is emphasized that social media can facilitate self-organization, information

seeking, and sharing and act as a platform for the psychosocial healing of survivors.

Accordingly, social media has the potential to positively influence community resilience

before, during, and after crises.

 According to Bruns (2019) the aftermath of the Cambridge Analytica controversy,

social media platform providers such as Facebook and Twitter have severely restricted

access to platform data via their Application Programming Interfaces (APIs). This has

had a particularly critical effect on the ability of social media researchers to investigate

phenomena such as abuse, hate speech, trolling, and disinformation campaigns, and to

hold the platforms to account for the role that their affordances and policies might play

in facilitating such dysfunction.

The use of social media sites for sharing information and engaging target

audiences have been shown to have positive outcomes. It is a powerful tool that plays

an important role to enhance the student’s knowledge and provide great opportunities to

connect and network with the legal community. In addition, it offers new and appealing

possibilities to students in terms of expression, collaboration, and participation in

powerful new ways. Social networking sites that are used by students have been more

effective and easier for their academic preparation. With the help of these sites,

students can easily look for legal information quickly.

Information found on the internet can be disseminated quickly whether it's factual

or not, not to mention how easy and accessible social networking sites or social media

are. It is expressed by various tools for content that represent their own personal

meaning, ideas, academic knowledge, and factual information, there are also cultural

items that are converted digitally by individuals and businesses in the industries that can

also help create and consume both tools and content. This shows that social media and

its exchanging content contain values that can also reference a broader area of topics,

in which individuals or organizations enable new knowledge and values. In the

academic sense, students have a wide variety of factual knowledge and information that

can develop and engage them through sharing, and collaborating. In this study, this

academic knowledge can be used and applied to learning, in these modern times it is

best to adapt different modes of educating that can heavily influence the students to a

greater learning curve. Along with the use of social media as a mode of learning, the

researchers studies the impact that it leaves on its student and whether or not it brings

more to the students and their academic preparedness. Usage of social media is made

to communicate not only with friends and family but also to be able to focus on the

current trends, lifestyles, politics, and the latest news. The accessibility of social media

to all people is like a double edge sword, it gives us real-time information and

knowledge which can also be helpful or not.

Researchers conducted this study to be able to determine the helpfulness and

impact of social media shared-legal information for legal management students on their

academic preparation. As defined by Gotian et al. (2019), regardless of academic risk or

performance, academic preparation is a proactive and developmental strategy that

emphasizes the development of lifelong learning abilities in all students in order to

promote their personal and professional development.

The profile on social media platforms is a digital representation of oneself,

showcasing personal information, interests, and social connections. It serves as the

initial point of contact for other users to connect, follow or engage with an individual or

business. (Ruggles, 2019) The goal of social media is to provide a virtual area for

individuals to communicate, share ideas, and connect with one another. The

significance of the profile to the objective of social media is significant since it allows
users to display themselves to the world and interact with people who share similar

interests or ambitions. A detailed and well-crafted profile can attract followers and help

the formation of lasting relationships. Furthermore, social media platforms leverage user

profiles to create tailored experiences, curate content, and target adverts, making a

well-defined profile an essential component of a successful social media strategy.

The impact of social media-shared legal information for academic purposes is an

important and timely research topic in the field of legal studies. With the rise of social

media and the increasing availability of legal information on these platforms, it is

important to understand how these platforms are affecting the way legal information is

disseminated and consumed for academic purposes.

The objective of this research is to examine the impact of social media-shared

legal information on academic research and scholarship. The study will explore how

social media platforms are being used to share legal information and how this

information is being utilized in academic settings. The research will also investigate the

advantages and disadvantages of using social media for legal research, as well as the

ethical and legal considerations associated with using social media for this purpose.

The findings of this research will contribute to a better understanding of the

impact of social media-shared legal information on academic research and scholarship.

This research will provide insights into how social media can be used effectively for

legal research and how it can be integrated into academic curricula. The research will

also provide guidance on the ethical and legal considerations associated with using

social media for legal research. Ultimately, this research will contribute to the
development of best practices for using social media for legal research in academic

settings.

Theoretical Framework

The Social Learning Theory (SLT), According to Bandura (1977), The

development of abilities that occur predominantly inside a social group is described by

the social learning theory. Individual learners, peers, and events may have an impact on

an individual's learning outcomes. Understanding two components of the work, namely

social media usage for educational purposes and academic performance, will be made

easier.

Based on the hypothesis, skills developed by tertiary students through their

regular use of social media for educational reasons are only learned among their peers

and within their surroundings. According to Bandura's Social Learning Theory, students

who use social media for educational reasons will gain skills and knowledge that will

help them improve their academic performance.

Applying this theory to the present study,

 Figure 1. Social Learning Theory by Albert Bandura

Figure 1.0 shows the theoretical framework of the study. Bandura’s Social Learning

Theory was applied in the study. Based on this theory, this will apply in the context of

our present study in relation to the variables of the study. Where it focuses on the

purpose of the social media usage of legal management students. In line with the

shared legal information and academic preparation of the students.

Statement of the Problem

1. What is the demographic profile of the respondents in terms of:

1.1 Age

1.2 Gender

1.3 Year Level

 1.4 The amount of time students spend utilizing social media

2. What social media legal forums are followed by the respondents?

3. What are the purpose of students in using social media shared-legal information?

4. How does social media-shared legal information impact the respondents’

academic preparation?

5. What is the relevance between the profile and the purpose of social media?

Scope, Limitation, and Delimitation of the Study

The scope of this study is focused on the impact of social media-shared legal

information on the academic preparation of legal management students. The study will

explore the types of legal information shared on social media and how they affect the

learning outcomes and performance of legal management students. The study will also

examine the perspectives and experiences of legal management students regarding the

use of social media for legal information and its impact on their academic preparation.

Furthermore, it also attempts to know the challenges that can be encountered in

doing so.

1. Content Relevance-The relevance of information plays a big role in the social

media sharing world. Studies have shown that students base on one's creator style of

presentation of ideas; whether if it is detailed, timely, understandable and concise. Their

goal is to deliver information and address the interests and concerns of their viewers.

And when the creator have addressed the interest, needs, and concerns of the
audience, they will consume and share them to other people who might need the

specific information in the future, making them establish their name and persona.

2. Reach- It is questionable to the people on how wide does Facebook, Tiktok

and Instagram content creators reach. It can be said that sometimes it can target the

audience that needs the following information. And when a content has a broader reach,

it can increase social proof by generating likes, shares, and comments. This can

improve the brand's reputation and credibility among its audience.

3. Strategy- For the few of the content creators in the law field, Atty. Cher on

Tiktok is one of the famous one that strongly appears on the For You page, her contents

mainly focuses on the comments on her videos which asks for a few legal advices or a

brief explanation of something that is related to law, with that, she became famous

because she helps the people in knowing the law with that way. Catchy thumbnail and

introduction-People tend to be attracted on something that has a huge impact on them

at a first glance or hearing. Those content creators utilizes technology with the use of

thumbnails and in order to have the viewers captivated, the creators must have an

encouraging tone, pace, and body language. The topics to be discussed must be clear

and truthful.

4. Validity- As laws, are amendable, the videos, infographics and other materials

used by the creators must be up-to-date to have the certain validity of the information

presented by them.

Likewise, this will be only limited to legal management students of universities in

Batangas. The study will only focus on social media platforms such as Facebook,

YouTube, and TikTok as sources of legal information. Other forms of media or sources
of legal information will not be included in the study. The study will also not cover the

legal implications of sharing legal information on social media or the accuracy of the

information shared.

Significance of the Study

This study is expected to prove and consider the impact and create conditions

that will motivate the use of social media to improve academic performance to the

following entities:

To the students. This study will help students that are still struggling to find

tenable strategies to improve academic performance using social media will find this

research useful. This is because it will provide valuable legal information regarding the

use of social media to improve students’ academic performance.

To educators. The study will underpin professional learning of knowledge, skills,

and understanding. connect you with sources of information and networks of

professional support.

To policymakers. This study will use this in various ways including instrumental,

conceptual, political, imposed and process uses.

To educational institutions. This study will aid the various academic institutions

of learning in improving their academic performances.

To indeed researchers. This study will support the investigation that will

uncover critical areas in the educational process that many researchers could not

explore.

To future researchers. This study will benefit and will serve as a

guide/reference for the students undertaking similar studies.

Definition of Terms

Academic Preparedness. Academic is connected with education, especially

studying in schools and universities (Oxford, 2023). While the state of being ready or

willing to do something (Oxford, 2023) is the definition of Preparedness. In this study,

the combination of both words Academic Preparedness means the degree to which a

student is prepared for a new learning and is based on both general academic

knowledge and specific knowledge within the learning area (Study, 2023). Academic

Preparedness refers to the impact of social media shared legal information and how

students utilize it to become equipped when it comes to learning.

Legal Advice. Professional advice provided by a lawyer (Oxford 2023). With the

rise of Social Media use, people nowadays also seek legal advice from it, to understand

what the law says and how the law constrains one's choice, in this study it looks at the

impact of the Internet as the media for receiving information and its impact on the

receiver.

Legal Forums. A forum that provides a medium for the adjudication of matters

relating to substantive issues of disagreement or legal action between two parties (Law

Insider, 2023). In this study, it is the social media platforms such as Tiktok, Youtube,

and Facebook are used to disseminate legal information.

Legal Information. Legal information is simply information that relates to a legal

issue. The purpose of legal information is to explain, in general terms, how a particular

aspect of the law is intended to work (Turtons Lawyers, 2023). In this study, Legal

Information is used to describe the Laws and Legislations that can be found and shared

on Social Media.
 Social media. Social is connected with activities in which people meet each

other for pleasure (Oxford, 2023), and Media are the main ways that large numbers of

people receive information and entertainment, that is television, radio, newspapers, and

the internet. In this study, Social Media are websites, software, or application programs

used for social networking (Oxford, 2023). It is the general term used to describe

internet networking sites in which legal information is shared and found.

Tiktok. Social media website for creating and sharing short personalized videos

(Oxford, 2023). In this study, Legal Information mostly in the form of Legal Advice or

simply facts about the laws can be made and shared in short-length videos in this Social

Media Application.

Youtube. A website where people can watch and share videos (Oxford, 2023). In

this study, Youtube is a platform where an influencer can upload a video and share

legal information and often in the form of lecture-based learning. In this study videos

shared on youtube usually contain Legal Information that prelaw or law students watch

and learn from.

Facebook. A very popular social media website (Oxford, 2023). Facebook is a

social media platform and an expressive and accessible social media that is also

famously known in the Philippines, it allows users to post, share, and comment. In this

study, such posts, shares, and comments may contain specific topics such as legal

information.
 CHAPTER 2

REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE AND STUDIES

This chapter provides an overview of previous research on knowledge, related

literature, and studies after the thorough and in-depth search done by the researchers.

It introduces the framework for the case study that comprises the main focus of the

study. The main purpose of the literature review work was to survey previous studies

and works. An appreciation of previous work in this area served three further purposes.
A range of secondary data sources served as the key bibliographic tools for identifying

relevant work for review. Relevant publications were found and a number of academic

domains with regard to the Impact of Social Media shared Legal Information and the

Academic Preparation of students.

RELATED LITERATURE

Social Media Forums

The rise of social software provides new avenues and new opportunities for

increased participation and collaboration and an opportunity to change the way people

learn (Parker & Chao, 2019). The participatory web, including social networking sites

such as Facebook and content-sharing sites such as YouTube and Flickr, allows

individuals to establish or maintain connections with others, establish their social

networks, and share information in the form of wikis, blogs, tweets, podcasts, video,

RSS feeds, and more (McCarthy, 2020). Social media has been defined in different

ways. For this study, the definition advanced by Bryer and Zavatarro (2018, p. 327) will

be used: “Social media are technologies that facilitate social interaction, make possible

collaboration, and enable deliberation across stakeholders. These technologies include

blogs, wikis, media (audio, photo, video, text) sharing tools, networking platforms

(including Facebook), and virtual worlds.” Over the years, social networking among

college students has become more and more popular. It is a way to make connections,

not only on campus but with friends outside of school. Social networking is a way that

helps many people feel as though they belong to a community.

 A key feature of our social media plan involved ensuring ease-of-use of the social

media tools we selected. We took into account the Centers for Disease Control and

Prevention recommendations for developing health communications and specifically for

engaging stakeholders through social media platforms that suggested blogs and

Facebook for our target audiences. We developed a WordPress blog but chose to also

use Twitter based on our Mayo Clinic Social Media Network’s experience with engaging

providers, researchers, and patients at our institution on health topics through this

platform. Blogs and Twitter forums have been successful elsewhere in connecting

patients, physicians, and other healthcare providers, patient and family advocacy

groups, and researchers to discuss topics of interest (Sotto et al., 2019).

The social media integration framework provided the conceptual basis for

developing the blog and Twitter social media platforms. Based on this conceptual

framework, social media changes the traditional communication process through (1)

exposure, (2) feedback, (3) connection, and (4) exchange. Exposure involves providing

information to users—a blog posting by a researcher about an upcoming community

outreach event, for example. While exposure begins the process of engagement, it is

limited to single one-way sources of communication typical of Web 1.0 technologies.

Feedback involves two-way communication such as a community representative

responding or commenting on a researcher’s blog posting based on past experiences,

opinions, and perceptions. Connection involves new users dialoguing with one another

(ie, third parties) through, for example, tweets and retweets. Finally, an exchange

involves sharing through the posting of pictures, stories, testimonials, videos, podcasts,

and other forms of media based on user or consumer-generated content. Sharing

through stories or testimonies has been found to enhance the emotional engagement

and attentional focus of social media users. The processes of connection and exchange

promote the sustainability of social media platforms.

Platforms are online services that "host and organize user content for public

distribution without having produced or commissioned it" (Heldt, 2020). Platforms are

also known as intermediaries because they do not create content but instead monitor

and control the content created by their users. This ecosystem is unique and complex

because of the combination of intermediaries who connect users with one another and

users who become "producers" of the platform's content. Traditional media facilitates

public discourse by providing curated content that sparks discussion among the

audience. Although print media will occasionally allow letters to the editor,

communication remains a one-way street. Anyone, anywhere can react, comment,

share, and discuss via social media platforms.

The article Foundation for Media Alternatives stated that social media serves as

the Internet to the majority of Filipino online users. Over 80% of the Philippine Internet

population uses social media. In Universal McCann’s 2008 Wave 3 study on social

media, the Philippines has the highest penetration of social networking among Internet

users at 83%, compared with the global average of 58%. Among the available social

media platforms, Filipino online users prefer using Facebook over Twitter, Tumbler, and

Pinterest among others, with 92% having profiles and with women as the most active

users. For Filipino online users, Facebook is the easiest and cheapest to access. Mobile

networks in the Philippines offer it for free as a package for data plan or as an incentive

for subscribing to their network.

 Social media are often characterized by less definitive boundaries between non-

political and political activities, in that way lowering the pathway to a legitimate political

discourse. The development levels of the political discourse in the online political world

like, interaction, production, and collective action, as the majority of social interaction in

social media, simultaneously engages in political information and interaction, while few

are engaged in production and collective action. The study provides limited support to

the idea that lowering the pathway of social media promotes patterns of tune-in and

tune-out political engagement over time. Furthermore, social interaction in social media

has clear effects on online political engagement beyond political socialization and

motivation factors. (Ekström and Shehata 2016)

Social Media Usage

Social Media is a media that allows users to meet online via the internet,

communicate in social forums like Facebook, Twitter, etc., and other chat sites, where

users generally socialize by sharing news, photos or ideas and thoughts, or respond to

issues and other contents with other people. Common examples of social media are the

popular social networking sites like Facebook, Myspace, Youtube, Flicker, etc. Social

Media is an interactive media format that allows users to interact with each other as well

as send and receive content from and to each other generally by means of the Internet

(Ito et al., 2019).

Rapid improvement in smart mobile devices means that most people use social

networking sites day by day. The major impact of social networking sites can change

people’s lifestyles. With smartphones and other mobile devices, social networking sites
are a communication tool used by so many people. That function also changes users’

habits (Grant et al., 2020). Thanks to social networking sites, users communicate with

other users instantly and they are able to share their ideas. When introduced initially in

1997 with SixDegrees, social networking sites improved their functions day by day and

users could communicate and share their interests (Gruzd et al., 2020). After the impact

of social networking sites such as Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, LinkedIn, and

Academia, etc. users have shown strong demand. According to research social

networking sites could inquire users about their needs in order to improve their service

(Bala et al., 2019). In that environment, not only the users’ knowledge but also their

ability to share files, share news, videos, audio, status, events, etc. might be improved.

According to the results, students use social networking the most for instant

communication with their friends. The findings show that in this era social networks are

our fastest communications tools. On the other hand, students prefer to use social

networking to view the status of their friends, share photos, like and comment on

photos, and follow the latest news. We could say that students’ interest to learn about

their friends’ lifestyles is an important factor and they use social networks to understand

what is going on in the world. All of these are important reasons, as well as students

use social networks to learn about new information and events. Check-in and file

sharing were not the main reasons for using social networks. Findings indicate that

students do not use social networks for educational purposes, to find new friends, and

to be members of groups, or follow famous people. In conclusion, their main reason for

using social network sites is instant contact with other friends (Bicen, 2019).
 According to (Manca, 2020), Even though social media were not designed

primarily for education, they are rapidly being used in formal learning environments.

While highly popular social services such as Facebook and Twitter have been

thoroughly investigated for their benefits for teaching and learning in higher education,

other social media platforms that have gained significant attention among youth have

been largely overlooked in scholarly literature.

Audiences today are looking for ways to interact and engage with upcoming films

such as being able to tweet their favorite characters and follow the Facebook pages of

their favorite films (Daly, 2020). According to (Fiester, 2019), there are few previous

academic studies that focus on how and why audiences use social media to interact

with movie promotions. Previous academic studies, such as Wang, Tcherney, &

Solloway’s study on the uses and gratifications for social media usage, took a

quantitative approach and used surveys to understand social media usage in general.

Research done on social media usage can benefit the present study by providing a

basis for what social media sites consumers are on and why.

Intyaswati et. al (2021) states that as students received political information

incidentally while carrying out other activities, social media supplied political learning,

which further generated political knowledge. According to the distribution of social

media users, YouTube and Instagram are the most popular applications among

students with a percentage of (73.43%). Many people are using social media to interact

with others, such as discussing online news and for their additional political knowledge.

Students can learn from one another and then process information more actively to

increase their political knowledge level through comm. According to studies, learning
can be obtained through social media to understand the flow of information in a modern

media environment in order to source political information fully. Future research can

look into the implications of political attitudes and behavior in students learning political

information from social media at various levels.

Impact of Social Media

According to sociological research, there is a destructive relationship between

social media use and academic performance. For example, Rosen et al., (2019) looked

into the behavior and study environments of 263 students from various educational

levels, such as middle school, high school, and university. Students were observed for

15 minutes, and their on-task and off-task conduct was recorded every minute. Students

become distracted in less than 6 minutes on average before turning to technology

distractions like social media and texting. Junco (2019) investigated the relationship

between Facebook use and academic achievement by polling college students about

their Facebook usage and comparing it to their grades. According to the findings, there

is a negative relationship between time spent on Facebook and grades. In comparison

to other activities such as studying or attending classes, it appears that social media

provides students with immediate enjoyment (Jacobsen & Forste, 2019).

Between students, social media is used to communicate with their classmates. It

is also used when academic performances are conducted. The social media platforms

help improve the student's academic performance and increase their knowledge

through gathering data and information. Students visit various online platforms to gather

information to solve their assignments (De La Cruz, 2019). Students primarily use these
social media platforms: Messenger (for communicating), Wikipedia (for references),

Facebook (for updates), Instagram (for photo sharing), YouTube (for video tutorials),

and many more.

Regarding the purposes of using social media, Oye, Adam, and Nor Zairah

(2019) indicated that academic performance was adversely affected when social

networking sites were used to fulfill social and nonacademic needs only. Ravizza,

Hambrick, and Fenn (2019) reported that university students' nonacademic Internet use,

including social media, was negatively associated with classroom performance as

shown in three examinations during the semester and cumulative final examinations.

Young (2018) in a study titled “the effect of internet use and social capital on the

academic performance of students” observed that the internet expands its reach to

teenagers’ school life. Young noted that students are more reliant on the internet to

access information that is involved in school life as well as entertainment. The

researcher further added that the internet, though consumes time, has less effect on

studies. Yang (2018) notes the effect of social media depends largely on the degree of

usage.

Yoon (2019) observed that the type of social media or network subscribed to by a

teenager exerts influence on him or her to visit the internet. Jeong (2019) noted that

internet addiction is significantly and negatively related to student’s academic

performance, as well as emotional attributes. Seo (2019) corroborates Jeong’s

assertion when he opined that the negative influence of the internet is only on excessive

users and not on all users. Rather (2018, p. 69) avers that by describing online tools

and utilities that enable users to communicate, participate, and collaborate of

information online, social networking sites and blogs, which are currently being utilized

with incredible enthusiasm and zeal, have altered the manner of using the internet in

recent years. The young generation of today, particularly teens and youth, use

technology in creative ways as a result of which they are known as Millennials and have

altered the way we think, work, and communicate even though they are still in their

formative years. These social networking sites have made today's youngster's

technology addicted and highly introverted.

The way people communicate on a daily basis has greatly changed as a result of

the rapid advancement of media technology. The developing component of the

utilization of web-based entertainment among the young people of today can't be

finished underscored. Throughout the long term, interpersonal interaction among

understudies has become increasingly famous. It's a way to connect with friends outside

of school as well as on campus. A method for fostering a sense of community is social

networking. Economists and professors are wondering if students' grades will be

affected by how much time they spend on these sites because of their growing

popularity.

According to Choney (2019), one of the most significant factors that can have a

positive or negative impact on students' educational performance is their use of

technology like the Internet. Many guardians and watchmen are stressed that

understudies are spending excessive time on Facebook and other virtual entertainment

locales and do have not sufficient opportunities to study. Many students continue to use

social media sites on a daily basis, despite parents' concerns about their children's
constant use. This research is being done against this backdrop to find out how

students' use of social media affects their academic work.

According to Hamid et al. (2009, as cited in Papademetriou et. al, 2022 p. 3), In

higher education, social networking is frequently used for generating material, sharing,

engagement, and collective socialization. Social networking can be used to deliver

learning tools and academic information and to keep people in touch and collaborate.

Similarly, different scholars contend that social media could improve communication

between faculty and students, support students, boost self-confidence, and foster a

solid relationships and solidarity.

The application to online education by incorporating social media as part of the

instructional design to promote student–instructor interaction. And as social media

characteristics with relation to comfort, entertainment, and interaction can consider for

educators to use in educational practice and performance assessment (Kesici, 2018)

RELATED STUDIES

According to the research study done by Mangubat, et al (2018), entitled “Social

Networking Sites and Its Effect to Social Wellness of College of Arts and Science

Students of Batangas”, social networking sites are one of the most active web-based

activities in the Philippines, with Filipinos being declared as the most active users on a

member of web-based social networking sites. The study released by University

MacCann entitled “Power To The People - Wave 3” declared the Philippines as “the

social networking capital of the world” with 83% of Filipinos surveyed being members of
social networks. They are also regarded as the top photo uploaders and web video

viewers, while they are second when it comes to the number of blog readers

and video uploaders.

Nowadays, Social Networking Sites have been a part of people’s everyday life.

The number of people who participate in online activities is growing rapidly. Social

Networking Sites are in demand by all ages. Examples of Social Networking Sites that

are mostly used are Facebook, Tiktok, and YouTube, users can connect with other

people which they are interested in.

The study also pointed out that social networking often involves grouping specific

individuals or organizations together. While there are a number of social networking

websites that focus on particular interests, there are others that do not. Websites

without a main focus are often referred to as “traditional” social networking websites. It

has become very popular during the past few years, but it can still be very difficult to

understand for someone new to social networking. The open-ended nature of social

networks adds to this. Once signed onto a social network, and having answered a few

basic profile questions, it is easy to sit back and wonder what to do next. In addition,

social networking sites complement the network of relationships present in the offline

world by providing a platform for active communication between friends and more

passive observation through aggregated streams of social news. The use of these sites

has been associated with greater levels of social capital or benefits made possible by

the existence of a social structure. These benefits include bridging students to access

information that they needed in their academic preparation.

 Sharing represents the extent to which users exchange, distribute, and receive

content. The term ‘social’ often implies that exchanges between people are crucial. In

many cases, however, sociality is about the objects that mediate these ties between

people (Engestrom, 2017); Consequently, social media consist of people who are

connected by a shared object (e.g., text, video, picture, sound, link). Sharing alone is a

way of interacting in social media, but whether sharing leads users to want to converse

or even build relationships with each other depends on the functional objective of the

social media platform. Without the other features of the aforementioned platforms, they

will all be primarily about connections between people conversing with one another.

As per the study of Durodolu (2016), the technology acceptance model is one of

the most popular theories that predict the use and acceptance of information systems

and technology by users. TAM's aim is to describe factors that determined technology

acceptance, and information technology usage behavior and provide a parsimonious

theoretical explanatory model. With this theory, it will be helpful to easily determine the

effects of the use of social media in getting legal information.

Social media has a great impact on sharing legal data. The usage of the

platforms Facebook, Tiktok, and YouTube helped to extend the knowledge about the

basics of laws that are conducted by legal professionals.

Purpose. Learning and Networking. Learning has gone beyond classrooms

where social learning is promoted on almost all the leading e-learning websites.

Students can make use of live videos and join forums that are a part of so many social

networking sites to engage themselves in interaction that is educational for them.

Students can also share study materials through social networking sites like Facebook,

YouTube, and even TikTok.

Social media and technology are integral parts of daily life, and integrating the

use of these into the classroom is more natural than before, given how acclimated many

students are to them. Each social media platform offers many different ways to be used

in the classroom, from sharing announcements to holding live lectures, and so much

more. First, social media provides a smoother, more direct communication tool between

students, teachers, and parents, who can check in and ask or respond to questions.

Social media allows for more e-learning opportunities as well. As remote jobs

and online classes are becoming more popular, training students to work from a

distance is an important lesson, and social media can help with that.

It Is essential to understand the impact of social media in education before using

it, but we’re of the firm belief that it will help advance students in technology (West,

2018).

The educational benefits of social networking sites include those that help

students prepare for critical courses and understand specific topics more effectively.

Social media websites will provide the most recent data on numerous school subjects,

giving pupils the opportunity to survey and investigate what is new.

The topic of discussion, according to Ahmadri (2019), is whether social media is

a useful teaching tool or a source of distraction. For example, instructors are using

platforms to share content and Make online discussion boards. In the distance, tertiary

institutions use social media. A learning model that has surpassed the campus-based

model. To communicate and improve the learning experience, online learning makes
use of technological trends and advances. Several studies have looked into how Social

media has an impact on students' academic performance.

A lot of learners today are digital natives, and they use applications from their

technological gadgets and social media to connect and interact with family members,

friends, and classmates via the Internet and also text messaging. Many institutions have

recently embraced social media, because of the perception that their use as learning

tools, social media, and networking sites will be well received by their students. Many

students, however, do not want to combine their social and academic lives. Several

studies have been carried out to explore this conflict. A number of studies show that

technology provides Educational institutions of Colleges and Universities with huge

resources to use in order to generate innovative ideas, as well as an approach that

changes the way they administer educational programs and communicate with

students.

Academic performance is a simple and widely assumed predictor of learning

outcomes. Academic performance operational definitions differ across the literature.

Grade point average (GPA) scores, which are typically calculated as a weighted

average of all studied course grades, are frequently used as indicators of

undergraduate students' academic performance. GPA has yet to address some

statistical limitations, such as range restriction. Researchers use a variety of operational

definitions for academic performance, including single-subject performance, cognitive

skills, self-growth, and study habits, in addition to GPA. In various operational definitions

in academic work, these terms are most commonly considered alongside academic

performance using GPA (Ashraf, 2021 et.al), particularly in terms of the relationship with
academic performance. Furthermore, academic performance is the end result of the

educational process. There are many previous studies that looked into this normal

situation, and any that looked into this concept during the COVID-19 pandemic. As a

result, this study looks into the relationship between academic preparation and the

usage of Social Media as a platform for sharing Legal Informations.

A study conducted by Abbas et al. (2019), entitled “ The Impact of Social Media

on Learning Behavior for Sustainable Education: Evidence of Students from Selected

Universities in Pakistan” discovered that Social media users often access social media

services on their laptops or desktops computers via the internet or other web-based

technology, or by installing programs that extend the functionality of social media and

social networks to mobile devices such as smartphones or tablets. Social media users

that participate in such services generally develop highly interactive platforms via which

individual students or student organizations can share ideas, co-create, modify, and

discuss user-generated content or already uploaded online information. Social media

guides communication between students and other individuals, communities, and major

organizations, and such changes are the primary focus of growing and innovative

information technology professions.

In the study conducted by Rahmi and Othman (2019), they concluded that social

media facilitates the academic experience with the majority of the participants however

with proper control and time management. Studies have proved that social media has

had a positive effect and significant collaborative preparation with interaction among

peers, interaction with the supervisor, engagement, perceived ease of use, and

perceived usefulness.
 A study conducted by Mawdsley & Schafheutle (2019) found that students

responded that social media like Facebook could be a product of self and peer-learning

at the undergraduate level. Of the total respondents 69% agreed that Facebook was a

useful source for their exam preparation. Similarly, Salmon, Ross, Pechenkina, and

Chase concluded that Facebook is used by users as it enhances their learning process

through interactive sessions with peers as well as moderators. Thus, social media has

been benefiting students by enhancing their learning with effective preparation.

On the contrary, the extensive use of social media results in the inability of the

students to understand and comply with the instructions for completing their

assignments and also a decline in online participation. Therefore, there are benefits as

well as constraints to the students‟ learning with the involvement of social media.

However, a study on the social media impact on the academic progress of WIUT

students by Khakimov also concluded that the majority of the respondents stated that

social media is beneficial for them in terms of acquiring useful information as well as for

the discussion of projects and course works. In addition Safer and Awan (2019) found

that 59% of the respondents either agreed or strongly agreed with the statement that

the formation of groups through social media serves as a source of information and they

can learn more about their projects. Therefore, the popularity of social media needs to

be properly taken into consideration as it benefits the users if used in a proper manner

that is for educational purposes.

A study conducted by Abbas et al. (2019), entitled “ The Impact of Social Media

on Learning Behavior for Sustainable Education: Evidence of Students from Selected

Universities in Pakistan” stated that Social media has an impact on the daily life of
young people in general, and university students in particular. Digital media and social

networking are transforming how people communicate, collaborate, share information,

and consume it.

Social media has exploded as a category of online discourse where people

create content, share it, bookmark it, and network at a prodigious rate (Owusu-Acheaw,

2019). Because of its ease of use, speed, and reach, social media is fast changing the

public discourse in society and setting trends and agendas in topics that range from the

environment and politics to technology and the entertainment industry(Asur and

Huberman, 2020). In the last ten years, the online world has changed dramatically,

thanks to the invention of social media, young men and women now exchange ideas,

feelings, personal information, pictures, and videos at a truly astonishing rate. Seventy-

three percent of wired American teens now use social media websites (Oberst, 2020).

Each advancement in technology has advantages and disadvantages. Social

media can help individuals connect with family members and peers. Social media can

help you maintain up with the routines of distant relatives and friends. Furthermore,

some people can find connections on social media platforms that they would not have

found in traditional face-to-face relationships. (Dhir 2016).

According to Jiao et al.,(2015 as cited in Papademetriou et. al, 2022 p. 2 ), Social

media is used to build social relationships and to educate people. Academics have

expressed an interest in social media in a variety of contexts. One of these issues,

which has received limited but growing attention, is the use of social media as a

learning tool in educational institutions. It analyzes the degree to which social media can

be implemented as a learning and teaching tool in academic education. Social media

networking platforms allow for the development of skills including communication skills,

encourage collaboration among peers across various university groups, educational

institutions, and places with varying cultural and curricular opportunities, and multiple

courses, and allow both teachers and students to be active users in order to learn in a

collaborative setting by sharing information and engaging in various learning activities.

The effective implementation of technology for communication and information in

today's digital economy plays a part for the industry's efficiency. Academic institutions

are not immune to the ever-changing technological landscape. They cannot, therefore,

afford to lag behind these innovations, which will not only provide useful insights to the

academic community but also potentially enhance learning. (Papademetriou et. al,

2022)

Synthesis

Salmon et.al, concluded that Facebook is used by users as one of the primary

parts of the enhancement of their learning process, ironically to Ahmadri (2019), it is still

up to debate if social media is indeed a useful teaching tool. Although both stated to

have a learning model that communicates and improves the learning experience and an

interactive session with peers as well as moderators. And they both stated that online

learning makes use of technological trends and advances and that social media has

been benefiting students by enhancing their learning with effective preparation.

Consequently in one of the studies from Mawdsley & Schafheutle (2019), it is found that

students that use social media like Facebook have a productive effect on self and peer

learning.
 The Authors, Bryer and Zavatarro (2018), Ito et al., (2019), Sotto et al., (2019),

Grant et al., (2020), and McCarthy (2020) discussed the use of Social Networking Sites

or Social Media as an establishment for various ways of spreading information. They

also mentioned that Social Media's role is merely a facilitator for social networking or

possible interactions among its users but not the controller of the information that

spreads throughout the entire platform. Furthermore, Bicen (2019) arrived at the same

conclusion as the authors above, but in addition to it, the former stated that in reality,

the main reason for using social network sites is for instant contact with other friends.

Manca (2020) said that even though social media were not designed primarily for

education, they are rapidly being used in formal learning environments. Meanwhile in

the Philippines, According to Mangubat, et al (2018), social networking sites are one of

the most active web-based activities in the Philippines, additionally, the benefit of using

Social Media is to bridge students to access information that they need in their

academic preparation. On the other hand, this is further explained by authors like Rosen

et al., (2019), Junco (2019), De La Cruz, (2019), and Choney (2019) as they looked

into the various educational levels and the relationship between Social Media use and

students' academic performance. While Oye et. al (2019) and Ravizza et. al (2019)

discussed the adverse impact on the performance of students using social media and

has only affected fulfilling nonacademic needs.

In studies by Ashraf, 2021 et.al and the relationship between academic

performance in the result of one's Grade Point Average (GPA) and the furthermore end

result of the educational process. While Abbas et al. (2019) discovered that Social

Media guides communication between students, and such changes are the primary
focus of growing and innovative information technology professions. And As per the

study of Durodolu (2016), the technology acceptance model predicts the use and

acceptance of information systems and technology by users and will be a prominent

theory that seeks to investigate the attribute to influence technology adoption.

The ability to create content and use Social Media to network has been an online

discourse with topics ranging from politics to academics according to Owusu-Acheaw

(2019) and Asur and Huberman (2020). In Addition, Oberst (2020) discussed that the

dramatic change in the internet world, due to social media, has affected the course of

sharing, exchanging, and obtaining ideas.