CHAPTER I

THE PROBLEM AND ITS BACKGROUND

INTRODUCTION

Nowadays, people are very attached to social media. Some people post everything about

their life on social media like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Social media exploded as a

category of online discourse which enables people to create content, share them, bookmark them,

and network at a prodigious rate (Dzandza and Kolan, 2018). For instance, technology provides

every student with useful information to create and connect learning groups to create a

convenient learning environment. Through these platforms, students can share and interact with

their classmates, benefit from tutorials and connect with experts on various topics via the internet

(Al-Khalifa & Garcia, 2013).

According to Harvard Research cited by De Guzman (2014), "Facebook is transformed

from a public space to a behavioral laboratory”. Digital natives so as the immigrants became

active in sharing their thoughts, feelings, and opinions, personal information, pictures, and

videos especially when the internet is within the work of their palm using smartphones in any

place which has internet connections. As per Adams et al. (2016), social media help students to

think clearly and this helps them to make wise decisions in their day-to-day lives. Students felt

that their grades would be better if they can contact professors openly through social media to get

their doubts clarified. Salehi and Yunus (2012) pointed out that, social media use enhanced

students’ vocabulary and writing ability. Social media may help other people especially students

in their academic performance. Despite of the positive effects of social media to students, it also
affects their academic performance negatively. As stated by Newman, (2013), "If it is intensively

used for academic or communication that is essential with others, there will be a positive impact on

academic performance. Elsewhere, if it is used extensively in recreational purposely use, for example,

playing games and watching video games, there will be a negative effect on the students’ academic

performances."

Social media addiction can trigger the laziness of the students and can also affect them

physically and mentally. The health issue may affect them in studying resulting to failure in

grades. And too much usage of social media can have an adverse effect on student's minds. They

can be exposed to bad posture, eye strain, irregular sleep patterns, mood swings, and mental

issues. Many academic professionals fear that the time spent on social media beyond the required time,

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

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

learning outcomes (Moran et al., 2012). In the study conducted by Yu, Shi & Cao (2019) excessive social

media use may create unwanted outcomes. Students’ academic performance is affected because of the

insufficient time and energy of students in learning. Decreased academic performance is thereby a

critical behavioral outcome to the stressful conditions from using social media in a school context. As

per Paul et al. (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 studies

without getting distracted. They found out that, higher the attention span, the lower the time

spent by students on social media. There are handfuls of studies showing a negative relationship

between Facebook and its impact on academic performance including one which suggests how

children with lower attention span focused more on Facebook and children with higher attention
span spent less time on Facebook. Since students tend to spend more time on social media other

than educational purposes; this tends to cause distraction from the learning environment,

affecting their academic progress.

The adverse effects of Facebook on academic performance contribute to the opinion that the

use of Facebook makes it hard for them to perform the best on their career performance (Ellison,

Steinfield, and Lampe, 2007). According to Newman, (2013) they get distraction from their studies, and a

load of their working memory makes it hard for them to focus and make effective preparations for their

homework. This will results to poor and decrease achievements. Some studies show the attitudes,

interests of students to the internet, and their activities vary with their sex, personality traits, and age.

As stated by Facebook facts, (2013) Facebook is influencing the student during their academic hours or

study time. Also, many Facebook users are a victim of distraction during their study hours. Previous

research revealed that most students use Facebook while studying, which could negatively affect their

academic performance due to the distraction afforded by Facebook [29]. It has been observed that

Facebook users reported spending less time studying compared to non-Facebook users [25]. Higher

rates of Internet usage during classroom periods are associated with lower exam scores [30]. Kirschner

and Karpinski [31] suggested that there is a significant negative relationship between the use of

Facebook and academic performance. A study on university students found that frequently checking

updates on Facebook is negatively associated with their engagement in educationally relevant activities

[32]. Based on college students’ responses to a survey, it was discovered that non-Facebook users had

higher Grade Point Averages (GPAs) compared to Facebook users (Ainin, Naqshbandi, Moghavvemi &

Jaafar, 2014). Other researchers have investigated the effects of using Facebook on academic

performance for undergraduate students concerning their personality traits. The comprehensive

analysis of 239 students’ data reveals very significant results and establishes that the application of

Facebook is associated with negative implications on the academic performance of students with
extrovert personalities (Kashif, 2013). According to Kirkpatrick, (2013) Other studies show that Facebook

extension presence can have effects that are harmful to academic performance. If students spend most

of their time on Facebook, their academic performance will reduce and thus their grades. A day students

should spend at least 30-35 minutes surfing Facebook. They actually surf for only three to four minutes

on each visit to be updated, but they severally visit Facebook a day. Others spend eight hours on the

website. Although students consider Facebook is distracting and consuming a lot of time, they note that

they can’t stop visiting the website because they prefer it and use it to contact family members and

friends, whether or not encounter them each day.

Most studies that were conducted regarding the relationship of social media to school

performances were only limited to students in secondary schools and collegiate levels, which

doesn’t extend up to those in primary schools and intermediate levels. But for this study, seeks to

determine social media and its level of impact on the academic performance of Grade 11

students of St. Joseph Academy of Sariaya, Quezon.

Cabral, A. A., Gonda, J., & Suayan, J. (2016). Effects of social media on academic performance. College of

Criminology Research Journal, 7.

https://research.lpubatangas.edu.ph/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/CRIM-2016 002.pdf?

fbclid=IwAR0_KX3sjdcnhXI1KAW0VRA4hL074Zb7GNmjvIm_XMNhq3I9jRjCpeKM2_0

De Guzman, Fr. C. Students use of social media: Its relationship to academic performance and

technology ethics decisions. https://psa.gov.ph/sites/default/files/5.1.3%20Students%20Use%20of

%20Social%20Media%20Its%20Relationship%20to%20Academic%20Performance%20and

%20Technology%20Ethics%20Decisions.pdf

Kolan, B. J. (2018, February). Effect of social media on Academic Performance of Students in Ghanaian

Universities: A Case Study of the University of Ghana, Legon. Library Philosophy and Practice.

https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=4687&context=libphilprac&fbclid=IwAR1R-

mclSmoiDvQthD4We0PJYsGjTGYN68Oi5SpzRDX1b2_-u1i4pzNXPWs

Alamri, M. (2019). Undergraduate Students’ Perceptions toward Social Media Usage and Academic

Performance: A Study from Saudi Arabia. 14(3).

https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/234942014.pdf

Arnold, I. (2016, April). Cheating at online formative tests: Does it pay off. Science Direct, 29, 98-106.

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1096751616300021

Al-rahmi, W.M., Othman, M.S., & Musa, M.A. (2014). The Improvement of Students’ Academic

Performance by Using social media through Collaborative Learning in Malaysian Higher

Education. Canadian Center of Science and Education, Vol. 10, No. 8.

Expires=1637108611&Signature=QVx8IFQTYDZL9QZr8N83cslQWUYXS9K6Ty-

vI7p0lLqqNl6G97GTtfF70nh-

HcWaFcJAL0z4QoidSxX0vKQRGJ5fH8pNLP2zNgp0LbKmW7lG6btJFwfrTDUKXVFq-

9HXmiHz1GvOxXBjyWQQrNMnBfNEfdI2FghzORo-

qOo1YVotJ495s7nY33P4jTWmFTYBMlCC0GFN6gWa9fzsgmGZpMNyq9hfhBECnWDX9PaKaxKhzvQRT0Me

Z2CByH5D~xinnJandvuAZ~gjTu-Aoogpr6KFU6Esi5okKUXCygtHANvTms~Ou1OJHyzwKpNJ-

9LjHTOXXtBJ9DDorHbYlJh9mg__&Key-Pair-Id=APKAJLOHF5GGSLRBV4ZA

Yu, L., Shi, C., & Cao, X. (2019). Understanding the Effect of Social Media Overload on Academic

Performance: A Stressor-Strain-Outcome Perspective. Proceedings of the 52nd Hawaii International

Conference on System Sciences.

https://scholarspace.manoa.hawaii.edu/bitstream/10125/59703/0263.pdf