Impact of Social Media on Students’ Academic Performance

Approximately 95% of U.S. teens report using the Internet (Vogels et al., 2022). As of January 2022, more than 4.95 billion people use the internet worldwide, and around 4.62 billion are active social media users (Johnson, & Basuray, 2022; Whiting & Williams, 2013; Shi et al., & 2020). According to the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (2018), 90 % of teens between 13-17 years old use social media, 70% report having at least one active social media profile, and 51% report visiting a social media site daily. On average, teens are online almost nine hours a day (Olubiyi, 2012) not including time for homework (Esam, 2015). Two-thirds of teens have their own mobile devices with internet capabilities (Oche & Aminu, 2010). Arnold and Paulus (2010) found that even 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. Social media can also negatively affect student grade point average (GPA), test scores, and the amount of time students spend preparing for class (Annetta et al., 2009; Junco, 2012b). Despite the benefits of social media such as sharing connections (Osarive, 2005) and doing business (Asemah & Edegoh, 2012), the use of social media may be harming them educationally. For example (Ndaku, 2013) claims that social media use has negatively affected study time, grammar, and spelling as well as distracting from their study time. Sheman refers to social media distraction as the phenomenon of social media cues (the distractors) drawing the students’ attention away (Vorderer et al., 2018) from the task at hand (Rithika, 2013) and directing it instead toward social media (Wilimer et al.,). Thus, this study aims to investigate social media usage, social media multitasking as a kind of extraneous load, academic performance, and the amount of time students spend on social media. In addition, time management skill is the moderating variable on social media which in turn will help improve their study time. It will positively reflect in them performing better in their academics. Moreover, education is recognized as a powerful agent of change that improves health and livelihood and contributes to social stability (Tadese et al.,2022). At the micro-level, it is associated with better living standards for individuals through improved productivity, given that those who have received higher education tend to have more economic and social opportunities. However, gaining knowledge, attitudes, values, and skills through education is not a simple task; rather, it is a long and challenging task. Students are expected to spend much of their time studying and must graduate with good academic results. Despite excessive government investment in education, most students fail to achieve strong academic performance at all levels of education (Imlach et al.,). A correlational study at Arba Minch University, South Ethiopia, reported that the trend of graduating students is not proportional to the trend of enrolled students, and more students commit readmission due to poor academic performance (Vigermal, 2017). This has resulted in unemployment, poverty, drug elicits, promiscuity, homelessness, illegal activities, social isolation, insufficient health insurance, and dependence. Additionally, a systematic review in India concluded that poor academic achievement causes significant stress for parents and low self-esteem among students (Karande,2005). Social media can be a powerful distraction most students seem to struggle with (Sieber, 2021). Among the social media users, Facebook, Snapchat, and TikTok users’ academic performance were worse than the nonusers or users of any other social media network. Facebook and TikTok were found to be the major distraction among students (Kirschner & Karpinski, 2010). This distraction which is a divided attention is further amplified by multitasking as use attempt to navigate (Koessmeier, 2021) between social media, schoolwork, and personal activities. The seamless integration of social media into daily life poses a risk of diminishing productivity and hindering the ability to fully immerse oneself in a single task thereby affecting their academic performance (Paasone, 2016). Moreover, many scholars go on to say that students multitask while studying which diverts (Kuppuswamy & Shankar, 2010; Liccardi & Ounnas, 2017; Massey, Kinnunen, Midy, & Sakar., 2007; Bucklin, & Pauwels, 2009) their attention (Kirschner & Karpinski, 2010). According to Al-Zoubi, (2016), time management is considered an inclusive process that is done through administrative functions which is deeply dependent on high personal skills so it can then produce positive effects to society and individuals at the same time. Time management is a fundamental issue with commitment to school activities, improved academic performance, and achieving a targeted goal. It is the coordination of tasks and activities to maximize the effectiveness of an individual’s efforts (Rouse, 2019). Prachi, (2018) adds that to achieve success in their academics, students need to concentrate on their schoolwork and complete assignments at the right time instead of loitering and gossiping on social media. Thus, this research will examine the effects of social media on students’ academic performance. Time management and social media multitasking will be tested as possible moderators and mediators.