Social Media Usage and Its Impact on Learning and Social Behaviour among Nigerian Tertiary Students

Due to the globalization of communication, the surge in the use of social media platforms for education across various disciplines of study is undoubtedly increasing. From the standpoint of constructive use, social media has enabled teachers and students to exchange ideas and opinions on a variety of topics. However, the negative impacts of social media use on students' academic performance are likely caused by a number of problems. Through the use of a design questionnaire for data analysis, 200 students from Nigerian polytechnics were chosen to take part in the research project. According to the data, 62% of the student participants are addicted to using social media platforms for non-academic purposes, and 92% of them do not use social media for academic activities. Additionally, 26% of the respondents reported spending 6–10 hours on social media, while 65% reported spending 1–5 hours. Regretfully, 9% of the students who responded said they typically use social networking sites for more than 11 hours every day. This measurement of social media platform usage time showed a negative correlation with students’ academic time availability and delayed time to sleep as a result of social interactions. In summary, the majority of participants said they spent a lot of time on social networking platforms for non-academic reasons. The behaviours may have a detrimental effect on the students’ academic performance and sleep duration. As a result, the students might be more vulnerable to problems like academic failure and health challenges.