Influence of Social Media Usage on Students' Academic Performance and Study Habits: A Mixed-Method Analytical Study

Background: Social media is ingrained in students’ lives. This creates opportunities for digital platforms to enhance peer learning. However, social media use can also lead to distraction, procrastination, and poor time management. This study analyses the consequences of social media use on students’ academic performance and study habits. Using a mixed-method approach, this study examines verified secondary data and qualitative synthesis. In the quantitative portion, I examined the Mendeley Data record, “Dataset on Social Media Usage, Academic Performance, and Productivity Behaviours among Students,” which surveyed 1,501 students in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Because I was unable to retrieve the individual-level CSV, I relied on verified aggregate distributions and the model performance published in the associated peer-reviewed article in the IEEE Access journal. In the qualitative portion, I conducted a secondary thematic synthesis of the peer-reviewed studies on social media, distraction, and self-regulated learning. Over three hours of social media use was reported by 52.5% of participants. During study sessions, 53.0% used social media, and 52.1% procrastinated on social media. Moderate to significant focus loss was reported by 62.5%. The dominant social media platforms were Facebook (49.5%), YouTube (14.9%), and Instagram (11.4%). According to the associated predictive analysis, the HPrEd soft-voting ensemble’s accuracy was 98.41%, and the average F1 score was 98.32%. The top factors of study delay and focus loss were of particular interest, along with the distraction of coursework and the perceived productivity of social media. Conclusion: The evidence allows for a nuanced view: Using study-related resources in a moderate and intentional manner may aid learning, while frequent use that coincides with studying relates to distraction and procrastination and may negatively affect one’s academic productivity.