International Journal of Arts and Commerce Vol. 2 No.

1 January 2013 111 The Effects of Social

Networking Sites on the Academic Performance of Students in College of Applied Sciences,
Nizwa, Oman. Saba Mehmood Faculty, Department of Communication Studies, Nizwa College
of Applied Sciences, Ministry of Higher Education, P.O.Box: 699 --Nizwa PC: 611, Sultanate of
Oman. Tarang Taswir Faculty, Depsartment of Communication Studies, Nizwa College of
Applied Sciences, Ministry of Higher Education, P.O.Box: 699 --Nizwa PC: 611, Sultanate of
Oman. Abstract The research investigates pedagogical impacts of social networking sites on
undergraduate students at the College of Applied Sciences (CAS), Nizwa, Oman. Blogs, wikis,
tweets, RSS feeds, discussion boards, podcasts are educational nodes in a huge network. The
study tabulates the usage of these web2.0 applications and their impact on linguistic and social
behaviors of young learners. The demographic segmentation constructs a framework to evaluate
social tools and e-learning technologies popular amongst learners. The results of empirical
evidence explore classroom and social software as paradigms that build young knowledgeable
societies. It studies variables that examine the effectiveness of these social tools in knowledge
sharing and general awareness of student communities. Keywords: Social networking, E-
learning, Communication, Academic performance, Oman. 1. Introduction: The Oman
government's decision to increase Information and Communication technology has resulted in
initiatives to expand internet penetration. The Sultanate today has diverse media platforms to
meet its information, education and entertainment needs (Taswir, 2012) The use of social media
is a result of ' Broadband services available via ADSL, Fiber-to-the-Home (FttH), WiFi, WiMAX
and mobile broadband. Recognizing the potential of applying ICT to improve both social and
economic development, Oman has taken steps to develop an Internet economy, with significant
government funded initiatives launched in the areas of public administration (e-government),
online payments, e-health and e-learning (Oman - Telecoms, Mobile and Broadband, 2012) E-
learning is an important tool for learners. Online social networking sites engage students and
need to be studied as distributors of information. The medium of internet has evolved with
growth in its applications. The interactive nature of online environments has expanded with
social networks. Connecting through social networks started as a niche activity, but with time it
is now a phenomenon. The social networking sites are being used in various ways like forming
communities, chatting, blogging etc. Apart from that different institutions even nowadays are
forming communities or groups on different Social Networking Sites. The Omani higher
education system is relatively young, as the first public university in Oman; Sultan Qaboos
University was founded in 1986. Oman's Ministry of Higher Education administers six Colleges
of Applied International Journal of Arts and Commerce ISSN 1929-7106 www.ijac.org.uk 112
Sciences(CAS) which started in 2005 and comprised of five departments namely English,
Business, IT, Design and Communication Department (Education in Oman). This paper studies
the educational use of the Social Networking Sites, by student in the Nizwa CAS, Oman. The
study is important as 'connectivity with internet has transformed post secondary learning, that we
need to view it differently (Rennie et al.,2004) 2. Literature Review: The increased use of Social
Networking Websites has become an international phenomenon in the past several years. What
started out as a hobby for some computer literate people has become a social norm and way of
life for people from all over the world (Boyd, 2007). Teenagers and young adults have especially
embraced these sites as a way to connect with their peers, share information, reinvent their
personalities, and showcase their social lives (Boyd, 2007). With the increase of technology used
for communicating with others and the popularity of the Internet, Social Networking has
become an activity that is done primarily on the Internet, with sites like MySpace, Face book,
Bebo, Friendster, and Xanga (Coyle et al., 2008). Many people actively participate in content
generation and value creation, and several researchers (e.g., Young et al., 2009; Vasalou et al.,
2010) have examined their profiles to determine why and to what extent they are keen on posting
their entire identity, sharing pictures and videos, and indicating their religious affiliations, marital
status, and political orientations on the internet. These users interact with others, exchange
information about their interests, raise discussions about new topics, follows news about specific
topics on different Social Networking Sites. Teenagers now use the Internet for the majority their
daily activities and information gathering, as opposed to older generations who used resources
like the television or newspaper (Lewis, 2008). A recent survey showed that approximately
ninety percent of teens in the United States have Internet access, and about seventy-five percent
of these teens use the Internet more than once per day (Kist, 2008). This study also showed that
approximately half of all teens who have Internet access are also members of social networking
sites, and use the Internet to make plans and socialize with friends (Kist, 2008). In September,
2005, out of total adult internet users (18-29 years) 16% were those who were using any social
networking site and this percentage increased to 86% on May, 2010 (www.marketingcharts.com).
Tuckman (1975) defined performance as the apparent demonstration of understanding, concepts,
skills, ideas and knowledge of a person and proposed that grades clearly depict the performance
of a student. Hence, their academic performance must be managed efficiently keeping in view all
the factors that can positively or negatively affect their educational performance. Use of
technology such as internet is one of the most important factors that can influence educational
performance of students positively or adversely. Shah et al. (2001) proposed that student users
are affected by the internet and this impact is determined by the type of internet usage. They are
positively affected by the informative use of internet while having drastic impact of recreational
use of internet on them. Also, Oskouei (2010) proposed that internet is advantageous to both
students and teachers if used as a tool of knowledge creation and dissemination. Several studies
have been done regarding social networking and grades. Whittemore School of Business and
Economics recently conducted a survey of over 1,000 students. They asked questions regarding
which social network sites were used, how much time they spent on a site, what their grade point
average (GPA) was, and International Journal of Arts and Commerce Vol. 2 No. 1 January 2013
113 what they were going to school for. It was concluded that there is no correlation between
how much time is spent on a social networking site and grades (Martin, 2009). The University of
New Hampshire agrees, and believes that current college students grew up in the technology era
and social networking is now just a part of a student's daily routine. Their research show that
'63% of heavy users received high grades, compared to 65% of light users' (U of NH, 2009). The
University of New Hampshire said that a majority of students use social networking for social
connections and entertainment, but are also using it for education and professional reasons.
Kirschnera revealed that students who multi-task between social networking sites and homework
are likely to have 20% lower grades than a student who does not have a social networking site in
visual range. Kirschnera believes that even running a social networking site on the background
on a student's PC while studying or doing homework could lower a student's grade. He believes
that "the problem is that most people have Facebook or other social networking sites, their e-
mails and maybe instant messaging constantly running in the background while they are carrying
out their tasks" (Enriquez, 2010). American Educational Research Association conducted a
research and it was declared on its annual conference in San Diego, California (2009) that SNSs
users study less and generated lower grades eventually (21stcenturyscholar.org). Similarly,
Banquil et al. (2009) found a continuing drop of grades among student users of social networking
sites. However, many researchers also found a positive association between use of internet and
SNS and academic performance of the student users. Students, using internet frequently, scored
higher on reading skills test and had higher grades as well (Linda et al., 2006). An ever
increasing growth rate of SNS not only calls for the parental and teacher monitoring of student
users but also attracting the focus of academicians and researchers towards this phenomenon.
Students use of social networking continues to create challenges and issues for higher education
professionals and keeping abreast of these challenges has proved difficult because of the speed at
which new technologies are being introduced (Bugeja, 2006; Cariccioso, 2006; Finder, 2006;
Quindlen, 2006; Shier, 2005).There is evidence that higher education institutions have taken
initiatives in disclosing information about online social networking involvement to their
students(Read et al., 2006). An example is Cornell Universitys Thoughts on Facebook, which
creates students awareness about the responsible use of online social networking (Mitrano,
2006). Following Cornell University, many institutions have adopted this approach to informing
students by using anecdotal literature to guide their actions (Kord, 2008). The study looks at
Social networks in relation to its impact on academic needs. Social networks are studied with an
educational context; they are part of a virtual learning environment. The classroom is shifting in
time and space with e learning. The rampant use of social networks for learning purposes by
students makes this study imperative. SNS are part of this virtual learning environment where the
classroom is shifting in time and space. 3. Methodology and Procedure: The research conducted
was Analytical Research and the data was collected with the help of a questionnaire in a cross
sectional survey. After that a critical analysis was carried out of the collected facts and figures.
3.1. Population The target population for the study was the college students, of bachelors
program, of Nizwa College of Applied Sciences, Oman. 3.2. Sample International Journal of Arts
and Commerce ISSN 1929-7106 www.ijac.org.uk 114 Sample of the study was composed of 100
participants and the sample was chosen using Purposive Sampling Technique in which the
researcher selects a particular group or category from the population to constitute the sample
because this category is considered to mirror the whole with reference to the characteristic in
question( Kumari, 2008). 3.3. Variables In this Research, following variables were selected.
Social Networking Sites as Independent Variable. Students as Dependent Variable. In this
research, Uses and gratification theory was used to check how the students use social networking
sites to fulfill specific gratification as this theory assumes that members of the audience are not
passive but take an active role in interpreting and integrating media into their own lives. The
theory also holds that audiences are responsible for choosing media to meet their needs. The
approach suggests that people use the media to fulfill specific gratifications. This theory would
then imply that the media compete against other information sources for viewers' gratification.
(Katz et al., 1974) 3.4. The Objectives of the Study are: To discover how the students of CAS,
Nizwa are using the social networking sites? To determine how the social networking sites can
be used as a platform for educational learning for CAS students? Study the uses and
gratifications drawn from social media and its effects of learning. 3.5. Scope of the Study Omani
people are exposed to various kinds of Social Networking Sites on the internet and this study will
help how the Social Networking Sites can be improved to be used as a platform for educational
learning for CAS students in Oman. 3.6. The Hypotheses for the Research conducted is: SNS are
useful platform for students learning and academic performance. 4. Findings and Discussion: To
explore the relationship between social networks and impact on students academic performance,
we chose a sample of 100 students who were in the age bracket of 18 to 25 years. The students
were chosen from the undergraduate program offered in the college. Gender Percentage Male
40% Female 60% Table 1:Gender distribution of Respondents Students have internet access in
the college and their hostels. The conventional model of studying for these students is classroom
instruction. While the institution facilitates education through educational networks within the
college like Blackboard, the students are well exposed to online social networks. International
Journal of Arts and Commerce Vol. 2 No. 1 January 2013 115 4.1. Relationship between Social
Network Variables and Students Academic Performance: To study the relationship between use
of social networks and students academic performance, we selected variables that can identify
uses and gratification that the students draw from social networks. These variables show effects
of social networks on students academic performance and the futuristic online and offline
paradigms that can enhance teaching methodology. 4.2. Uses of Social Networks From a sample
of 100 students we found that all the students used one or the other social networking site. The
social networking sites that students used for academic purposes included YouTube, Google plus
and Face book. Google Plus was used as much as Face book. Twitter was the least used of all the
websites. Any other SNS included Al Sabla, AL Omania and Hotmail messenger. The
respondents found Facebook and Google+ easier to use. On an average they had at least 30 to 70
friends (see Fig 2). 56% students did not have more friends online than in real life. 44% students
had more friends online than in real life. Most students added that their real life friends were
their online friends; while most of them had friends who were from school, college or family.
They also had friends abroad and from neighboring GCC countries. This shows the pattern of
friendships on SNS which comprised more of people who were part of their daily social circle in
real life. Social networks gave a sense of belonging to a student community. 4.3. Use of Social
Networks on Mobile Phones: 80 percent students reported that they used a social networking site
on phone. This increased the approachability and flexibility of being in touch. Smart features
available on social networks like reading RSS feeds, location tagging and status updates were
popular uses of social network on mobile phone. These were not directly related to education(Fig
3). 0 10 20 30 Fig1: Social Networks Used by Respondents SNS Yes 44% No 56% Fig 2:
Friends: Real vs Virtual International Journal of Arts and Commerce ISSN 1929-7106
www.ijac.org.uk 116 4.4. Time Spent on Social Networking Sites: The respondents reported the
number of hours they spent on social networks per day. 10% spent half hour, 35% spent two
hours per day and 25% spent more than two hours. They were no respondents who spent zero
hours on the social networks. The consumption levels for two hours are the highest (see Fig 4).
The number of social networks used by the students also varied.10% used only one social
network, 42% used two , 26% used three, and 22% used more than social networks. The
popularity of SNS cannot be ignored with 42 % using at least two social network (Fig 5). 4.5.
Uses of Social Networking Sites: Fig3: Use of SNS on Mobile phone by Respondents Yes No 0
10 20 30 40 30 Mins 1 Hr 2 Hr More than 2 Hr Fig 4: Time Spent on SNS by Respondents Time
Spent on SNS 1 10% 2 42% 3 26% More than 3 22% Fig 5: Number of SNS Used by
Respondents International Journal of Arts and Commerce Vol. 2 No. 1 January 2013 117 The
next variable in this assessment was the purposes for which the students used social network
sites. The students were able to point out the different purposes for which they used the SNS. In
Table 2 we see that the highest score of 60 % is for downloading music and videos. 8 % used is
for posting photos, 40 % used it for chatting. Purposes % of Respondents Downloading music \
video 60 % Uploading music \ video 6 % Posting photos 18 % Chatting 40 % Blogging 8 %
Creating polls/quizzes or surveys 8 % Submitting articles to website 14% Communication with
teachers/ class fellows 14% Any other 18% Table 2: Percentage of Usage of SNS by
Respondents Downloading music and videos were not only educational but consisted of several
genres. The highest score revealed that the students used it for chatting. Downloading
music/videos, posting photos and chatting can be categorized as entertainment use. Educational
activities like publishing articles, participating in quizzes/poll, communicating with teachers
comprised of a lesser score. Only 6 % used SNS for uploading videos. 8 % for creating
quizzes/poll 8 % for blogging, 14 % for submitting articles, 14 % communication with teachers.
This reflects that SNS were used by students for entertainment mostly and less for educational
purposes. While most students used social networks for entertainment purposes, 72 % agreed that
they used to social networks while working on classroom assignments (Fig 6). 28 % do not use
any social network for completing assignments. This high score indicates that students find
social networks helpful in getting guidance and information related to their subject. 4.6.
Community \ Groups \Sharing: Nearly all respondents were members of a community or a group
on social networks. The kind of communities they joined was for educational, entertainment,
information and for any other uses. 22 % used SNS for educational purposes, 38 % for
entertainment, 48 % for Information and 18 % for any other use. Yes 72% No 28% Fig.6: SNS
Used for Assignments by Respondents International Journal of Arts and Commerce ISSN 1929-
7106 www.ijac.org.uk 118 The maximum groups and communities joined by students were for
information and awareness purposes. The students chose groups that were related to their
discipline and joined educational communities with which they shared common interests (Fig 7).
It is increasingly becoming common for universities and educational institutions to use private or
personal communities for student learning. Universities and academic institutions have realized
this potential. The Yes WE Care campaign by communication students at CAS Nizwa was
successful in contacting students and kindling their interest in the campaign. The Campaign was
a public relations project by communications students, which became popular through the online
social network, Facebook. The social network proactively engaged the students. This reflects the
benefit of forming groups and communities within an academic set up for undergraduate
education. Communities and sharing forums encouraged students to exchange ideas and learning
experiences. Students also used the groups to search for job and career opportunities related to
media. 80 % found these networks useful in exploring available job, internships and training
opportunities. 20 % did not use them for career related information (Fig 8). The variable of self
expression offers an insight into Self-efficacy the measure of one's own competence to
complete tasks and reach goals (Bandura, 1997). 72 % preferred to share their feelings while 28
% were reserved in their attitude. Their self expression can be related to habits and interactions
that contribute to attainment of goals. Having access to a student focused community helps them
to reach out to other students. They used SNS to overcome shy attitudes and express their
feelings and ideas openly (Fig 9). 0 20 40 60 Fig 7: Communities Joined by Respondents
Communities Yes 80% No 20% Fig 8: Browsing of Information related to Studies/Career by
Respondents International Journal of Arts and Commerce Vol. 2 No. 1 January 2013 119
Students who are shy to talk in class, or address concerns voiced them in a message, status or a
discussion. Self expression through online networks was found to have a relative effect on their
academic performance as 72 % preferred to express their feelings on SNS. They weigh their
opinions in the light of comments received from their friends and instructors and this expels the
dilemmas they may have regarding any academic concern. While 28 % felt hesitant to express
feelings on SNS. 4.7. SNS Affect Language, Study Habits And Study Timings? 58 % agreed to a
change in their linguistic habits while 42 % disagreed to any difference in their vocabulary or
style of discourse. The students spoke Arabic as their first language and English as a second
language. 45 % preferred to use a formal style of language, 34 % used casual day to day
language, and 24 % used slang (Fig 10). They added comments to the questionnaire and
expressed that they used Arabic more than English. They gave a list of short forms they used to
save writing time. They were some new English and Arabic words that they had picked from
chats and discussions on social networks. They had learnt to shorten spellings of words while
messaging and chatting in both Arabic and English. Table 3 and 4 below lists categories of
English and Arabic short forms, slangs and new words used while chatting and texting on social
networks. New English words and popular English short forms were common for
communicating on SNS. Chatting allowed second language English speakers to develop
confidence in speaking a foreign language. It gave them time to think and type in the foreign
language. Yes 72% No 28% Fig 9: Ideas/feelings expressed by Respondents on SNS 0 20 40 60
Fig 10: Language Use on SNS by Respondents Series 1 International Journal of Arts and
Commerce ISSN 1929-7106 www.ijac.org.uk 120 English - Short forms learnt through SNS
English - New words learnt through SNS brb Be right back Yup Yes ha-ha Sis Bro Oops!
GTG ( Gotta go\I have to go) ROFL - Rolling on floor laughing See you later OTP ( On the
phone) Loool ( Lots of laughter) Dropped down Slept Carry on / go on I would like to have a cup
of tea Mustard Grill Shaker Table 3: Words learnt through SNS by Respondents Arabic
Commonly used words on SNS Arabic Slang words used on SNS Arabic version of English
shorthand forms Table 4: Words used by Respondents on SNS Reports on the impact of short
form texting and language on students English language skills, especially on reading and
writing, began to appear in the early 2000s. The findings of these studies assert that the use of
textisms ( using number combinations such as 2morrow) shorthand forms lead to less proficiency
in English while well known linguists " like David Crystal believe that students tend to write and
edit more than ever before as a result of texting. Its increased use enhances rather than harms the
literacy of its users." An observation drawn after checking students assignments is that students
were conscious of where to use social network jargon and they did not use it in asynchronous
communication ( blogs, email ). Slangs and shorthand was used mostly in synchronous
communication e.g. chatting and texting. (Tripping up with txting!, 2012). 59 % students agreed
that they noticed a change in their study habits, 35 % disagreed that it had brought any change in
their study patterns ( Fig11) These study habits on further discussion revealed that they were not
only related to time spent online but the multi tasking factor. Students simultaneously used social
network as well as studied from course material. Their study habits had a component of online
and offline reading. International Journal of Arts and Commerce Vol. 2 No. 1 January 2013 121
64 % denied that it affected their study timings while 36 % felt that it had distracted them and
had affected the timings of study (Fig 12). 4.8. Social networks and E learning: 72 % students
agreed that Social networks were an effective e-learning tool. 28 % denied that social networks
could function as e-learning tools. 72 % who were in favor felt that e-learning saved time
( Fig13). The students who supported the use of social networking as an e-learning tool gave
suggestions of how the SNS could be used to help them; which are as follows: Special social
networks for understanding assignments. Download supporting information in images on SNS
to help with assignment Students should be able to exchange information and experiences with
teachers Yes 59% No 35% Any other 6% Fig 11: Percentage of Respondents habits changed by
SNS Yes 36% No 64% Fig 12: Respondents Study timings affected by SNS Yes 72% No 28%
Fig 13: SNS an Effective elearning tool International Journal of Arts and Commerce ISSN 1929-
7106 www.ijac.org.uk 122 Form specific groups related to each major ( Public Relations,
Journalism, Digital Media) Special pages where teachers can upload material related to specific
topics that students can read while using SNS. Forum where students can clear doubts Online
trouble shooting for practical projects 4.9. Face to face and virtual models of instruction: 28 %
students agreed with social networks as being more effective than classroom teaching while 72
% disagreed. 72 % students felt that classroom teaching could not be replaced by social
networks. This can be understood as the social networks are not yet prevalent medium of
education in the College of Applied Sciences. While universities and educational institutions
have already started using Facebook in the classrooms, yet the technique has not yet been used in
the colleges. 5. Conclusion: The students, on a whole, gave a more scoring response to using
online networks to write their class assignments and inclusion of college related student focused
groups and social networks. The observations drawn from empirical data shows that students
have started using social networks for academic purposes. While some students perceived SNS
as a distraction and were hesitant to share their feelings, a high percentage of respondents found
it an avenue to search for information, join educational networks and look for career
opportunities. The use of SNS gave them a sense of belonging to an academic community, as
their online friends were mostly those who they met in college. Two step flow interactions,
student to student and teacher to student favored academic learning through social networks.
While the application of social networks in classroom teaching has been implemented yet CAS
Nizwa has applied this technique only once during the YES WE CARE campaign. The beneficial
results of this campaign and the uses and gratifications highlighted in this study, shows social
networks as a significant influence in the academic performance of students. Yet the use of these
networks has to be disciplined as it can lead to distraction from education. The research also
concludes that a large section of students capitalize on the importance of human classroom face
to face instruction, the social networks used for educational / tutoring should be able to apply
these principles in a virtual classroom. Technical factors like low speeds, poor network
connectivity may impede this process on a social networking site and may cause gaps in
communication. According to the responses it can be concluded that social networks if designed
and tailored to the specific educational needs of each student, related to each major in
communication, SNS can be a useful instrument in improving academic performance of
undergraduate students in CAS, Nizwa, Oman. Yes 28% No 72% Fig 14: SNS - More effective
than classroom teaching International Journal of Arts and Commerce Vol. 2 No. 1 January 2013
123 6. References: Anonymous. (2010). Student Grades Not Affected by Social Networking.
Retrieved from University of New Hampshire: http://www.newswise.com/articles/student-
grades-not-affected-by-social-networking-new-researchfinds. Bandura, A. ( 1997). Self-Efficacy:
The Exercise of Control. Worth Publishers. Dr. Robin Mason and Frank Rennie. (2004). The
Connecticon: Learning for the Connected Generation. USA: Information Age Publishing.
Education in Oman. (n.d.). Retrieved from Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Education_in_Oman Ellison, D. a. ( 2007). Social network sites:
Definition, history, and scholarship. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication , 1-11.
Enriquez, J. (2010). Facebook and Other Online Social Networking Sites Can Lower Grades,
Study Says. Retrieved from http://seerpress.com/facebook-and-other-online-social-networking-
sites-can-lower-gradesstudy-says/6935/. Flad, K. (2010). The Influence of Social Networking
Participation on Student Academic Performance Across Gender Lines. H.Vaughn, C. a. (2008).
Social networking: Communication revolution or evolution? Bell Labs Journal , 13-17. I.Kord, J.
(2008). Understanding the Face book generation: a study of the relationship between online
social networking and academic and social integration and intentions to re-enroll. ProQuest
Information and Learning Company. Kist, W. (2008). I gave up myspace for lent: New teachers
and social networking sites. Lewis, S. (2008). Where young adults intend to get news in five
years. Matthew J. Stollak, V. A. (2011). GETTING SOCIAL: THE IMPACT OF SOCIAL
NETWORKING USAGE ON GRADES AMONG COLLEGE STUDENTS. ASBBS Annual
Conference. Las Vegas. Nicole Ellison, C. S. (2007). The benefits of Face book "Fiends;" Social
Capital and College Students' Use of OnlineSocial Network Sites. Journal of Computer-Mediated
Communication . Oman 3rd highest proportion of mobile phone users in the world. (2012, April
21). Retrieved from OneOman.com: http://oneoman.com/2012/04/21/oman-3rd-highest-
proportion-of-mobile-phone-users-in-theworld/ Oman - Telecoms, Mobile and Broadband.
(2012). Retrieved from http://www.budde.com.au/Research/OmanTelecoms-Mobile-and-
Broadband.html Qazi, I. A. ( 2011). A look out for academic impacts of Social networking sites
(SNSs): A student based perspective . African Journal of Business Management , 5022-5031.
Taswir, T. (2012). Study of Converging Perspectives: Youth Viewership of Internet Video
Content and Traditional Television Sets in Oman. International Journal of Humanities and Social
Science . Tripping up with txting! (2012). Retrieved from Oman Tribune:
http://www.omantribune.com/index.php?page=leisure_details&id=6596&heading=Oman
%20Mirror Tuckman, H. (1975). Teacher Effectiveness and Student Performance. J. Econ.
Educ. , 34-39. International Journal of Arts and Commerce ISSN 1929-7106 www.ijac.org.uk
124 7. Appendix 7.1. Questionnaire: (The survey is being conducted for the research regarding
Effect of Social Networking Sites on the Academic performance of Students in CAS Nizwa.
Your participation will greatly help to obtain the results) Name:
----------------------------------------------------------------- Gender: Age: What Social media sites do
you use? Youtube Twitter Facebook Google+ Anyother How many social networking sites do
you use? 1 2 3 more than 3 How much time do you spend on social media sites? 30min 1 hour 2
hours more than 2 hours Do you use social networking sites through your mobile phone? Yes No
You use social media primarily for? Dowloading music/video Uploading music/video Posting
photos Blogging Creating polls/quizzes or surveys Chatting Submitting articles to website
Communication with teachers/class fellows Anyother Do you think social media sites are
changing your habits in anyway? Yes No Anyother Do you think social media sites improve your
knowledge about a product, service or organization? Yes No Do you have more friends on social
networking sites as compared to real life? Yes No Do you prefer to express your ideas and
feelings on social networking sites? Yes No Do you think social networking sites are affecting
the way you speak or write in your everyday life? Yes No What kind of language do you prefer
to use while surfing on social networking sites? Male Female International Journal of Arts and
Commerce Vol. 2 No. 1 January 2013 125 Formal Informal Slang Do you think social
networking sites affect your study timings? Yes No Do you think social networking sites can be
an effective tool for e-learning? Yes No Do you think social networking sites are more effective
in communicating with your teachers than in actual class? Yes No Do you think social
networking sites help you with your home work? Yes No What kind of communities to do you
subscribe to on social networking sites? Educational Entertainment Informational Any other Do
you ever find any information regarding your career or academic interests on social networking
sites? Yes No Do you think social networking sites can be improved in any way as a tool for
learning?
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Thank you for
your cooperation...
Abstract: Social network is a platform for people share their ideals, to meet new friends and to
reconnect with old friends. Social networking sites offer people new and varied ways to
communicate via the internet, whether through their PC or their mobile phone. Examples include
MySpace, Facebook, Skype etec. They allow people to easily and simply create their own online
page or profile and to construct and display an online network of contacts, often called friends.
Users of these sites can communicate via their profile both with their friends and with people
outside their list of contacts. With SNS it is easy to communicate with your classmate, discuss
class assignment and even submit project to your lecturer, watch videos, make comment on your
friend page etc. This study will focus on the effect of SNS on student academic performance,
using GAU as a case study. What are student using SNS for, does it affect their studies, or help
them to learn easily. This project will talk about the history of SNS, development and the users of
SNS especially by student and lecturers in communicating with colleague and student as well. A
15 question personally administered questionnaire was designed and sent to about 50 students
from different country and department in GAU.

Keywords: Social Networking, E-learning, Communication, Academic Performance, Social

Media.

CHAPTER ONE
1.1 Introduction
Since the introduction of social network sites years ago, to communicate with friends and family
has been easy once you have access to internet. The internet has given us the ability to connect
with people from around the globe with a few clicks of a button. And you can easily send
information to a friend or get information. Social network sites (SNSs) such as MySpace,
Facebook, Youtube, Skype etc, have attracted millions of users, many of whom have integrated
these sites into their daily practices. People consume a lot of time on this sites uploading or
downloading, getting information concerning their career or academic work. People are always
online every second, chatting with friends, watching online movies, doing research. Social site
has become an habit for some people, they find it difficult to study for one hour without login to
one network site. Some people have become very smart because of the information they get from
this sites, why some have become very poor academically, because it easy to get almost any
materials for school assignment.

1.2. The Early Years of SNS

Social networking began in 1978 with the Bulletin Board System (or BBS.) The BBS was hosted
on personal computers, requiring that users dial in through the modem of the host computer,
exchanging information over phone lines with other users. This was the first system that allowed
users to sign in and interact with each other, although it was quite slow since only one user could
be logged in at a time. Later in the year, the very first copies of web browsers were distributed
using the bulletin board Usenet. Usenet was created by Jim Ellis and Tom Truscott, and it
allowed users to post news articles or posts, which were referred to as news. The difference
between Usenet and other BBS and forums was that it didnt have a dedicated administrator or
central server. There are modern forums that use the same idea as Usenet today, including Yahoo!
Groups and Google Groups. The first version of instant messaging came about in 1988 with
Internet Relay Chat (IRC). IRC was Unix-based, limiting access to most people. It was used for
link and file sharing, and generally keeping in touch with one another.1
The first meaningful social network site is SixDegrees.com, it was launched in 1997. It was the
SNS that allowed users to create profiles, list their Friends and, beginning in 1998, surf the
Friends lists. Each of these features existed in some form before SixDegrees, of course. Profiles
existed on most major dating sites and many community sites. AIM and ICQ buddy lists
supported lists of Friends, although those Friends were not visible to others. Classmates.com
allowed people to affiliate with their high school or college and surf the network for others who
were also affiliated, but users could not create profiles or list Friends until years later. SixDegrees
was the first to combine these features. SixDegrees promoted itself as a tool to help people
connect with and send messages to others. While SixDegrees attracted millions of users, it failed
to become a sustainable business and, in 2000, the service closed. Looking back, its founder
believes that SixDegrees was simply ahead of its time (A. Weinreich, personal communication,
July 11, 2007). While people were already flocking to the Internet, most did not have extended
networks of friends who were online. Early adopters complained that there was little to do after
accepting Friend requests, and most users were not interested in meeting strangers. From 1997 to
2001, a number of community tools began supporting various combinations of profiles and
publicly articulated Friends. AsianAvenue, BlackPlanet, and MiGente allowed users to create
personal, professional, and dating profilesusers could identify Friends on their personal
profiles without seeking approval for those connections (O. Wasow, personal communication,
August 16, 2007). Likewise, shortly after its launch in 1999, LiveJournal listed onedirectional
connections on user pages. LiveJournal's creator suspects that he fashioned these Friends after
instant messaging buddy lists (B. Fitzpatrick, personal communication, June 15, 2007)on
LiveJournal, people mark others as Friends to follow their journals and manage privacy settings.
The Korean virtual worlds site Cyworld was started in 1999 and added SNS features in 2001,
independent of these other sites (see Kim & Yun, this issue). Likewise, when the Swedish web
community LunarStorm refashioned itself as an SNS in 2000, it contained Friends lists,
guestbooks, and diary pages (D. Skog, 2007).
The next wave of SNSs began when Ryze.com was launched in 2001 to help people leverage
their business networks. Ryze's founder reports that he first introduced the site to his friends
primarily members of the San Francisco business and technology community, including the
entrepreneurs and investors behind many future SNSs (A. Scott, personal communication, June
14, 2007). In particular, the people behind Ryze, Tribe.net, LinkedIn, and Friendster were tightly
entwined personally and professionally. They believed that they could support each other without
competing (Festa, 2003). In the end, Ryze never acquired mass popularity, Tribe.net grew to
attract a passionate niche user base, LinkedIn became a powerful business service, and Friendster
became the most significant, if only as "one of the biggest disappointments in Internet history".

1.3. What is a social networking site?

Social as the word sounds is deals with the way will communicate in our society, in which you
meet and spend time with other people. Network is the connection of parts together to allow
movement or communication with other parts. Social networking is the connection of friends or
family together which allow you to communicate easily. With social networking sites you can
have a long chain of friends you can chat or share information or ideal with. According to Boyd
& Ellison (2008), SNS can be defined as web-based services that allow individuals to construct
a public or semi-public profile within a bounded system, articulate a list of other users with
whom they share a connection, and view and traverse their list of connections and those made by
others within the system. At the most basic level social networking sites allow users to set up
online profiles or personal homepages, and develop an online social network. The profile page
functions as the users own webpage and includes profile information ranging from their date of
birth, gender, religion, politics and hometown, to their favourite films, books quotes and what
they like doing in their spare time. In addition to profile information, users can design the
appearance of their page, and add content such as photos, video clips and music files.

.
CHAPTER TWO
2.1. Literature Review
When talking of about communication, scholars have always made emphasis, that
communication is the essence of science (Garvey, 1979), and that without communication
there would no science (Lacy & Bush, 1983, p.193). this means that communication is one of the
basic tools to human science.
The increased use of Social Networking Websites has become a global phenomenon in the past
few years. What started out as a hobby for some computer literate people has become a social
norm and way of life for people around the globe (Boyd, 2007). Teenagers and youth especially
student have embraced these sites as a way to connect with their friend and make new once,
share information, photos of their activities such as birthday, photo with friend in class etc, and
showcase their social lives.
With the increase of technology used for communicating with the spread of the Internet, Social
Networking has become an activity that is done primarily on the Internet, with sites like
MySpace, Face book, Skype, etc (Coyle et al., 2008).
Many people especially student spend a lot of time on this site creating profile, updating or doing
research concerning their career or academic work, while some just use it to chat with friends,
post latest pictures of event they attended, e.g., Young et al., 2009, have examined their profiles
to determine why and to what extent they are keen on posting their entire identity, sharing
pictures and videos, and indicating their religious affiliations, marital status, and political
orientations on the internet. These users interact with others, exchange information about their
interests, raise discussions about new topics, follows news about specific topics on different
Social Networking Sites.
With the advent of social network it has become easy to get information on nearly every issue
around the globe. Before now it is not easy getting information, you need to buy newspaper, stay
close to your TV set or radio to get information. Internet has change everything and social
network has made it more flexible (lewis. 2008). According to the questionnaire used for this
project, everybody who answered the questionnaire has access to the internet, and they are
connected to one social network.

2.2. Social Network and the users

The issue of whether social networking helps or hurts a students academic performance is often
depend on the larger issues identified with the overall use of SNS (e.g., its psychological effects;
individual self-discipline and self-regulation concerns; human adaptability concerns). The benefit
of using SNS includes: It create room for creativity among individuals, encouraging greater
social interaction via electronic mediums; it provides greater access to information and
information sources; it give individuals a sense of belonging among users of the same SNS;
reduces barriers to group interaction and communications such as distance and social/economic
status; and increasing the technological competency levels of frequent users of social media
(Zwart, Lindsay, Henderson, & Phillips, 2011).
Internet usage has grown rapidly over the last few years. Users are able to build a network of
connections that they can display as a list of friends. These friends may be people they have
never met before in their life or people they only know or have met in real life. Most people have
more friends on social network than they do in real life. It is important to note that the term
friend, as used on a social networking site, is different from the way we approach it in the real
life. In this project we will use the term as it is used on a social networking site.
The use of SNS is very common today. Facebook alone has over 750 million members, Twitter
having over 177 million tweet per day, and about 3 billion people view Youtube each passing
day. (Chen, & Bryer, 2012). The use of social networking sites has been repeatedly found to be
the highest among those between the ages of 18-29 (Rainie, 2011); while the fastest growing
segment utilizing SNSs since 2008 has been among those age 35 and older (Hampton, Sessions-
Goulet, Rainie, & Purcell, 2011, p. 8). Approximately 61% of teens age 12-17 utilize SNSs to
send messages to their friends on a regular basis (Lenhart, 2009). Overall, it has been found that
women use SNS more than men to communicate and exchange information (Hampton, Sessions-
Goulet, Rainie, & Purcell, 2011). The research carried out for this project female responded more
than male.
So what this study will look at is the effect or impact of social network on student, does it affect
their studies negatively or it help in increasing their performance academically.

2.3 Effect of Social Network on Academic performance

Sound Quality education produces productive students who lead to the prosperity of their
respective educational institution and subsequently are proved as strong contributors to the
national well-being. Tuckman (1975) defined performance as the apparent demonstration of
understanding, concepts, skills, ideas and knowledge of a person and proposed that grades
clearly depict the performance of a student. Hence, their academic performance must be
managed efficiently keeping in view all the factors that can positively or negatively affect their
educational performance. Use of technology such as internet is one of the most important factors
that can influence educational performance of students positively or adversely. Shah et al. (2001)
proposed that student users are affected by the internet and this impact is determined by the type
of internet usage. They are positively affected by the informative use of internet while having
drastic impact of recreational use of internet on them. Also, Oskouei (2010) proposed that
internet is advantageous to both students and teachers if used as a tool of knowledge creation and
dissemination. The effect of SNS usage will depend on the type of SNS the student is using, if
student uses the internet for the purpose of leisure activity that interferes with academic, it will
affect the student academic performance negatively.
The University of New Hampshire agrees, and believes that current college students grew up in
the technology era and social networking is now just a part of a student's daily routine. Their
research show that '63% of heavy users received high grades, compared to 65% of light users' (U
of NH, 2009). The University of New Hampshire said that a majority of students use social
networking for social connections and entertainment, but are also using it for education and
professional reasons. Kirschnera revealed that students who multi-task between social
networking sites and homework are likely to have 20% lower grades than a student who does not
have a social networking site in visual range. Kirschnera believes that even running a social
networking site on the background on a student's PC while studying or doing homework could
lower a student's grade. He believes that "the problem is that most people have Facebook or other
social networking sites, their e-mails and maybe instant messaging constantly running in the
background while they are carrying out their tasks" (Enriquez, 2010).
American Educational Research Association conducted a research and it was declared on its
annual conference in San Diego, California (2009) that SNSs users study less and generated
lower grades eventually (21stcenturyscholar.org). Similarly, Banquil et al. (2009) found a
continuing drop of grades among student users of social networking sites. However, many
researchers also found a positive association between use of internet and SNS and academic
performance of the student users. Students, using internet frequently, scored higher on reading
skills test and had higher grades as well (Linda et al., 2006).

CHAPTER THREE
3.1. Research Methods
The research was conducted using questionnaire, which was distributed to about 50 GAU
students, both undergraduate and postgraduate student alike. Out of the 50 questionnaire that was
sent 48 were answered and returned, and two were not returned. 55% of the respondents are male
while 45% are female. The respondent are from 10 different countrys of the world.

3.2. Population
The main targets for this project are the students of Girne American University
(http://www.gau.edu.tr), North Cyprus.

3.3. Objectives of the project

v To discover how the students of GAU, North Cyprus are using the social networking sites?
v To determine how the social networking sites can be used as a platform for educational
learning for GAU student

3.4. Findings and Discussion

From the sample of 50 student it shows that all the student who answered the questionnaire uses
more than one of the social network site provided in the questionnaire. From the result, it shows
student uses more of Facebook, Skype and Youtube, while Wikipedia, Google+ and Linkedin are
the least used among the respondent. Out of the 50 respondent 57% are male while 43% are
female.
Student have access to the internet in the school environment. In cafeterias, Library, Cybrary
and some strategic spot. There are also internet facilities in the dormitory for both male and
female. Student are well exposed to internet, though the mode of teaching is classroom
instruction and a marker board. For student to check their result be it mid-term result or semester
exams result, student will need to use the internet. The school have a platform which is the E-
learning. For student to access they will need to get a password which will enable them to access.
Apart from check result you can also use to get materials for writing project or thesis, such as
journals etc.
Below is the analysis of the questionnaire used for the study:
RQ. Primary use of social network sites?
About 48% of the respondent uses SNS for downloading of music, posting of photos and
chatting, while about 52% uses SNS for research, submitting of assignment and articles. This
shows that more student use SNS for academic work rather than for just leisure.
RQ. Friends in SNS compared to real life
62% of the respondent has more friends on SNS than they do in real life, while 38% says they
have more friends in real life, and also says that all the friends they have on SNS they know in
real life.
RQ. Social network help in getting materials for assignment
Most of the student agrees on the fact that SNS help them academically in getting educational
materials for their assignment and project work. With the help of the internet it is almost possible
to get any kind of subject material at your disposal. It becomes easier for GAU student, because
the school have provided the enable environment for student to access the internet with ease.
With the these facilities available student can do research.
RQ. Expressing your ideals and feelings on SNS
About 57% of the student thinks that SNS is not a good platform to express your feelings and
ideals. They believe in real life interaction, face to face. Where they can see the expression on the
face of the person they are talking to, while 43% of the respondent thinks otherwise. They think
SNS is a good platform to express your ideals or feelings. Some students are crowd shy or they
think that their ideal is not good enough and feels they may be embarrassed by the lecturer or
fellow student may laugh at them. So they believe expressing it through SNS will help them
avoid any form of embarrassment, and also be able to express their mind.
RQ. Does SNS affect in writing and speaking in everyday life?
About 58% of the respondent says that SNS does affect the way they communicate to people
both in speaking and in writing, while 42% says SNS does not affect them in speaking or in
writing. If we take a proper look at it, the way we communicate in SNS especially in writing, we
write in short form and most of the words used are slang. This could affect in spelling words.
RQ. Studying time
About 50% says social network sites does not affect their study time, while the other 50% says
the social networking sites affect their study time. Especially when they want to study that is
when someone will send them a message . so, if you have planned to study for 3 hours and you
chat for say 45 minutes, your time of study has already be cut short by 30 minutes, and if it
continues like that it will lead to low grade.
RQ. SNS effective tool for e-learning
85% of the respondent believes that social networking sites is an effective tool for e-learning,
while 14% thinks otherwise, and 1% did not respond to the question. Student who support ,
thinks that with SNS one can easily submit assignment, without necessary going to meet lecturer
face to face. Student can interact with other student on a particular subject and share ideals.

CHAPTER FOUR
Conclusion
A large response from the student shows that student are using SNS to do various things such as
writing of class assignment, checking of result and other related group and social activities. At
first it will be easy to predict that too much use of SNS might have adverse impact on academic
performance of student in GAU, but the result did not imply the same. It shows that student is
managing the time they spend on the use SNS, and to make sure it does not affect their academic
performance. Students are exposed to the internet and they are not shy in using it for research
and career activities, to upgrade their academic knowledge, and GAU has putting in place
internet facilities that will help student achieve their academic goals. From the response of the
student a large percentage prefer the method of submitting assignment online. This is one of the
way GAU has improved in E-learning. Every lecturer has an e-mail address which they give to
student, not only to submit assignment or project but also to ask question on subject student are
not clear with.

Findings suggested that despite spending time on the use of internet or on SNS, students are still
efficient enough for their studies, they do not face any difficulty in meeting their studies
requirements.

REFERENCES

- Boyd, D and Ellison, NB (October, 2007), Social Network Sites, Definition, History and
Scholarship, Journal of Computer Mediated
Communication,http://jcmc.indiana.edu/vol13/issue1/boyd.ellison.html.

- Danah M. Boyd and Nicole B. Ellison, Social network sites:Definition, history, and
scholarship. www.danah.org/pappers/JCMCIntro.pdf
- Chafkin, M. (2007, June). How to kill a great idea! Inc. Magazine. Retrieved from
http://www.inc.com/magazine/20070601/features-how-to-kill-a-great-idea.html

- Bandura, A. ( 1997). Self-Efficacy: The Exercise of Control. Worth Publishers

- Enriquez, J. (2010). Facebook and Other Online Social Networking Sites Can Lower Grades,
Study Says. Retrieved from http://seerpress.com/facebook-and-other-online-social-networking-
sites-can-lower-gradesstudy-says/6935/.

- Lewis, S. (2008). Where young adults intend to get news in five years

- Chen, B., & Bryer, T. (2012). Investigating Instructional Strategies for Using Social Media in
Formal and Informal Learning. The International Review of Research in Open and Distance
Learning, 13(1), 87-104.

- Zwart, M. d., Lindsay, D., Henderson, M., & Phillips, M. (2011). Teenageers, Legal Risks and
Social Networking Sites. Victoria, Australia: Victoria Law Foundation.

- Tuckman, H. (1975). Teacher Effectiveness and Student Performance. J. Econ. Educ.34-39.

- Bandura, A. ( 1997). Self-Efficacy: The Exercise of Control. Worth Publishers.

- Anonymous. (2010). Student Grades Not Affected by Social Networking. Retrieved from
University of New Hampshire: http://www.newswise.com/articles/student-grades-not-affected-
by-social-networking-new-researchfinds

- Shah DV, Kwak N, Holbert RL (2001). Connecting and disconnecting with civic life:
Patterns of Internet use and the production of social capital. Polit. Communication., 18: 141-162.
- Young, s. Dutta, D. & Dommety, G. (2009), Extrapolating psychological insight from facebook
profiles: a study of religion and relationship status. Cyberpsychology & Behaviour, 12 (3), 347-
350

- Lenhart A. and Madden M. (2007) Social Networking Websites and Teens: An Overview.
Pew Internet and American Life Project

- Rainie, L. (2011, November). The new education ecology. Powerpoint presentation. Orlando,
Florida.

- Lenhart, A. (2009, April). Teens and Social Media: An Overview, 22. New York, New York:
Pew Internet & American Life Project

- Hampton, K. N., Sessions-Goulet, L., Rainie, L., & Purcell, K. (2011). Social networking sites
and our lives. Washington, DC: Pew Research Center.

- Festa, P. (2003, November 11). Investors snub Friendster in patent grab. CNet News.
Retrieved from http://news.com.com/2100-1032_3-5106136.html

- Skog, D. (2005). Social interaction in virtual communities: The significance of

technology. International Journal of Web Based Communities, 1 (4), 464-474.

www.ijres.net The Effects of Social Networking Sites on Students Studying and Habits Tolga
Gok Dokuz Eylul University, [email protected] To cite this article: Gok, T. (2016). The
effects of social networking sites on students studying and habits. International Journal of
Research in Education and Science (IJRES), 2(1), 85- 93. This article may be used for research,
teaching, and private study purposes. Any substantial or systematic reproduction, redistribution,
reselling, loan, sub-licensing, systematic supply, or distribution in any form to anyone is
expressly forbidden. Authors alone are responsible for the contents of their articles. The journal
owns the copyright of the articles. The publisher shall not be liable for any loss, actions, claims,
proceedings, demand, or costs or damages whatsoever or howsoever caused arising directly or
indirectly in connection with or arising out of the use of the research material. International
Journal of Research in Education and Science Volume 2, Issue 1, Winter 2016 ISSN: 2148-9955
The Effects of Social Networking Sites on Students Studying and Habits Tolga Gok* Dokuz
Eylul University Abstract Social media is important to communicate with people, share/ask
information, and follow/evaluate/interpret the events, etc. for everyone at the present time. The
positive and negative effects of social networking sites on students studying and habits were
examined in this research. The study was conducted on 220 students in vocational school of
higher education. The data were collected with the help of a questionnaire designed for gathering
the students opinions about the digital technologies and social media. The results revealed that
the digital technologies and social networking sites have negative impact on students studying
and habits. Some suggestions related to the findings were presented in the study. Key words:
Digital technologies; Higher education; Internet; Smartphone; Social networking sites
Introduction Social networking sites (SNS) have become popular with the help of digital
technologies (tablet, smartphone, notebook, etc.) and internet recently (Boyd &Ellison, 2007).
Social media is a virtual platform. This platform helps people to make new connections, to
improve friendly relations with other humans, and to exchange information (Coyle & Vaughn,
2008; Wang, Chen, & Liang, 2011). Many social networking sites (Blogs, Facebook, Instagram,
LinkedIn, Twitter, Youtube, etc.) are using at the present time. One of the most popular sites is
Facebook. The statistical data showed that there are more than 500 million people with Facebook
membership and the majority of them are members of other social networking sites besides
approximately 250 million of these memberships visit Facebook site in each day at least one time
(Boyd & Ellison, 2007). Social media has really become an integral part of people in daily lives
(Boyd & Ellison, 2007; Hakoyama & Hakoyama, 2011). Raacke & Raacke-Bonds (2008),
Williams & Merten (2009) and Raffterty (2009) indicated that people have a social networking
sites account based on difference reasons (making new friends, following famous people, sharing
personal information, commenting the events, etc.). These people addicted to SNS are called as
heavy users. Many studies (Barnes & Laird, 2012; Carroll & Kirkpatrick, 2011; Gok, 2015;
Nehls & Smith, 2014; OKeeffe & Pearson, 2011) were conducted to determine the positive and
negative effects of social networking sites. Schill (2011) reported that social media is the
negative impacts (anxiety, behavioral changes, mental health problems, psychological effect,
severe loss of personal productivity, stress, a sense of guilt and crisis, etc.) on adolescents.
Bryant et al., (2006) indicated that many adolescents preferred technological communication in
order to express their feelings and thoughts instead of using face to face communication. Wang,
et al. (2011) showed that children spent plenty of time on SNS instead of doing homework,
studying the courses, and preparing examination. Many studies (Duncan, Hoekstra, & Wilcox,
2012; Kalpidou, Costin, & Morris, 2011; Ophir, Nass, & Wagner, 2009; Wang et al., 2011)
reported that students grades negatively affected using of SNS. Salas & Alexander (2008)
revealed that SNS provided students to discuss about class materials and to share academic
issues. Other studies (Giles & Price, 2008; Junco, Merson, & Salter, 2010; Subrahmanyam &
Lin, 2007; Valkenburg & Peter, 2009; Wei & Lo, 2006) reported that the usage of social media
and internet was changed to gender. They demonstrated that male spent more time than female
on computer games and female spent more time than male on chatting. The purpose of the
research was to examine the positive and negative effects of social networking sites on female
and male students studying and habits. The research questions investigated were: a) Are there
any differences between female and male students social networking sites usage? b) Are there
any differences between female and male students studying and habits? * Corresponding
Author: Tolga Gok, [email protected] 86 Gok Method The present study was used survey
methodology. A questionnaire was designed for the research. The questionnaire consists of 14
questions (see Appendix A) and covers demographic information, digital technologies, social
networking sites, and habits of the female and male students. The reliability and validity of the
questionnaire were not analyzed in this research but the research instruments reliability and
validity will be conducted with the help of more data in the future study. The students were given
approximately five minutes to fill out the questionnaire. The research was performed on four
departments (Industrial Glass and Ceramics, Geotechnic, Drilling Technology, Natural Building
Stone Technology) in Torbali Technical Vocational School of Higher Education at Dokuz Eylul
University, Turkey. The study sample consisted of 220 volunteer students (33% female and 67%
male). The students were between 18 and 20 years of age. The collected data were analyzed by
IBM-SPSS Statistics 22. The frequency distributions, means and standard deviations of female
and male students values were calculated and independent-samples t-test was conducted to
determine the statistical difference of means between male and female students according to the
statements. The difference between genders was considered significant with p values less than
0.05. Results and Discussion The results obtained from the questionnaire were given as follows.
Table 1 represents the education level of the father and mother. The findings indicated that the
family members of the female and male students have high school degree about 55%. Table 1.
The educational level of father and mother Gender I ESG SSG HSG UD GD Father F 1 (1.4%) 2
(2.80%) 8 (11.10%) 45 (62.50%) 16 (22.20%) - M - 20 (13.50%) 24 (16.20%) 78 (52.70%) 23
(15.50%) 3 (2.00%) Mother F 2 (2.80%) 10 (13.90%) 15 (20.80%) 40 (55.60%) 5 (6.90%) - M 5
(3.40%) 20 (13.50%) 37 (25.0%) 78 (52.70%) 7 (4.70%) 1 (0.70%) Note: F Female; M Male; I
Illiteracy; ESG Elementary School Graduate; SSG Secondary School Graduate; HSG High
School Graduate; UG Undergraduate Degree; GD Graduate Degree Mean values for the
educational level of father were calculated that mean values of the female and male students are
4.01 (standard deviation SD =0.75) and 3.76 (SD=0.94), respectively. Independent-samples t-
test was conducted to determine the statistical difference of means between genders for
identifying educational level of the students father. The difference in the values between genders
was not statistically significant [degree of freedom df =218, t=1.963, p>0.05]. Mean values for
the educational level of mother were calculated that mean values of the female and male students
are 3.50 (SD =0.91) and 3.43 (SD=0.92), respectively. Independent-samples t-test was conducted
to determine the statistical difference of means between genders for identifying educational level
of the students mother. The difference in the values between genders was not statistically
significant [df=218, t=.458, p>0.05]. Table 2 indicates the family income level. The results
revealed that the family income level of the students changed monthly between 400$ and 800$.
Table 2. The family income level of the students Gender $ * 0.05]. Table 3 shows that the
majority of the students have the smartphone between 15 and 20 years of age. Table 3. The
distribution of students having smartphone according to age Gender none 5 A * 0.05]. Table 4
demonstrates the results of spending time on smartphone of female and male students. The
results indicate that many students spend about one and half hour on smartphone in their daily
life. Table 4. The spending time on smartphone of the students in one day Gender none h * 0.05].
The students concerning this question were also asked how to spend time on smartphone. The
students response was presented in Appendix B. The answers of female and male students were
analyzed in five categories (phone calls, text message, application, studying, and entertainment.
The majority of female and male students use smartphone for calling friends (90%), messaging
(70%), listening to music (75%), watching video (70%), and especially using SNS (85%). Only,
10% of the students are using for studying. Table 5 displays the results of spending time on
computer of female and male students. About 70% of male students spend between two and three
hours on the computer. This ratio for female students is roughly 55%. Table 5. The spending time
on computer of the students in one day Gender none h0.05]. The students concerning this
question were also asked how to spend time on the computer. The students response was
represented in Table 6. When the findings were evaluated, female students prefer to use SNS,
listen to music, watch movie, use twitter, play games, check e-mail, study, surf on the internet,
others respectively. These orderings for male students change slightly. 88 Gok Table 6. The
purpose of computer usage according to gender Table 7 shows the results of spending time for
reading book, newspaper, etc. of female and male students. The results reveal that the students do
not like to read them. They generally prefer to follow social networking sites instead of reading
book, newspaper, etc. Table 7. The spending time of the students for reading newspaper, book
etc. in one day Gender none h0.05]. Table 8 represents the results of spending time for doing
physical exercise of female and male students. The spending time of the students for doing
physical exercise is quite a little. Approximately 60% of the female and male students do not find
time for going to the gym or physical activity. Table 8. The spending time of the students for
doing physical exercise in one day Gender none h0.05]. Table 9 represents the results of
spending time for studying science courses of female and male students. Approximately 80% of
students do not take an interest in studying science courses. Limited students study physics,
chemistry, etc. Table 9. The spending time of the students for studying science courses in one day
Gender none h0.05]. Table 10 indicates the results of spending time for studying major courses
of female and male students. About 80% of female students and 60% of male students study
major courses less than one hour. Table 10. The spending time of the students for studying major
courses in one day Gender none h0.05]. Table 11 demonstrates the results of spending time for
studying social courses of female and male students. Approximately 80% of students do not take
an interest in studying social course. Limited students study social courses. Table 11. The
spending time of the students for studying social courses in one day Gender none h0.05].
Conclusion The effects of social networking sites on the students were examined in this study.
The research was mainly focused on two research questions, the findings of which are explained
as follows: With reference to the first research question (Are there any differences between
female and male students social networking sites usage?), the findings showed that
approximately 50% of the female and male students spend one and half hour on smartphone per
day. They generally use smartphone for calling friends, messaging, listening to music, watching
video, and especially for using social networking sites (Facebook, Youtube, Blogs, Foursquare,
Twitter, etc.). The findings related to using computer and internet indicated that over 65% of
responding female and male students spend more than two hours on computer every day. When
the purposes of computer usage according to gender were generally evaluated, 85% of female
students use social networking sites, 75% of them listen to music, 70% of female watch movie,
etc. The first three findings for male students were found to be similar with the findings of
female students. Smartphone and digital technologies have literally become an inseparable part
of students and adolescents. With reference to the second research question (Are there any
differences between female and male students studying and habits?), the findings indicated that
many students have interest in social networking sites. This interest leads students to an
addiction. The social networking sites negatively influence students habits, grades, socialization,
etc. The findings related to reading books and doing physical activities revealed that
approximately 60% of responding students do not have enough time for reading books,
newspaper, etc., doing physical exercise, and going the gym. These students prefer to spend three
and half hour on social media every 90 Gok day. The findings related to studying science, major,
and social courses presented that over 70% of students do not have time for studying both
science and social courses. Except for these courses, 80% of female students and 65% of male
students study in their major course less than one hour. The results of the research reported that
the usage of social networking sites has negative impacts on students studying, performance,
and habit. This study indicated that the majority of the students spend more time on social media
instead of studying academic courses. Recommendations Some recommendation based on the
findings could be presented as follow: a) the positive and negative effects of social media on the
students, parents, etc. should be explained to them by experts (psychologist, sociologist, etc.); b)
the usage of technology devices during instruction time should be limited and/or prevented
because of negative impacts on students concentration in the schools/universities; c) the research
should be performed on students at different levels in order to generalize the findings. Note
Some parts of this content were presented at International Conference on Education in
Mathematics, Science & Technology (ICEMST-2015) (Gok, 2015). References Barnes, A., &
Laird, C. (2012). The effects of social media on children. Retrieved on June 30, 2015 from
website: http://sites.ewu.edu/cmst496-stafford/2012/06/06/the-effects-of-social-media-on-
children/ Boyd, D. M., & Ellison, N. B. (2007). Social network sites: Definition, history, and
scholarship. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 13(1), 210- 230. Bryant, J. A.,
Sanders-Jackson, A., & Smallwood, A. (2006). IMing, text messaging, and adolescent social
networks. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 11(2), 577-592. Carroll, J. A., &
Kirkpatrick, R. L. (2011). Impact of social media on adolescent behavioral health. Oakland, CA:
California Adolescent Health Collaborative. Coyle, C., & Vaughn, H. (2008). Social networking:
Communication revolution or evolution? Bell Labs Technical Journal, 13(2), 13-17. Duncan, D.
K., Hoekstra, A. R., & Wilcox, B. R. (2012). Digital devices, distraction, and student
performance: Does in class cell phone use reduce learning? Astronomy Education Review, 11,
010108, 1-4. Giles, G., & Price, R. (2008). Adolescent computer use: Approach, avoidance, and
parental control. Australian Journal of Psychology, 60(2), 63-71. Gok, T. (2015). The positive
and negative effects of digital technologies on students learning. In Sahin, I., Kiray, A., & Alan,
S. (Eds.), Proceeding Book of International Conference on Education in Mathematics, Science &
Technology (ICEMST), 215-219, Antalya. Hakoyama, M., & Hakoyama, S. (2011). The impact
of cell phone use on social networking and development among college students. The American
Association of Behavioral and Social Sciences Journal, 15, 1-20. Junco, R., Merson, D., &
Salter, D. W. (2010). The effect of gender, ethnicity, and income on college students use of
communication technologies. Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking, 13(6), 619-
627. Kalpidou, M., Costin, D., & Morris, J. (2011). The relationship between Facebook and the
well-being of undergraduate college students. Cyberpsychology, Behavior & Social Networking,
14(4), 183-189. Nehls, K., & Smith, B. D. (2014). The role of facebook in fostering transfer
student integration. Journal of Student Affairs Research and Practice, 51(4), 392406. O Keeffe,
G. S., & Clarke-Pearson, K. (2011). The impact of social media on children, adolescent, and
families. Pediatrics,127(4), 800-804. Ophir, E., Nass, C., & Wagner, A. D. (2009). Cognitive
control in media multi-taskers. Proceeding of the National Academy of Sciences, 106(33),
15583-15587. Raacke, J., & Bonds-Raacke, J. (2008). MySpace and facebook: Applying the uses
and gratifications theory to exploring friend-networking sites. CyberPsychology & Behavior,
11(2), 169-174. Rafferty, F. (2009). Boys should be boys-is it that simple? Education Journal,
116, 32-33. International Journal of Research in Education and Science (IJRES) 91 Salas, G., &
Alexander, J. S. (2008). Technology for institutional enrollment, communication, and student
success. In Junco, R., & Timm, D. M. (Eds.), Using emerging technologies to enhance student
engagement. New directions for student services, 124, 103-116. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
Schill, R. (2011). Social networking teens more likely to drink, use drugs, study finds. Retrieved
on June 30, 2015 from website: http://jjie.org/teens-on-facebook-more-likely-drink-or-use-drugs-
study-finds/ Subrahmanyam, K., & Lin, G. (2007). Adolescents and the net: Internet use and
wellbeing. Adolescence, 42(168), 659-675. Valkenburg, P., & Peter, J. (2009). Social
consequences of the internet for adolescents: A decade of research. Current Directions in
Psychological Science, 18(1), 1-5 Wang, Q., Chen,W., & Liang, Y. (2011). The effects of social
media on college students. MBA Student Scholarship, 5,1-12. Wei, R., & Lo, V. (2006). Staying
connected while on the move: Cell phone use and social connectedness. New Media, 8, 53-72.
Williams, A. L., & Merten, M. J. (2009). Adolescents online social networking following the
death of a peer. Journal of Adolescent Research, 24(1), 67-90. 92 Gok Appendix A The
questionnaire for digital technologies and social media 1. What is your gender? 2. What is the
highest level of education your father has completed? I ESG SSG HSG UD GD 3. What is the
highest level of education your mother has completed? I ESG SSG HSG UD GD 4. What is your
familys household monthly income? $
16 VOLUME 7 NO. 2 SY 2013-2014 THE EFFECTS OF SOCIAL NETWORKING SITES ON
STUDENTS ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE IN LYCEUM OF THE PHILIPPINES
LAGUNA ISAAC M. MORALLO Master of Arts in Information Technology Education Abstract
In the advent of internet technology, social communication using the internet became the frontier
of daily communication, collaboration and networking. This frontier is delineated by many social
networking websites and portals. This study was conducted to determine the effects of Social
Networking Sites (SNSs) on students academic performance in Lyceum of the Philippines
Laguna. To determine the effects of SNSs on academic performance, the researcher used the
descriptive correlational method of research. An online survey questionnaire designed using
Google docs was distributed to 203 randomly-selected studentrespondents from the six colleges
in Lyceum of the Philippines Laguna. The study found out that all students in Lyceum of the
Philippines Laguna have Facebook accounts and were significantly registered to more than one
SNSs account. The results of the study showed a statistically significant positive relationship
between time spent by students on SNSs and their academic performance. The student-
respondents tended to use SNSs to interact with their friends and not use for academic reasons.
Specifically, the study found out that the higher the time spent on SNSs showed the lower is the
time spent on studying. Hence, correlation analysis showed an inverse relationship between the
GPA and the number of SNSs accounts being maintained by the students, the frequency of SNSs
use, since when they have SNSs, length of SNSs use, and the number of study hours. The results
revealed that as these mentioned variables increases, the GPA also increases, showing that SNSs
had made a contribution in the attainment of higher grades. However, such relationships are not
significant. Therefore, the study found that SNSs usage had no significant relationship on student
academic performance. The improvement in the grade relies on other factors within the teaching-
learning process and thus could not be attributed to the use of SNS alone. Keywords: Social
Networking Sites, Academic Performance, Philippines 17 GRADUATE SCHOOL RESEARCH
JOURNAL INTRODUCTION Since the creation of Social Networking Sites (SNSs), they have
quickly become a pervasive way for people to connect and interact online all over the world. The
creation of Social Networking Sites is a phenomenal technological evolution in the world of Web
applications. These sites are widely used throughout the world connecting millions of people
simultaneously. The study of Ahmed et al. (2011) found that the first official Social Networking
Site is Classmates.com that was founded in 1995. The purpose of its creation was to provide the
students a means of social connection during or after their degree completion. The study of Jabr
(2011) found that SNSs are making a tremendous effect nearly in every aspect of life. In fact, it
had shifted as a tool for extending academic learning and communication. SNSs are web-based
application that allow individuals to create profile and share information with friends within the
system. This SNSs phenomenon had permeated on the students and became the latest online
avenue for social interactions, as well as academic interaction. Every technological innovation
has been a center of research attention and same is the case with the development and evolution
of Social Networking Sites. Some noted researchers have conducted studies to find the several
impacts of SNSs on their users, and they have arrived at mixed conclusions. For example, the
study of Suhail and Bargees (2006) found that excessive usage of Social Networking Sites causes
many psychological, physical, interpersonal, and educational problems to users. A number of
studies have also been conducted to delineate the impact of Social Networking Sites on young
generation and students. Ellison (2007) proposed that young people compete on the basis of their
efficiency regarding the use of Social Networking Sites and the criterion of this competition is
the number of friends one can accumulate using these sites. As shown in the study of Choney
(2010) due to the increased popularity of SNSs, economists and professors are questioning
whether grades of students are being affected by how much time is being spent on these sites.
Essentially, the environment and other factors may affect the way a student views learning and
studying. Truly SNSs are one of the factors that can affect students time, insight, and outlook
about learning and studying. With the prevalence of SNSs, the study of Karpinski and Kirschner
(2010) validated that students study timeand their academic performance could be affected.
Moreover, the study of Karpinski (2009) shows that users who spend more time on SNSs like
Facebook spend less time in studying. Hence, school authorities are one of the primary people
who oppose its use particularly in schools, which is the reason why they 18 VOLUME 7 NO. 2
SY 2013-2014 usually ban it during class hours. The teachers and administrators are likewise
affected because of this negative implications. Many schools have opted for strict restrictions on
SNSs usage in campuses amid concerns about safety, privacy and confidentiality, and lack of
knowledge about how best to ensure its appropriate use. The study of Lewis et al. (2008) found
out that the influence of these SNSs continues to get increasingly more pervasive, making actual
and virtual realities almost indistinguishable. Students are talking about the social networking
related stuffs almost every single day; thus it would be a surprise if any student never got
involved with Facebook, Twitter or any other SNSs nowadays. Moreover, students are paying
more attention towards these social networking activities rather than utilizing their time to study
which will surely affect their academic performance. The research of Karpinski (2009) found
that SNSs specifically Facebook usage is negatively correlated with Grade Point Averages
(GPAs) of its users. She observed that the GPAs of non-users is relatively higher than the users of
these sites. Also, the study found that 68 percent of students who used Facebook had a significant
lower GPA than those who did not use the SNSs. But the most interesting finding was that 79
percent of Facebook users denied having any adverse impact of this usage on their GPAs. It
means that they are not aware of the fact that networking habits affects their academic
performance. Hence, their academic performance must be managed efficiently without losing
sight of all the factors that can positively or negatively affect their educational performance. For
instance, Facebook has a phenomenal impact in the amount of influence and increasingly has a
large percentage of users in schools. A study conducted by QuantCast (2007) found out that 46
percent of SNSs users like Facebook are 18-34 years of age, which actually permeate to current
students, prospective graduate students, and young alumni. On the other hand, 27 percent are
within the range of 12-17 years old, which belong to undergraduates. With the above discussion,
the researcher strongly argues that it is very important for teachers and to Lyceum of the
Philippines University Laguna (LPU-L), to study the effects of SNSs in students academic
performance. Academic institutions could initiate programs and formulate learning objectives
that would help manage and organize learning on how student could maximize study time in
connection with SNSs usage. This study was conducted to assess the level of student
involvement in SNSs usage, and determine the positive and negative effects of these SNSs in
student academic performance. The descriptive results of the study would then lead to using
SNSs as an excellent tool in enhancing student academic performance and not a hindrance in
academic learn- 19 GRADUATE SCHOOL RESEARCH JOURNAL ing. OBJECTIVES OF
THE STUDY This research aims to determine the effects of SNSs on students academic
performance in Lyceum of the Philippines Laguna. More specifically, to describe the
demographics of the respondents usage of SNSs; to establish the effects of SNSs; to determine
the respondents academic performance in terms of Grade Point Average of the First Semester
School Year 2012-2013; to determine the perceived effects of SNSs to their academic
performance; and to determine the relationship between SNSs usage and student academic
performance. METHOD Research Design The descriptive correlation method of research was
used in gathering data on the effect of Social Networking Sites in students academic
performance in Lyceum of the Philippines Laguna through the use of online survey
questionnaire. By means of this research method, the researcher was able to provide a secure
reliable, accurate and correct information and data that are necessary to assess the effect of
Social Networking Sites in student academic performance. Participants This study was
specifically designed for the Lyceum of the Philippines Laguna students. In the advent of the
Internet, students are considered as the primary customer and the most vivid users of SNSs. The
respondents comprise 10% of the total population of students enrolled for the First Semester
School Year 2012-2013. Hence, a total of 203 students from the six colleges responded to the
questionnaires and answered the survey. The colleges are the College of Engineering, College of
Computer Studies, College of Allied Medicine, the College of Arts and Sciences, College of
Business and Accountancy, and the College of International Tourism and Hospitality
Management. Instruments The researcher made use of the self-made questionnaire to gather the
necessary data on the effects of SNSs in students academic performance in Lyceum of the
Philippines Laguna. The questionnaire was divided into five parts. Part I was the demographics
of the respondents in terms of gender, classification, college, SNSs membership, purpose of use,
and student GPAs. Part II presented the level of involvement of student into SNSs, the frequency
of usage and the amount of time student 20 VOLUME 7 NO. 2 SY 2013-2014 spends in SNSs
which used to establish the perceived effects of SNSs. Part III asked the questions that determine
the student academic performance in terms of Grade Point Average of the First Semester School
Year 2012-2013. Part IV highlighted questions that determine the perceived effects of SNSs to
student academic performance. The last part, featured the perceived extent of student
involvement in SNSs with the corresponding significant relationship in their studies, evaluate the
extent to which SNSs can affect student academic performance in terms of areas such as, SNSs
as a good communication tool, avenue to discuss assignments and projects, able to receive
announcements, get help from friends and classmates in school work, improves interaction with
classmates and instructors, help to keep in touch and fix appointments with instructors, and
whether SNSs distracts students in their studies. This in turn to provide answer to determine the
relationship between SNSs usage and student academic performance. Procedures Classes of the
students in the six colleges were randomly chosen to respond to the survey questionnaires. Data
were gathered using a researcher-made instrument. The questionnaire was validated by
researchers and statisticians based from their field of expertise. The items in the questionnaire
were answered online by marking a choice in the given options. The statements measure the
frequency and extent of use of SNS and the corresponding effects on the respondents. The
questionnaires were administered via online using Google docs and used as the data collection
tool. There were 35 items in the questionnaire that were required for each respondent to answer.
A total of 203 fully completed answered questionnaires were retrieved online. Data Analysis The
use of percentage, frequency and weighted mean were utilized to describe the profile of the
respondents in terms of age, gender, college, program enrolled, year level and student Grade
Point Averages (GPAs). Correlation analysis was used to determine relationship between GPAs
and the various engagements in SNSs. Furthermore, SPSS 17.0 was used to analyze the collected
data. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION Considering the gender, a little more than half of the
respondents were female and the remaining were male so both categories represent a good
strength. In terms of classification, majority of the respondents were sophomore student that
comprise the highest percentage and freshmen students. The College of Engineering got the
highest percentage of respondents with 20.69 percent followed by College of 21 GRADUATE
SCHOOL RESEARCH JOURNAL Arts and Sciences and College of International Tourism and
Hospitality Management. The list continues commutatively with the College of Business and
Accountancy, College of Computer Studies, and College of Allied Medicine. Table 1.
Respondents SNSs Membership, Frequency and Purpose of Use SNSs F % Facebook Twitter
Tumbler Yahoo Instagram MySpace Youtube Others Frequency of use of SNS As need arises
Three times a week Weekly Two times a month Monthly Purpose of SNS Being connected to
friends Educational purpose Find employment Being connected to my family Entertainment
Friends and education Past time All No response 203 124 18 16 8 7 5 23 63 99 37 2 2 155 35 3 1
1 1 1 4 2 100.00 61.08 9.87 8.88 4.94 3.45 2.46 11.33 31.03 48.77 18.23 0.99 0.99 76.47 17.16
1.47 0.49 0.49 0.49 0.49 1.96 0.98 Total 203 100 The data in Table 1 show that all of the students
have Facebook account and most of them have Twitter with 61.08 percent. Relating to the data
on the number of hours students spend daily on using SNSs, it can be surmised that despite using
SNSs, students are able to allocate reasonable time to their studies. Hence, according to the
findings of the study, though students devote most of their time in using SNSs, this is not
significant enough to affect the academic performance of student users negatively. The
respondents were asked about the purpose of using SNSs and the result in Table 1.2 shows that
the majority of the student respon- 22 VOLUME 7 NO. 2 SY 2013-2014 dent confirmed that
they use SNSs in the objective of getting connected to friends. Only 17.16 percent of the students
responded that they use SNSs for educational purposes. Table 2. Perceived Effects of SNSs
Effect of SNS WM VI 1. SNS helps us stay in touch. 2. SNS enables us to receive
announcements. 3. SNS is a good communication tool. 4. SNS helps us to get help from friends
and classmates on assignments. 5. SNS helps us discuss assignments and projects. 6.
Conferencing helps manage time. 7. Using SNS improves my interaction with classmates and
instructors. 8. An appointment can be fixed with my instructor through SNS 9. Using SNS
improves my study habit. 10. I find it hard concentrating on my studies using SNS. 11. SNS
distracts me from my studies 4.58 4.50 4.30 4.30 4.19 4.01 3.94 3.62 3.12 2.94 2.73 Strongly
agree Strongly agree Moderately agree Moderately agree Moderately agree Moderately agree
Moderately agree Moderately agree Slightly agree Slightly agree Slightly agree Table 2 shows
the perceived effects of SNSs. The students were also enquired about the perceived effect of SNS
whether it is positive or negative in different aspects. The students strongly agree that SNSs help
them keep in touch with others, 4.58 mean and enables them to receive announcements. The
respondents strongly agree that SNSs help them stay with their friends with 4.58 mean, and
SNSs enable them to create announcements with a mean of 4.50. They moderately agree that
SNSs is a good communication tool with a mean of 4.30 and serve them to get help from friends
and classmates on assignments, help them discuss assignments and projects with 4.19 mean.
Furthermore, they moderately agree that SNS improved their interaction with classmates and
instructors with 3.94 mean. On the negative side, students slightly agree that using SNS
improves study habit, 3.12 mean and a mean of 2.73 of the respondents slightly agree that SNS
distracts them from their studies and 2.94 find it hard concentrating on their studies using SNSs.
23 GRADUATE SCHOOL RESEARCH JOURNAL The Table 3 shows that almost half of the
respondents self-declared GPAs who are using SNSs is ranging from the significant grade score
of 1.50 2.00, and 28.57 percent is ranging from 2.00 2.50. The figure shows that majority of
the students GPAs are in satisfactory GPAs score range. Hence, respondents use of SNSs does
not have an adverse negative effect on student academic performance though student study time
is slightly affected by SNSs usage. Table 3. Respondents Grade Point Average (GPAs) GPA
Range F % 1.00 - 1.50 1.50 - 2.00 2.00 - 2.50 2.50 - 3.00 3.01 and below 18 87 58 35 5 8.87
42.86 28.57 17.24 2.46 Total 203 100 The study of Karpinski (2009) shows that users who spend
more time on SNSs like Facebook spend less time in studying. Table 3.1 shows the effect of SNS
usage on academic activities of the students. When responses were obtained about the time being
spent on their studies, almost half of the student respondents were those who spend 1-3 hours per
day on their studies, and almost four out of 10 or about 39.4 percent devote 15 minutes to 1 hour
daily to their studies. Only 10.84 percent were spending more than 3 hours a day in their studies.
The students were also enquired about the pattern of their studies. The data in table 4 shows that
27.09 percent of respondents were those who study regularly on a daily basis; 13.79 percent of
respondents were found to study weekly; 26.6 percent of the respondents used to study 3 times a
week; and 30.54 percent claimed that they only study as need arises. The students were asked
about their attitudes whether or not the SNSs can be a positive tool in helping them improve their
academic performance. Table 4 shows that half of the respondents of about 50.49 percent agreed
that SNSs can help them in their studies. As mentioned in the findings of the Pasek & Hargittai
(2009) study specifically found that there is no negative relationship between SNSs specifically
Facebook use and academic performance. Furthermore, students were asked if SNSs can be a
hindrance to their studies and 72.55 percent affirmed that it is not a hindrance to their studies.
Seven out of 10 or a significant 27.45 percent affirmed that 24 VOLUME 7 NO. 2 SY 2013-2014
SNSs can be a hindrance to studies. Also, the respondents were asked if their academic
performance is affected by SNSs. Less than seven out of 10 or 68.14 percent of the respondents
answered relatively no. Table 4 Respondents Length and Frequency of Studying Study time F %
Less than 30 minutes 30 minutes to less than 1 hour 1 hour to less than 2 hours 2 hours to less
than 3 hours More than 3 hours 28 51 65 36 22 13.79 25.12 32.02 17.73 10.84 Total 203 100
Frequency of studying As need arises Daily Three times a week Weekly Two times a month
Monthly 62 55 54 28 2 2 30.54 27.09 26.60 13.79 0.99 0.99 Total 203 100 As the study of Pasek
et al. (2009) shows, users were no more or less likely to get good grades than non-users and in
fact, they found evidence that Facebook use was slightly more common among individuals with
higher grades. In order to achieve a specific objective of the study, the students were directly
inquired about whether SNSs can improve academic performance. The result shows that a
majority of student respondents are keen towards their learning progress. Table 5 shows that
70.10 percent of the student responded that SNSs help improve student academic performance,
and 29.90 percent responded that it does not contribute to improve the student grades. The
primary reason of the respondents why SNSs improve academic performance is that SNSs can
help them communicate and discuss with their classmates and instructors about schoolwork and
assignments. Students can even upload and download lectures and be updated about information
that are being posted in these SNSs. The respondents reason negatively perceiving that SNSs do
not help improve academic performance shows that it can only take some of students time to
study and thus not much of a distraction. 25 GRADUATE SCHOOL RESEARCH JOURNAL
Table 5. Perceived Effects of SNSs to Academic Performance SNS help F % Little Much Very
much Total 38 103 62 203 18.63 50.49 30.88 100.00 SNS a hindrance No Yes Total 148 57 203
72.55 27.45 100.00 Performance affected No Yes Total 138 65 203 68.14 31.86 100.00 SNS
improved performance? No Yes Total 60 143 203 29.90 70.10 100.00 Table 6. Correlation
Between GPA and the Usage of SNSs Engagement in SNS r-value Probability (NS) number of
SNS Frequency of SNS use since when length of SNS use length of study SNS use frequency of
study -0.017 -0.105 -0.023 -0.105 -0.041 -0.013 0.111 0.834 0.207 0.783 0.204 0.62 0.876 0.182
Total 203 100 Table 6 presents the correlation analysis which shows an inverse relationship
between the GPA and the number of SNSs, the frequency of SNSs use, since when they have
SNSs, length of SNSs use, and the length of study. This reveals that as these mentioned variables
increases, the GPA also increases, showing that SNSs had made a contribution in the attainment
of higher grades. However, such relationships are not significant. As shown in Table 5, the
correlation coefficient and probability has a mean of -0.059 and 0.53 respectively, which shows a
very slim average of correlation and probability, hence a negligible relationship between 26
VOLUME 7 NO. 2 SY 2013-2014 SNSs and academic performance. Therefore, the result shows
that SNSs usage had no significant relationship on student academic performance. This supports
the study according to Karpinski (2009), that student grade point averages and SNSs use have
insignificant correlation. Even 79 percent of SNSs users like Facebook members did not suppose
that their GPA was associated to their networking habits. The study of Pasek et al. (2009) found
that there is no positive correlation between the use of Facebook and lower grades of the
students, rather they found that SNSs to be more commonly used among students with higher
grades. Hence, the study concluded that there was no difference in academic performance among
users and non-users of SNSs. It is therefore imperative that the student use of SNSs is a way of
life and serves as a powerful tool for social interaction. Furthermore, the improvement in the
student grade relies on all other factors within the teaching learning process and could not be
attributed to the use of SNS alone. On the other hand, it is found out that the proper and
reasonable use of SNSs could help the students in one way or another in their assignments, class
discussions and interactions with their instructors. CONCLUSIONS Majority of the respondents
are female, 16-19 years old, from the College of Engineering and College of Arts and Sciences
and have Facebook or SNSs account. The established effects show that SNSs decrease students
study time and increase leisure time. They use SNSs mainly for non-academic purposes or
entertainment activities and for communicating with friends and classmates about school work
and assignments. The student academic performance in terms of GPA of the First Semester
School Year 2012-2013 shows that the mean GPA ranges from 2.0 to 1.50, which is equivalent to
87 to 95 percent. The perceived effects of SNSs to the students academic performance show that
SNSs contribute in the attainment of higher grade by interacting online about school work. The
results show that there is no significant relationship between SNSs usage and student academic
performance because correlation coefficients show a negative relationship between SNSs use and
academic performance. The probability result has a very small average of correlation, thus the
study found a negligible relationship between SNSs and academic performance.
RECOMMENDATIONS The administrators of Lyceum of the Philippines Laguna may 27
GRADUATE SCHOOL RESEARCH JOURNAL look at ways on how to use SNSs in academic
learning so that students could maximize the use of SNSs by fully utilizing the purpose and
functionalities of SNSs in the learning process. The teachers and academic institutions who are
directly responsible for the students academic performance may regulate SNSs usage by
providing strict rules and regulations in using SNSs so that students will use their online time
wisely, maintain focus, and improve academic performance. Future researchers may replicate the
study by employing other variables not tested in this research. REFERENCES Ahmed et al.
(2011). A look out for academic impacts of Social networking sites (SNSs): A student based
perspective. African Journal of Business Management, 5(12), 5022-5031. Choney, Suzanne
(2010). Facebook Use Can Lower Grades by 20 Percent, Study Says.
http://www.msnbc.com/id/39038581/ ns.technology_and_science-tech_and_gadgets/. Retrieved
March 30, 2013. Ellison, N. B. (2007). Social network sites: Definition, history, and scholarship.
Journal of ComputerMediated Communication, 13(1), 210-230. Karpinski AC and Kirschner PA
(2010). Facebook and Academic Performance. Karpinski Aryn (2009). A description of Facebook
use and academic performance among undergraduate and graduate students. Annual Meeting of
the American Educational Research Association, San Diego, California Lewis et al (2008). The
Taste for Privacy: An Analysis of College Student Privacy Settings in an Online Social Network.
Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication Volume 14, Issue 1, pages 79100, October 2008
Pasek, J., et al. (2009). Facebook and academic performance: Reconciling a media sensation with
data. First Monday, 14(5). QuantCast (2007a) Profile for Facebook.com, Quantcast. Retrieved
on November 11, 2011, from http://www.quantcast.com/facebook. com. 28 VOLUME 7 NO. 2
SY 2013-2014 Suhail, Kausar, and Zobia Bargees (2006). Effects of excessive Internet use on
undergraduate students in Pakistan. CyberPsychology & Behavior 9.3: 297-307.

http://www.academia.edu/5707332/Effects_of_Social_Networking_Sites_on_the_Academic_Exc
ellence_of_the_Students