The Impact of Social Networking on Academic Performance - Essay Example

Outline The Impact of Social Networking on Academic Performance Introduction Trends in social networking and definition; thesis statement. Justification for the argument Arguments Against SNSs promote communication between students and relevant faculties and fellow students. SNS provide opportunities for e-learning and improvement of reading skills. They sharpen teachers’ knowledge to benefit students. Arguments For Students rarely use SNSs for academic purposes. Leads to procrastination of academic activities Causes multi-tasking during academic activities. Lowers academic motivation. Conclusion Summary of the whole paper The Impact of Social Networking on Academic Performance Introduction The drastic change in global technology has among many other outcomes revolutionized communication. Of importance to this paper would be the emergence of social networking, considering that a third of the world’s population uses various social networking sites, SNSs for communication (Helou, Abrahim and Oye 7). Mozee (2) defines SNS as an Internet-based service aimed at promoting online social interaction between or among persons allowing for exchange of information within a bounded system. It has found application in personal, business and even academic communication. Whereas this technology has brought about massive benefits allowing for effective and simple distant communication, its darker side has caused dilemmas that have seen the emergence of set-backs of real life values particularly among students, considered as the majority SNSs’ users. As such, social networking negatively impacts on students’ academic performance. To put this discussion into perspective, Mozee (1) gives statistics which indicate that whereas 78% of American adults regularly use the Internet, only 46% of such adults above the age of 18 use SNSs. In contrast, 65% of teenagers between the ages of 12 and 17 use these sites regularly. Facebook has more than 750 million users globally while Twitter and LinkedIn have 177 million and 100 million respectively. Facebook is the most used SNS followed by MySpace, LinkedIn and Twitter at 92%, 29%, 18% and 13% respectively. Studies by Mehmood and Taswir (112) indicate that people between ages 18 and 29 use SNSs the most with women being more regular users than men. These age brackets indicate students as majority SNSs’ users. Arguments Against Conducting a survey on various literatures indicates that social networking positively impacts on students’ academic performance. In a study to ascertain this postulate, Helou, Abrahim and Oye (8) observe that students use SNSs to communicate with their faculties and other authorities in the institution so as to get directions on relevant academic issues. The researchers also observed that the students use the same platform to communicate to their lecturers and supervisors who guide them on various academic issues. In fact, this improves on their relationship which fosters academic achievement. Furthermore, chatting with fellow students on topics of educational interest positively impacts on their academic performance. Taking a view from students but considering the impact on students, Jabr (94) observes that a majority of institutions have adopted collaborative teams together with scientific structures so as to offer courses through SNSs. Indeed, it has been observed that such web-based learning provides more personal and autonomous learning which are key components for successful learning. Therefore, SNSs present an effective platform for e-learning which promotes learners’ autonomy. Additional benefits that students stand to acquire for active engagement in social networking as noted by Mehmood and Taswir (113) includes improved reading skills due to constant reading associated with SNSs. The third way in which social networking positively impacts on academic performance as cited by Mehmood and Taswir (113) is in providing teachers and lecturers with a platform to acquire teaching material and additionally interact with other scholars and exchange educational information. Just as students use social media to access academic materials, teachers also retrieve important academic materials advertised on social media or shared by friends on such media which adds to their knowledge. They also engage education professionals from various parts of the world which enables them further acquire knowledge in their respective subjects of interest. A more knowledgeable teacher would in turn be more resourceful to the students thus promoting the academic achievements of such students. Arguments For Whereas theory supports positive impact of SNSs on academic performance, practice according to Helou, Abrahim and Oye (11) indicates otherwise. Only 3.8% of students use SNSs to communicate with friends on academic maters and make academic discussion groups. A majority of students use SNSs for socializing without any academic relation. The researchers indicate that 19.7%, 14.4%, 24.4% and 14.1% of the students use social networking sites to make comments on their friends and their activities, send and receive messages, chat with friends and play games. Coupling these findings with research findings by Lifespan which indicate that freshmen women spend about twelve hours a day social networking, then students spend considerable academic time engaging in non-academic matters, a trend that negatively impacts on academic performance. The extensive engagement of students on social media causes what Mehmood and Taswir (116) refer to as procrastination-related problems. This refers to the specific behavioral pattern where students postpone completion of their academic tasks, in this case so as to have time to engage on social media. Even when the intention of visiting a social networking site is to get academic value, a majority of such students end up spending a considerable portion or all the time socializing non-academically. Thus, such platforms only provide an opportunity to measure social and leadership skills of such students. Thirdly, social networking promotes a phenomenon described by Ahmed and Qazi (5023) as multi-tasking. To put this into context, this paper borrows from a research study by Mehmood and Taswir (113) which indicates that social networking students post 20% lower grades than their counterparts who do not visit social networking sites. According to these researchers, such students exhibit tendencies of running social networking sites in the background of their personal computers while studying or undertaking their homework. This multitasking trend, common in most institutions of learning greatly contributes to lower grades among students. Finally, SNSs play a critical role in lowering students’ academic motivation. By propagating procrastination, these students get overwhelmed by academic tasks because of spending time poorly. Additionally, social media provides more interesting activities to engage in other than academic-related activities which shift the focus of students from academic excellence to focusing on such activities. Such include the games and socializing opportunities on SNSs. Indeed, studies by Ahmed and Qazi (5029) indicate that the lack of motivation attributed to SNSs leads to poor academic performance. Conclusion This paper provides critical arguments on social networking as a deterrent to academic achievements among students. With the world fast adopting new technologies, social networking sites have been appreciated as convenient communication media. Teenagers and young adults up to the age of 29 network on SNSs, hence the concern of researchers on the impact of this technology on academic performance. SNSs contribute to the academic achievements of students by providing a rich resource for educational information and enabling students to share academic information. Such resources also provide teachers with more knowledge which trickles down to students and also offers opportunities for e-learning noted to promote learning autonomy. Despite of all these academic opportunities provided by SNSs, majority of students would use it majorly for social networking hence competing with their academic time causing procrastination of academic activities, encouragement of multi-tasking behavior and lowering of motivation to academics. Therefore, whereas SNSs provide a myriad of opportunities to promote academic achievement among students, it fails to achieve this objective due to the unlimited distractions. As such, social networking generally contributes negatively towards academic achievement. Works Cited Ahmed, Ishfag and Tehmina F. Qazi. “A Lookout for Academic Impacts of Social Networking Sites (SNSs): A Student Based Perspective.” African Journal of Business Management 5.12 (2011): 5022 – 5031. Helou, A. Mahamat, Zor Z. Abrahim, and N. D. Oye. “Students’ Perceptions on Social Networking Sites Influence on Academic Performance.” International Journal of Social Networking and Virtual Communities 1.1 (2012): 7 – 15. Jabr, Naeema H. “Social Networking as a Tool for Extending Academic Learning and Communication.” International Journal of Business and Social Science 2.12 (2011): 93 – 102. Lifespan. “Texting, Social Networking and Other Media Use Linked to Poor Academic Performance.” Science Daily 11 Apr. 2013. Web. 9 May 2013. Mehmood, S. and T. Taswir. “The Effects of Social Networking Sites on the Academic Perfoamnce of Students in College of Applied Sciences, Nizwa, Oman.” International Journal of Arts and Commerce 2.1 (2013): 111 – 125. Mozee, Sam. “The Impact of Social Media Use on Academic Performance at one Urban University: A Pilot Study.” Online Journal of Rural and Urban Research 2(1) (2012): 1 – 9. Web. 9 May 2013. Read More