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Chapter 2

REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE AND STUDIES

This chapter reviewed some of the numerous works done

by scholars and researchers which are directly related to

this research work. In this chapter contains the realm of

the use of social media platforms. The review of literature

contains the following:

 Concept of social media

 Students exposure to social media

 Perceive effect of social media platforms

 Usage of social media and students’ academic

performance

 Gender usage Of social Media

 Usage of social media by age

Related Literature

Concept of Social Media

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Social media is that means that employs mobile and web

based technology to create highly interactive platforms via

which individuals and community share, co-create, discuss

and modifies user-generated content (Kietzmannn, 2012).This

is classified into different platforms: Youtube, Twitter,

Instagram, Facebook and others. Social media is a phrase

being mixed around a lot. It is a website that does not just

give you information but interact with you while giving you

information. It is a group of internet based application

that allows the creation and exchange of users generated

content. It is easy to confuse social media with social news

because we often refer to members of the news as the media.

Adding to it, that social news site is also social media

site. Social media refers to the means of interaction among

people in which they create, share, exchange and comment

among themselves in different networks. Some opinion that

social media is a group of internet based application that

builds on the ideological foundation and allows the creation

and exchange of users – generated content.

Students Exposure to Social Media

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It has been observed in recent times that students have

unlimited access to the internet as well as the social

media. According to a joint study by Campus2Careers and

Study Breaks on the use of mobile devices among students

discovered that, an average undergraduate spend 3.6 hours a

day with their cell phones and smartphones, while spending

less time with computers, TV’s, handheld gaming devices and

e-readers. A survey conducted by Ellison, Steinfield & Lampe

(2007) proved that students use social networking sites 30

minutes within the day as part of their normal activities.

Students on the other hand also spend between one to two

hours daily on the internet (Yazdanfar & Aghili, 2012). The

results of this study indicated that students spend over six

to eight hours daily on social media sites. The results

further revealed that the least number of hours students

spend on social networking sites was two hours. A study

conducted in India which adopted the survey approach on the

usage of social networking sites among college students came

out that majority of students spend between one to ten hours

on social networking sites weekly (Manjunatha, 2013).

Perceive Effect of Social Media Platforms

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The findings of this study revealed the following

positive and negative implications of social media use on

students. This study found out that, social media usage

reduces the level of physical interaction (face-toface

interaction). The most likely explanation for this could be

attributed to the instant feedback people receive by using

social media. With this, one does not need to always have a

physical interaction with others because communication could

conveniently take place on a digital platform. In a way,

this has made people lazy particularly students whom

majority were born around this digital age prefer to

communicate online to having a physical interaction. This

result corroborates Bargh & Mckenna (2004) previous study on

social media which brought to the limelight that students

prefer to communicate with friends online to communicating

in person. Keller also (2013) revealed that with the

emergence of social media people would rather prefer to text

or send an email than to meet in person. One major finding

of the study that came up not surprisingly was that social

media usage promotes the use of shorthand writing which in

turn has the ability to affect the writing of good grammar.

One positive effect of social media on social life of

students that was revealed in this study was that, social

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media has made it possible for introverts to easily

participate on group platforms and has also given students

the opportunity to make more friends than in real life.

Ededegbe (2013) clearly indicated that students have more

friends on social networking sites than in real life and

they are able to express themselves freely on social media

platforms. Firstly, it was found that social media distracts

and reduces the level of concentration in class. This as a

result renders the students incapable of paying attention in

class and as indicated in Hurt [Link](2012) study social

media has the potential of distracting students from

concentrating on their course works at school. A’lamElhuda &

Dimetry (2014) also added that medical students at Khartoum

University, Sudan, visit social networking sites while

lectures are in progress and this reduces their level of

concentration in class and the laboratory as well. In as

much as social media helps students in their academic

activities, it also has its bad side which can cause some

challenges for students by not allowing them to follow what

is being taught in class.

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Usage of Social Media and Students’ Academic Performance

There have been mixed reactions from academics and

researchers with regard to the impact of social networks and

how they affect academic performance. Studies have found

that the participation of students and young people on

social networks may have both positive and negative impact

on their studies and for that matter their academic

performance. 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. According to Mehmood

and Tawir (2013), the use of technologies such as social

media networks and the Internet is one of the most important

factors that can influence educational performance of

students positively or adversely”. A study conducted by

Roberts and Foehr (2008), in the United Studies about

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student extracurricular activity, rather suggested that new

media, such as Facebook, Twitter etc. replace or enhance

other leisure activities, but do not take away time from the

youth. In other words, they were of the view that the time

spent by students on social network sites is the same time

that normally use for extracurricular activities and

therefore do not take away their productive time for

studies. Negussie and Ketema (2014), study in Ethiopia also

indicated that there is no significant relationship between

times spent on social networks such as Facebook with

students’ grade point average (GPA). This was also

consistent with a study by Ahmed and Qazi (2011) who

conducted a study in Pakistan among six universities. They

discovered that there no much difference between times spent

on social media networks and students’ academic performance.

Conversely, a number of researchers and studies have also

found a negative impact that social network participation

has on students’ academic performance. In the study of

Kirschner and Karpinski (2010), they found a “significant

negative relationship between Facebook use and academic

performance. Facebook users reported lower mean GPAs and

also reported spending fewer hours per week studying on

average than Facebook nonusers. A majority of students

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claimed to use Facebook accounts at least once day”. Malaney

(2005), found that 8.9% of students in 2000, and 4.4% in

2003, reported that their grades had suffered as a result of

too much time spent on the Internet as well as on social

media networks. While using the increase of technology

helpful for getting together with others along with the

recognition on the internet, Internet sites are now being an

activity that's done mainly on the web, Coyle (2008).

According to Khan U (2009), social media users often time

experience poor performance academically. Similarly,

Terregrossa & Wang (2010) posit that social media is

negatively associated with academic performance of student

and is a lot more significant than its advantages. Internet

addiction consequently gave rise in internet usage within

the last couple of decades. Recommended that addicted users

prefer using internet setting back their personal and

professional responsibilities which ultimately leads to poor

academic performance. In the same vein, Karpinski (2009)

pointed out that social media users devoted lesser time to

their studies in comparison to nonusers did and subsequently

had lower GPAs. Also mentioned that among various unique

distractions of every single generation, Social media

remains a major distraction of current generation.

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Gender Usage Of social Media

When reviewing the literature related to gender and

adolescents, results are mixed as to which group spends more

time on the Internet as well as on social media networks

(Lin & Subrahmanyam, 2007). Studies have shown that boys

have been online more than girls in previous decades because

of earlier forms of technology such as video or computer

games. Girls have reported that they use social media for

things like chatting and downloading music (Giles & Price,

2008). Because of this, one may hypothesize that girls will

be more likely to be attracted to social media networks and

other online social groups. According to most research done

on the topic, the number of teenage girls and boys who

communicate on these social media networks are equally

divided (Bonds-Raacke & Raacke, 2008). However, boys are

more likely to create an account simply because they are

trying to meet a significant other, or because they are

already in a relationship with someone who has requested

them to join. Research has shown that though girls and boys

are both likely to have a social media account, the reasons

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for the accounts may vary based on gender. For girls, social

networking sites are primarily placed to reinforce pre-

existing friendships; for boys, the networks also provide

opportunities for flirting and making new friends

(BondsRaacke & Raacke, 2008) .Girls are also more likely

than boys to post sexually explicit pictures of themselves,

and to talk about sexual activity in public forums

(Rafferty, 2009).According to (William, 2009) girls are also

more likely than boys to share personal information about

their daily lives. Results of a study involving Facebook,

MySpace, and Xanga showed that though most teenagers aged

13-17 used these sites for fun and positive reasons, 55% of

girls shared personal stories about depression, anxiety, and

relationship problems. Only 15% of boys shared any personal

information besides their hobbies, interests, and

friendships. In the study of (Peter, 2008) also showed that

adolescents use social media when dealing with a death of a

peer, and use forums and member profiles to help their

grieving process. It was shown that boys seem to benefit

more from social media use and communication technology than

girls do. This was hypothesized because boys tend to have

more difficulty expressing their thoughts and emotions face-

to-face with others than girls do. The early stages of

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social networking, as mentioned earlier, included web

technology such as AIM, which helped many “chat” with others

on the computer rather than in person. The number of

teenagers, both male and female, participating on social

networking sites is staggering, and this may explain why

certain problems arise from these sites that have become a

major problem in today’s society.

Related Studies

All the studies reviewed here are directly related on

exposure of students social media platforms and its

influence to academic performance. The study sought to

identify social network sites and their usage among students

and to find out the effects of social network participation

on the academic performance. It was conducted by Oberiri

Destiny Apuke on May 23, 2017 among the undergraduate

students of Taraba state University, Jalingo, Nigeria .

Quantitative survey method was adopted for the study. The

population consists of 5000 undergraduate students. The

study made use of Taro Yame’s formula to sample 100

students. Questionnaires were employed as the instrument for

data collection. The questionnaire was administered to 100

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randomly selected students. The entire questionnaires

administered were duly filled and retrieved given a high

response rate of 100%. The scale of this study is on the

uses and gratification theory. Data collected were coded and

analysed on SPSS version 22 and presented in tables.

Findings revealed that students of Taraba State University

have access to the internet and that they do so through

different mediums such as smart phones, tablets and

computers. The study also postulate that students who spend

more time on social media are likely to perform poorly in

their academic activities than those who do not. The study

recommends that students should decrease their introduction

to social media and give careful consideration to their

studies. Students, particularly those ready to record

gigantic scholarly achievement should guard themselves

against the successive utilization of social media.

Moreover found that overall women are more likely to

use social media for maintaining relationship with family

and friends, passing time and entertainment but men were

more likely to use social media to meet new people (Ronald,

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2014). The extent usage of Social Networking Sites has

increased dramatically in the as two years and the usage of

social networking site as well differs considerably by age.

The majority involving 18 and 19 years old, have more than

200 friends while these aged 30 and above have more or less

25 or lesser friends on these sites. In terms of social

media Facebook is the most commonly used social networking

site. It was also found that about half of these users

utilize just one Social Networking Sites, having only one

profile, and participate in one to five groups within Social

Networking Sites. Profile of Social Networking Sites are

fairly in a good state or condition. The majority of the

users of Social Networking Sites spend 5 hours or less per

week. Younger respondents report sending more time than the

older respondents. It also emphasized that the most students

(85%) put access restrictions on their profiles. Younger

respondents and female are most likely to do so.

In study by Pempek and Calvert (2013), the amount of

time spent daily on social network sites is approximately 30

minutes a day socializing, mostly during the evening hours

between 9pm-12am. According to Won Kim (2013), pointed out

that today the students, use many Social Networking Sites to

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stay connected with their friends, discover new friends and

to share contents such as photos, videos, blogs and etc. in

order to explore factors affecting student’s desire for

using social media.

Goodman (2013)interrogate on how the students in

involve with in Social Networking Sites, and then he

investigate , how students use Social Networking Sites, he

find Social Networking Sites is more attractive than others

and he also attempt to understand the significant

explanation for the accelerate usage of Social Networking

Sites among the students. In advance he correct pointed out

Social Networking Sites are not part of students live these

days, actually they are their lives. Youths are not only the

early embrace most of the recently technologies but they are

also among the most smart as well.

According to Lenhart (2012) about 57% of social network

users are 18-29 years old and have a personal profile on

using social media websites. Keol Lim and Ellen B Meier

(2012) in their study clearly the respondents use Social

Networking Sites and what are the advantages they find by

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using Social Networking Sites. It also refers to

psychological experiences of international students such as

disorientation, depression, etc. However, students may have

limited ways to cope with stress, which could lead to

stress-related illnesses such as anxiety or depression.

These limitations make it hard for students to adjust or

adapt in new circumstances. Subyrahmanyam (2012) handled a

study to improve the use of online and offline Social

Networking Sites among the college students of a big urban

in Los Angeles. The study discover that the students

frequently utilized Social Networking Sites to connect and

reconnect with their friends and family [Link], Beck

and Hoover (2012), examine the usage of Social Networking

Sites by undergraduate psychology. They found that majority

of students using Facebook and there account information and

publicly accessibility and some user profiles have content

of a questionable nature and their publicly viewable

accounts. They suggest the formal education to be in charge

to students regarding of the usage of these sites.

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Synthesis

There are many issues concerning students in social

networking site participation. On one hand, there may

be benefits for students who use these sites properly

and appropriately. Other research suggests that there are

clear risks involved when students become too consumed with

the and social networking websites. It was discovered that

social networking sites are the most common used social

media networks among students and also Facebook has

the main option point for students for research

purposes. Students engage themselves with one activity or

the other on the various social media on day to day

activities. However, students spend more time on Facebook,

Twitter and other social media through smartphones that are

now in abundance among these youths. Many student cannot go

for two-three hours without checking and updating their

profiles on these social networks even at the harm

of other activities such as educational and career

pursuit. Smart phones, android phones as well as tablets

were seen to be the major ways through which students gain

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easy access to the internet to be on the various social

media network platforms. Again, this chapter discussed the

age usage as well as the gender usage of social media

websites. According to most research done on the topic, the

number of teenage girls and boys who communicate on these

social media networks are equally divided. Hence, for the

purposes of this research study, the researcher will address

the perceived negative effects of social media exposure, how

often they use them, how they use them, and how this is

affecting their academic studies. A comparison will also be

made between male students and female students, since

much research has shown a difference in social

networking sites participation based on gender as well as in

age. At the conclusion of this research study, there will be

a better understanding regarding students in University of

Cagayan Valley whether or not they are able to balance a

life of social networking and academic performance.