Impact of Social Media Usage on the Academic Achievements of Undergraduate Students

Abstract

Social media is a digital platform that helps people in sharing information, knowledge and almost all type of content like pictures, videos, audio, documents, and text on a global scale. Social media come in many forms, including social networking sites like WhatsApp, Facebook, and video sharing apps like YouTube. Especially social media becoming a common educational tool for university graduates, social media platforms are used by students for projects, assignments, and classes. The main variables of the study were social media and academic achievement. The main purpose of current study was to investigate the impact of social media usage on the academic achievement of undergraduate students. The research methodology used in this study was quantitative in nature. The research instrument for this study was self-developed by the researcher. The data were collected through questionnaire. The population of the study was undergraduate students (semester 2, 4, 6 and 8) of University of Sargodha. The sample of current study was 200. Sample was collected through convenient sampling technique. Data were analysed through Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS). For the further analysis of data to produce findings Descriptive and Inferential statistics were used. The study revealed that WhatsApp and YouTube have significant moderate positive relationship with academic achievement but Facebook has weak positive correlation. Research study recommended that students should be encouraged to set aside dedicated study time free of social media distractions, stay focused and navigate the bad impacts of excessive social media use on academic performance.