Syed Azim

English 110

                                                     Social media on Students

             In recent years social media has become very big and an essential part of many peoples lives. Using social media people can interact with others around them as well as gather information which informs them about what’s going on around the world. Such social media sites include Instagram, Facebook, twitter, YouTube, Discord, Etc. People all around the world spend hours on these sites, interacting with others and navigating through it for various purposes. As useful as these social media sites can be, there are still many negative aspects of it. Students are one of the main targets of social media. In many ways social media is regarded as the most common distraction of students. Many students use social media as a gateway to get away from all the stress, pressure, and as a key to freedom to do whatever they feel like. On the other hand, social media is hurting many students’ academic performance, their well-being, relations with others, etc.

             As already stated, social media is the number 1 cause of distraction for many students and the direct result of that is shown on a student’s academic performance. Millions of posts and videos are uploaded everyday on these social sites which are viewed by many students all around the world. Everyone gets very eager to view these posts, they want to see what is new, they want to be caught up with the latest trends, etc. due to all that, students get distracted from the schoolwork they must do or the studying they must do; ultimately leading them to do poorly on their HW/test. The article “The Impact of Social Media on the Academic Performance of University Students in Nigeria” by Lucky Oghenetega shows research done on some Nigerian students. In the article it states that, “Often the student does not have time to absorb the information received in the lessons. After all, in the phone or tablet screen, there are things much more interesting – correspondence with peers, news tapes, all kinds of social networks, and, of course, YouTube videos. Also, all the free time a student can spend on the Internet. Instead of doing sports, reading a book, chatting with their peers “live,” preparing for lessons or just walking, he will spend time on social networks. Of course, this negatively affects their physical and intellectual development”. This shows that even during lectures, students are distracted with social media. Not paying attention during class or taking notes will lead to a decrease in students’ academic performance. Rather both Universities and college students should take the time to promote academic activities using social media. If used the right way, colleges and students can increase their academic performance through social media. It is not necessary that social media should only cause negative effects on students, there could be positives as well, but it must start somewhere to see the progress.

             Alongside a student’s academic performance, their health must also be a priority to them. Excessive use of social media leads to students procrastinating and wasting time for no good reasons. Many people become mentally attached to social media and then find it hard to focus on their studies. Many students stay up all night, scrolling through social sites, testing friends, and watching videos. In the article “Impact of social media usage on daytime sleepiness: A study in a sample of tertiary students in Singapore” by A M A Nasirudeen, Lau Lee Chin Adeline, Koh Wat Neo Josephine, Lim Lay Seng, and Li Wenjie states, “The most preferred tool for accessing social networking sites was smartphones and WhatsApp was the most accessed site. Results indicated that nocturnal technology use has a weak, negative impact on tertiary students’ quantity of sleep that may lead to daytime sleepiness”. This shows that the most time spent on social media is during the night. Staying up late and using social media will not only affect the students’ academic performance but also their health. Not getting enough sleep will lead to high blood pressure, diabetes, heart attack, obesity, depression, and many more. Alongside that many students also face cyberbullying and psychological stress through social media eventually leading to one hurting themselves or the feeling of loneliness. The worst part is that, even going through all that, many students will keep using social media trying to find a cure to their problem. Many students will not reach out to their friends, family, or anyone. They will keep going through social media to make themselves better but instead they are making it worse for themselves.            

             Moreover, social media causes problems between students and the people around them. It messes with students’ social relations with others. Every student nowadays is on social media posing pictures and videos, trying to ramp up likes and followers. Many students even look down upon other students when they don’t have equally as many followers as them leading to hatred being created between them. Students on campus will sit next to each other in a group but will not interact freely since everyone is on social media scrolling through random things. Students are so attached to social media nowadays, that they will rather spend an entire semester making friends online rather than in person as they feel more comfortable and easier doing that. This just shows that social media promotes isolation between students and lowers self-confidence when in the real world. Being a student self-confidence is key, you need to be able to interact with other students/teachers to expand your network. Not interacting with your colleagues or teachers in class can lead to a decrease in academic performance. In the article “The impact of social media on student life” by Abhishek Karadkar states “It is often said that a long-term friendship or relationship is developed when people meet each other, spend time, and share their experiences. But this virtual way of communicating with each other does not lead to a natural, friendly experience and hence cannot produce a healthy relationship with those friends. Also, these relationships tend to terminate easily due to a lack of personal contact”. This explains why virtual communication cannot lead to a healthy relationship since it’s a less natural and friendly experience for some students. which means the friendship created virtually will also come to an end. Creating friends online can be easy and fun but when it comes to in person bonding between students it can help to raise one’s confidence and boost their academic performance.

             It’s not that social media only has negative effects on students’ education. There are various factors to which students can benefit from using social media. In many cases it helps students to develop critical thinking and expand their knowledge as much as they want. When looking through sources on different social sites and making judgements about the credibility of the source/information is an example of critical thinking.  When it comes to Students academic performance, it can also be boosted through social media since communicating and sharing ideas is made easy. Whenever in need of help students can easily text/call through a teacher, a colleague, or any other professional through these social sites. In the article “Social Media its Impact with Positive and Negative Aspects” by Shabnoor Siddiqui and Tajinder Singh states “With the help of social media students can easily communicate or share information quickly with each other through various social sites like Facebook, Orkut, and Instagram etc.” This just gets to show how communication is made easier through social media. Some students might feel uneasy or shy when it comes to asking for help in person but it’s much more relaxing and easier for these students.  Expressing themselves and sharing their work to reach for new opportunities is another beneficial factor. Using social media students can not only benefit themselves but also benefit their friends and others around them by spreading social awareness.

In conclusion, in today’s world, social media is very important and is a major part of many students’ lives. Students use it to communicate, share, and research information relating to school, etc. many students use it to relieve stress or just in some ways to benefit themselves and their education. It will be nearly impossible to not get a student to use some sort of social site as it’s used everywhere, even in educational institutions. Although it’s impossible to get many students off social media, there should be a limit to how much time a student spends on it. Spending too much time on social media can lead to an increase in many health issues such as depression, loneliness, anxiety, etc. overusing and getting addicted can even show a significant decrease in a student’s academic performance. In general, social media has both positive and negative effects on students and these effects correspond with each other. All these positive and beneficial impacts on a student can eventually lead to negative effects but it can all be balanced out through maintaining the hours a student spends on social sites.