A Study of Student Perspectives on Social Media and Academics

This research report investigates the impact of social media on students, exploring both positive and negative aspects based on a survey of 60 participants. The study delves into how social media affects students' concentration, focus, and overall academic performance. The report includes an executive summary, introduction, background information, research methodology (including a deductive approach, descriptive research design, and survey strategy), results, and discussion. It examines the role of social media in communication, information access, and its potential for both academic enhancement and distraction. The research questions address the impact of social media, the perspectives that make it a challenge for students, and ways to promote constructive use. The findings suggest that excessive social media use can negatively affect student outcomes, highlighting the need for educators and parents to monitor and guide students' online behavior. The report concludes with recommendations to improve the positive aspects of social media use in an educational context.

1
Student Views on Social Media
Name of student
Name of class
Name of Professor
Name of School
City
Date

2
Contents
Executive Summary.........................................................................................................................3
Introduction......................................................................................................................................4
Background Information and Issue..................................................................................................6
Purpose of the study.........................................................................................................................7
Significance of the Issue..................................................................................................................8
Research question............................................................................................................................8
Research methodology.....................................................................................................................9
Research strategy.............................................................................................................................9
Sampling size and technique.........................................................................................................10
Data collection technique..............................................................................................................10
Ethical consideration.....................................................................................................................10
Results............................................................................................................................................10
Discussion......................................................................................................................................11
References......................................................................................................................................15

3
Executive Summary
Social media utilization in the world has grown with time. The uses have expanded to
different fields including; education, business, communication, marketing, sports and hospitality
among others. In education sector students utilize social media to research, discuss and gain
knowledge from other scholars and fellow students. However, Social media use has both positive
and negative impacts on students. The current study has demonstrated the positive side as well as
the negative sides of social media on students. As much as most educators encourage students to
use social media in their academic endeavours, little has been done to make these students
understand the negative sides of social media utilization. Consequently, students go ahead to use
social media for other purposes that are not academic thus causing derailment and absorption of
unnecessary information. This paper seeks to investigate the positive and negative sides of social
media based on students’ opinions. The paper will further suggest suitable ways that can improve
the positive social media use in school. For this study, a survey was conducted to collect the
opinion of students on the use social media from 60 participants. The findings in this study
reveal that social media plays a critical role in deteriorating the performance of most students.
Excessive social media use affects student’s concentration and focus on personal goals.
Therefore, educators as well as parents need to monitor students’ social media use to increase
their productivity in school.

4
Student Views on Social Media
Introduction
In the current world, social media has become almost inescapable, changing the way
people interact, communicate and socialize. With the expansion in the utilization of the internet,
the world has been captured in the pockets of the Smartphone users. apart from capturing the
world in the pockets of Smartphone users, social media advent has transformed many lives of
individuals. It is assuming a parallel role in the working ways in the expert as well as the
individual lives of people. According to Coyle and Vaughn (2018, p.15), Social Media began
with email and blogging and is currently on platforms such as Face book, Skype, YouTube,
Twitter and Instagram. Besides, social media has assisted in the improving of the business world
and has risen as the prime promoting and marketing point for different scopes of items and
services (Duven and Timm 2016, p.3). Social media is developing daily and assuming a
significant role in forming other organizations. Social networking has turned into a fundamental
segment in the daily business life cycle.
Different Organizations do not only use social media to gain an upper hand regarding
market capitalization but also utilizes other different highlights to comprehend the view of the
customers through the process of active participation. As opined by Domizi (2013, p.51), the
enormous user base of the social media industry does not only draw the attention of large
corporate but it has assisted numerous private companies to utilize this as the only chance to
develop in the market. Other virtual assistants based organizations like Amazon and E-bay,
utilize social media to give offers to the potential laggards and consumers to build their
consumer base (Jeong 2015, p.16). Additionally, these services can be examined by the host

5
organization, which assists advertisers to realize the definite consumer base and how their
promotions are being utilized viably unlike traditional broadcast media and outdoor ads that
made it difficult to assess its impact on the brand.
With the expanding effect of mass media, a greater percentage of the population has been
observed to move into the social networking segment from the traditional broadband sector.
Thus, the cost or the expense of booking an advertisement space has decreased on one hand and
expanded in social media on the other hand (De Souza and Dick 2018, p.155). Digital
publicizing has an advantage over the traditional advertisement that is highly segmented. It
focuses on consumers based on the preferences of individuals. The most significant part with
social media advertisement is that it has a provision where clients can provide real time
feedback. Additionally, brands are able to interact with users by replying to comments that could
be either compliments or complaints. Presently it is being utilized as an instrument, which aides
in empowering social and economic networks.
Through social networking, billions of individuals are connecting and sharing their
considerations (Eick and King 2012, p.28). The corporate has discovered this platform a
worthwhile ground to connect with the general population on a huge scale. It has effectively
replaced conventional advertising mediums such as newspaper, magazines, handbills and flyers.
Also, the traditional techniques were one way in nature where the assessment of the public could
not be fused. In essence, social media allows for users to provide their take and opinions about
the concerned issue or promotion. The opinions can further be utilized by the specific
organization to improve their processes.

6
Background Information and Issue.
Communication technology has extensively widened the scope of communication
through Information and Communication Technologies (ICT). Modern technology has
transformed the whole world into a “village” (Englander, Terregrossa & Wang 2010, p.94).
Social media is one of the technologies that have helped in transforming the world. It has helped
people in the formation of opinions. The most thoughtful person can likewise speak up his mind
in this kind of platform. Opinions in regards to topics that where initially viewed as immoral or
untraditional are currently openly discussed on social media platforms. It has helped the world to
get a nonpartisan media and individuals can directly demonstrate the issues faced by a person in
an area (Mesch 2013, p.390). Subsequently, it is helping individuals to awareness at optimum. as
much as it has various benefits, it has numerous loopholes that are being misused to impact
individuals negatively. According to Fewkes and McCabe (2012, p.31) and Geach and
Haralambous (2011, p.255), hatred has turned into the spirit of social media today and
individuals have shifted from a community with a positive rationale to a community with a
negative belief. Other social media users take advantage of anonymity to blackmail, fraud and
torment individuals. Additionally, social media platforms are used to fire up controversial topics
thus causing division among groups with divergent opinions.
Superficially, the age group that ranges between twelve and twenty-one has turned out to
be dependent on social media to such a degree, that they are getting adversely influenced in their
daily life. The pleasure of life has diminished and flaunting to different individuals has expanded
after some time (Gao, Luo & Zhang 2012, p.799 and Siibak 2015, p.78). Because of tremendous
budgetary reinforcement, social media can give services to users for free. This amount of money
is being extracted from commercials and promoting campaigns of different items and services.

7
Social media can be categorized as the environment that adopts the attitude of getting and
delivering as the method of communication is free of expense as compared with the customary
media (Goodman 2014, p.84 and Peter 2015, p.15). Social media is playing a significant role in
creating global brands.
Through the assistance of Social media, huge brands are having the option to dissect the
acknowledgment level of the population in the subsequent world and underdeveloped nations.
Alternately, nations such as India, China and Mexico are building up their way of life on these
huge platforms and are acquiring large benefits at the same time (Jaclyn 2011, p.13 and Trusov,
Bucklin and Pauwels 2013, p.91). Social Media is referred to individuals as an instrument, which
encourages the powerless to assist the powerless to gain power and support the powerful that
enjoy an inappropriate doings of the general public. As indicated by Greenfield and
Subrahmanyam (2013, p.128), It has helped numerous individuals around the globe to take care
of individual issues such as getting donations for illness, sparing biodiversity and animals. In the
present day, social media plays the role of public connection by utilizing their paid page area.
Explicitly, it can be seen that these stages are routinely being used to impact the political
assessment of individuals (Peluchette and Karl 2015, p.96).
Purpose of the study
This purpose of this study is to examine the views of students on social media.
Specifically, the study seeks to examine;
1. The impact of social media on students
2. The perspectives that make social media a bane for the students

8
3. Ways in which social media can be used constructively to ensure that students use them in a
good way.
Significance of the Issue
The issue is taking a wrong turn day by day. The importance of this topic is as follows:
a) Negative attitude: The people are becoming negative day by day and the attitudes of the
people in the real world are becoming more attacking towards other people (Lenhart 2012, p.27).
b) Religious Bias: Violence in the name of religion is becoming very common these days and the
social media is being used as a tool to provoke such issues. People are becoming more violent
and ganging up to fight against other people (Karpinski and Duberstein 2016, p.6). On the other
hand, tools such as live streaming are being used to promote hatred and violence on social media.
c) Mapping perceptions: The most important adverse effect of social media is tracking the minds
of the people. They are daily getting in the personal life of the people. For example, Face book
can access the gallery in the phone which allows directly uploading pictures and videos in the
application (Budden et al 2017, p.7).
Research question
The research questions are as follows;
a. How have social media impacted on students?
b. What are the perspectives that make social media a bane for the students?
c. How can social media be used constructively to ensure that students use them in a good
way?

9
Research methodology
Introduction
Research methodology chapter is one of the most significant chapters that present the
procedure as well as the methods used in the study. This chapter was organized research
approach, research design, research strategy, sampling technique and size, data collection
technique and methods of data analysis.
Research approach
The study adopted a deductive research approach. The deductive research approach was
used to analyze and address the various perspectives that relate to the research topic. Deductive
research approach assisted the researcher to choose tested and trusted information that had been
utilized earlier. This approach helped the researcher to save time and resources.
Research design
To determine the views of students on social media, a descriptive research design was
adopted. The descriptive research design enabled scholars to produce data through standardized
collection procedures that is based on well-defined concepts and highly structured study
instruments. Apart from helping the researcher to generate data through standardized procedures,
the descriptive research design assisted the researcher to predict future occurrences that play an
integral role in the success of the study.
Research strategy
The survey strategy was used in this study to the select participants that responded to the selected
questions provided to them in the form of research questionnaires.

10
Sampling size and technique
The study used the non-probability sampling method. The sample size of this study
comprised of 60 participants who were selected to provide the views of students on the use of
social media.
Data collection technique
In this study, both primary and secondary data were used. The literature review was
based on secondary sources while data analysis was carried out using the primary source
(questionnaires). Data collection methods helped the study to remain compact and transparent.
Ethical consideration
Ethical consideration is one of the most integral parts of the research. In this study, the
privacy and safety of the participants were ensured. Also, the identity of the participants was
kept confidential. Their information was secured under the data protection act that ensures that
the researcher does not disclose any information from the participants without their consent. The
collected information was strictly used for academic purpose.
Results
This study has shown both the positive and negative views of social media on students.
Some of the positive impact of social media include; providing every student with the possibility
of learning online as well as enhancing technical and writing skills of students. Instead of
spending money on transport and rent, students who have internet access can get top-notch
quality education at the comfort of their home. Apart from providing the possibility of learning
online, social media has made it easy for students to access dependable information. Students can

11
now get necessary information using Google and any other search engine. Additionally, this
study has shown that social media helps students to improve their writing skills as well as
enhance creative activities.
On the other hand, social media negatively impact the performance of students. The
overuse of social media has distracted students from their career as well as personal development
goals. Some students complained that they wasted their time on social media liking, sharing,
chatting and posting selfies because of addiction. Besides, some students indicated that they were
influenced by elusive and anti-nationalist on social media. From this study, social media can be
used constructively to supplement course materials, improve connectivity, access knowledge for
students and educators. A significant number of students indicated that they utilize platforms like
Google Docs and YouTube playlists and videos to learn challenging topic and search social
channels to find course topic, expert names and keywords.
Discussion
This study has established that social media platforms impact students’ performance
positively and negatively. The findings of this research reveal that students exposed to social
media perform poorly in their academics. These findings correspond with the findings of
Peluchette and Karl (2015, p.96) which indicate that, nowadays, students are busy in the social
media platform staying on this platform for almost 24 hours. Apart from staying on the social
media platform for almost 24 hours, students are observed pinging and even Facebooking in
lecture theatres and classrooms. The time that should have been used for innovation, learning, as
well as academic research is distracted by the interests of students to meet new friends on social
media which consequently affect their academic performance. Therefore, social media reduces
concentration for students who try to multitask as well as switch between social media and study

12
activities. This minimizes their concentration levels which consequently affect the academic
performance of students.
As much as social media has been heavily linked with negative outcomes, it also has
positive outcomes. As stated by some students in this study, social media increases social
connection, writing skills and even enhances communication. Social interactions help to broaden
students’ knowledge of various topics by getting to see other people’s opinions. According to
Jaclyn (2011, p.13), social media enable students to make friends with whom they can exchange
ideas. More so, CGao, Luo & Zhang 2012, p.799) further argue that social media promote
technical skills such as developing online groups, exchanging images, documents, blogs and
developing artistic endeavours. Therefore, students with a low level of satisfaction can engage in
the social media platform to heighten their well-being to maintain contact with friends and
further reinforce bonds with their peers.
Social media can be used constructively by the student to supplement course materials.
From this study, it was found that social media helps in identifying additional content to
strengthen the course material provided by the instructor. Mesch (2013, p.390) supports these
findings by asserting that social media has no obstacle to studying and further helps students to
develop and manage a study community. Another constructive way social media can be used is
improving connectivity. Enhancing connectivity is a way to connect like-minded individuals
regardless of religion and location. In summary, social media enhances communication of
students and the possibility of learning online; improve technological knowledge as well as
increases productivity of students. Through social media students are able to share ideas with
fellow students who are pursuing the same course. For instance, social media provides a platform
where groups are formed by likeminded individuals to discuss a given topic. However,
unnecessary content is also present on the social media sites. It is therefore, important for