Analyzing Social Media's Impact on University Student Learning Exp.

This thesis investigates the impact and role of social media in university student learning experiences, examining whether it serves as a productive educational tool or a distracting influence. The research employs a mixed-methods approach, incorporating both secondary and quantitative data, to analyze the effects of social media on student engagement, academic performance, and overall learning outcomes. The study explores how students and educators utilize platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn for formal and informal learning, considering issues involved in both traditional and online courses. It also looks at the use of social media for university teaching, alumni interaction, and proposes methodologies to enhance its usage, referencing examples from Australian and Indian universities. The analysis includes graphs, statistics, diagrams, and charts where applicable, with references in Harvard style, aiming to provide a comprehensive understanding of social media's role in modern higher education.

Running head: IMPACT/ROLE OF SOCIAL MEDIA IN UNIVERSITY STUDENT LEARNING EXPERIENCE
IMPACT/ROLE OF SOCIAL MEDIA IN UNIVERSITY STUDENT LEARNING
EXPERIENCE
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1IMPACT/ROLE OF SOCIAL MEDIA IN UNIVERSITY STUDENT LEARNING EXPERIENCE
Abstract
Social media is one of the most used technologies of today's era because of its vast
popularity. The popularity of the tool is not just because of its socialising capability, but the
chance of its expandability is the primary factor. Different industries can use the subject of
the paper (social media) for different purposes. The universities are using the tool in
discussion to enhance its learning and teaching capability. Hence, the discussed paper aimed
at identifying the nature of impact (productive or destructive) that social media has as an
educational productivity tool. The collection of data was done through a mixed collection
methodology which accounted for secondary and quantitative data. The data post analysis
revealed that the tool in the discussion is productive and Twitter is the most adequate tool that
should be adopted by the universities to enhance their digital teaching capabilities. The paper
has been concluded by providing attention to different research questions and their answer.
Hence, in conclusion, it would be adequate to state that social media as an educational
productivity tool is productive.

2IMPACT/ROLE OF SOCIAL MEDIA IN UNIVERSITY STUDENT LEARNING EXPERIENCE
Table of Contents
1. Introduction........................................................................................................................4
i. Overview.........................................................................................................................4
ii. Justification.....................................................................................................................5
iii. Outline.........................................................................................................................6
2. Literature survey................................................................................................................6
3. Research aim & Questions...............................................................................................14
4. Methodology....................................................................................................................15
i. Outline...........................................................................................................................15
ii. Research Philosophy.....................................................................................................16
iii. Research Approach....................................................................................................16
iv. Data Collection..........................................................................................................17
v. Sampling Techniques....................................................................................................18
5. Data Analysis & Discussion.............................................................................................19
6. Findings............................................................................................................................33
7. Future scope.....................................................................................................................39
8. Limitation.........................................................................................................................39
9. Conclusion........................................................................................................................39
9.1 Linking with objectives..................................................................................................40
10. References.....................................................................................................................43

3IMPACT/ROLE OF SOCIAL MEDIA IN UNIVERSITY STUDENT LEARNING EXPERIENCE

4IMPACT/ROLE OF SOCIAL MEDIA IN UNIVERSITY STUDENT LEARNING EXPERIENCE
1. Introduction
i. Overview
The earth is home to over 7.6 billion people and of them, over 4 billion people have
their association with the internet. The massive surge in the number of internet users is
dependent on multiple factors and the most important driving factor for the use of the internet
is social media platforms. Social media platform has 3.196 billion users and is still growing
which cites the dominance that the subject of the paper is entertaining (Zhan et al. 2018). The
theme of the article (social media), started as a platform for connecting people socially.
However, with changing trends, different sectors have begun to leverage the social media
platforms for different purposes. Most of the areas such as industries, marketing, education
and others are using social media in ways they deem it fit (Tsay-Vogel, Shanahan and
Signorielli 2018). Marketing, promotion and sharing of ideas & thoughts are the most
prominent field in which social media are being used. The educational sector is also
attempting to leverage the social media platforms. However, the question of the viability of
social media use in the educational industry is a matter of discussion.
Social media in education can be used in multiple ways which include interacting and
sharing of information with fellow students, faculties and subject matter experts (Kaplan and
Haenlein 2016). Additionally, the institutions have also started to utilise the social platforms
to communicate with the students because it omits the barriers of geographical distances,
cultural & communications obstacles, broadcasting of notifications and similar others (Ngai
et al. 2015). Another crucial reason for the institutions to adopt social media is associated
with the “#hashtags”. The hashtags are used by the social media platforms to reflect the
trending tools, techniques or topics which assists the students to keep up with the changing
environment outside the educational campuses (Saxton et al. 2015). The social media are also

5IMPACT/ROLE OF SOCIAL MEDIA IN UNIVERSITY STUDENT LEARNING EXPERIENCE
being utilised for research and data collection purposes. The mass size of users available on
the social media platform can act as the most prominent and vital participants for any
research work. Additionally, certain social media users can also perform the role of mentors
for the research works which would enable the academic researchers to conclude on more
accurate and reliable finding for their assessed work (Sobaih et al. 2016). Similarly, multiple
benefits are associated with the use of social media in the educational sector. However, the
effectiveness of the social media tools in the educational institute is a matter that needs to be
discussed.
The proposed paper aims at identifying the vitality and feasibility of the social media
tools in the universities. The aim of the paper will be based on the fact that social media has
also been considered to be one of the most distracting factors for a student. Hence, the impact
of social media in universities is in dire need of assessment which the paper aims to establish.
ii. Justification
It is evident from the overview that social media is capable of playing in the
educational institutes; however, the subject can also act as constraints for the academic lives.
The reason for the above-made statement could be supported by the fact that several types of
research have cited the adverse impact that social media is capable of having on the academic
life of a student. According to Alwagait, Shahzad and Alim (2015) social media’s use
adversely influence the time management which affects the student’s academics. Another
research work by Vorderer, Kromer and Schneider (2016) reveals that the loss of internet has
some strong response to the students which may influence their personality and perception.
Fox and Moreland (2015), also cited some similar results where the authors state that the
Facebook users do experience negative emotions, however, the fear of missing out makes
them visit the site frequently. The negative emotions that the authors have discussed are

6IMPACT/ROLE OF SOCIAL MEDIA IN UNIVERSITY STUDENT LEARNING EXPERIENCE
associated with the loss of privacy & control, annoying content management, social jealousy
and comparison and others.
Hence, it would be adequate to state that social networking sites are capable of citing
some adverse effects on the students and their academic life. However, the perks offered by
social media as discussed in the section above also need to be taken into account. The results
from taking both the discussions are vague in nature and cannot be reached to a conclusive
decision. Hence, the proposed paper is aimed at answering the role of social media in the
educational institution, and the discussions above can be taken as a witness to justify the
selection of the topic. The findings from the paper will assist the readers to conclude on the
decision on whether they should adopt the social media as part of the academic operations in
an institution or should they stick to the traditional methods of education. The paper will also
prove to be viable for the readers who wish to pursue the topic and establish or deduce
theories associated with the social media and its uses. Hence, it would be adequate that the
discussed topic and discussion is not just viable in nature but will also have some real-world
implications that will prove to be of great prominence from the future perspective.
iii. Outline
The research work will be initiated by reviewing the literary works, which have been
assessed on the subject to establish a background for the proposed action. Post identification
of the available knowledge about the subject, the research aims and questions have been
discussed which is succeeded by the research methodology which includes the research
method, data collection and analysis procedure. The analysis of the data is discussed in the
next section which is succeeded by the summary of the findings. The future scope and
limitations of the research work have also been discussed before summarising the report to
conclude the paper with appropriate recommendations.

7IMPACT/ROLE OF SOCIAL MEDIA IN UNIVERSITY STUDENT LEARNING EXPERIENCE
2. Literature survey
Social media are internet-based tools that are used for sharing & discussing
information by the people among the people. The information in the discussion is the user-
generated information, opinions and other prominent contents that are discussed over the
digital network. Social media has expanded itself from being an information sharing platform
to productivity tools for different industries. The industries in the discussion are marketing,
advertising, education and several other sectors. To make the social media more viable in
nature further researches have been conducted and as per the objective of the paper, the
literary work on social media and education has been reviewed in the deemed section. The
sub-sections of the discussed section have been summarised to cite the main findings from
different articles that are similar in nature to make the discussion more understandable.
Social media as a productivity tool:
According to Leftheriotis and Giannakos (2014), social media has emerged as a
primary productivity tool for the business enterprises. The major reason associated with the
dominance that social media is entertaining as a productivity tool for the business world is
because of the broad base of people available on the former. Additionally, the freedom and
ease of sharing and communicating information at a cheaper cost and effort is another
prominent reason for the mass adoption (Fuchs 2017). The prominence of understanding the
market and the associated customers is another benefit offered by the subject in discussion.
Hence it would be adequate to state that social media platforms are beneficial for the
businesses as a productivity tool. However, specific instances are also available where social
media has emerged as a significant challenge for the enterprises and have adversely impacted
the organisational goodwill (Gunitsky 2015). The situation in discussion arises when a
controversial or inappropriate post, act or comment is made by the higher official of the
businesses who is using the social media as a productivity tool. Additionally, trespassing of

8IMPACT/ROLE OF SOCIAL MEDIA IN UNIVERSITY STUDENT LEARNING EXPERIENCE
the social media applications and misusing them can also lead to a similar situation which is
undesirable in context with the business (Cardon and Marshall 2015). It does not only affect
the goodwill of the organisation but also affects it overall revenue due to the hashtags and
boycott post that social media assists in spreading.
The discussed review has enabled the author of the proposed paper in understanding
the roles that social media is capable of playing as a productivity tool. Additionally, the
benefits offered by the social media tools will also establish the base for the future
assessment of the paper. The challenges will also assist in the understanding of the problems
that social media is capable of citing if the improper use or inadequate use of the subject is
done. Hence, it would be adequate to state that the discussed section has enabled the
understanding of the traits (both positive and negative) that social media is capable of citing.
Social media in education:
The role of social media as a productivity tool in the organisation is visible from the
above-reviewed articles, and it is evident that they are efficient and effective in their
designated work. However, the scope offered by social media is not limited to the
commercial organisations but also extends to educational institutions. The impact and role of
social media have been discussed by Greenhow and Lewin (2016), in their paper. The authors
have stated that social media is capable of offering significant benefit to the educational
institutes and its associates. The authors of the reviewed papers have also provided an insight
into the interests of the social media in the academics. One of them states that the subject
enables the students to connect with the subject matter expert and seek for guidelines & help
for a specific topic (Davis III et al. 2015). The reason for the discussed benefit is that the
social media is a platform were over 3 billion people are associated and following the experts
enable the students to gain new insights about their relevant subject (Zhan et al. 2018).

9IMPACT/ROLE OF SOCIAL MEDIA IN UNIVERSITY STUDENT LEARNING EXPERIENCE
Additionally, the ease of communication offered by the social media platforms also enables
the students to clarify their doubts. The expert in the discussion could be from the same
college or university or another part of the globe.
Another significant benefit offered by the social media in the educational institute is
that it provides a comfortable and feasible channel for communication between the institution
and the students (Selwyn and Stirling 2016). The increase in e-learning is attracting a lot of
non-native students who learn from remote areas or are unable to access the regular classes.
The institutions to communicate with them have adopted the services of social media tool.
YouTube and Facebook, Google Plus groups, have emerged as the most prominent social
media tool for this type of communications. Broadcasting of information, announcement
makings and other similar activities are the most prominent use of social media by the
institutions (Perrin 2015). Additionally, the subject offers opportunity of developing
engagement between the student and the university that would be of great assistance in
mitigating the issues faced by the students.
Research processes also earn a buff because of the adoption of the social media as part
of the productivity tool for academics (Ngai, Tao and Moon 2015). The subject monitoring
tools and broad base of the audience are the most crucial factors that enable the researching
benefits offered by the subject in academics. The academic or scholarly researchers can
conduct a survey or drop a post and based on the reviews they can analyse the impact of their
research subject and how people feel about it. Additionally, the experts available on the social
media will increase the reliability of the findings from the research (Houston et al. 2015). The
platform also offers different discussions and current trends and technologies which the
students can compile and in the process develop useful contents and topics for their research
work. The platforms also enable the students working in the group to communicate and share
information to enhance the quality of offering (Cardon and Marshall 2015). Hence, it would

10IMPACT/ROLE OF SOCIAL MEDIA IN UNIVERSITY STUDENT LEARNING EXPERIENCE
be justified to state that social media tools and platform can play a significant role in the
research works.
Technological and social benefits of personal media in Educational institutions
Social media benefits in education are not limited to the communication and sharing
of information only but further extends to technological and personal advantages. The
personal benefits in the deemed scenario refer to the individual level benefits that the subject
entertains to both the student and the institution. The students through the use of social media
as a productivity tool enhance their social skills, credibility and others while the institutions
can use it as Learning management system (LMS), use its networking capability to deliver
online educational modules, administrative activity management and others (Balakrishnan,
Liew and Pourgholaminejad 2015). The LMS in discussion includes the IM (Instant
Messaging), video forums for sharing of information and other primary educational facilities.
It enables the institution to attract online students. The benefits of marketing, advertising and
similar others are standard with the benefits posted. On the contrary, the students avail the
opportunity of building credibility for themselves. Through reflection on their educational
background, they can gain exposure that would develop their credibility and attract the
attention of the experts of the relevant field (Balakrishnan and Gan 2016). Additionally,
developing a brand through social media will enable the students to build a portfolio that
would prove to be crucial for their career.
Hence, from the review of the articles above it would be justified to state that the
social media offers prominent advantage to the educational institutes. Additionally, it also
offers the individual benefit to the institution and the students as well.
Social media challenges and effects on education

11IMPACT/ROLE OF SOCIAL MEDIA IN UNIVERSITY STUDENT LEARNING EXPERIENCE
Social media as discussed in the section above can offer extended benefits however
specific articles have also stated the adverse of the above findings. The reports in the
discussion have stated that the subject can develop certain criticality for the student and their
personality. Hence, it is of great prominence that the issues posed by the social media should
be brought into the discussion and the deemed section aims at attaining that objective.
A survey by the ECAR (Educause centre for analysis and research) states that 65.1%
of participating student believed that they would like to keep their personal and academic life
separate (Sánchez, Cortijo and Javed 2014). Another notable fact is that the percentage
gradually increased from 43.5 % in 2012 to the above mentioned figure in 2015 which could
be taken as evidence to state that the students are not comfortable with the idea of social
media being part of their social life. Additionally, it has also been identified that University
of Washington students stated that only 28% of them believed that the student devices and
other outside class resources were put to adequate utilisation. The image attached below acts
as a reference to the challenges that social media is citing and is adopted from the survey by
the ECAR.

12IMPACT/ROLE OF SOCIAL MEDIA IN UNIVERSITY STUDENT LEARNING EXPERIENCE
Figure: Social media Challenges in higher education
(Source: Itconnect.uw.edu 2018)
Additionally, the challenges of social media are not limited to the student’s
perception. However, certain studies have also cited that the university professors believe that
social media is a distracting factor which affects their studies (Lau 2017). It has also been
noted that the social media leads to a degradation in the productivity and quality of tasks by
the students which deems the need for high concentration (Alwagait, Shahzad and Alim
2015). Other risks such as destroying the campus environment through online bullying,
spreading of fake and inappropriate news and similar others are also one of the concerning
factors that need to be addressed.

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Hence, it would be adequate to state that there are certain challenges that the
introduction of social media brings to the academic institutions and the lives of its associates.
Hence, based on the findings above it can be stated that there are certain aspects of the social
media in educational institutions that need to be addressed and can be considered as the gap
in the literature.
GAP:
Figure: Conceptual Framework
(Source: Created by Author using MS Visio)
The image attached above is the conceptual framework developed by reviewing the
literature and the variables identified from them have been summarised to create the

14IMPACT/ROLE OF SOCIAL MEDIA IN UNIVERSITY STUDENT LEARNING EXPERIENCE
framework. The review of the literature has cited that specific gaps need to be addressed one
of the most prominent of them is that the role of social media as an education productivity
tool is vague and no clear concept about it is defined. Another prominent identification is that
the social media in the real-world educational situation needs to be identified that will assist
in gaining a proper insight into its capabilities and constraints as an educational productivity
tool. Additionally, the internet is full of different social media tools such as Facebook,
Twitter, YouTube and many others which needs to be concussed to identify the most suitable
social media tool for educational purposes. Finally, what prominence does (if it does) social
media offers compared to the traditional mode of learning is another gap in the literature that
needs to be addressed. Based on the gap in the literature the research aim and questions have
been developed and discussed in the following section.
3. Research aim & Questions
The primary objective of the paper is to identify the impact that social media is capable
of citing in university learning outcome. Additionally, the paper will also pursue some sub-
objectives that have been listed below along with the primary objective of the paper.
 To identify the impact that social media have as an educational productivity
tool in universities.
 Identification of the real world implications of the social media tools as part of
the educational productivity tool in universities.
 To identify the most suitable social media tool as an educational productivity
tool.
 To identify whether or not social media-based learning is dominant over the
traditional mode of education.

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The research aims of the paper have been modified to develop the research question
which the discussed paper has attempted to answer as part of the discussion. The research
questions have been listed as follows:
i. Is the introduction of social media into academics productive or disruptive in
nature?
ii. What are the issues or benefits of social media as an educational productivity
tool in educational institutions?
iii. Are there any universities who have equipped social media tools to increase
their academic productivity?
iv. Which social media tool is most useful as part of the educational tools?
v. Is social media-based learning environment better than the traditional learning
environment?
4. Methodology
i. Outline
Literature review is one of the most prominent methods of establishing the base for
the development of the background for a research work. Hence, the paper has done a
preliminary literature review to understand the current status of social media as an
educational productivity tool. The research philosophy for the proposed paper is positivism
that will account for both the abstract and scientific data. The approach of the paper is
deductive in nature while the design for the paper is meta-analysis design. The data collection
methodology will take consideration of mixed data collection methodology which will
account for both the primary and secondary data. The primary data collection will be
quantitative in using the Google form and Spreadsheet will be used for collection of the

16IMPACT/ROLE OF SOCIAL MEDIA IN UNIVERSITY STUDENT LEARNING EXPERIENCE
graphs to cite the results. Additionally, the sampling of the collected data will be done based
on the likelihood sampling method.
ii. Research Philosophy
Interpretivism and positivism are two primary research philosophy and selecting the
most appropriate research philosophy are of great importance because it influences the
perception of the readers (Hughes and Sharrock 2016). Interpretivism philosophy believes in
the idea that humans are not robots and they need to be assessed individually while taking
consideration of their consciousness. In other words, it would be justified to state that the
philosophy believes that the people cannot be judged on specific set of answers and need an
in-depth analysis. It believes that each may react to a specific situation separately and hence,
it becomes of great prominence to determine their reactions & perceptions individually rather
than on a common ground (Kennedy 2017). Therefore, the discussed philosophy is more
suitable for the qualitative research works. However, the nature of the presented research
work is quantitative in nature which makes positivism a more appropriate research
philosophy for it. Positivism research philosophy believes that the social or abstract norms
and facts shape the perception and action of an individual (Ryan 2018). The discussed
philosophy believes that social norms can be concussed together to determine the outcome of
the provided scenario. It also supports the theory of evaluating a shared group on a common
platform.
Hence, the positivism philosophy is in context with the quantitative research work
making it suitable for the discussed research study and thus the selection.
iii. Research Approach
Deductive and inductive research approach is the most widely adopted research
approach (Scrimpshire et al. 2017). Deductive approach is chosen by the researchers who are

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of the ideology that a scenario needs to be analysed by formulating an aim before validating
and confirming the outcome. On the contrary, the inductive approach supports the ideology
that the research subject or scenario needs to be observed and analysed before concluding on
hypotheses (Singh 2015). The discussion above could be summarised to state that the
inductive approach is suitable for the research work that aims at inducing new theories, tools
or framework to change the impact of the researched scenario or subject. While the deductive
theory is supportive of the research work that aims at deducing the provided scenario and
subject which makes it suitable for the discussed study (Gottfredson and Aguinis 2017).
The statement above could be supported by the fact that the research study in the
discussion is aimed at deducing the goal of social media as an educational productivity
tool which could be used to justify the selection.
iv. Data Collection
Primary data collection and secondary data collection are the primary means of data
collection and if both data collection type are equipped then it is referred to as mixed data
collection (Palinkas et al. 2015). Furthermore, the primary data could be classified into two
data collection types, and they are qualitative and quantitative (Lewis 2015). The qualitative
data collection is the data collection mode where the individuals and their perceptions are
offered more prominence and interviews, observations and others are the prominent means
for collecting the discussed data. On the contrary, quantitative data are those data that believe
that the circumstance or domain of the group could be evaluated to summarise on a particular
scenario (Cleary, Horsfall and Hayter 2014). Hence, the discussed data collection method
collects data through surveys, group discussions and others. Finally, the secondary data
collection is the mode in which the literary work of the past along with the government
publications, newspaper & magazine articles, articles from other reliable sources are
considered for the collection of data. The discussed data collection methodology offers the

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advantage of concluding on the findings that are viable for the entirety and not just a specific
geographical domain (Swart et al. 2015).
The selection of the secondary data could be justified by the fact that secondary data
offers a large sample size for data and even offers the author of the research study to gather
pre-analysed data. Additionally, the chances of ethical issues in the secondary data collection
are also low which will cite ethically sound results (Cheng and Phillips 2015). On the
contrary, the selection of quantitative data could be supported by the fact that it will offer
real-time data which the secondary data is incapable of (Walliman 2017). The need for real-
time data could be supported by the fact that social media are in the continuous phase of
transition that are witnessing major updates and hence, their most disruptive capability needs
to be considered which supports the need for both the data types.
The secondary data has been collected through the internet and more specifically
google scholar that pave the way for scholarly articles. However, a questionnaire was
distributed among 100 students to obtain the primary quantitative data. Additionally, the
educational groups on Facebook and other social media were looked into to analyse the
perception of the users.
v. Sampling Techniques
The sampling of the data has been done on the likelihood sampling method that
considers all the collected data at the same stage to analyse. The secondary data will act as a
source of inspiration (Kimani and Simba 2017). While, as discussed above the primary data
will be collected through an online survey that will be developed over the Google form and
the results cited by it will act as the summary of the findings. The pie charts while being
collected from Google Spreadsheet and will be used as part of the report to cite the responses.
The likelihood sampling technique has been selected for sampling because all the raw data

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will be collected form the quantitative data and that needs to be accounted on the same level
because the participants were provided with a set of answers and they selected from it.
Hence, it would be justified to state that the selection of likelihood sampling technique is
justifiable.
5. Data Analysis & Discussion
The discussed section aims to discuss the results that had been collected from the
primary quantitative data using an online survey. The questionnaire or the responses of the
respondents have not been attached to the report to ensure the ethical values of the research
by not revealing their privacy. However, the necessary screenshot such as the description or
the instruction along with the absurdity that has been provided to them has been disclosed to
understand the attempts made by the researcher along with the ethical validity of the work.
The screenshot attached below cites references to the description of the moral values and
assurance of privacy that was offered to the respondents as part of the questionnaire.
The results of the survey are presented in the discussed section with the pie charts that
were collected from the findings and had been attached below.

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Participants
The chart attached above cites the age group of the participants, and it should also be
noted that the survey was filled by the students only. It is evident from the pie chart that over
70% of the participants were of the age group 21-25. The age group could be used to
establish that they were University students. Furthermore, the researcher also distributed the
questionnaire to some high school students and their contribution to the findings is 16% and
the more top aged students contribute 12% of the results. The age determination of the
participants has been done to identify the use of the social media at the different level of
education.

21IMPACT/ROLE OF SOCIAL MEDIA IN UNIVERSITY STUDENT LEARNING EXPERIENCE
Another question that was part of the questionnaire aimed at identifying the use of the social
media by the students and based on the aim their frequency of use was identified. The results
reveal that 52% of the participants used social media on a daily basis, 14% on a weekly basis
and 6% were not using the social media. Furthermore, 14% of the respondents claimed that
they use social media once or twice a month and the remaining stated that they rarely use the
social media platform. The summary of the discussed question could be emphasized to state
that social media is a part of the student’s life and over 50% of them use it on a daily basis
while the remaining ones access its services occasionally. However, there are certain students
who believe that social media could not contribute to their academics and prohibit from it.
The findings from the questionnaire are in context with several types of research that
had been assessed on the discussed topic. One of the similar findings was presented by the
HuffPost US where they stated that over 98%. The author of the post, Griffin (2015), in the
article has shared a graph that cites the social media use by the students in between 1987 to
2014. Furthermore, the use of social media was also identified the most by the age group of

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18-29. The research work presented by Alwagait, Shahzad and Alim (2015) has also
supported the use of social media by the students and have even stated it to be the most
prominent choice of communication for the students. The findings from the post are
supportive of the responses that had been identified in the questionnaire results.
Another one of the primary findings from the research questionnaire reveals that
Twitter is overtaking the Facebook as the favourite social media platform, however, the
difference is minor. 34% of the respondents claimed Twitter to be their favourite social media
platform while 32% voted for the Facebook. Furthermore, Instagram and LinkedIn with 14%
and 10% votes respectively, are also posing a challenge to the dominance of the Facebook.
Poell and Van Dijck (2016) in their paper have discussed the dominance of the Facebook
over other social media taking the context of the student's perception. Imlawi, Gregg and
Karimi (2015), are also supportive of the fact that Facebook is the most dominant social
media platform for the student. However, recent researches have established the rise of
Twitter in context with the universities (Shields 2016). The reason for the growth of Twitter

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is more evident in higher educational institutes. The reason for the dominance of Twitter in
the higher educations could be supported by the presence of high dignitaries on the twitter.
The students pursuing the higher educations are availed with the opportunity to follow and
observe their role models and is one of the most prominent reasons for the increase in the
number of Twitter users (Agostino and Arnaboldi 2017). Hence, it would be justified to state
that the findings from the survey may not support the general studies. However, when taken
account of the higher education based researches the outcome are justifiable because most of
the respondents are pursuing their higher studies.
Privacy on social media adoption
The discussed part of the questionnaire aimed at identifying the perception of the
students in context with the privacy on adoption of the social media as an educational
productivity tool. Specific questions related to the privacy of the students were asked as part
of the questionnaire, and the responses from the students have been discussed. Furthermore,
the findings have been compared with the subsequent literary work to justify the results of the
questionnaire.

24IMPACT/ROLE OF SOCIAL MEDIA IN UNIVERSITY STUDENT LEARNING EXPERIENCE
The pie charts attached to the discussed cite reference to the different questions that
had been asked by the privacy of the students. The first question was asked to understand that
the perception of the students regarding the potential misuse of the tool by the institutions.
The question asked whether or not the institutions were using the social media tools to stalk
the students. The stalking here refers to a much broader term than just watching the student
profile. Here the term refers to the monitoring of the activities of the students that includes
the posts made by them, their comments, likes and many more events. The concern in the
discussion was inspired from the article of Fox and Moreland (2015). In their paper, they
have discussed the dark side of the social media platform and have also stated that the
students believe that they will lose their privacy due to the introduction of social media tool
as part of their institution's productivity tool. However, the results cite contradicting results
because 18% of the respondents strongly disagree with the fact that their institutions are
stalking them. Furthermore, 42% of respondents disagreed to support the fact that they are

25IMPACT/ROLE OF SOCIAL MEDIA IN UNIVERSITY STUDENT LEARNING EXPERIENCE
not being hunted by their students. 8% of the respondents hold no response to the discussed
topic. However, 20% and 12% of the respondents strongly agree and agree respectively with
the staking. The majority of the respondents (around 60%) denied the possibility and hence
will be considered as the outcome of the question. The next question will further enhance the
understanding of the potential misuse of the social media by the universities.
The pie chart attached above cites response for the potential misuse of the social
media by their professors. The question in the discussion aimed at identifying the perception
of the student on their association with social media and how it impacts the understanding of
their professor towards them. The question stated professors use the social media posts and
comments to develop a perception towards the students and in the process judge them. The
response from the students supports the fact that social media tools develop a better bond
between the professors and the students because 74% of the respondents denied the use of
social media activity as a factor for judging of their character by the professors. Gettman and
Cortijo (2015), supports the belief that the professors are just attempting to bond with their

26IMPACT/ROLE OF SOCIAL MEDIA IN UNIVERSITY STUDENT LEARNING EXPERIENCE
students, however, the latter believes that the professors and students could be part of the
same group on different social media platforms, but there is no need for them to befriend on
the platform. They stated that the discussion and notifications could be broadcasted through
the group where both of them are the members. However, befriending will enable the
students to privacy vulnerability and could be judged based on their social media activities
which in the process will affect their academics. The article in discussion acted as the
secondary source that was used as the base for the development of the discussed question.
However, the responses from the respondents oppose the belief and state that the students are
willing to befriend their professors without worrying about being judged that is supported by
Lin, Lin and Lee (2015).
Both the discussion above could be used to state that the students did not believe that
their professors or institutions entities on the social media develop the threat of being stalked
or being judged.

27IMPACT/ROLE OF SOCIAL MEDIA IN UNIVERSITY STUDENT LEARNING EXPERIENCE
The discussed question aimed at identifying the overall conclusion of the above
questions and other privacy issues. The question aimed at understanding the privacy concern
of the students when they are part of the social media along with their institutional entities.
The results reveal that 68% of the students do not consider that being associated with the
educational entities on the same platform pose threat to their social privacy. Their perception
towards the confidentiality was clear because a clear description of the aim of the questions
was presented in the questionnaire. A screenshot of the description has been attached below.
Hence, to conclude the analysis of the discussed section, it would be adequate to state that
the students do not believe that their institution or professors are posing any threat to their
personal or social life by violating their privacy.
Impact on academic life
The discussed section has been aimed at identifying the impact of the social media on
the academic life of the students. The screenshot attached below cites evidence to the
description that was provided to the students to earn their response and offer a clear
understanding of the purpose of the questions.

28IMPACT/ROLE OF SOCIAL MEDIA IN UNIVERSITY STUDENT LEARNING EXPERIENCE
The chart attached above acts as the reference to the response cited by the respondents when
asked about whether or not the social media consumes their academic time. In answer to the
question, most of the respondents stated that the social media does not consume their
educational time. Opposing the 60% who disagreed that social media consumes academic
time, 24% agreed with the fact that it is time consuming and 16% did not have any response
to the question. As the majority of the students admitted to the fact that social media does not
consume their time. It will be considered that social media does not consume academic time.
The findings from the survey are supported by the article of Bellur, Nowak and Hull (2015)
that states that the academic life of the student is affected by multitasking at a single instance
and not by the social connection. The secondary source in the discussion has also supported
the idea of a time division where it is suggested that the time for individual tasks should be
divided. The students should divide their time between academic and other activities
including social activities. Hence, based on the survey results and the secondary sources it

29IMPACT/ROLE OF SOCIAL MEDIA IN UNIVERSITY STUDENT LEARNING EXPERIENCE
would be justified to state that the students should focus on their time management skills and
social media should not be held responsible for it.
The findings from the discussed question reveal that even though the students believe that
social media does not consume their academic life but still it is difficult for them to balance
their academic and social life. 48% student's response suggests that they believe that it is
difficult to adjust the social and educational life. However, with just a little difference, 46%
student feels that it is not difficult for them to maintain their social and academic life. Hence,
it would be suitable to state that the response from the respondents and mixed and no definite
conclusion could be reached. The reason for the mixed reaction could be associated with n
number of reasons that may include their time management, their environment and multiple
others. Furthermore, as the respondents are not from a specific discipline their balancing of
academic and social life may vary due to their academic structure, their associates and other
key factors.

30IMPACT/ROLE OF SOCIAL MEDIA IN UNIVERSITY STUDENT LEARNING EXPERIENCE
Social media as an educational productivity tool
The chart attached above reveals the response of the participants over the question of
whether or not do they believe that social media forms a channel of communication between
the students and the professors. The responses reveal that 54% of the total students agree on
the fact that the subject is viable as a communication channel. Additionally, 16% of students
restricted themselves from giving away any response and 30% of them disagreed with the
role of social media as an educational tool. Hence, it could be concluded that the subject of
research is one of the most prominent sources of communication between the students and
professors. The discussed finding has been supported by the article presented by Sugimoto et
al. (2015) where they have stated that the channel could prove to be of great vitality when the
teacher is not reachable, or the students are not comfortable with face-to-face interaction.
Furthermore, it has also been identified that social interaction assists the professors to
understand the perception of the student and could utilise it to enhance their learning skills
(Wang, Chua and Stefanone 2015). The communicational channel is not only bridged

31IMPACT/ROLE OF SOCIAL MEDIA IN UNIVERSITY STUDENT LEARNING EXPERIENCE
between the professor and student but also offers its services for student-student
communication (Epp, Phirangee and Hewitt 2017). Hence, it would be justified to state that
both the findings and the secondary literature reveal that the social media as an educational
productivity tool does offer the benefit of communication between institutional stakeholders.
The role of social media in reaching out to students was the subject of discussion for
which the response has been shown in the pie chart above. 52% of all the students believe
that the institutions are capable of reaching out to the maximum number of students by
investing in minimum effort. Furthermore, 16% of students think that the social media is very
useful in reaching out to the students. Salmon et al. (2015), supports the findings of the paper
and they further add that social media enables the broadcasting of information regarding the
academics and its resources. Additionally, the subject of the article is also being used as a
tool to conduct assignments. Social media platforms such as YouTube, Pinterest and other
media sharing sites are used by the educators to provide the assignment to the students which
is fun and also enables the student to express themselves (Neier and Zayer 2015). The

32IMPACT/ROLE OF SOCIAL MEDIA IN UNIVERSITY STUDENT LEARNING EXPERIENCE
discussed measure offers the student the chance to develop credibility for themselves and
earn exposure in the process.
The sharing of posts relevant to disruptive tools and techniques assists the students to
stay updated with the outside world and the enhancements that are being made to it. 60% of
the respondents believed that the social media use by the educational entities for the
discussed measures assists them to attain the above mentioned objective. Furthermore, 34%
of the students emerged as the top supporter for the discussed perk of social media as an
educational tool. The tools in the discussion are not just equipped for sharing of updated
knowledge but are also used as a tool for motivating the students (Alt 2015). The interviews
of the prominent personalities of a specific field motivate the student to enhance their skills to
become more like their role model.

33IMPACT/ROLE OF SOCIAL MEDIA IN UNIVERSITY STUDENT LEARNING EXPERIENCE
The discussed question aimed at debating the efficiency of the video tutorials that are made
available on the social media platforms by the institutions. The response of the students over
the video tutorial was extremely positive as 56% of them agreed with its importance while
18% strongly voted for it. Hence, it would be adequate to state that the video tutorials made
available by the educational bodies on the social media platforms are very efficient
(Macarthy 2018).
Hence, in conclusion, it would be adequate to state that the findings of the survey and
secondary sources reveal that though there are some challenges associated with social media
as an educational productivity tool still it is useful and efficient. The summary of the data
analysis has been discussed in the next section in accordance with the research questions.
6. Findings
i. Is the introduction of social media into academics productive or disruptive?

34IMPACT/ROLE OF SOCIAL MEDIA IN UNIVERSITY STUDENT LEARNING EXPERIENCE
The collected data post analysis has revealed that the social media is productive.
However, it also poses particular challenges. The study has shown that social media bridges
the gap between the professors and the students which enhance the learning process. Social
media attains the discussed measure by offering a friendly and active communication
channel. The communication channel could be utilised in the dire situations when it is
difficult for the students to reach the tutor and is even implacable for contradicting case
(Manca and Ranieri 2016). The channel can also be utilised by the educational entities to
broadcast information and other resources that could prove to be vital for the student. The
video tutorials, live sessions and other prominent resources that are made available for the
students are also great perk by the student. The assignments based on the social media
platforms are also viable as they enable the student to develop creditability and even offers
exposure to them (Greenhow and Lewin 2016). Social media also allows several benefits for
the educational institutes such as attracting of international students and use of online tools to
enhance their operational productivity. Furthermore, the communication channel saves the
organisational resources and the effort invested by them with a high effectiveness and
efficiency.
The subject of the paper also cites specific issues as part of the educational institution
such as privacy, annoying contents, social jealousy and other similar activities (Kaplan and
Haenlein 2016). To mitigate the discussed threat institutions needs the educational institutes
to need to install social media monitoring tool and techniques. The threat of privacy is
believed by the specified number of students, and the educational entities could mitigate it by
communicating with the students in a friendly manner.
ii. What are the issues or benefits of social media as an educational productivity tool in
educational institutions?

35IMPACT/ROLE OF SOCIAL MEDIA IN UNIVERSITY STUDENT LEARNING EXPERIENCE
Social media as an educational productivity tool has many layers; some of these layers’
act as an enabler and the rest as a constraint towards the impact of the former in the
educational industry. The benefits and challenges of social media have been discussed as
follows:
BENEFITS
a) The most prominent benefit is that it builds an online community that contributes to
both the formal and digital education. Through the contribution of the students and the
experts along with the organisational entities which could offer many productive ideas
(Greenhow and Gleeson 2016). Further, the knowledge becomes public which will
attract outside knowledge to the campus and will also expand the knowledge outside
of the campus.
b) The educational body entertains the benefits of simplifying their process of
knowledge sharing. The information is passed down to the stakeholders without much
effort and consumption of the organisational resources is very low (Manca and
Ranieri 2016). Furthermore, the benefits such as attracting global students by
developing itself as a brand and offering guides to students even after class hours are
some of the benefits that are offered on adoption of social media as an educational
productivity tool. Other benefits are also associated with the adoption of the subject as
a productivity tool. However, the most prominent ones have been discussed.
c) Students are the ones who are the most benefited by the adoption because they earn a
chance at developing credibility and even get exposure. Additionally, the benefits of
brainstorming their ideas and opinions by getting expert guidance whenever needed
should also be accounted for (Hamid et al. 2014). Other benefits such as the
availability of online resources make it simple to access, regular motivation and many

36IMPACT/ROLE OF SOCIAL MEDIA IN UNIVERSITY STUDENT LEARNING EXPERIENCE
others are also offered by the social media as an educational productivity tool in
universities.
CHALLENGES
a) The most prominent challenge associated with social media as an educational
productivity tool is the perception of the privacy threat. It has been identified that
certain students believe that the introduction of social media has compromised their
social privacy and the teachers may use it unethically. Furthermore, if the educational
group is compromised it will compromise the data of each group member and deems
consideration. Additionally, the case of Facebook-Cambridge Analytica has further
deepened the concern (Ward 2018).
b) Potential misuse of the social media platform is also a challenging factor. It has been
identified that the social media may develop the issues such as social jealousy,
stalking and others. It will impact both the culprit and the victim in the long run and
will also reflect on their professional career (Westrick 2016). Furthermore, the
challenges induced due to sharing or spreading of inappropriate contents in the
educational posts and group is also a concerning challenge.
iii. Are there any universities who have equipped social media tools to increase their
academic productivity?
The Australian Universities and other global universities are implementing social
media as a tool for marketing, communication, recruitment and retaining students. The use of
hashtags is an appealing factor for the students (Yudhiantara 2017). Social media can provide
the community with the information related to ranking, branding, achievements, placement
and openings of the universities. This quick feeds on the social media are more interesting
than the conventional methods for the students. The social media is used by various

37IMPACT/ROLE OF SOCIAL MEDIA IN UNIVERSITY STUDENT LEARNING EXPERIENCE
universities of Australia and the world such as the University of Melbourne, Bond University
of Queensland, University of Sydney Canadian University and many other universities. It is
found that the Bond University of Queensland has attracted the new enrolment of the students
to a large extent with the help of social media. The university has implemented the use of
Facebook and blogs for proactive communication with the students about the enrolment
procedure (Belanger, Bali and Longden 2014). The universities use the twitter for motivating
students for their academic purpose as the universities are acquainted with the fact that there
is a requirement of adjusting with the digital lifestyle of the students of Australia (Veletsianos
and Kimmons 2016). The social media sites used by the Australian universities are Weibo,
Wechat, LinkedIn, YouTube, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. The universities are likely to
use Twitter for providing the details of discussion topic and project requirements through
twitter and relevant social media applications. The use of social media not only facilitate the
communication with the students but also are profitable for the universities. The university
gets the benefit by the number of traffic, views and followers and this acts a branding factor
for the Australian university across the globe (Maity 2017). The use of social media is used
for the enrolment of the student of foreign countries to the Australian university.
iv. Which social media tool is most effective as part of the educational tools?
It has been identified that different social media tools are capable of playing different
roles as an educational productivity tool (Norman et al. 2015). The above statement could be
supported by the fact that media sharing platform such as YouTube, Instagram and others are
effective in availing of learning resources. Similarly, Quora, Pinterest and similar others are
effective in research works while Facebook, Twitter and similar other networking social
media platforms are capable of offering their services in developing student’s credibility and
similar other tasks. Hence, every social media has something to offer, however, the author of
the discussed paper would recommend Twitter a the most prominent tool for the purpose. The

38IMPACT/ROLE OF SOCIAL MEDIA IN UNIVERSITY STUDENT LEARNING EXPERIENCE
reason could be supported by the fact that every social media is upgrading its capacity to
maintain a competitive advantage by offering features that are available by the competitors
and features that are unique. Hence, Twitter has also offered the basic features that are
needed for the educational purpose however one of the prominent advantages that it enjoys
over its competitor is the broad base of subject matter experts. Twitter is home to most of the
subject matter experts from acting stars to scientists and politicians. The students who want to
pursue their role model will greatly motivate by getting regular update from them. Hence
twitter would be the most adequate tool as an educational productivity tool.
v. Is social media based learning environment better than the traditional learning
environment?
The social media environment is considered to be a better platform of learning than
the traditional method of learning. The self-directed learning is promoted through social
media as it prepares and makes students search for the answers that help in enhancing their
skills. The social media learning is an active method of learning that allows students to
participate directly in their area of interest (Kent, Laslo and Rafeli 2016). However,
traditional learning forces students to learn things in which they might not be interested. The
information that presented through social media are shaped in a way to make the information
interesting to learn for the students in a better way than the traditional learning tools. The
students are required to submit assignments to the teachers in the traditional learning
methods, however, the social media provides deeper engagement and better performance of
the students as it allows sharing of information or posts with other students rather than
submitting assignments to the teacher (Castañeda and Manrique 2016). Social media, for
example, Facebook, can be used to connect the students by creating a group that would allow
them to share their idea, knowledge and skills with each other. The social media platform
allows learning from anywhere and at any time outside the classroom as it can be accessed

39IMPACT/ROLE OF SOCIAL MEDIA IN UNIVERSITY STUDENT LEARNING EXPERIENCE
from computers or mobile devices by the students. However, traditional method provides
learning facilities to the students in the classroom only (Zulaihah and Harida 2017). There are
several social media including Facebook, YouTube, Twitter and many more that allows
institutes to communicate and interact with students and to provide them with the useful
information.
7. Future scope
The paper in the discussion has offered an insight into the capabilities that social
media is capable of citing as educational productivity. It will enable the readers to understand
the ability of social media as an educational productivity tool and how it should be utilised.
Furthermore, the discussed paper has revealed that the technological developments that are
designed for savouring could also be used for productivity means. Hence, the readers of the
paper could pursue the technological advancements developed for savouring and can identify
the measures through which they could be used in more productive manner. The paper has
also left an opening for research in the discussed topic equipping qualitative data. Similarly,
several other opportunities to research in the field of social media and education have been
posted by the paper.
8. Limitation
The paper in the discussion has collected primary quantitative data and has cited the
results based on which is one of the limitations of the paper. The quantitative data has been
collected from the students who are currently studying in Australian universities. It limits the
findings of the paper to the Australian universities and could be accounted for all the
universities across the globe. However, the data from the discussed paper is reliable in nature
because the data has been contrasted with the secondary data and is in context with them.

40IMPACT/ROLE OF SOCIAL MEDIA IN UNIVERSITY STUDENT LEARNING EXPERIENCE
9. Conclusion
Social media is one of the most prominent tools that are used for savouring of time,
however, it could also be used for productive activities. Organisations are equipping its
service for productive means and the education industry is aiming at the same. Hence, the
aim of the paper was to identify the role that social media plays as an educational
productivity tool in universities. The discussed objective has been attained through primary
quantitative data and secondary data as well. Furthermore, the paper also aimed to identify
the examples of the universities who are utilising the social media to enhance their
productivity and it was identified that most of the universities are adopting its services.
Another one of the most prominent objectives of the paper was to identify the most effective
social media tool to act as an educational productivity tool. The identification revealed that
Twitter would be the most suitable tool because of its huge database of subject matter
experts. Furthermore, social media-based learning environment was also contrasted with the
traditional learning where it emerged as victorious. Hence, the discussed report could be
emphasised to state that social media is capable of playing a major role as an educational
productivity tool, however, to leverage the technology adequately proper attention should be
provided to the challenges posed by it.
9.1 Linking with objectives
Objective 1: To identify the impact that social media have as an educational
productivity tool in universities.
It has been identified that social media tools are productive in nature when adopted as
an educational tool. However, certain minor errors have been identified which are associated
with the perception of the students and can be mitigated by adopting certain measures.
Furthermore, certain benefits of the social media as an educational productivity tool has been
identified. Those benefits include development of online community, simplification of

41IMPACT/ROLE OF SOCIAL MEDIA IN UNIVERSITY STUDENT LEARNING EXPERIENCE
knowledge sharing process, students earn exposure and credibility along with multiple others.
The challenges that had been identified include perception of privacy threat, potential misuse
of social media. However, it should be noted that social media monitoring tools and training
the students in social media use could mitigate the threat.
Objective 2: Identification of the real world implications of the social media tools
as part of the educational productivity tool in universities.
It has been identified that different universities around the world are using the social
media tools as an educational productivity tool. Australian universities are leading in the field
of social media use that includes University of Melbourne, University of Sydney, South
Wales University and many more. The universities are using the platform for knowledge
sharing and proactive communication.
Objective 3: To identify the most suitable social media tool as an educational
productivity tool.
It has been identified that social media platforms are vital as an educational tool
however, the most suitable tool of all the social media has also been identified. The identified
tool is Twitter. The selection of tool is based upon the fact that though Facebook has the
largest base of users offering high network connectivity and media sharing sites are capable
of offering ease for knowledge sharing but, twitter have a strong base of influential person
such as the celebrities and scientists. The students avail the opportunity to communicate and
get inspired from their role models which along with the hashtag trends is the most important
reason for the selection. Furthermore, twitter is the second most used social media platforms
and also provides the opportunity for media sharing making it equally productive as other
social media tools.

42IMPACT/ROLE OF SOCIAL MEDIA IN UNIVERSITY STUDENT LEARNING EXPERIENCE
Objective 4: To identify whether or not social media-based learning is dominant
over the traditional mode of education.
Social media learning has been identified as the dominant over traditional mode of
learning because it encourages the student to learn by investing their effort. The effort in
discussion refers to the queries that arise in the student’s mind and how they surf the social
media to find answers which provides them with opportunity to identify new knowledge and
even field of interest. Furthermore, social media platforms are always ready for providing
assistance which is not possible for traditional means and hence, providing it edge over the
traditional learning. Other benefits such as the knowledge sharing, interacting with role-
models, developing credentials and others are also offered by the social media tools.
Hence, in conclusion it would be justified to state that the findings of the paper are in
sync with the objectives of the paper.

43IMPACT/ROLE OF SOCIAL MEDIA IN UNIVERSITY STUDENT LEARNING EXPERIENCE
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