International Journal of Electronic Commerce Studies

Vol.5, No.2, pp.247-254, 2014

doi: 10.7903/ijecs.1114

THE INFLUENCE OF SOCIAL NETWORKING

SITES ON STUDENTS ACADEMIC
PERFORMANCE IN MALAYSIA
Adam Mahamat Helou
Universiti Teknologi Malaysia
81310 Johor Bahru, Johor, Malaysia
alhellou2000@yahoo.fr
Nor Zairah Ab.Rahim
Universiti Teknologi Malaysia
54100 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
nzairah@utm.my

ABSTRACT
Social networking sites (SNSs) have created a new social dimension
where individuals can increase their social awareness by keeping in touch
with old friends, making new friends, dispensing new data or products and
gathering information in other aspects of everyday life. This helps
individuals become more knowledgeable, which is very beneficial for
students. This research attempts to obtain students perceptions on how their
use of social networking sites influences their academic performance. We
conducted a preliminary survey of a group of Malaysian university student
to gather initial findings on their use of social networking sites and its
influence on their academic performance. Statistical Package for Social
Sciences (SPSS) software was used to analyze the data. This study found
that the majority of respondents agreed that social networking sites have a
positive impact on their academic performance.
Keywords: Social Networking Sites, Academic Performance, Malaysia.

1. INTRODUCTION
The Internet is more than just a means of seeking information. People
have discovered that the Internet can be used to connect with other people
for business or commercial purpose, to make new friends, or to reawaken
old friends and long lost relatives. The emergence of social networking sites

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(SNSs) simplifies the process because they do not require advanced internet
knowledge or experience and are made up of a wide array of different
formats and topics. This means that anyone can connect through SNSs. With
such extensive acceptance, it is no surprise that SNSs have impacted the
way people live and socialize1.
SNSs are also being used by teachers and students as a communication
tool, especially in the West. It is a bi-directional process as students are
using these mediums to share comments with their teachers1. This study
attempts to answer the questions: what are the reasons students engage in
the use of SNSs? And how does the use of SNSs impact on students
academic performance?

2. LITERATURE REVIEW
SNSs have been defined as web based services that, within a bounded
system, enable individuals to construct a semi-profile and articulate a list of
other users with whom they share connections and views2. Another given
definition of SNSs is an online community of Internet users who want to
communicate with other users about areas of mutual interest3. The term
networking emphasizes relationship initiation between strangers2, which
is one of the main activities of SNSs users. Examples of SNSs include:
Twitter, Friendster, MySpace (popular with the music/party community),
Facebook (popular with the college community), Orkut and many others.
The majority of SNSs users are young people, who have been called
Digital Natives4. The most common users are students in higher education.
They often use SNSs to stay in touch with their friends or bolster existing
connections rather than developing new connections5. This usage exposed
the potential for SNSs to be a medium for online learning that would be
more valuable than conventional e-learning platform if the activities of
e-learning could be closely integrated into the features of SNSs6.
Academic performance is defined as ...how students deal with their
studies and how they cope with or accomplish different tasks given to them
by their teachers7. Baldwin et al. indicated that friendship networks often
necessitate access to information and knowledge directly and indirectly, and
effect of friendship networks on student academic performance has been
confirmed8. A students involvement in activities like making friends on
SNSs should be seen as students having access to relevant information that
can be channeled towards improving the students academic performance.
This depends on the ability and willingness of the concerned individual to
be able to harness that opportunity and to cope with academic related
stress7.

Adam Mahamat Helou, and Nor Zairah Ab.Rahim 249

3. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
A set of preliminary questionnaires consisting of 31 questions were
randomly distributed to 30 undergraduate and postgraduate students of the
Universiti Teknologi Malaysia. The questionnaires were distributed
randomly in the computer library during academic hours. This university
was chosen because of its strategic importance as a world-class research
university with a wide range of specialized courses and subjects at the
professional diploma, undergraduate and postgraduate levels; a large
number of students; and a large international student population with a
diverse range of cultures and religions which could reflect the diversity of
SNSs users. However, this study is only preliminary, meant to test the
instrument and also to gather initial findings. The actual set of
questionnaires will be distributed to other institutes of higher learning in
Malaysia. The questionnaire was divided into two broad sections (A and B)
that are aimed at answering the two research questions: What are the reasons
students engage in the use of SNSs? And how does the use of SNSs impact
students academic performance? Questions in the survey were adapted
from the literature review and previous surveys6, 7, 9. The questions also
elicited perceptual responses and certain specific responses, which can be
useful to add specificity to the findings. After the data were collected, SPSS
16 Software was use for the analysis.
making friends

0%
9%

9%

21%

chatting with friends

8%
17%

7%

8%

receiving and sending messages

playing games
21%

sharing files
communicating with supervisor or
lecturer

Figure 1. Students use of SNSs

4. FINDINGS
The questionnaire starts with demographic questions, finding age,
gender, academic level and nationality. The responses showed that 37% of
those who participated are male while 63% are female. 43% of them are
undergraduate respondents and 57% are postgraduate respondents. Age

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group of those who participated in the survey are from 16-21years old
(43%), 22-27 old (27%), 28 years old and above (30%).
Figure 1 shows the reasons students use SNSs. The majority of the
respondents use SNSs for making friends (21%) and chatting (21%).
Respondents also use SNSs for receiving and sending messages (17%). 8%
use SNSs for playing games and 7% use SNSs to share files. 26% of the
respondents indicated that they use SNSs for academic purposes like
communicating with their supervisors and lecturers (8%), conducting
academic related discussions (9%), and communicating with friends for
academic interests (9%), which is less than the time they spend on other
activities unrelated to academics.
Tables 2 and 3 show the analysis on the average response to questions
on the negative and positive impact of SNSs to students academic
performance on a 5-point scale.
Table 2. Negative impacts of SNSs on students academic performance
No
1
2
3
4
5
6

Questions
These networking sites influence my academic performance
negatively, because they distract me from my studies.
Using SNSs require spending money and are wastage of time and
by this way it will affect my academic life.
Addiction to SNSs is problematic issue that affects my academic
life.
I find it hard concentrating on study knowing that I can play online
games and visit these sites just by logging into them.
I compare my grades before I become engaged into these SNSs and
after I became involved. I see a drop in my academic performance.
SNSs are personal/ social-cant be used for education.

Mean
2.73
2.67
3.00
2.93
2.40
2.40

In general, responses on the negative impacts of SNSs to student

academic performance have lower means, which range from 2.40 to 3.00.
Many feel there are no significant differences in their grades before and
after their involvement with SNSs. They also believe that SNSs are for
personal use as well as for education, where both of these items only show
mean of 2.40. The highest mean for the negative impacts is on addiction to
SNSs, which affect their academic life (3.00). Responses on the positive
impacts of SNSs to student academic performance have higher means,
which range from 3.20 to 3.70 for all the questions. The majority of
respondents clearly indicated that SNSs can be used to discuss assignments
(3.40), group discussions (3.70) and also to improve interaction between
lecturers and classmates (3.30).

Adam Mahamat Helou, and Nor Zairah Ab.Rahim 251

Table 3. Positive impacts of SNSs on students academic performance

No Questions
The usage of SNSs is useful in higher educational institutions,
7
because they are an effective communication application.
8 Group discussions can be arranged with my classmates using SNSs.
9 An appointment can be fixed with my lecturer through SNSs.
Social networking site is helpful in my studies because I can receive
10
announcements from lecturers and faculty.
The SNSs help in my studies because I can discuss my
11
assignments with friends.
12 Using SNSs improves my interaction with classmates and lecturers
I use SNSs to facilitate academic activities and coordinate with
13
friends

Mean
3.40
3.70
3.20
3.30
3.40
3.30
3.20

5. DISCUSSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

This survey answers the two research questions highlighted earlier. Most
of the students are engage in the use of SNSs for socializing activities rather
than for academic purposes. However, most of the respondents do feel that
SNSs have a positive impact on their academic performance, due to the fact
that SNSs can be used for various academic activities such as communicating
with the faculty and university authorities, communicating with lecturers and
supervisors, discussing academic topics with classmates and chatting with
friends on topics of educational interest. Meanwhile, the negative impacts of
SNSs on their academic performance are considerably low.
Therefore, based on the positive preliminary findings of this study,
universities and other academic institutions could take advantage of the
popularity and positive impact of SNSs to formally incorporate their use in
the teaching and learning process. Government regulatory agencies that are
responsible for monitoring internet activities, such as the Malaysian
Communication and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) in Malaysia, as well
as the Ministry of Higher Education could also benefit from findings from
this kind of study to outline or improve any existing guidelines on internet
usage. Updating these guidelines would be useful for students as well as
parents, in helping them monitor or provide appropriate advice to their
children regarding SNSs.
However, this is only a preliminary phase of the study. The actual data
collection with the improved questionnaire to the larger sample should reflect
more accurate and significant findings of the phenomenon.

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6. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
This paper is funded by Research University Grant of Universiti
Teknologi Malaysia (Project No. is QJ13000.7128.03J32).

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