REPORT WRITING ASSIGNMENT

GROUP MEMBERS:
1. Sameer Fayyaz Butt FA17-BBA-011
2. Uzma Karam FA17-BBA-175
3. Warda Ali FA17-BBA-176
4. Zehra Batool FA17-BBA-184
5. Rameen Ali FA17-BBA-163
Effects of Social Media on Students’ Academic
Performance

Prepared for
Mehmood Anwar
COMSATS University Islamabad, Pakistan

Prepared By
Sameer Fayyaz Butt
Uzma Karam
Warda Ali
Zehra Batool
Rameen Ali
1.3 Table of Contents
List Of Tables…………….…...4
List Of Figures……………..….4
1. Executive Summary……….….5
2. Introduction……………..…….6
2.1. Purpose………………...….6
2.2. Background……………….…..…..6
2.3. Statement of problem……….….….7
2.4. Scope of the study…………...….....9
2.5. Literature review……….…..10
3. Findings…………...…...12
4. Discussions………...…..17
5. Conclusion………….....18
6. Recommendations…...19
7. References………….19
8. Appedices…………...20
9. List Of Tables
Table 1. Presentation of Gender………...12
Table 2. Age of respondents…………….13
Table 3. Time spent on social media……..14
Table 4. Most used social media site……..15
Table 5. Purpose for using Social Media…..16
10. List of figures
Presentation of Gender Figure 1. ……………………………….12
Age of respondents Figure 2. …….…………….……………….13
Time spend on social media Figure 3………..…...………….…..14
Most used social media site Figure 4. ……………………….…...15
Purpose for using Social Media Figure 5. ……………………….16
 May 14,2018

1. Executive Summary
Social media is gaining lots of fame with almost all of the educated youth using one or
the other
social networking sites these days. The effects of social networking sites on the
performance of
academic engagement and performance are very significant and social networking sites
play an
important role on the performance of the students This study was carried out with the
aim of
studying the impact, mostly negative of the use of social media on students’ academic
performance. Survey was conducted within Comsats University, Islamabad to examine
the
effects on student’s performance and it was concluded that social media has affected
respondent’s academic performance more negatively and there is inverse relation
between
academic performance and social media.
After the findings the report suggests that students indulged in social media should be
encourage
to use these sites for education or research purpose rather than chatting. They should
be
encouraged to spend more time on books to improve and increase their knowledge
rather than
wasting hours online. There is a great need to introduce and divert student’s attention
towards
books and other useful information that helps their academic performance by forming
new
educational sites and forums.
The report is initiated with the purpose of the report followed by background along with
the
scope and significance of the study are incorporated. The next section of the report has
the
literature reviews which are the articles we took from published reports. After that the
data is analyzed and incorporated. The last part consists of providing suggestions and
recommendation
using that data.

2. INTRODUCTION:
2.1. Purpose:
The purpose of this report is to scrutinize the impact of social media on students and
how it
affects their academic performance. This report refers to using social media applications
like
Facebook, Whatsapp, Twitter, Skype, MySpace and Yahoo Messenger for
communication,
sharing of ideas, photos and videos by users and how they distract the students and
abate
their motivation to study. This report will also highlight the reason why social media has
a
negative impact on the academic performance of students all across the globe.

2.2. Background:
Social media came into existence after the advent of internet in the 1990’s which
accelerated and
revolutionized the development of communication networks thus, now two-third of the
internet world’s population visit social networking sites every day.
In the past years, social media websites have become popular, giving young people a
new way to
reach out to one other and connect to the world. Social networking became popular
between
2004 and 2006. According to a research carried out by Tableau, Facebook has over 2.2
billion members and it is still expected to grow since about 94% of teenagers are
Facebook users.
These statistics prove that social media has successfully enticed and distracted
students.
The use of social media among students has reached to a very high level and is
reducing the time
they spend on studying and increasing the time they spend online. It is also leading to
poor
grammar and wrong spellings when socializing on social media and diverting
their attention from their studies resulting in a low GPA.
Students nowadays have almost no connection with people outside their computer
screens. It
has reduced the time students spent outside and interact with other people. This has
weakened their communication skills and this is turn affects their performance in their
universities and colleges negatively.
Moreover, more the time they spend online, less they spend on research and
completing
assignments and projects. This badly affects their grades. However, if they use it for
studying
purposes it can also prove to be beneficial but they mostly use it for other things.

2.3. Statement of the problem:

To highlight the negative impact of social media on student’s education and other
factors
diminishing the physical communication between them. 2.46 billion of the world’s
population stick to their gadgets rather than concentrating on their studies.
The rapid growth of technology has a huge impact on students and their academic
excellence.
The increase in the use of the social media among the youth of today cannot be
ignored.
In Obi, Bulus, Adamu and Sala’at, 2012 it was observed that the use of abbreviations
and short hand writing on social media has led to students using the same in classroom.
In 2015 Maya, a research program concluded that use of media contributes to
dissatisfactory academic performance, low self-esteem and less interest in college
orientated carriers
.
2.4. Significance of the study
This study is helpful for the audience to understand the impacts of social media on
student’s academic performance. This study will help to understand the negative
impacts of social media on student’s life so that awareness among the student’s
teachers and parents can be created on how social media is affecting student’s
academic performance. This study gives awareness about the fact that apart from social
benefits social media is affecting students in a negative
way. This study states following point.
● Students spend more time on social media and excessive use of social media has a
negative impact on student’s health.
● The use of social media has reduced the learning and research capabilities of
students they reply more on social networking sites that are easily accessible they reply
on the virtual environment instead of gaining practical knowledge from the real world
this cause reduction in their academic performance.
● Students spend more time on social media and less time in socializing with others
this reduces their communication skills.
● This report also gives awareness to the parents on how social media is affecting their
children so that they can take the best possible measures for their children.
These are the few points from the study that will enable the audience to understand the
negative impacts of social media on student’s academic performance and to resolve
these issues for their betterment. Moreover, it will provide information to other
researchers undertaking similar research.

2.5. Scope of the study

The focus of the report will be on the effects of social media on student’s academic
performance.
Social media is creating both positive and negative impact on student’s performance.
But the purpose of the study is to aware the people with the positive supremacy of
social media and also to improve their academic as well as personal information
through internet. This study was limited to the perceptions of students as to the negative
effects that media has on studies. Negative effects of social media include destructive
influences on the students. The scope of the study has to be defined at a initial stage
and that is very important. Anytime that a task of doing a research is to be undertaken,
the important guideline is to explain explicitly the scope of the study. Social media is
affecting the life
of students by giving them different information about their specific tasks and according
to their needs. Moreover, it will provide information to other researchers undertaking
similar research.

2.6. Related Literature

Social media that includes Facebook, yahoo, myspace and twitter etc. is a collection of
websites that allow users to communicate, share information and showcase their social
live. These sites that started as a hobby for several computer literates has now become
a lifestyle for students around the globe. Advanced usage of social media has become a
major issue in case of students who neglect their studies to spend time online. The
social media has positive as well as negative impact on its users. Researches who have
conducted different studies to identify the impact of social media on student’s studies
have stated that social media has more negative impact on students and that its
advantages tostudents are far less than its disadvantages. Social media users often
experience poor academic performance.
According to Karpinski (2009) social media has a negative link
with students’ academic performance. Social media users who dedicate lesser time to
their studies often end up getting lower grades than the non-users as mentioned by
Karpinski. In her findings Karpinski added that social media still remains one of the
major distraction for the current generation.
Facebook, a social media platform has negative effect on the academic performance as
stated in
recent studies. A three-month test was carried out by Britain School on Facebook and
its
effects. In the first two months students were denied access to the site however in the
last month they were allowed to use it. During this period there was a slight
improvement in the first two months in students grades and then a slight decrease.

Other researchers like Choney, San Miguel and Enriquez studied on students’ use of the social
sites and it revealed a negative effect of the use of social sites on students’ academic
performance. People all over the world have been addicted to the internet, which
resulted in an increase in usage of social media in students. Nalwa & Anand, got to the
conclusion that people who are addicted to the internet, keep it prior to their personal
and social responsibilities which results in negative outcome. Social platforms are
usually used for socializing rather than academic purpose which distracts them from
their studies resulting in poor academic performance.
In June, 2010 it was concluded by Nielsen Media Research that almost 25% of students time on
the internet is spent on social networking sites. Moreover, it was declared at the
American Educational Research Associations annual conference in 2009 that the users
of social media study less and end up getting lower grades as compared to the
non-users of social media.
However, some researchers have also proven that social media has a positive impact on the
students. For example, students can easily get in touch with other students as well as
their teachers and instructors. In addition, sharing of learning resources is also easier
through the social media.
3. Results/Findings
This section of the report is the summary of the findings of the survey that was
conducted for
the purpose of examining the effect of social media on student’s academic performance.
Questionnaires were distributed among 30 students within university premises.

Table 1. Presentation of Gender

Gender Frequency percentage
Male 13 43%
Female 17 57%
Total 30 % 100%

Table 2. Age of respondents

Age Frequency Percentage
19-22 12 40%
23-26 13 44%
27 years and above 5 16%
Total 30 100%

The table shows the demographic data of the respondents: 13 representing (43 %) of
the respondents were male and 17 representing (57%) of the respondents were female.
12 which represents (40%) of the respondents were between 19-22 years, 13 which
represents (44%) were between 23-26 years, and 5 which represents (16%) were
between 27 years and above.

Table 3. Time spent on social media

Time Frequency Percentage
0-2 hours per day 6 20%
3-5 hours per day 15 50%
5-9 hours per day 9 30%
Total 30 100%
This table shows that 6 (20 %) of the respondents spend between 0-2 hours every day
on social
media, 15 (50.0%) of the respondents spend around 3-5 hours on social media per day,
and rest
of the 9(30%) respondents spend around 5-9 hours every day.
Table 4. Most used social media site
Social media sites Frequency Percentage
Facebook 27 90%
WhatsApp 29 96%
Instagram 19 63%
Snapchat 15 50%
YouTube 17 56%
LinkedIn 10 10%

According to the survey the most used social media is WhatsApp, an app
used for
chatting followed by Facebook used by 27 of the participants. The least
used social
media site is LinkedIn that is used to search for potential job and
employees.
Table 5. Purpose for using Social Media
Purpose Frequency Percentage
Education 3 10%
Entertainment 12 40%
Communication 15 50%

Another variable was the purposes for which the students used social networking sites.
In above
Table highest percentage is for communication (50%) and least for education. The
percentage for educational activities like participation in educational forums etc. is 3%
This
reflects that social media is mostly used for entertainment and other purposes.

Research questions
No. Statement Strongly
Agree
Agree Disagree Strongly
Disagree
1 Addiction to social media is
an issue that affects my
academic performance
63% 25% 9% 3%
2 Social media distracts me
from my studies
47% 36% 15% 2%
3 There has been an
improvement in my academic
performance since I started
using social media
5% 17% 48% 30%
This table shows that 63% of the participants’ response Strongly Agree that Student’s
exposure
to social media network has negative influence on their academic performance, 25%
Agree, 9%
Disagree, 3% Strongly Disagree. 47% participants have strongly agreed that social
media
distracts them from their studies while 36% have agreed, 15% have disagreed and 2%
have
strongly disagreed. 5% of the total participants have strongly agreed that there has
been an
improvement in their grades since they started using social media, 17% have agreed,
48 % have
disagreed and 30% have strongly disagreed to this.
.

4. Discussion:
This section of report is the summary of findings of multiple analysis conducted for the
purpose
of investigating the research questions.
Table 1 shows the percentage of male and female responded to this report
Table 2 represents the age of respondents which shows that 16% of the people were
between
the age of 19-22 years 44% were between the age of 23-26 years and the rest of 40%
were above the age of 27. The reason behind this may be that the people of the age
23-26 needs more information and help from social media regarding their work as well
as they need to communicate with others.
Table 3 shows the time people spend on social media which shows that people spend
more than
2 hours on social media.
Table 4 and 5 shows that people use different social media sites for different purposes
more
people use sites for communicating with other people because through survey we came
to know that people use more of communicating sites like Facebook and Whatsapp than
any other social networking websites. The main purpose of this discussion is to show
that people nowadays are more addicted to social media and this is affecting their social
life. Students spend more time on social media which is affecting their academic
performance negatively because social media distracts the students from studies as it
has
many attractive features especially for youngsters.
5. Conclusion
The research was conducted to study the impact of social media use on the student’s
academic
performance. The result from the research of this study showed that social media
doesn’t only affect the students’ academic performance but also invade their privacy,
take their productive time and distract them from their studies. The study revealed that
majority of the respondents have access to social media and spend more than 5 hours
online every day and they use these platforms for entertainment purposes and for
chatting while their studies are left to suffer.
It was concluded that although social media is beneficial if use properly but students
use it for chatting and gossiping rather than for educational purposes which leads poor
performance in studies.

6. Recommendations
Following are the recommendation based on the findings of the research:
● Awareness sessions to educate students on the impact social media has on their
academic performance.
● Students should be supervised within university as well as their houses while
using social media.
● Teachers should make sure that their students use social media as a tool to
improve their academic performance through research rather than using it for
chatting and entertainment purposes all the time.
● Students should be advised by their teachers and parents to restrict the time they
spend on social media sites every day and encourage them to rather replace those
hours by reading novels and relevant academic books to improve their
knowledge.
● Students should create a balance between their academics and social life. They
should give more attention and preference to their academic activities.
● Since the study confirmed that the use of social media sites had affected the
academic performance of students negatively, there is an immediate need for the
introduction of students to the availability of novels and other information
resource or e-materials in the library that can help them.
● Online pages and forums should be created to enhance academic activities to
avoid any hindrance in students’ academic performance.

7. References:
Saunder et al (2007) Business Research Methods (6th edn). Fort Worth, TX: Dryden
Press Oye,
N. D., Mahamat, A. H. and Rahim, N. Z. (2012). Model of Perceived Influence of
Academic
Performance Using Social Networking. International Journal of Computers and
Technology,
2(2), 24-29.

Ndaku, A. J. (2013). Impact of Social Media on the Students’ Academic Performance in

Ghana.
Networking 18, (5) pp.6, 275-285.
Kubey, Lavin, and Barrows (2001). Internet use and collegiate academic performance
decrements: Early findings. J.Commun. 51(2): 366-382.
Helou, A. M. and Ab.Rahim, N. Z. (2014). The Influence of Social Networking Sites on
Students’ Academic Performance in Malaysia. International Journal of Electronic
Commerce Studies Vol.5, No.2, Pp.247-254, 2014 doi: 10.7903/ijecs.1114.
Young, B. (2006). A study of the effect of internet use and social capital on the
Academicperformance.Retrieved from isdpt.org/isdpt.publication/journals. Accessed
03/04/2013
Shana, L.B. (2012). The influence of social networking sites on students’ academic
performance
in Malaysia. Retrieved from http//utechacademic.edu.shanleebrown. Accessed
27/7/2013
Kubey, R., Lavin, M. & Barrows, J. (2001). Internet use and collegiate academic
performance
decrements: Early Findings. J. Commum., 51 92): pp. 366-382. [19]1Wang, Q., Chen,
W. &
Liang, Y. (2011), The Effects of Social media on College Students. The Alan Shawn
Feinstein Graduate School. Providence: Johnson & Wales University.

8. Appendices
Questionnaire :
Research regarding effects of social media on students academic performance.

1. Your name
2. Gender
❏ Male
❏ Female
3. Do you use social media daily
❏ Yes
❏ No
4. How much time do you spend on social media
❏ 0-2 hours per day
❏ 3-5 hours per day
❏ 5-9 hours per day
5. Which application do you use the most
❏ Facebook
❏ Whatsapp
❏ Instagram
❏ Snapchat
❏ Youtube
❏ LinkedIn
6. For what purpose do you use social media
❏ Education
❏ Information
❏ Communication
7. Do you think social media distracts you from studies.
❏ Yes
❏ No
If yes, How :____________________________________________________
8. Do you think your academic performance have improved since you started using
social media
❏ Yes
❏ No
9. Do you think social media has reduced the social activities of students
❏ Yes
❏ No
10. Do you think social media effects academic performance negatively
❏ Yes
❏ No

Thank you for your time.