abstract

Social media is rapidly changing the communication setting of the social world of today[1]. There are
a huge number of people on the web who are interested in gathering information about others and
meeting other people, gathering, sharing data and encounters on many areas and topics[2]. As a
result, hundreds of social networking sites were created, and in the few short years they have
attracted a large number of people[3]. The main aspects of social media pages are basically the
same, but each site attracts a broad range of individuals[4]. Students are among the prominent
social media users. Therefore, the purpose of this research was to examine the effect of social media
use on the academic performance of learners and their health. A questionnaire study was intended
to gather information from learners presently studying at Tunku Abdul Rahman University College
(TAR UC) in order to assess the effects. After studying the phenomena of concern to the research
and transcribing the participants ' multiple reactions, the findings reveal that most respondents are
showing the contracts with these social media effects.

Keywords: Social media, academic performance, health

introduction

Social networking sites are called web-based services that offer people the chance to develop their
own private profile by selecting their own user list and connecting with them in an entirely public
forum that offers characteristics such as chatting, blogging, video calling phone connectivity and
video / photo sharing[1]. People spend more than usual hours downloading photos on social
networking sites, browsing through updates, looking for entertainment, and chatting with friends to
stay connected[2]. These sites have been addicted to the youth where they find it hard to focus on
their job and prefer to log in and jump from one site to another[3]. Individuals have set their own
limits on when and when not accessing these websites, but we are witnessing very few out of the lot
who do not access or use these websites at all[4]. This paper will be therefore able to review the
available literature to study on how the use of social media sites among students affects their
academic performances and health.

Research problem statement

The proliferation of mobile phones and the development of media technology has had a major
impact on how individuals are now communicating on a daily basis. Social media usage among
today's youth is increasing exponentially and becoming increasingly popular among learners. Many
learners become addicted to using social media sites as they very often continue to participate in
one or another activity on social media sites. Because of this enhanced popularity, there is increasing
concern about the potential impacts that social media use might have on the academic performance
of learners and their health. This study is therefore aimed at investigating the effect of social media
on TARUC learners.

Purpose of the study

This research aims to explore the impact of social media on TARUC learners by studying the
connection between the quantity of time spent on social media, health effects and academic results
Research Questions

The following research questions were drawn to guide this study based on the research problem

i. How many hours do the students spend in social media in a day?

ii. Does time spent will affect student’s health?
iii. Does time spent will affect student’s academic performance?

Research hypothesis

H1 – The time spent in social media will affect student’s academic performance

H2 - The time spent in social media will affect student’s health

Literature review

Social media effect on academic performance

Using social media to improve the learning process can take many forms, target distinct abilities, and
use distinct instruments. University educators suggest that social media can have a positive impact
on interaction, engagement, building knowledge, and community sense (Rovai, 2001). However,
study also demonstrates that these same instruments can distract learners from their studies and
foster procrastination and superficial thinking. Some of the research addressing the connection
between social media and academic performance and teaching will be presented in the following
chapter. This review provides a snapshot primarily of research dealing with the most common social
networking instruments like Facebook, rather than a extensive review of all social media types.

Studies usually indicate that college learners use social media primarily for socializing rather than
academic purposes. Raacke and Bonds-Raacke (2008) discovered that university learners around the
age of 20 with Myspace or Facebook accounts use these schemes "to maintain in contact with
ancient friends" (96.0%), "to maintain in contact with my current friends (91.1%)," to post / look
photos "(57.4%)," to create new friends "(56.4%) and" to find ancient friends "(54.5%). But only
10.9% said they were using it "for educational purposes," and only 12.9% listed their classes on their
profiles. Similarly, for 261 learners with an average age of 22 years, Michikyan, Subrahmanyam, and
Dennis (2015) used a mixed-method strategy to explore the connection between internet academic
disclosure (i.e. status updates on their academic experiences). Their posts ' thematic assessment
stated that 18 14 percent of their Facebook contributions were academic in nature. On the other
side, for academic reasons, most learners in Camilia, Sajoh, and Dalhtu (2013) used social media.

Several studies indicate that the time spent on social media is taking away time to study. In
academic results of 108 Saudi learners, Alwagait, Shahzad, and Alim (2015) explored the role of
social media. Survey information disclosed that Twitter was followed by Facebook as the most
famous social network. Students spent an average of 25.3 hours on social media. Sixty percent of the
respondents acknowledged that excessive use of social media negatively impacted their
performance, and indicated that 10 hours per week of use would ensure that their academic
performance is not negatively impacted. Likewise, Krischner and Karpinski (2010) observed that
while involved in academic operations, some learners do not have control over their social media
and that they spend more time on these networks than they study or sleep. They point out that
empirical research indicates the adverse effect on efficiency of multitasking, or trying to process
various data sources simultaneously. They emphasize that this leads to enhanced study time and an
enhanced amount of assignment errors. Junco (2013) reviews the connection between Facebook
operation, the time taken to prepare for class and the GPA for 1839 learners. Hierarchical linear
regression analyses indicated that time spent on Facebook was significantly negatively correlated
with overall GPA, but only weakly related to time spent on class preparation. Moreover, using
Facebook to search for information was a positive predictor of GPA while time spent on socializing
was a negative predictor.

Some studies delve deeper into the phenomenon of spending too much time on social media and
almost portray it as a coping mechanism. Student in Krischner and Karpinski (2010) for example, did
not believe that it impacted their academic performance negatively. Those who did report a
negative influence explained social media as a strategy for guiltless procrastination. The path
analysis conducted by (Michikyan, Subrahmanyam, & Dennis, 2015), mentioned earlier, for example,
determined that academic performance was a predictor of Facebook use rather than the opposite.
Students with low GPA are more involved on Facebook than learners with elevated GPA ; one of the
19 reasons for this is that learners facing academic or social issues turn to Facebook as a manner of
distracting themselves from the difficulties they face. Similarly, the research carried out by Fogel and
Nutter-Upham (2011) on the self-reported executive functioning associated with academic
procrastination by distributing a thirty-minute questionnaire to 212 university learners showed that
there is a connection between social media use, procrastination and bad academic results.

Very few studies have explored variables that could have an impact on how, when, and to what
extent students use social media. Krischner and Karpinski (2010) performed an exploratory survey to
examine whether and how Facebook was used by 102 undergraduate learners and 117 graduate
students at U.S. public university and how this use linked to study hours and GPA. The study they
used also gave rise to data about the students ' own Facebook perceptions. Users of Facebook
recorded reduced GPA and less studying hours. However, the amount of time they spent on the
Internet did not differ between users and non-users, but their study strategies differed. These
results held regardless of student status (whether they were an undergraduate or graduate) or their
major (humanities, social sciences, medical, STEM or business). The study also suggested that
personality and hours spent working are related to Facebook use.

Boogart (2016) conducted a study in four universities to investigate the impact of Facebook on
campus life at four higher education institutions, analyzing the responses of 3134 students. He found
significant relationships between time spent on Facebook, and several demographic variables.
Females spent significantly more time on Facebook. Students with a GPA of 2.99 or less reported
being longer on Facebook than those with a higher GPA. Also, students who are in their first and
second years of undergraduate study spend more time using Facebook than those in their third
year–the majority of the third year students (almost 70%) spent less than 30 minutes on day using it.

Julia, Langa & Miquel (2015) underscored the importance of social and relational factors in for
educational attainment within higher education. They examined the impact of the connectedness
afforded by social media tools on the performance of students 20 within desperate disciplines of
study –creative and non-creative –at the bachelor’s level, 76 students participated from the business
administration and management discipline which is considered as non-creative and 78 students
participated from the industrial design engineering discipline which is considered as creative. The
results of their study suggested that close social ties within the network of their discipline helped
students within the non-creative discipline perform better. The same was not true for the creative
discipline in which the relationship between social ties and performance was inversely proportional.
A few studies suggested a more positive potential for social media, but also the variation of how
students interacted and perceived these tools. Camilia, Sajoh, & Dalhtu (2013) investigated this
relationship in the Nigerian context. The responses of 536 students to a survey revealed that 97% of
students used social media networks. Facebook was the most popular social network site, followed
by “2go” and YouTube. The majority of students (91%) spent less than 4 hours a day on social
networks. A quarter of learners reported believing that social media had a positive impact on their
academic performance, 32 percent said it had a negative impact on it ; the rest, though it had no
impact. Approximately 75% of learners reported using it for academic tasks.

Wodzicki, Schawmmlein and Moskluik (2012) pointed out the potential of social media to develop
students' self-directed learning skills because they give students a platform to explore subjects and
gather information through accessing existing data on the web or interacting with like-minded
students to constructively exchange ideas and build knowledge through informal and formal
activities. Wodzicki et al (2012) however note that little is known about how these informal learning
opportunities are harnessed and about the characteristics of the students who engage in these
activities. To examine these relationships, they conducted three studies to investigate academic
knowledge exchange via StudiVZ, an equivalent to Facebook on 774 users of StudiVZ students. The
sample consisted of 498 women and 276 men between 19 and 29 years, which is a typical age range
for German students. Analysis revealed that one fifth of students employed this social media tool to
build knowledge. However, the majority, especially freshman, used it 21 for social purposes such as
networking and getting oriented to the university environment. The scientists found that the
exchange of information and social functions should be considered intertwined rather than mutually
exclusive for the use of social networks.

Rambe (2012) used an ethnographic strategy to investigate the effect on meaningful learning and
pedagogical strategies of social media. To do so, learners and teachers registered in an Information
Systems course in the South African context examined the Facebook posts. The results of the study
showed that 165 participants posted 154 wall posts, 121discussion board posts, and 139 posts to the
administrator‘s inbox over two semesters. Rambe concluded that Facebook constituted a
collaborative “safe” “third space” that facilitated student expression, the development of learning
communities, and encouraged knowledge construction. On the other hand, Rambe suggested that
postings fell short of manifesting deeper levels of conceptual engagement and learning.

Junco, Heiberger, & Loken (2011) examined the impact of twitter on university students’
engagement and GPA. Using an experimental design, students from a first year pre-health seminar
were assigned to an experimental group (N=70) in which Twitter was used for a variety of academic
activities and a control group (N=55). The analysis of engagement and GPA via an ANOVA test
showed that students in the experimental group were significantly more engaged and had a higher
GPA. Analysis of Twitter postings also reflected that high level of engagement on behalf of students
and faculty. They found that if they learned to allocate their time efficiently, social media has no
adverse effect on student academic performance.

A number of the above studies suggest a negative relationship between social media use and
student academic performance. However, several of the above studies imply that it is not the time
you spend on social media or the Internet that could be related to a low GPA (e.g., Junco, 2011;
Krischner & Karpinski, 2010), but there might be some underlying factors such as the activities that
you engage in during that time and how you manage your studying time, etc. (e.g., Junco et al.,
2011). A number of the above studies 22 also show that the effect might differ according to the
students' academic statues and the academic discipline (e.g Boogart, 2016; Julia, Langa & Miquel,
2015).
Social media effect on health

Every human being's fear has issues with health. Once someone has health problems, it will affect
his or her life. People therefore need to be cautious and look after their excellent health. A health
problem nowadays arises not only from the person's so-called setting, but also from the web 2.0
setting. The primary debate problem in the past years was the addiction to television, the problems
of today deal with internet addiction and the enhanced amount of time that young individuals and
adults spend on internet searching.

Internet use plays a role in the life of today's young adults, it is of clinical significance to understand
possible health consequences. Issue Internet use (PIU) in specific is a fresh and increasing health
concern for adolescents and young adults. PIU lacks a uniform definition, but is also called web
addiction (Christakis & Moreno, 2009; Dell'Osso, Altamura, Allen, Marazziti, & Hollander, 2006).

Young adults may also be the most vulnerable population to PIU growth. Because teenagers and
young adults have the largest Internet usage and frequency levels (Lenhart et al., 2005; Shiffman,
2009; Tokunaga, 2010). A scientist named Dr. Sam Thomas, wrote an article in Internet chatting
called addiction: an empirical study using the altered Model of Technology Acceptance. His article
disclosed that excessive time can lead to internet addiction on social network sites. Students around
the globe spend a lot of time on social networking sites, leading to significant implications. Excessive
time spent in this way could lead to the Internet addiction's problematic behavior. Internet addiction
is considered a psychological dependence on the Internet or a behavioral addiction arising in
excessive use (Kandell, 1998; Griffiths, 2000).

Moreover, many scientists have asserted that the Internet's attractiveness could result in excessive
use. This phenomenon has been defined as Internet addiction by previous studies (Griffiths, 2000;
Soule et al., 2003; Widyanto and Griffiths, 2006). Young (1998), on the other hand, argued that the
Internet itself is not addictive, but it can be addictive for highly interactive applications such as
online chatting. In addition, Balakrishnan and Shamim (2013) wrote an article called Facebookers
from Malaysia: unraveled motives and addictive behaviors.

Malaysians have been revealed to have the majority of Facebook buddies in this studies, spend more
time on Facebook and may also be addicted to Facebook. Facebook enthusiasm is especially evident
in Malaysia, as it is recognized that Malaysians have the highest amount of friends on Facebook (The
Star, 2010). Although Facebook is used to communicate with individuals and enhance students '
social lives, it has also been observed that excessive use of Facebook has poor effects. Indeed, the
word Facebook Addiction Disorder (FAD) has been coined to refer to the adverse effects of
Facebook's excessive use (Fenichel, 2009). Researchers have discovered that learners display some
addictive symptoms, namely, salience (both mental and behavioral), loss of control, withdrawal, and
relapse, and reintegration. These symptoms matched some of Brown's Addiction Behavior
Framework's addictive elements. The results are comparable to other research showing addictive
behavior in mobile phone use (Balakrishnan & Raj, 2012; Walsh et al., 2010), internet games
(Charlton & Danforth, 2007) and the Internet (Charlton, 2002).

As a consequence, by using Facebook among the learners, the research recognized the addictive
symptoms; therefore, social networking sites influence user health. In addition, Mekinc,
Smailbegović, Kokić in 2013, wrote an article about the use of the web by kids called should we be
regarded? As a consequence, Young's scientists discovered that overuse of the web could bring
health issues known as a mental illness that she called Pathological Internet Use–PIU (Young, 1998).
The American Psychological Association categorized as addiction the overuse of internet facilities.
Now we can include the PIU with drug and alcohol addictions, video games addiction, gambling and
some eating disorders in the group of addictions (Bonacic, 2010).

As a consequence, Mekinc, Smailbegovic, Kokic discovered the enhanced use of the internet in 2013,
Facebook profiles, the release of private information is an expression of indications of internet
addiction among senior academics. Using Facebook improves the probability of internet addiction,
according to the outcomes of this research. Children can fulfill their need for contact while creating
fresh relationships and socializing through the Internet, but for belonging, the excessive use of social
networks poses the danger of creating an internet addiction.