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Literature Review:
Social media began in the late 1990s with the first recognized social media network called
“SixDegrees “ in 1997 and this technology enabled people to upload a profile and make
friends. From 1997 to 2001 a number of community tools; Asian Avenue, blackplanet and
MiGente began supporting various combination of profile and publicly articulated friend
(Boyd, Danah, Ellison and Nicole, 2007)
Today, social media has taken a new dimension and has encouraged more participation
through the introduction of mobile phones that support social networks applications. The use
of mobile phones that are powered by Android applications to social network is termed as
Mobile social networking
Media scholars have long debated the idea of audience agency in media consumption. While
the study of film and television lend themselves to the concept of an audience of ‘viewers’ or
‘consumers’, new media content leans towards the idea of an audience of ‘users’ (Livingston,
2004). Historically, media has been created and supplied by a small number of media
producers and content was highly controlled through exclusive and often political
professional industries (Cha, Kwak, Rodriguez, Ahn, & Moon, 2007).
Social Media and Its Uses Paul Kirschner and Aryn Karpinski define Face book and other
social network sites as an online directory that allows people to find their friends, family and
colleagues through looking them up on social network sites (Kirschner and Karpinsk, 2010).
Curtis states that teens all over the world are starting to lose interest in the use of Facebook
and are using Snapchat, Twitter and Instagram (Curtis, 2013).
Victoria Rideout states that, among the younger generation, the time they spend on social
media, what she calls ‘entertainment media’ is “more than twice the average amount of time
spent in school each year.” (Rideout, 2012, p. 5) She also adds that an American child spends
on average seven and a half hours a day just for having fun on the media, not only that, but
they multi-task, between all the different media they use. For example, they can be listening
to music, sending a tweet and also posting on Face book.
Rideout says, that since social media is seven days a week, unlike school or having a full-
time job, over the years the amount of time one could spend over the internet “has exploded”
(Rideout, 2012, p. 5).
With the shift into Web 2.0 applications, the media industry experienced a large paradigm
shift in both media production and circulation: “Audiences, empowered by these new
technologies, occupying a space at the intersection between new and old media, are
demanding the right to participate within culture” (Jenkins, 2006). The outcome of this desire
for involvement is room for regular people to create and distribute media content themselves,
opening the door for diverse opinions and perspectives, or user-generated content (Deuze,
2007).
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In order to understand the dynamics of online participation today, we must conceptualize

areas where traditional media theory aligns with new media practices. The ability to apply
traditional media theory to the new media landscape is best understood by the observation
that there is an “underlying consistency of the content of the messages we consume and the
nature of the symbolic environment in which we live” even if the delivery technology of the
media chances (Shanahan & Morgan, 1999).
This idea suggests that even though the media we consume may change, the inherent content
and intentions behind our media use are somewhat consistent over time and through different
media. This occurred historically as films took message content from literature and again
when television did the same by repackaging radio programming. Previous scholars have
suggested that a change in media is merely “new bottles for old wine” (McLuhan, 1964).
Uses and Gratifications
Uses and Gratifications Theory (UGT) discusses how people actively seek out specific media
content for particular purposes and intentional goals (Katz, Blumler, & Gurevitch, 1974).
UGT establishes an active, rather than passive, audience member who has the ability to
consciously examine and evaluate media in order to accomplish specific outcomes (Wang,
Fine, & Cai, 2008). UGT embodied a functional shift of communications scholarship, from
examining not what media did to people, but to what people could do with media.
UGT initially grew out of the needs and motivation theory, which suggests that people act in
line with a specific personal hierarchy of needs (Maslow, 1970). Communications scholars
quickly caught on to this notion and sought to determine typologies of needs for media
consumption. Many versions of these typologies exist, and suggest a variety of categories of
purposeful media consumption that people may engage in. UGT “provides a framework for
understanding when and how individual media consumers become more or less active and the
consequences of that increased or decreased involvement” (West & Turner, 2007).
The theory has five main assumptions: (1) an audience is active and goal-oriented in their
media consumption, (2) media are used for gratifications, (3) media are in competition with
other means of need satisfaction, (4) people understand their personal media use, interests,
and motives enough to communicate with researchers about their choices, (5) the audience
members are the only people who can make judgments regarding the value of the media
content.
June Ahn discusses in her research a theory called ‘Signalling Theory’, this theory refers to
how individuals on social network sites present themselves, and develop their identities and
build trust with others. She also adds that, by having many friends on the different platforms,
this causes the individual to lose the trust of their friends because they start adding people
they do not know, to show others how popular they are (Ahn, 2011b).
Social Media’s Effect on Academic Performance
Kaveri Subrahmanyam and Patricia Greenfield state that using online communication has
both negative and positive effects, because there are harmful ways in which the internet could
be used. They also state that nowadays, schools are trying their best to control how students
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use digital media on school grounds (Subrahmanyam and Greenfield, 2008). In some schools,
leaders believe that social media has a positive impact on the development of the students’
education.
In other schools, leaders have banned the access of social network sites, because they fear the
students’ interaction on them, although, they know the positive impact social media has on
the students’ education (Ahn, 2010). Ahn also states that the examples of the media platforms
the younger generation use are: YouTube, to share and stream videos, and Facebook, to have
a complete identity online, and a network of friends. Ahn says, researchers look at the
profiles of the social media users as part of the process needed for the students to develop
their identity (Ahn, 2010).
Gwenn Schurgin O’Keeffe and Kathleen Clarke-Pearson believe that there are negative
impacts caused by social media, which include accessing inappropriate content and not
“understanding online privacy.” They also say that, there is online harassment and
cyberbullying, which is mostly caused by risks of peer to peer engagement (O’Keeffe and
Clarke-Pearson, 2011).
Tapscott (1998) described that, children grew in digital environment and digital literacy gave
liberty to children in relation with adolescent in the world. Children had confidence on
internet. Digital media had provided opportunities to contribute with those countries that have
ICT (Information Communication Technology).
According to Livingstone and Bober (2003), social media was the main cause of generation
gap in several ways like lack of awareness, recognition of domestic rules, and in what kids
were really acting and what were parents’ opinion about their children’s doing. People forgot
their rituals and traditions because of social media.
Berson and Berson (2005) stated that high use of internet linked high risks, and there had no
risk of simple use of internet. In early childhood, they did not know about risks, and they
need guider.
In teenage, they had not developed abilities to make life’s choices.Elola and Oskoz (2008)
said, Social media was very helpful in developing business relationship with other states and
social media had positive effect in developing and understanding cultural relationships.
Brady, Holcomb, and Smith (2010) stated that social media had provided efficient ways for
education. Students used social media for e-learning. Lusk (2010) said that, social media
could be used for academic purpose by students. Students could learn and enhance their
communication skills by the use of social media.
Social media had provided new web tools which could be used by the students to raise their
learning skills. According to Jacobsen and Forste (2011), media had negative effect on
grades, about two-thirds of the students were used media while doing homework, or in class
which had bad impact on their grades.Kalpidou, Costin, and Morris, (2011) stated that there
was a relationship between social media and grades. Ohio State University described in his
study that those students had low grades who spent their time on social media, then those
who did not spend their time on social media.
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According to Waddington (2011), adolescent thought social media as the component of their
culture; not a craze. It could enhance their ability and they used it as educational tool. All the
studies discussed above shows that, social media have different effects on different people.
So, in this study we will check the effects of social media on young students.
Coupled with the idea that young adults are such avid users of social media, it is alarming to
realize that the young adult population is particularly prone to experiencing mental illness.
According to Grant and Potenza (2010), young adults are defined as being aged 18 to 29
years. It is well evidenced that young adults experience severe mental health issues compared
to the rest of the population:
Grant and Potenza (2010) state that one in four young adults experience a depressive state
between 18 and 24 years of age. It is also believed that most major psychiatric problems
develop during early adulthood (Grant & Potenza, 2010). What is even more shocking is that
the number of cases is on the rise. General hospital discharges involving serious mental
illness of adults aged 18-24 years of age has increased from 19,900 in 1995 to 42,300 in 2002
(Zarate, 2010).
Positive effects of social media on students’ academic life
Students’ academic life has moved to a different dimension since the introduction of these
social media networks and several studies have affirmed that social media plays an important
role on students in higher education including the study conducted by Wheeler, Yeomans and
Wheeler,(2008); Rifkin, Longnecker, Leach and Ortia,(2009).
Students’ academic life has moved to a different dimension since the introduction of these
social media networks and several studies have affirmed that social media plays an important
role on students in higher education including the study conducted by Wheeler, Yeomans and
Wheeler,(2008); Rifkin, Longnecker, Leach and Ortia,(2009).
In their study, they recognized four (4) major advantages of social media usage by students in
higher education which included; enhancing relationship, improving learning motivation,
offering personalized course material, and developing collaborative abilities. Indeed, social
media has contributed greatly to facilitating learning in the 21st century. It is shown that a
greater percentage of students including those at the PhD level commonly use social media to
ameliorate their studies (Khan, 2010).
the study conducted by Jain, Verma, Verma and Tiwari (2012), titled “the impact of social
networking in promoting education’’ revealed that students benefit from chatting with other
students, teachers and external sources to acquire knowledge.
Yunus and Salehi 8 (2012), argued in the same direction that students gained more
vocabulary, improved their writing skills and reduced their spelling mistakes through social
media usage.
In fact as an educational tool, social media enriches learning by giving both students and
teachers the opportunity to connect in new and very exciting ways thereby encouraging
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flexible mode of learning. It is stated that flexible learning expands the choice on what, when
and how people learn.
It supports different styles of learning including E-learning which is highly patronized across
the globe (Pappas, 2013). Other scholars; O’keeffe and Clake-pearson (2011), in their study
also revealed that social media benefits students by connecting them to one another on
assignments and class projects.
Negative effects of social media on students’ academic life
Davies and Cranston (2008), enumerated some of the risks associated with social media
which included criminal activities such as identity theft and fake contacts which is prevalent
today, sexual abuse or harassment and unsuitable advertising. On the same subject O’keeffe
and Clakepearson (2011), also mentioned cyberbullying, online harassment, sexting, face
book depression, and privacy concerns as some of the challenges associated with social
networking.
Cyber bullying:
Cyber bullying is a category of bullying that occurs in the digital realm or medium of
electronic text. ‘‘It is any behavior performed through electronic or digital media by
individuals or groups that repeatedly communicates hostile or aggressive messages intended
to inflict harm or discomfort on others’’ (Tokunaga, 2010)
. Cyber bullying is one the serious threat in the social media environment and has called for a
number of studies to determine its causes. The causes of cyberbullying according to Calvete,
Orue, Estevez, Villardon and Padilla (2010), was significantly related with the use of
proactive aggression, justification of violence, exposure to violence and less perceived social
support of friends.
Privacy concerns:
This is another concern that everyone involved in social networking is faced with. The rate at
which people post or share fake information calls for alarm and it is difficult to ascertain that,
what people say and post are truly who they are. Individuals’ private information is publicly
displayed on some of these social networks and malicious people take advantage and
perpetrate all kinds of harassment. It is also argued that the privacy options offered by most
social networking sites (SNSs) do not provide users with the flexibility needed to handle
conflicts with individuals who have different conceptions of privacy (Preibusch, Hoser,
Gurses and Berendt, 2007).
They use short-handwriting when chatting with friends and unconsciously get used to it
thereby replicating same errors during examinations. Even though one may argue that these
are minor challenges, it is important to acknowledge the increasing rate at which these errors
are replicated in the education sector and if care is not taken future generation may see it as a
norm.
According to Sanchez-Villegas et al. (2008) and Demyttenaere et al. (2004), reducing
sedentary behaviors might be an important intervention in treatment and prevention of
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depressive and anxiety disorders. This postulation is consistent with research connecting
sedentary behavior to increased risk of experiencing mental health problems.
Several studies provide evidence that people with high levels of sedentary behavior (for
example, TV watching and computer use) have an increased risk of developing a depressive
and/or anxiety disorder. Sanchez-Villegas et al. (2008) conducted a longitudinal study that
examined the relationship between combined selfreported TV viewing and computer use and
risk of a mental disorder such as depression.