IMPACT OF USE OF SOCIAL MEDIA ON ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE OF UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS IN A PUBLIC SECTOR UNIVERSITY

Abstract

This study seeks to determine the preference, extent, and persistence of usage of social media to formulate an understanding of what classifies as social media usage that has tendency to affect academic performance of students in a public sector university. The sampling technique appointed to choose 53 students from different departments of a public sector university in Karachi was simple random. A Questionnaire titled: “Social Media and Academic Performance of Students Questionnaire (SMAAPOS)” by Osharive (2015) was adopted, which consisted of Likert type (5-point) questions, to obtain primary data from the sample. This questionnaire was used to collect primary data, while secondary data was acquired from related books, journal articles, surveys, and websites, among other sources. For data processing, Microsoft Office Excel and SPSS were used. The evaluation of responses was done through descriptive analysis of frequency and percentages. The findings of this research justified that a large proportion of participants utilizes various social media platforms for both educational and
entertainment means. While addiction of social media seems to be overweight and distraction because of social media is students’ concern. The researcher proclaims that social media usage should be utilized for educational purposes in order to help students improve educational activities and prevent failures in students' academic success, along with decreasing the social media addiction for lessening the distractions that students face. This is to establish equilibrium between trending association with social media and involvement in academic activities of youngsters, for the purpose of minimizing obstacles in academic achievements.