Preface

There is no doubt that social media continue to grow in popularity

today. This caught the attention of many, thus provides basic research on the
impact of its emergence to the life of college students. This research
attempts to be a humble contribution to address the existing question about
Social Media in the society, its advantages and disadvantages and the role it
plays in education. We believed that the integration of various related studies
can lead to a better understanding and the requirements to become a
responsible user and to enhance awareness to its limitations.
This paper is easy to read and easy to use. In designing such, we
agreed to consider three important considerations: substance, presentation
and medium for its effectiveness.
This paper comprises of the facts gotten from different sources about
the impact of social media. It also includes the results and analysis of the
data gathered from the interview with the selected bona fide students of
DOSCST who serves as respondents of the study.
Of course, lastly this paper is open even to the harshest of criticisms to
make it more useful and to the unkindest of remarks to make it more
meaningful.

Republic of the Philippines

Davao Oriental State College of Science and Technology
Dahican, 8200, Mati, Davao Oriental

DECLARATION OF ORIGINALITY

We, the Group 8, declare that this requirement is our own original
work. Most stipulation presented herein is ours alone. Borrowed ideas are
given due recognition and are properly acknowledged. With the best of our
ability, this study was treated with utmost care to adhere to internationally
known standards/policies in academic integrity.
We further attest that this piece of academic requirement has not been
submitted previously for an academic credit in this or in any other course.

The Researchers:
JELLY MAE D. LASCAMANA
JARL ELTON CARO

CHRISTIAN JAMES

ADANA

ANGEL B. SUBALDO

EDERLIN BODADONG

September 2015
Chapter I
INTRODUCTION
The rapid development of information and communication technologies
has sparked the creative incorporation of social media into current
pedagogical applications and processes. Social media is defined as the
relationship that exists between networks of people (Walter &Reviera, 2004).
It includes a variety of web-based tools and services that are designed to
promote community development through collaboration and information
sharing (Arnold & Paulus, 2010; Junco, H. &Loken, 2011). Social media
nowadays is widely used by students. It aids education at the same time has
been used as entertainment. Its advent to this constantly developing world
leaves a great impact to the life of every individual. It uplift the
communication and information process and provides instant knowledge on
something. However, it is also undeniable in todays society the use of social
media in other purposes other than education. Students specifically have
been using it for personal interests. Instead of browsing educational websites
for research, they tend to pay more time in playing games online and social
networking. These attitudes greatly affect not only their studies but also their
life as a whole. Frequent engagement to it brings addiction that once it has
started, it is very hard to stop. Moreover, social media is continuously
dominating the world today. Likewise, the numbers of users are gradually
growing.
This research is mainly designed to acquire information about the
impact of the advent of Social Media on college students particularly in
DOSCST.

This

also

looks

forward

in

knowing

the

advantages

and

disadvantages of social media as it is being widely used today.

Purpose of the Study
Generally, the goal of this study is to investigate the impact of the fast
growing social media on college students. Specifically, this aims to:

1.
2.
3.
4.

Find out how social media affects the life of the students.
Determine the positive and negative effects it brings.
Identify the most popular media site for students.
Determine the amount of time spend in utilizing social media in various

ways.
5. Describe the factors affecting addictions to social media.
Research Questions
The main goal of the study is to investigate the impact of the fast
growing social media on the life of students. Specifically, it is intended to
answer the following:
1.
2.
3.
4.

How does social media affects the life of college students?

What are the positive and negative effects it brings?
What is the most popular media site for students?
How long does it takes for students in utilizing social media in various

ways?
5. What are the factors affecting the addictions to social media?

Definition of Terms
The following are the terms used in this study.
Social Media is a websites and applications that enable users to create
and share content or to participate in social networking.
Social Networking - a dedicated website or other application that enables
users to communicate with each other by posting information, comments,
messages, images, etc.
Online Games is a specialized application or technology, which connects
players through the Internet or over a computer network.

Significance of Study
The research was conducted to have a deeper knowledge and better
understanding about the growth of social media in the society particularly on
the life of the students including its positive and negative effects. For
teachers, this study is significant for them to have a wider awareness on the
4

emergence of social media to encourage their students on the proper usage

and manipulation of it. On the other hand, for students, the study about
social media is significant to know their limits as regard to be the most users
of it and also to be mindful of its corresponding consequences if not properly
used. Moreover, this study will be helpful to determine the possible ways in
preventing addictions to social media.
Chapter II
Review of Related Literature
Social media is a very important element of life which cannot be
ignored today. Social media is used for several of purposes by a large
community, but unfortunately larger community including majority of youth
and teenagers uses social media for personal interests. Specifically, other
than educational purposes, social media was used for social networking and
playing online games. Social media includes a variety of web-based tools and
services that are designed to promote community development through
collaboration and information sharing (Arnold & Paulus, 2010; Junno, H.
&Luken, 2011). Social media in other words aids the communication and
information process. It contributes a lot especially in education where student
utilizes it today for varied purposes. These tools provide opportunities for
individual expression as well as interaction with other users (Arnold & Paulus,
2010). It opens line communication among students/people even in distant
places. Through it, students can easily interact with other users and express
themselves in many ways. Social media can include blogs, wikis, media
(audio, photo, video, text), sharing tools, networking platforms (including
facebook) and virtual worlds. In short, it provides a variety of sites where
users are free to login and use it.
College students have great interest in social media. Current research
has indicated that using social media as an educational tool can lead to
increased student engagement (Annetta, Minogue, Holmes & Cheng, 2009;
Chen, Lambert & Guidry, 2010; Junco, 2012; Junco, et al., 2011; Patera,
Draper &Naef, 2008). In other words, social media also aids education. It has
been used for research and other purposes where students are actively
5

engage and manipulate it to gather data and information needed. By

encouraging engagement with social media, students develop connections
with peers, establish a virtual community of learners and ultimately increases
their overall learning (Fewkes& McCabe, 2012; Heafuer& Friedman, 2008;
Jackson, 2011; Kuh, 1993; Liu, Liu, Chen, Lin & Chen, 2011; Nelsen Laird
&Kuh, 2005; Yu, Tian, Vogel & Kwok, 2010). Moreover, social media also allow
students to interact and connect with their fellow and share things they want
to. It helps them to freely express themselves.
The impact of social media can be good on students, but if we have a
closer look on the real impact of social networks, today it is ruining the future
and career of students. The social networking websites are continuously
distracting students from their studies. Social network was only an electronic
connection between users but unfortunately it has become an addiction for
students, teenagers and even adults. Today teenagers shows very much
interest for social networks but unfortunately social networks affect education
badly (Tariq, W., Mehboob, M., Khan, M.A., Ullah, F., 2012). Indeed, students
today increasingly engage to social media particularly social networking.
They spend more time in it rather than doing research or accessing
information. According to Nielsen Media Research study in June 2010, almost
25 percent of students time on the internet is now spent on social
networking websites. Facebook is the most used social media network by
college students. In addition, according to a study by Online PhD, students
spend roughly 100 minutes per day on Facebook. This simply shows how
social media affects the life of students especially their education that gives
negative effects. Social networks grab the total attention and concentration
of the students and divert them towards non educational, unethical and
inappropriate actions such as useless chatting, time killing by random
searching and not doing their jobs.
Boyd and Nielsen (2006) reported that the top ten social networking
sites developed with the passage of time, and its number of users increases
from 46.8 million to 68.8 million. Evidently, as time passes, people show
great interest in utilization of social media specifically social networking that
causes for its rapid growth and development. According to Charlene Li, et al
(2007) student activity on social networking sites focuses on communicating
6

with each other. This simply demonstrates how social media drives the life of
students and how students utilize it for their satisfaction and entertainment.
The most popular activities done by the students and users on social
networking sites revolve around looking at profiles of one another, searching
for someone here and there and updating ones own profile.
Furthermore,

social

networks

use

support

of

different

implicit

application by virtue by which it grabs the attention of students and increase

the number of users. The applications include games, advertisements and
other online activities. Users can use this application free, thats why gaming
freaks and addicts use to play these games without any installation. These
free of costs pleasure destruct students from their education, thus they
cannot concentrate on their education (Tariq, W., Mehboob, M., Khan, M.A.
&Ullah, F., 2012).
On the other hand, from Leuhart and Madden (2007) point of view,
social networking websites provide a virtual life to those students who use
social networking websites to make new friends although every contact and
friend is virtual and un-real. Social network is somehow another way of
communication and self-expression by the students.
Another factor that supports why college students frequently uses
social media is for online gaming. Playing video games has become one of
the largest leisure activities in the world. As a leisure activity, it has become
an ever-increasing part of many young peoples day-to-day lines (Griffiths &
Davis, 2005; Durkin, 2006). It indeed becomes part of their life where they
tend to give more attention on it. Moreover, computer game is one of the
most exciting and rapidly evolving media of our time (Carr, et al., 2006).
Evidence can be seen from the internet where online games are one of the
fastest growing areas.
Funk (1993) identified computer game playing as relatively high
frequency activity among adolescents. In relation to this, a list of statistics
done by Media Family: Effects of Video Game Playing on Children resulted
to 97 percent of kids playing video games in 2008. In 2006, 45 percent of kids
were regular gamers and it shows that they played two or more hours on a
daily basis. Research conducted by the Pew Internet and American Life
Project showed 66 percent of U.S teenagers play or download games online.
7

While 57 percent of girls play online, 75 percent of boys reported that they
play Internet games. Although teenagers are reported to play video and
computer games for nearly 4 hours a week, some researchers have found
that college aged men report playing games over 15 hours per week. This
simply shows that teenagers both girls and boys actively engage themselves
playing games online which affects their education.
Another study was done to analyze the correlation between video
game usage and academic performance. The study found out that the
amount of time a student spends in playing video games has a negative
correlation with students Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) and grade-point
average (GPA) scores. In other words, the more students engage in playing
video games, their level of performance decreases. It is also stated in the
study that as a video game usage increases, GPA and SAT scores decreases
(Anand, 2007).
According to the Australian Journal of Educational Technology: Gaming
Frequency and Academic Performance, individuals who spend two or more
hours playing games on a daily basis score lower in every subject than their
non-gaming counterparts. By spending a high percentage of time on video
games there is not enough time left to spend in studying. Weaver (2003)
added that over 70 percent of college students report being avid video game
players, due to the fact that they have limited parental supervision and
flexible schedules. This research suggests that the increased video game
usage leads to lower GPAs in the college-aged demographic.
In contrast, playing video games can give some positive benefits such
as improved hand-eye coordination and the potential for improved academic
skills (as when educational games are played) (Charles, 2011). However,
playing games can also give positive effects. According to Raise Smart Kids:
The Good and Bad Effects of video games, certain type of video games can
help train kids to follow instructions as well as helping them develop their
problem solving and logical thought processes.
The study also attempted to identify factors affecting the use of social
media. With regard to motives for the use of social media, studies found out
that it was due to entertainment, boredom relief, interpersonal utility, escape
and convenience motives (Rubin, 2000). Therefore, its not how social media
8

works that drives people to use it how they do its people who are driving
how social media works for us. Rutledge (2003) added that one of the five
psychological traits that drive the use of social media is the fear of missing
out. It is certainly one of the human traits driving how social media works.

Chapter III
Methodology
This study was primarily carried out to gather information about the
Impact of the Advent of Social Media on College Students. This research
gathered

data by providing

respondents.

The

researchers

interview questionnaires for the

distributed

the

questionnaires

chosen
to

45

respondents who are the bona fide students of Davao Oriental State College
and Science and Technology and who are enrolled in 1 st semester of school
year 2015-2016. Upon approval, the researchers immediately give them the
interview questionnaire with the carefully guide questions the researchers
9

have prepared. Out of the questions formulated by the researchers, it is

expected to acquire the needed information for this research from the Social
Media

users.

The

questionnaires

were

returned

by

the

respondents

subsequently to the researchers. Every answer to each question was

recorded. The most common responses were identified and the data collected
were summarized by the researchers. The results of the interview were used
in the analysis of the data.
Framework
This framework shows the dependency and independency of factors
age, gender, purpose and benefits.

Age
Gender
Use of Social
Media

Impact on College
Students

Purpose
Benefits
Use of social media depends upon the above four factors (age, gender,
purpose and benefits) so the use of social media is dependent variable and
the above four factors are independent variables. Whereas on the other hand,
the impact of social media on college students upon use of social media is a
dependent variable and use of social media is independent variable.
Data Analysis

10

Number of Respondents who frequently utilizes social media

17%
Yes
No
83%

Table 1. The graph features the number of respondents who

frequently uses social media.
The evidence from this pie graph (Table 1) shows that 83% of the
respondents frequently use social media. On the other hand, 17% of the
respondents are not frequently using it.

Reasons in using Social Media

Others; 1%
Online Games; 12%
Social Networking; 44%
Educational Purposes; 42%

Table 2. The graph demonstrates the percentage of the respondents

on the reasons of using social media.
The table shows the total percentage of the respondents reasons in
using social media. It is evident that the chart shows that 45% of the
respondents utilize social media for social networking, 42% for educational
purposes, 12% for online gaming and 1% of them answers for other reasons
why they frequently uses social media.
11

Most Visited Social Networking Sites

16%

2%
5%

Facebook

5%

Twitter
72%

Instagram
Tumblr
Others

Table 3. The graph details the different social networking sites

mostly visited by the respondents.
It is noticeable that the respondents commonly use social media for
social networking specifically the facebook which comprises 72% of the total
percentage. Followed by twitter which totaled 16%, Instagram 5%, Tumblr 2%
and other sites which has 5% of the total percentage.

Most Played Online Games

Others; 11%
Dragon Nest; 6%
Legue of Legends; 17%
Crossfire; 17%

DOTA; 22%
C.O.C; 27%

Table 4. The pie graph presents the percentage of the most played
online games by the respondents.
It is clearly shown that out of 100%, 12% of the respondents utilize
social media for online gaming (Table 2). Given the most played online
games, 27% percent of them play Clash of Clans, 22% play DOTA 2, 17%

12

play League of legends, 17% play Crossfire, 6% play dragon nest and 11% of
them play other online games.

Amount of Time Spend Utilizing Social Media per day

30%

1-2 hrs

4%

3-4 hrs
66%

5-6 hrs
7-8 hrs
9-10 hrs

Table 5. The graph shows the total percentage of the amount of time
spend in utilizing social media per day by the respondents.
It is evident that the pie graph shows that 66% of the respondents who
frequently use social media spend 1-2 hrs/per day in utilizing it. 30% of them
respond that they spend 3-4 hrs/day. 4% says that they spend 5-6 hrs/day
using social media and neither of them answered 7-8 and 9-10 hours per day.

Frequent Users of Social Media

47%

53%

Female
Male

Table 6. The graph demonstrates who are the frequent users of

social media between male and female of the respondents.

13

It is clearly presented in the pie graph that out of 100%, 53% of them
are female users of social media and 47% are male. This only indicates that
females are more fascinated in utilization of it than males.

Range of Age of the respondents who are users of Social Media

16 yrs. Old below
7% 7% 5%
18%

25%

17-18 yrs old

19-20 yrs old
21-22 yrs. Old

38%

23-24 yrs. Old

25 above yrs. Old

Table 7. The graph displays the percentage of age range of the

respondents who utilize social media.
The evidence from the graph shows that 38% of the respondents who
frequently uses social media aged 19-20 years old, 25% aged 17-18 years
old, 18% aged from 21-22 years old, 7% aged 23-24 years old and 25 years
above and only 5% aged 16 years below.
The result of this study also shows that respondents frequently utilize
social media for common benefits which includes acquisition of news,
information and knowledge, for communication particularly to distant places,
to be updated of the new trends, for social awareness and become an agent
of the society. Also, it includes entertainment and satisfaction.

14

References
Wang, Qingya; Chen, Wei; and Liang, Yu, (2011) "The Effects of Social Media
on College
Students".MBA Student Scholarship. Paper 5. Date Retrieved:
September 20, 2015.
Retrieved from: http://scholarsarchive.jwu.edu/mba_student/5
Tarantino, K., McDonough, J., Hua, M., (2013). Effects of Student Engagement
with Social Media
on Student Learning: A Review of Literature. Date Retrieved:
September 20, 2015.
Retrieved from:
http://www.studentaffairs.com/ejournal/Summer_2013/EffectsO
fStudentEngagementWithSoci alMedia.html
Tariq, W., Mehboob, M., Khan, M.A., Ullah, F. (2012). The Impact of Social
Media and Social
Networks on Education and Students of Pakistan. Date Retrieved:
September 20, 2015.
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Srivastava, P. (2012). Social Networking & Its Impact on Education-System in
Contemporary Era.
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http://warse.org/pdfs/ijiti02122012.pdf
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Academic Performance among university students: A Pilot Study. Date
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Anand, V. (2007). A study of time management: The correlation between
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video
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Appendix
A Research Study on Social Media
(Interview Questionnaire)
Name (Optional): _ _______________________ Course: ____________ Year level:
_________
Sex: __________
Age: ___________
1. Are you frequently using Social Media? Yes
2. If yes, what mainly is your purpose?

No

For social networking

For educational purposes

For online games
Others (specify):
______________
For social networking, what particular site do you often visit?
Facebook
Twitter
Instagram
Tumblr
Others (specify):
_________
For online games, what particular games do you usually play?

DOTA 2

Clash of Clans
Crossfire
16

Kabal
League of
Legends
Dragon Nest
Others (specify):
_____________
3. What benefits can you get in social media?
_________________________________________
4. What is the amount of time you spend utilizing social media?
hrs/day

1-2

3-4 hrs/day
5-6 hrs/day
7-8 hrs/day
9-10 hrs/day
-Thank you for your honest answers-God Bless

17