EFFECT OF SOCIAL MEDIA ON THE ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE OF SENIOR

SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS OF UNGOGO LGA, KANO STATE

BY
Idris Salisu Rogo
Department of Education, School of Continuing Education, Bayero University, Kano
rogoidris@gmail.com

Abstract
The paper investigated the effect of social media on the academic performance of senior
secondary school students of Ungoggo Local Government Area of Kano State. Survey research
design was used in the study and Kreycie and Morgan (1971) table of determining sample size
was used in determining the sample size for the study. Researcher made questionnaire named
students social media usage scale (SSUS) was designed to assess the frequency of social media
usage by the students and first term mathematics examination score was used to find out the
academic performance of the students. The questionnaire was administered to 370 students
drawn from the total population of 10,058 students using stratified random sampling technique.
Pearson Product Moment Correlation Coefficient (PPMC) and Chi-square test of independence
were used to analyze the data for the study. The findings for the study revealed that there is a
strong negative relationship between social media and academic performance of senior
secondary school students of Ungoggo L.G.A of Kano State where the result showed the
correlation coefficient of -0.805. Therefore, the study concludes that Social media has a negative
effect on the academic performance of senior secondary school students in the study area. The
study further revealed that there is a significant gender difference in the use of social media by
senior secondary school students of Ungogo LGA where female students are found to be more
frequent in the use of social media than their male counterparts. Based on the above findings the
study recommends that parents and teachers should monitor and supervise the activities of their
children most especially in the areas of internet and social media and should also prevent
students of secondary school from using sophisticated handsets with internet connectivity.
Key Words: Social Media, Academic Performance and Senior Secondary School Students.

Introduction
The advent of computer and information technology has turned the entire world into a global
village. The remarkable improvement in information and communication technology recently
has widened the scope of communication through information and communication technology
(Asemah & Edego 2012). Information and communication technology comprise of internet,
social media, satellite, cable data transmission and computer assisted equipment. Social media
employs mobile and web based technology to create highly interactive platforms via which
individuals and community share, co-create, discuss and modify user generated content (Jeong,
2005). Social Media network sites include; Yahoo Messenger, Facebook Messenger, Blackberry
Messenger (BBM), Google talk, Google+ Messenger, iPhone, Androids, Whatsapp, 2go, Instant
Gram, Twitter, Badoo etc. (Asemah & Edego 2012). Social media serves as an avenue through
which students are connected by one or more interdependency relationship such as friendship,
kinship, common interest, financial exchange, love, sexual relationship, beliefs, knowledge or
prestige (Asemah & Edego, 2012). Also, social media is regarded as one of the vital means of
communication in recent times and it has become the most important tool among students
especially adolescents (Al-Rahimi & Othman, 2012). It is a group of internet based application
that allows the creation and exchange of users generated content. It creates an avenue of
interactions among adolescents in which they create, share, and/or exchange information and
ideas (Hammond, 2000). With social media one can chat with friends everywhere in the world
and can also send and receive messages almost immediately. This improvement in the global
means of communication has brought with it both positive and negative effects on students
Academic Performance.

However, lack of regulatory framework in the use of internet and social media in Nigeria has led
to its abuse and excessive use. It is common knowledge to see students chatting in classrooms
during class instruction. The advent of sophisticated cellular phones has complicated the
situation, as youth no longer need to visit cybercaf before they chat. Thus, the attention of many
students nowadays has been shifted from studies to chatting, which has become a source of
concern and worry to scholars and researchers of education. Hence, the effect of social media on
academic performance of students has generated a heated debate among scholars, educators, and
policy makers in recent times (Yang, 2003). Some scholars are of the view that social media
facilitates learning because it gives room for easy accessibility to learning materials and also
provides a platform upon which many opportunities are harnessed. Whether these opportunities
harnessed from the social media promote academic performance is a question that needs to be
answered. Therefore, this study was set to investigate the effect of social media on the academic
performance of senior secondary school students of Ungoggo Local government Area, Kano
State.
Objectives of the Study
The study was guided by the following objectives;

To find out the effect of social media on the academic performance of senior secondary

school students of Ungogo LGA.

To find out the gender difference in the use social media among senior secondary school

students of Ungogo LGA.

Research Questions
What is the effect of social media on the academic performance of senior secondary

school students of Ungoggo L.G.A, Kano State

Is there any gender difference in the use of social media among senior secondary school

students in the study area

Research Hypotheses

H01: There is no significant effect of social media on the academic performance of senior
secondary school students of Ungoggo L.G.A, Kano State
H02: There is no significant gender difference in the use of social media among senior secondary
school students of the study area
Review of Related Literature
Social media refers to the interaction forum through which people create, share, and/or exchange
information and ideas in virtual communities and networks. Social media is a group of internet
based applications that build on the ideological and technological foundations of web 2.0 and
that allow the creation and exchange of user-generated content (Yoon, 2000). Furthermore, social
media depends on mobile and web-based technologies to create highly interactive platforms
through which youth and adolescents, come in contact with one another to share information.
They introduce substantial and pervasive communication between organizations, communities
and individuals (Sunusi, 2014). Social media has gained wider acceptability and patronage in the
recent past and it has become the major means of communication among adolescents (Al-Rahmi
& Othman, 2012). Social media was believed to have bridged communication gap among
students, but due to its frequent and excessive patronage among secondary school students
without control, it creates a serious gap between the students and their studies which
consequently affects their academic performance in school (Picciano, 2002). Within the social
media, Facebook, Whatsapp, 2go and Twitter are the most patronized social media among
secondary school students (Al-Rahmi & Othman, 2012). Youths nowadays have shifted their
attention from visible to invisible friends through social media, making important activities like
reading, writing and research to affected in the process (Al-Rahmi & Othman, 2012). Asemah &
Edego (2012) assert that online interpersonal relationship has the same influence as face-to-face
relationship where peer influence and transmission of values can easily be disseminated. This by
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implication means, the more a student uses social media, the less time he has for his studies and
the more peer influence will be exerted on him. Social media are equal to real life and are given
human attributes where adolescents talk to computers as if they were talking to human beings.
That is to say, students unconsciously personalize social media as if they are human beings. The
driving factors for the adoption of social media by students include among others convenience,
socialization, flexibility, and easy accessibility to learning materials (Moon, 2011). It further
enhances mutual relationship, motivates students to learn, develops the culture of crossfertilization of ideas, enhances contact among the students and improves students participation in
class, most especially introvert students (Seo, 2004). In general, benefits typically associated
with the use of social media include the following: it encourages greater social interaction via
electronic medium; it provides greater access to information, encourages creativity among
individuals and group; creates a sense of belonging among users, provides more interaction and
communication between people from different socio-economic status and increases the
technological competency of social media by users (Shana, 2012).
Many researchers and scholars have conducted researches to investigate the effect of social
media on the academic performance of students; for example, in a study conducted by Asemah &
Edegoh, (2012) on the impact of facebook on undergraduate academic performance, the
findings of the study indicate that social media has a negative impact on students. The result
showed that the more students use social media, the more it negatively affect their academic
performance. (Oye, 2012) also opines that, most of the adolescents use social media mainly for
socialization, rather than for academic purpose. Similarly, Shana (2012) asserts that students use
social media mainly for making friends and chatting not for research and academic advancement.

In a contrary view, (Young, 2006) in a study titled the effect of internet use and social capital
on the academic performance of students observes that the internet expands its reach to
teenagers school life. Young further notes that students are more reliant on the internet to access
information that affect their school life as well as entertainment. The researcher further adds that
although internet, consumes time, it has less effect on studies and academic activities. Yang
(2003) cited in Asemah, & Edegoh, (2012) opined that the effect of social media on academic
performance depends largely on the degree of its usage. Yoon (2000) also observes that the type
of social media or network subscribed to by a student exerts influence on him or her to visit the
internet. Jeong (2005) and Seo (2004) note that internet addiction is significantly and negatively
related to students academic performance, as well as emotional attributes.
Research Design and Methodology
The research design used for this study was survey design. The justification for using survey
design was simply because it provides answers to the questions of who, what, when, and where
etc which is associated with this particular research problem. The design enables the researcher
to obtain reliable information concerning the current problem under review, and also provides the
necessary impetus through which the impact of social media on students academic performance
could be explored. The population for the study comprises 10,058 students, and using the
stratified random sampling technique, a sample size of 370 students was drawn from six different
senior secondary schools in the study area as guided by Kreysie and Morgan table of sample size.
The sample comprises of senior secondary school students from SS1 (33%), SS2 (33%), SS3
(34%). The mean age of the subjects was 16 years and the gender ratio was 60% male students
and 40% female students. Researcher made students social media usage scale (SSUS) was used
for data collection in the study. The reliability of the instrument was determined using Cronbach
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Alpha formular where the overall internal consistency coefficient was found to be 0.85. The
instrument has satisfactory levels of validity through face and content validity by experts in the
areas of English Language, Educational Psychology, guidance and counseling after their review
of appropriateness of the items contained in the instrument to the objectives of the study. In
determining the academic performance of the students the researcher collected the students first
term examination scores in mathematics. The Data collected from the field was statistically
analyzed using Pearson Product Moment Correlation (PPMC) and Chi-square test of
independence with the help of SPSS (16.0 version). Pearson Product Moment Correlation
(PPMC) was used to find out the effect of social media on the academic performance of senior
secondary students in the study area while the Chi-square test of independence was used to
determine the gender difference on the use of social media among senior secondary students of
the study area.
Results and Discussions
Testing Hypothesis 1
H0 There is no significant effect of social media on the academic performance of senior
secondary school students of Ungogo LGA
Table 1 Pearson correlation coefficient showing the effect of social media on the academic
performance of senior secondary school students of Ungoggo L.G.A, Kano State

Social media

Social Media
1

Pearson Correlation
Sig. (2 tailed)
N

370

Academic Performance

Pearson Correlation
Sig. (2 tailed)
N
Correlation is significant at 0.01 levels (2 tailed).

-0.805
0.000
370

Academic Performance
-0.805
0.000
370
1
370

The results in the table above (Table 1) reveal a statistically significant (P< 0.01) and negative
strong relationship (r= 0.805) between the social media usage and academic performance of
senior secondary school students of Ungoggo L.G.A, Kano State. Based on the above results, the
study therefore concludes that social media usage has a strong negative effect on the academic
performance of senior secondary school students of Ungoggo L.G.A, Kano State. Hence, we
reject the null hypothesis which says there is no significant effect of social media on the
academic performance of senior secondary school students of Ungoggo L.G.A, Kano state and
accept the alternate hypothesis that, there is a significant effect of social media on the academic
performance of senior secondary school students of Ungoggo L.G.A, Kano state. This is in line
with the study of Jeong (2005) and Seo (2004) where they note that internet addiction is
significantly and negatively related to students academic performance, as well as emotional
attributes. Moon (2011) in the study he conducted on the impact of facebook on undergraduate
academic performance, also finds that social media has a negative effect on students academic
performance. Asemah & Edegoh, (2012) conducted a research on the impact of social media on
the academic performance of high school students, their result showed that the more students use
social media, the more it negatively affects their academic performance. Oye (2012) also found
that most of the adolescents use social media mainly for socialization, rather than for academic
purpose. Similarly, Shana (2012) opined that students use social media mainly for making
friends and chatting not for research and academic purposes.
Testing Hypothesis 2
H01: There is no significant gender difference in the use of social media among senior secondary
school students of Ungoggo LGA, Kano State.

Table 2 Chi-square test of independence showing the gender difference in the use of social
media among senior secondary school students of Ungoggo L.G.A, Kano State
Variables
Male
Observed

Female

Expected

Frequent

Score
45

Not

59

frequent
Total
104
2
df=1 , =15.12, p=0.5

Total

Observed

Expected

Total

43.3

Score
56.1

45

Score
37

77.1

Score
25.9

70.9

56.7

47.9

59

11

22.9

22.1

81.1

100

104

104

48

100

48

154

The Data in table 2 reveals that the Calculated 2 (15.12) is greater than the critical 2 (3.84) for df
= 1 at P= 0.05 level. The H0 is therefore rejected and it is concluded that there is a significant
gender difference in the use of social media among senior secondary school students of Ungoggo
L.G.A, Kano where female students are found be to using social media more frequently than the
male students. The finding above corroborates Asemah and Edegoh (2012) who noted that
female students patronize social media more than their male counterparts because of the ample
time they have at home, as such, they tend to engage themselves into socialization through social
media. Kietzmannn (2012) conducted a survey on social media usage between male and female
adolescents, he concludes that female adolescents nowadays spend less time talking to family
members, experience more loneliness and depression as such they became more addicted to
social media than their male counterparts. Another survey released in 2000 by the Pew Internet
and American life project also reports that female students use internet and social media more
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than the male students. The study further reveals that female adolescents are addicted to internet
in the same way they might be addicted to drugs, gambling, or alcohol.
Conclusion
The 21st Century brought with it the advent of new media with fast tracking means of sending
and receiving information via internet called social media. This social media gained popularity
among adolescents. The rate at which these adolescents devote their time and energy in chatting
via social media calls for urgent attention.
Since the advent of social media in the mid-1990s many scholars and educationists assert that
students academic performance is drastically reducing due to the neglect, distraction and divided
attention between social media and the students academic activities. It is observed that students
give more attention to social media than their studies (Ndaku, 2013). Hence, social media is an
educational distraction avenue which offers more educational harm to students than benefit.
Senior secondary school students nowadays often waste their time chatting in the social media at
the detriment of their academic work (Jeong, 2005, Seo, 2004, Oye, 2012, Shana, 2012). Due to
their less activities and commitment in day to day activities of life, female students get more time
to participate in the social media chatting than the male students there by making them more
vulnerable to social media activities (Asemah and Edegoh, 2013, Kietzmannn, 2012). As such,
there are many incidences of murders and gang rapping of girls by guys whom they meet through
social media. For instance a young lady of 16 years called Cynthia Okojie was gang raped and
murdered by her Facebook friends in Lagos when she visited them, and her nude pictures were
displayed on the net by the perpetrators (Ndaku, 2013).
Recommendations

Based on the above findings the researchers made the following recommendations:
1. Parents and teachers should monitor and supervise the activities of their children most
especially in the areas of internet and social media activities and should also prevent them
from using sophisticated handsets with internet connectivity until after graduation from
secondary school.
2. Students should strike a balance between chatting and academic activities. More attention
should be directed to e-learning, academic consultation and research in the social media.
3. The government should create a regulatory framework in the use of internet and social
media in Nigeria so as to regulate the abuse of social media in the country.

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