Hilal Ahmad Bhat Social media is basically a tool for someone to interact with other people with the use of internet. Furthermore, social media is not only used as a tool for interaction with others, it can be used for learning process as well. This piece of writing aims to analyze the correlation between duration of using a social media with academic performance. The world is today enjoying the improvements in communication technology which has broadened the scope of communication through Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs). Modern Technology in communication, no doubt has turned the entire world into a “Global village”. But as it is, technology like two sides of a coin, bring with it both negative and positive sides. It helps people to be better informed, enlightened, and keeping abreast with world developments. Technology exposes mankind to a better way of doing things. Social networking sites include: Twitter, Yahoo Messenger, Facebook Messenger, Blackberry Messenger (BBM), Whatsapp messenger, 2go messenger, Skype, Google talk, Google Messenger, iPhone and Androids. These networking sites are used by most people to interact with friends and other near and dear ones. The world has been changed rapidly by the evolution of technology. This has resulted into the use of technology as the best medium to explore the wide area of knowledge. The evolution of internet technology has led to its use as the best medium for communication. Whereby, two-third of the world’s internet population visits social networking or blogging sites, thus serving as a communication and connection tool. Social networking sites (SNSs) are online Communities of Internet users who want to communicate with other users about areas of mutual interest, whether from a personal, 2 businesses or academic perspective.
Social Media and Academic Excellence: Academic excellence or achievement plays an important role in an individual placement, be it in the academic institutions or job placement. Due to this, many people are concerned with the ways they can enhance their academic achievement. The emphasis on academic excellence which is also prevalent worldwide has encouraged many studies about the conditions promoting it. The role of academic achievement as one of the predictors of one’s life success and also in the aspect of academic placement in schools to higher institutions as well as the level of employability in one’s career is inevitable. Academic performance, which is measured by the examination results, is one of the major goals of a school. It is argued that schools are established with the aim of imparting knowledge and skills to those who go through them and behind all this is the idea of enhancing good academic performance. Academic performance or achievement is the outcome of education, the extent to which a student, teacher or institution has achieved their educational goals. Academic performance is commonly measured by examinations or continuous assessment but there is no general agreement on how it is best tested or which aspects are most important, procedural knowledge such as skills or declarative knowledge such as facts. Today most youths and students possess Facebook accounts. The reason most of them perform badly in school might not be far- fetched. While many minds might be quick to blame the poor quality of teachers, they might have to think even harder, if they have not heard of the Facebook .These days students are so engrossed in the social media that they are almost 24 hours online. Even in classrooms and lecture theatres, it has been observed that some students are always busy pinging, Whatsapp Chatting or Facebooking, while lectures are on. Times that ought be channeled towards learning, academic research and innovating have been crushed by the passion for meeting new friends online, and most times busy discussing trivial issues.
Social information processing theory is an interpersonal communication theory which suggests that online interpersonal relationship development might require more time to develop than face-to-face relationships, but when developed, it has the same influence as face-to-face communication.
Hence most students’ academics suffer setback as a result of distraction from the social media. It was observed that the use of these sites also affects students’ use of English and grammar. The students are used to short forms of writing words in their chat rooms; they forget and use the same in the classrooms. They use things like ‘4’ in place of for, U in place of You, D in place of The etc. and this could affect their class assessment. Social networking sites although has been recognized as an important resource for education today, studies however shows that students use social networking sites such as Facebook for fun, to kill time, to meet existing friends or to make new ones .Although it has been put forward that students spends much time on participating in social networking activities, with many students blaming the various social networking sites for their steady decrease in grade point averages It also shows that only few students are aware of the academic and professional networking opportunities the sites offered. According to Kuppuswamy and Shankar, social network websites grab attention of the students and then diverts it towards non-educational and inappropriate actions including useless chatting. Whereas on the other hand, it is reviewed that the students are socially connected with each other for sharing their daily learning experiences and do conversation on several topics. Some argue that extracurricular activities and academic activities are not enough to satisfy some student those who are suffered by social networking isolation. This shows that social networks are beneficial for the students as it contributes in their learning experiences as well as in their academic life. It is also noted the Internet is no doubt evolution of technology but specifically social networks are extremely unsafe for teenagers, social networks become hugely common and well-known in past few years. According to Cain, social network websites provide ease of connecting people to one another; free 5 of cost and after connecting one can post news, informative material and other things including videos and pictures etc. It is also argued that the some studies have found that more than 90% of tertiary school students use social networks. In the same way it is stated that the students use social networking websites approximately 30 minutes throughout the day as a part of their daily routine life. It is revealed through a survey that students strongly recommend social networking websites to stay in touch with friends to keep informed and aware. Social information processing theory is an interpersonal communication theory which suggests that online interpersonal relationship development might require more time to develop than face-to-face relationships, but when developed, it has the same influence as face-to-face communication. This means, the more students use social media, the more they influence their disposition to studies, given the fact that friends from social media will begin to exert influence on each other. According to the results of study, using social networks during the day by students have negative impact on their academic performance. Also the period of time spend daily on using social networks by students, reduce their sleep quality and increased their depression.
(The author a teacher at Govt High School Brakpora Anantnag writes exclusively and frequently for “Kashmir Horizon”. Views are his own)
[email protected]