Effects of Social Media Use on the Academic Performance of Students of Public Tertiary Institutions in Ghana

Abstract

Social media has become ubiquitous in today’s globalized world as a result of its valuable role in communication and information sharing. It appeals to people from all walks of life, particularly students, for a variety of purposes irrespective of some negative effects that their use may have on their academic performance. This study investigated the effects of social media use on the academic performance of students of public tertiary institutions in Ghana, with University of Education, Winneba (UEW) and University of Cape Coast (UCC) selected for case study. The study investigated social media platforms and their usage among students, the reasons or purposes for students’ use of social media, the time students spent on social media and the amount of time they spent studying, students’ GPA and the number of social media platforms they subscribed to, the difference in social media usage rate in terms of faculties and the effects of social media use on students’ academic performance. The theoretical frameworks adopted for the study were Bandura’s Social Learning Theory and Katz’s Uses and Gratification Theory. Using a survey research methodology, a sample size of 400 Level 300 students were selected, out of which 390 (97.5%) responded to the questionnaire that were used to collect data. Stratified random sampling technique was used to select respondents from three faculties in each university - Social Sciences, Sciences and Education. Data was analysed using SPSS, while some hypotheses were tested using chi-square to find out relationships among variables. The study revealed that all the students who participated were social media users and there was no significant difference in social media usage rate in terms of faculties. Also, the time students spent on social media affected the amount of time they spent studying. Furthermore, the findings showed that the number of social media platforms subscribed to did not affect students’ GPA, while the amount of time spent on social media platforms did not affect students’ academic performance. The study recommended to university management the integration of topics on the pros and cons of social media use in the classroom in various courses of study by instructors and implementers, restriction of social media use during class sessions by students, and provision of facilities that support the use of technology including social media. It also recommended to students to allot quality time for studies and use of social media for the right purposes, especially their academic studies.