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EFFECT OF FACEBOOK AND OTHER SOCIAL NETWORKING SITE TO THE ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE AND

STUDY HABIT OF THE HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS.

INTRODUCTION

Internet is very influential to the students. Most of today’s internet users are active in so many

different social networks and some of them are the most common ones which are Facebook, Myspace

and Twitter and there are so many more. The young generation as well as adult are becoming devoted

in the internet. They use it every day in communication with their friends and relatives, researching for

their assignments, projects, and report, playing games, and downloading music. It is a way to enjoy

everyone who is looking for stress free recreational activities. These social networking sites are one of

the factors that influence the high school students’ academic performance.

Of all these, Facebook is the most popular among other social networking sites due to its

entertainment, some students are addicted to it because it is influential to the mind and user friendly.

However problems are always present, it has several effects especially on academic work.

As a concern student, we must know what is happening to our surrounding especially in the

school. Some high school nowadays don’t study their lessons and working on their assignments because

they are in front of their computers using facebook. As a researcher and an observant, every high

school students in our school is using facebook everyday like me. Student must be concerned to their

grades for them to be successful. Therefore, this research paper aims to guide students in using

networking site to an advantageous manner.

BACKGROUND

With the rapid changing generation, the youth is now more demanding in getting technologies

that will suit their needs, especially in when it is applied to their studies. The access in Internet or in the

World Wide Web is easy and there are many benefits can be gained. According to Howard Rheingold,

social networking sites’ primary aim is to mirror that of a face-to-face society(1993). These social

networking sites like Facebook affects on how a person socializes to his or her group of personal and

online friends. Facebook is used by the hundreds of millions of people as a part time activity. Thoughts,

ideas, and pictures are shared by people with their friends and family members at Facebook to be re-

connected with their former high school classmates, former work mates with whom they have lost

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contact or as only a way to relax with one of the many Facebook applications that comprise games,

puzzles, and quizzes. This type of using Facebook is generally harmless and fun.

EFFECTS OF FACEBOOK

Facebook is a big temptation to that students neglect focusing on their studies. According to the

Theory of Temporal Motivation, people like their rewards not only to be large but also to be immediate

rewards. Authors from OnlineEducation.net stated that students who uses Facebook and hit the books

simultaneously found their multitasking let to 20% lower grades than those of their more focused peers.

And this in turn affects their study habits.

In the other hand, these sites may also have a positive impact on students’ sense of themselves

in the community as mentioned by several sources from OnlineEducation.net. The said site also

mentioned that students were twice as likely as other student to feel well-liked by their peers and to

participate in extracurricular activities. Also, according to them, 20% more of them Facebook-using

students (as compared to students who didn’t use Facebook) said that they felt connected to their

school and community. Reynol Junco (2010), a social media scholar and a professor at Lock Haven

University, has focused his research on the effects of technology on students. Among his findings:

college students who use Twitter for their courses participated more than their peers in both class and

extracurricular activities.

According to the study of Paul A. Kirschner & Aryn C. Karpinski (2010), “With respect to differences

on academic performance , the analyses revealed three major groups of findings: First Facebook users

and nonusers were significantly different from each other with FB users both a lower mean grades and

spending fewer hours per week studying on average than FB nonusers, though the amount of total time

spent on the Internet did not differ between the groups. Clearly, there is a difference between the study

strategies of FB users and nonusers. FB users and nonusers reported comparable average daily

Internet use (i.e., between 1 and 2 hours per day as the highest category endorsed). In other words, FB

use did not add time used on the Internet, possibly to the harm of available study time. Also, 66% of FB

users claimed to use their accounts either daily or multiple times per day, with many reporting either

spending less than 15 minutes/day on the website, or spending between 45 minutes and 1 hour/day.

Finally, more nonusers spend 16 or more hours per week in paid work compared to FB users, and more

FB users reported being involved in extracurricular activities, dedicating more hours per week to such

activities, and reporting on average more than two clubs or groups in which they are involved.” The two

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authors further analyzes their study that “the majority of FB users reported that it did not impact their

academic performance to not using FB frequently enough for such an effect to occur. They also

emphasized that academics were a priority for them. Second, of the FB users reporting an impact, the

majority indicated a negative impact citing procrastination behaviour on their part. These students

reported having poor time management skills and that FB use allows them to put off studying while not

giving them the feeling that they are “not working”; evidenced by their statements that FB was

beneficial to their learning (i.e., of the FB users reporting an impact, respondents claimed to use it as a

networking tool for academic purposes). Clearly, they place the locus of control of their FB use and its

effects outside of FB and in their own personalities.”

CONCLUSIONS

The Internet and social networking sites can be used in many ways, some of them may be

beneficial to the user and others are not so. More important that whether people use these sites is what

they do on them. Hargittai (2005) mentioned that, cultivating relationships, for example, can lead to

positive outcomes. If students are spending excessive time on Facebook at the expense of studying,

their academic performance may suffer, just as it might by spending excessive time on another activity .

According to Helton, Facebook, used as a means of communication, will increase the amount of time

spent on Facebook. This relationship is different from people who use Facebook as a way just to keep up

with friends. So maybe students should be more aware of how they are using the site and that might

decrease how distracting the site can be.

Facebook has become so integrated with the student’s experience that it is important that

students know how to manage the time spent on Facebook and how to use the time they do spend on

Facebook on less distracting aspects of the site. Further studies are needed to determine just how

students can use this site effectively but it is clear that this site in some way is distracting high school

students and it is harming the academic success of students that have the potential to achieve a higher

grade point average.

It’s clear that Facebook itself is not an evil influence on students- in fact, it seems to be the case

that it can be beneficial. What matters is not Facebookk use itself, but the ways in which it is used.

Educators would be wise to take note of Facebook’s potentially beneficial features: engaging students

with the social media they already use could mean great things for the college classroom.

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BIOGRAPHY

Rheingold, Howard (1993). The Virtual Community (1st. ed.). Addison-Wesley Pub. Co. ISBN 9780201608700. Retrieved 2008-12-29.

The Temporal Motivation Theory: http://procrastinus.com/procrastination-theories/

Junco, R., Heiberger, G., and Loken, E. (2010). The effect of Twitter on college student engagement and grades. Journal of Computer Assisted Learning, 27(2), 119-132.

Paul A. Kirschner, & Aryn C. Karpinski (2010). Facebook and Academic PerformanceComputers in Human Behavior

Hargittai, E., & Hinnant, A. (2005, March). New dimensions of the digital divide: Differences in young adults' use of the Internet. Paper presented at the Eastern Sociological Society, Washington, D.C.

Britany Helton . The Effects of Facebook Habits on Academic Success. Dr. Kraemer’s Survey Research course

Onlineeducation.net