ONLINE SOCIAL NETWORK USAGE AND THE INFLUENCE ON THE ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE IN HIGHER INSTITUTIONS

INTRODUCTION

Nigeria today and the world generally celebrate the increase in usage of online social network in the sense that it has enhance the ease of communication at a very lower rate. Before we go into the main discussion, let first of all understand what social media is all about; well; social network is simply a social structure that is made up of individuals, it can also be made up of organisations which are called nodes; these nodes are connected to one another. the togetherness here is more specific just like friendship, it can also be like kinship, common interest, it can as well be a kind of sexual relationships or a relationship of so many beliefs according to Adeboye, 2012.

These node connection from one individuals to the other are what we refer to as social contacts of those individuals; this network can be used to measure the capital of the social network; here what we mean as social capital is the value an individual gets from social network.

There are so many of this social networking site; but the paper will mention but a few which includes: blackberry messenger (BBM), google +, google talk, iphone, Androids e.t.c

According to Adeboye, 2012 in his research stated that these networking sites are mainly used by people to interact with both old and new friends.

The effect of social network can widely be seen in higher institutions; however over usgae of social network has had a lot of influences  on the academic performances of students since the users of the social network are mainly students.

2.0 STATEMENT OF PROBLEM

The online social network is a welcome development hower the over usage of Social network influences the academic performance of students either negatively or positively; positively in the sense that meaningful information can be passed across the online social network, but the major problem here is that youths especially those in the higher institutions now make use of the social network even where they are not suppose to use them; places like church, mosques etc. secondly the increase in the use of online social network has caused a lot of setback for those that earn a living from cybercafe because students no longer go to the cyber café to access the internet and find information.

3.0 OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

The objetives of the paper are as follows:

1. To examine the influence of online social network on the academic performance of students

2. To determine the most used social network by students

3. To examine the rate of exposure of students to social network

4.0 LITERATURE REVIEW

Different researchers have conducted research to ascertain the influence of social media on users; for example, Moon (2011) in a study on “impact of facebook on undergraduate academic performance”, averred that social media have negative impact on students. According to the result, the more students use facebook, the more it affects their academic performance. Similarly, Oye (2012) notes that most of the younger students use social networking sites mainly for socialising activities, rather than for academic purpose. Oye (2012) further observed that most of the students do feel that social networking sites have more positive impact on their academic performance. In another study conducted by Shana (2012), it was revealed that students use social network mainly for making friends and chatting. The result showed that only 26 percent of the students (respondents) indicated that they use social media for academic purpose. Young (2006) in a study titled “the effect of internet use and social capital on the academic performance of students” observed that the internet expands its reach to teenagers’ school life. Young noted that students are more reliant on the internet to access information that is involved in school life as well as entertainment. The researcher further added that internet, though consumes time, has less effect on studies. Yang (2003) notes the effect of social media depends large on the degree of usage. Yoon (2000) observed that the type of social media or network subscribed to by a teenager exerts influence on him or her to visit the internet. Jeong (2005) noted that internet addiction is significantly and negatively related to students’ academic performance, as well as emotional attributes. Seo (2004) corroborates Jeong’s assertion when he opined that the negative influence of internet is only on excessive users and not on all users. Rather (2013, p. 69) avers that: The Social networking sites and blogs which are being used today with tremendous passion and zeal have transformed the way of using internet in recent years by describing online tools and utilities which allow users for communication, participation and collaboration of information online. Today’s young generation, especially teens and youth are using technology through innovative ways due to which they are referred to as Millennials and have changed the ways we think, work and communicate even though they are in formative years of their life. Today’s youth because of these social networking sites have become technology addicts and are quite introverted. A new research study finds that widespread use of media among freshman college students may compromise academic performance. The study is one of the first to explore mechanisms of media effects on academic outcomes. Investigators determined that use of media, from texting to chatting on cell phones to posting status updates on Facebook may lower grades for freshman female students (Nauert, 2007).

H0: online social network does not influence the academic performance of students in higher institution.

5.0 METHODOLOGY

The study adopted a survey research design approach to evaluate online social network usage and the influence on the academic performance in higher institutions. The researcher choose the methodology as a means of generating reliable empirical data upon which recommendation and conclusion will be based. The population of the study is made up of all students (st), lecturers (LE) and parents (pr) and non academic staff of the university. A sample size of 200 persons was selected at random, using Bourley (1998) proportional allocation formula, it was distributed as follows: students (50), lectures (80) and non academic staff of the university (70). A pre test was conducted and outcome yield “r”= 0.89 indicating a high degree of consistency and reliability. The instrument was 8- term survey questionnaire with a - 5 Likert scale response options of strongly agreed(SA), agreed(A), undecided (UD) disagreed (D), and strongly disagreed (SD). The questionnaire was structured in line with the research objectives and hypothesis of the study. The Pearson product moment correlation coefficient was used to confirm formulated hypothese.

6.0 DATA PRESENTATION AND DISCUSSION

Table 1

Field survey; July 2016

Table 1 above; show the responses of the respondents that online social network influences the academic performance of students in higher institution

11 of the respondents which represent 5.5% of the population strongly agreed that online social network influences the academic performance of students in higher institution.

165 of the respondents which represent 82.5% of the population agreed that online social network influences the academic performance of students in higher institution.

13 of the respondents which represent 6.5% of the population were undecided

8 of the respondents which represent 4.0% of the population disagree that online social network influence the academic performance of students in higher institution.

3 of the respondents which represent 1% of the population strongly disagree that online social network influence the academic performance of students in higher institution.

Table 2

Field survey; July 2016

Table 2 above; show the responses of the respondents that over usage of online social network has a clog on the academic performance of students

72 of the respondents which represent 36% of the population strongly agreed that over usage of online social network has a clog on the academic performance of students

123 of the respondents which represent 61.5% of the popualtion agreed that over usage of online social network has a clog on the academic performance of students

5 of the respondents which represent 2.5% of the population were undecided

7.0 TEST FOR HYPOTHESIS

H0: online social network does not influence the academic performance of students in higher institution.

Table 3

From table 3 above; we found out that the “r” is greater than the “r” tabulated; we therefore reject the null hypothesis and conclude that online social network influences the academic performance of students in higher institution.

The value of “r=0.802 shows that there is a statistically significantly (0.000) strong relationship between online social network and the academic performance of students in higher institution.

8.0 DISCUSSION OF FINDINGS

Since 165 of the respondents which represent 82.5% of the population agreed that online social network influences the academic performance of students in higher institution we therefore deduce that online social network influences the academic performance of students in higher institution. 123 of the respondents which represent 61.5% of the popualtion agreed that over usage of online social network has a clog on the academic performance of students.

9.0 CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION

From the findings made for the study, we therefore recommed that:

i. Students should reduce their exposure to social media and pay more attention to their studies.

 ii. Students, especially those willing to record huge academic success should guide themselves against the use of social media.

iii. The government, schools and other well to do individuals should encourage hardwork by rewarding successful students through scholarship schemes and other incentives.

iv. The government should consider the possibility of evolving a policy on teenagers’ exposure to social media.