CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

Social media has exploded as a category of online discourse where people create content, share it, bookmark it and network at a prodigious rate. Because of its ease of use, speed and reach, social media is fast changing the public discourse in society and setting trends and agenda in topics that range from the environment and politics to technology and the entertainment industry (Asur and Huber man, 2010). In the last ten years, the online world has changed dramatically, thanks to the invention of social media, young men and women now exchange ideas, feelings, personal information, pictures and videos at a truly astonishing rate. Seventy-three percent of wired American teens now use social media websites (Oberst, 2010).

Martin, (2008) & Lusk, (2010) share the same concept of social media. To them social media is the use of Facebook, Blogs, Twitter, My Space and LinkedIn for the purpose of communication, sharing photos as well as videos. However for the purpose of this study social media is captured within the use of internet through Facebook, WhatsApp, Twitter, Skype, MySpace as well as Yahoo Messenger for communication sharing of ideas, sharing of photos and videos by users. The increased use of Social Networking Websites has become an international phenomenon in the past several years. What started out as a hobby for some computer literate people has become a social norm and way of life for people from all over the world (Boyd. 2007). Teenagers and young adults have especially embraced these sites as a way to connect with their peers, share information, reinvent their personalities, and showcase their social lives (Boyd, 2007).

In the past years, social media websites have become common; giving young people a new way to interact with each other and communicate with the world. Social networking became popular between 2004 and 2006, after Facebook and MySpace were created. Facebook, for example has over 500 million members and it is still growing and approximately 85% of undergraduate students are Facebook users (Schneider, 2009). These numbers are expected to grow since Facebook users will continue to grow. And this is not only true for Facebook; numbers for YouTube users closely follow as well (University of New Hampshire, 2009). Social networking websites provide tools by which people can communicate, share information, and create new relationships. With the popularity of social networking websites on the rise, our social interaction is affected in multiple ways as we adapt to our increasingly technological world. The way web users interact and talk to each other has changed and continues to change. These users now socialize through the internet and it takes away from the person socialization that has been around forever. Social networking websites have affected our social interaction by changing the way we interact face-to-face, how we receive information, and the dynamics of our social groups and friendships (Asur and Huber man, 2010).

Communicating through the internet and social networking websites is quite different from communicating in person- to- person situation. When users communicate through these websites, they use things like instant message (IM) and chatting as well as status or Twitter updates to talk to friends and express themselves (Kaitlin, 2010). Kaitlin (2010) further opines that social networking websites also affect the way we receive information and news. The sites open up different portals through which we get information and create more diverse news outlets. Most of the studies, Choney (2010), San Miguel, (2009) Enriquez (2010), Karpinski & Duberstein (2009), Khan, (2009), Kubey et al (2010), conducted on students’ use of the social media sites and its impact on academic performance focused on students in the developed world. It is against this background that it has become necessary to conduct this research aimed at investigating students’ use of social media sites and their impact on academic performance among Polytechnic students in Ghana. This is largely because; no empirical study has been conducted in Ghana to find out the impact of students’ use of social media sites on academic.

Background to the Study

The world is today celebrating 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”. Butasitis, 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 a breast 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 old and new friends, physical or internet friends (Asemah and Edegoh (2012). 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, business or academic perspective ( William  Boyd, Densten, Chin, Diamond & Mergenthaler 2009). The millions of social networking sites have transformed the thought of global village into a reality whereby billions of people communicate though social networking sites. Numerous benefits have been obtained through distant communication through the use of social networking sites.

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 (Kyoshaba, 2009).

Academic performance, which is measured by the examination results, is one of the major goals of a school. Hoyle (1986) 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 examination or common 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 (Annie, Howard &Mildred, 1996).

A direct relationship exists between Social media usage and the academic performance of students in universities. However, the darker side within technological evolution has resulted in dilemma as such as these values of life among students who form the majority of users interacting through the use of social networking sites. Online social networking sites focus on building and reflecting social associations among people who share interests and or activities. With so many social networking sites displayed on the internet, students are tempted to abandon their homework and reading times in preference for chatting online with friends. Many students are now addicted to the online rave of the moment, with Facebook, Twitter, etc.

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 frenzy (Oche & Aminu. 2010). Olubiyi (2012) noted that these days’ students are also engrossed in the social media that they are almost 24hrs online. Even in classrooms and lecture teathre it has been observed that some students are always busy pinging, 2going 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. Hence most students’ academics suffer setback as are sult of distraction from the social media. It was observed that the use of these sites also affect 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 (Ellison, Stein field, and Lampe 2007). Although it has been put forward that students spends much time on participating on social networking activities with many students blaming the various social networking sites for their steady decrease in grade point averages (Kimberly, jeong and lee 2009), it also shows that only few students are aware of the professional networking opportunities the sites offered.

According to Kuppuswamy and Shankar (2010), 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, (Liccardi, Ounnas, Massey, Kinnunen, Midy, & Sakar.2007) reviewed that the students are socially connected with each other for sharing their daily learning experiences and do conversation on several topics. Tinto (1997) argued 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 to their experiences as well as their academic life. Trusov, Bucklin, & Pauwels (2009) noted that the Internet is no doubt evolution of technology but specifically social networks are extremely unsafe for teenagers, social network become hugely common as well as well-known in past few years. According to Cain(2009) social network websites provide ease of connecting people to one another; free of cost and after connecting one can post news, informative material and other things including videos and pictures etc. Wileyand Sisson (2006) argued that the previous studies have found that more than 90% of tertiary school students use social networks. In the same way Ellisonetal (2007) stated that the students use social networking websites approximately 30 minutes throughout the day as a part of their daily routine life. This statement shows the importance of social networking websites in students’ life. Lenhartand Madden (2007) 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 one another.

Statement of Problem

The world today is a global market in which the internet is the most important sort of information. Since the advent of social media sites in the 1990s, it is assumed in some quarters that the academic performance of students is facing a lot of neglect and challenges. The educational system in Cameroon is faced with so many challenges which has certainly brought about a rapidly decline in the quality of education. There is a deviation, distraction and divided attention between social networking sites and their academic work. It is observed that students devote more attention to social media than they do to their studies. Students’ addictiveness to social networks, students’ frequency of exposure to social network, social media network that the students are more exposed to and the influence of social media as a medium of interaction between students has been part of discussion in recent times and which have imparted on their academic performance. Instead of students reading their books, they spend their time chatting and making friends via the social media and this might definitely have influence on their academic performance, because when you do not read, there is no way you can perform well academically. It is a common sight to see a student chatting in sensitive and highly organized places like church, mosque and lecture venues. Some are so carried away that even as they are walking along the highway, they keep chatting.

The manufacturing and distribution of equally sophisticated cellular phones has complicated the situation, as students no longer need to visit a cyber café before they send and receive messages. Attention has been shifted from visible to invisible friends, while important ventures like study and writing might be affected in the process. This phenomenon has become a source of worry to many who believe in knowledge and skill acquisition. In recent times social media have been a major stay in the minds of students and the world at large thereby causing a lot of drastic measure by students, teachers and even educational administrators at large. It is therefore of great importance to explore some of the trending issues facing students’ academic performance as a result of social media. Students at all levels of learning now have divided attention to studies, as a result of available opportunities to be harnessed from social media. Whether these opportunities promote studies is a question that needs to be answered. Thus, the problem this study investigates the influence of social media networks on the academic performance of students in the University of Bamenda.

Objective of the Study.

The main objective of this study generally is to examine the influence of social media and the academic performance of students in the University of Bamenda Bambili.

Specifically, the study seeks;

To determine the rate of indecency that students are more exposed on social media and the influence on their academic performance.

To ascertain how social media has increased high crime wave on students and their academic performance.

To examine how absenteeism has influenced the academic performance of university students.

To examine the level of student distraction to social media and its influence on their academic performance.

Research Questions

The following research questions were raised;

How does indecency on social media influence students’ academic performance?

How does social media increase high crime wave on students and their academic performance?

To what extend has absenteeism influenced the academic performance of university students?

To examine how has distraction influenced the university students and their academics?