A Look Out for Academic Impacts of Social Networking Sites (Snss): a Student Based Perspective

At any given time of day, anyone can access an abundant amount of information at the click of a button. Men, women, kids, teenagers, adults and even the elderly are learning how to use the internet to their advantage. Among all the benefits the internet has provided to us, online communication has proven to be the most beneficial. Social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter and MySpace have made it easy for everyone to stay in contact with each other. Regardless of how far apart a family member or friend is, everyone is just one click away. If someone is not having a good day, they can share their feelings with everyone in a matter of seconds. These social networking sites have become quite popular among adolescents. They allow teens to stay more connected with their friends outside of school. Now teens have become more obsessed with their friends Facebook or Twitter status than engaging in outdoor activities like football or

4 EFFECTS OF SOCIAL MEDIA ON COLLEGE STUDENTS Statement of Problem To address the issue of the effectiveness of using social networking, the first question raised in this study is: for what purpose is the student utilizing social networking? Research on this topic will start to reveal social networking sites are simply part of how students interact with each other with no apparent impact on grades. Thus, the objective of this research is to explore the advantages and disadvantages of students’ use of social networking for study. The main purpose of this research is to expand on previous research, explore the relationship between the effects of social networking and students’ study efficiency, and to determine if social media interfering with students’ academic lives. Research Questions: Which is the most popular social media site for students? What is the amount of time students spend utilizing social media in various academic processes? Review of the Literature College students have great interest in social media. For the purpose of this study, social media was defined as Facebook, YouTube, Blogs, Twitter, MySpace or LinkedIn (Martin, 2008). Although, providing a detailed perspective on social media use among university students and underscoring that such use can produce both

African Journal of Business Management Vol. 5(13), pp. 5118-5126, 4 July, 2011 Available online at http://www.academicjournals.org/AJBM DOI: 10.5897/AJBM10.870 ISSN 1993-8233 ©2011 Academic Journals

African Journal of Business Management Vol. 4(18), pp. 4118-4134, 18 December, 2010 Available online at http://www.academicjournals.org/AJBM ISSN 1993-8233 ©2010 Academic Journals

(procon.org. 1). Anyway, while we pond on that question, let us discuss why social media discourages students from studying or why students who uses social networking sites don’t do well in school. Besides the fact that students who use social networking sites use them to connect with their family, and long distance friends, proponents of social networking sites may argue that it helps students to do better at school, and that 59% of students with access to the internet report that they use social networking sites to discuss educational topics and 50% use these sites talk about school assignments, according to procon.org (2). However, since these sites are not one hundred percent accurate and reliable, how are we sure that the students who uses social networking sites are actually doing well in their academics and not failing when it is obvious non users of social networking sites perform better. As a matter of fact, what chance does a student who uses social networking sites stand to a student who spends their time outside classroom doing their homework’s, reading their class notes, textbooks, and novels, and spending their time on other things other than on social networking sites? In as much as many of us don’t see the harm social networking sites are having on our students, it is an undeniable fact

Are we becoming less human with the passing of each day? Have we become too dependent on technology, specifically social media? In this day and age, people have different views on social media. They question its true purpose and its effect on society as a whole. With that said, although there are many thoughts concerning the topic/trend of social media something that is undoubtedly true is that social media plays an active role in the lives of the majority of people. Whether in a positive or negative way, social media influences the lives of all people. However this paper focuses on the effect of social media on college students. It addresses both the positive and negative effects of social media on those in college; focusing on a student’s academic efficiency, social interactive skills, and overall productivity.

Social media is discussed daily because it is growing at a rapid pace and continues to be an important part of people's lives, especially first year college students. People use social media in their first year of college in a beneficial way to create new opportunities/possibilities for themselves, create relationships that otherwise wouldn't have been discovered, and to provide an escape route for relief in their busy college life. All these factors created come in many forms. Social media is very complex and is constantly changing, which makes these components so much more valuable for first year college students.

A RESEARCH PROPOSAL SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE AWARD OF A DEGREE IN BUSINESS MANAGEMENT AT MASINDE MULIRO UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

For children, these sites have become very addictive. The day starts off by checking their profile to check their messages, blogs, readings, horoscopes and to, keep up with events such as marriage’s and graduations. Social networking is an excellent way of teaching young children families’ cultures and traditions. These marriage and graduation events have prompted 29 million parents to join in as well. (O’Dell,2011) Alisa Almas, a University of Toronto graduate student and a Facebook user, says, “Kids who have had a great relationship with their parents in real life volunteer information about their private and social world, and would more likely be on Face book.” (Kobayashi ,2011) Social networking has allowed family members to reconnect with friends, nuclear and extended family. Social networking has increased communication, and strengthened relationships. Social networking sites allow for creative expression in a new medium. They provide free messaging, blogging, photo storage, games, event invitations, and many other services to Social networking sites bring people with common interests together, and keep in touch at all times with relatives and friends .(Andrew,2009,p.342)  Through social networking many teenagers have overcome with their social anxieties. 59% of students with access to the Internet report that they use social networking sites to discuss educational topics

A Research Proposal in Partial Fulfillment for the Bachelor of Business Administration of the Technical University of Mombasa

The social network has become a controversial topic as well as the special influence on teenagers in 21th century. Somehow, the social platform has become an integral part of modern life because of conveniency . A social network can be defined as a network of social connections and personal relationships. It also refers to dedicated websites or other applications that enable users to communicate with one another by posting images, information, messages, and comments. Examples of social networks include social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest and Google+ among others. Social networks have taken the internet world by storm. Now that, individuals in the contemporary world having the strong dependency on social networks for various purposes including education, socialization, communication, and entertainment among others. According to statistics that many youth people will frequently spend most of the time to interacting with their friends and families on social networks. On the other hands, others use the same to access new updates as well as entertainment materials. Indeed, social networks such a Facebook have changed the way young people interact with one another and the society at large. The increased popularity of social networks has raised concerns among scholars and individuals. Fundamentally, most of the majorities are more concerned with the effects social media have on the younger generation and the society. Some are of the view that social

In modern times, technology is the most important object in people’s daily life. Social networks is experiencing explosive development. No matter where we are, park, restaurant, classroom, or coffee house, almost everyone bows their head and plays cell phones, smart phones, or laptops. New technologies have been becoming more and more popular, at the same time, immeasurable people are using these new technologies. It is the most normal scene that people holds their devices and has no communication with others. Some people would say that these new technologies have positively transformed communication mode so that modern people prefer talking on the internet instead of face to face. That was a very popular statement at the beginning of 21st century. However, with time goes by, one of the new technologies—social networking— has begun to show a dark side. Although using different kinds of smart devices like iPhone, laptop, and tablet PC to log into social network is not inherently bad, some young people have been abusing this technology. It is so called troubling trend of social networks usage that needs to be focused on and solved. Indeed, parents can use some soft wares to control their child’s usage of social networking sites, another more powerful way is the law enforcement, the best solution to this troubling trend is let students take

Vol. 2 No. 2 2015 Editorial Board Editor: Dr. (Mrs.) Edwinah Amah Co-Editor: Dr. Ukoha Ojiabo Dr. (Mrs.) Edwinah Amah: Department of Management, Faculty of Management Sciences, University of Port Harcourt. Dr. Ukoha Ojiabo: Department of Management, Faculty of Management Sciences, University of Port Harcourt.

1. Introduction 1.1 Background Ever since the so-called “eve” networks of Internet founded in 1969 (http://www.livinginternet.com accessed on 11.05.10), till now in the 21th century, the new era of Internet surfing, people‟s life has become not only material but cyber. The social networking sites, as a new online practice since late 1990s, has gained noticeable popularity among Netizens. The social networking sites have been penetrating into people‟s daily life. Create a profile on a social networking site, make friends, and tell the others what you are doing at the moment, all these have become a new lifestyle of people today, especially young people. Moreover, it has become a new multimedia platform for users sharing their own lives with

Nowadays, the Internet is considered as the most convenient, fastest and the cheapest means of communication between people around the world. Also, it can be an extremely easy way to access information. The number of the users of the Internet is increasing every day. Also, it might be considered as the most developed form of communication. Furthermore, the Internet provides a lot of websites online many of these websites associate in social interaction between users such as social networking sites. Social networking sites have been defined as “a web-based service” that permits users to create an account and put their personal information, pictures and videos and it allows users to make a list of friends, so people can communicate with other users (Boyd & Ellison, 2008). Also, other users on the same site can see and share their profiles (Boyd & Ellison, 2008). Social networking sites are the most popular between adults, children and teenagers (Papacharissi, 2011, p.39). The most prominent social networking sites around the world are Facebook, Twitter, Friendster, Hi5 and MySpace. Social networking sites are a new phenomenon and are highly controversial. Social networking sites are a phenomenon that interests many scientists and psychologists in the world, as it also concerns parents as well because of the impact on children and teenagers all over the world (Boyd & Ellison, 2008). These sites have