Effects of Social Media on Academic Performance of Grade 11 students at Bestlink College of the Philippines

Abstract

Internet rapidly grows around the world and became a part of everyone’s life. By 2015, approximately 3.2 billion people or nearly half of the world’s population are using the Internet. One of the platforms that gained popularity throughout the years is social media networking sites. It grew rapidly as people create their accounts for simple communication and even for entertainment. Social networking sites include Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and Instagram, as well as Wikipedia and Pinterest. People use social media to connect and interact with other people of different races and cultures. Social media became the largest platform because people of all ages are engaged in using these sites. Most teenagers are addicted to using social media accounts. The quantitative method was applied to select 30 students as respondents, with 15 males and 15 females aged 15–19 years old. Survey and unstructured interviews were conducted to determine the effects of social media on the academic performance of Grade 11 students in Bestlink College of the Philippines. The respondents always use YouTube and Instagram, and they believe that it provides information to them and helps them express their feelings. It also helps in understanding the lesson well. The respondents also attributed their lack of sleep to social media. Based on the results, the majority of the respondents showed negative effects of using social media. Hence, the students should use it correctly. Most of the respondents lacked sleep because of using social media. Thus, parents should always monitor their children regarding social media use. Students became dependent on those platforms because they wanted to be updated on what is happening and what is trending. In today’s education system, social media is important because teachers are involved in various social media sites to engage their students in learning. Educators also use social media to help the learners actively participate in learning activities and enhance their skills.