Social Media Usage and its Impact on the Academic Performance of Students of Higher Education Institutions

Purpose : This research sought to investigate how social media usage affects the academic performance of students of higher education institutions using students of the ten Technical Universities in Ghana as a case study. Design/Methodology/Approach : The study adopted the survey method and a quantitative approach. The population of the study is students of the ten technical universities in Ghana who use social media. Purposive convenient sampling was used to locate 237 respondents based on their availability on social media and their willingness to respond to the questionnaire. Frequency tables and percentages were used to analyse the biodata while mean analysis was used to analyse the variables pertaining to the usage, benefits and negative effects of social media. Findings : The study confirmed the claim that most students of higher education institutions use social media for assignments, sharing of information, news update, entertainments, recruitment, reaching out to family members and emergency calls although at varying degrees. On the negative effects of social media, the following variables; interferes with sleep, aids examination malpractices, affects concentration, competes for learning time, causes depression and poor communication all had means above 2.5 which implies that most students admitted to experiencing them. Participants, however, expressed varied opinions with regards to social media aiding examination malpractices and poor communication. Conclusion : The study concluded that higher education institutions should consider integrating social media usage into their curricular for students to adopt a positive and a balanced approach towards social media usage in order to maximise its benefits.