EMPIRICAL REVIEW OF SOCIAL MEDIA AND ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE OF STUDENTS IN HIGHER EDUCATION

Abstract

The growth and use of social media has significantly affected the worldviews for the last two decades. It has influenced all the sphere of life including education and higher education. This article reviews impact of social media on academic performance of students in higher education. We aimed to examine few thematic areas where social media has profound negative effect on the academic performance of students in higher education (universities). We employed a structured approach of systematic review to identify, evaluate, and synthesize the existing literature on the topic. We focused on the research published from 2015 onwards because it reflects the rise and prevalence of social media use in academia. The synthesis of data was conducted through a thematic analysis approach. The key themes/patterns related to social media usage and academic performance were extracted, grouped, and interpreted. We reached the conclusion that academic performance of students is negatively affected by social media use in each category of analysis, i.e. grading, CGPA, learning skills, class participation, language proficiency, study routine, expressions of ideas, knowledge development, research, and communication skills. Thus, we conclude that social media negatively affects the academic performance of the students in higher education. It is suggested to devise mechanism of normative rationality to fix this issue in academic performance of students in higher education.