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

Social Media Usage and its Impact on the Academic Performance of Students of Higher Education Institutions | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Social Media Usage and its Impact on the Academic Performance of Students of Higher Education Institutions Emmanuel Akanpaadgi, Esmond Naalu Kuuyelleh, Ernest Kumi, Justice Solomon Korantwi-Barimah, and 1 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-6959676/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract 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. Academic performance Effects Higher education Social media Students Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-6959676","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":527114455,"identity":"88a63151-f354-4446-840c-92f5e8a5baf9","order_by":0,"name":"Emmanuel Akanpaadgi","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Bolgatanga Technical University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Emmanuel","middleName":"","lastName":"Akanpaadgi","suffix":""},{"id":527114456,"identity":"9cd795a9-1894-475d-a816-b6dfd73c8e7b","order_by":1,"name":"Esmond Naalu Kuuyelleh","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Bolgatanga Technical 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