Influence of the Social Media on the Academic Performance of Tertiary Students in Nigeria
Samuel Enyi Otsapa
Samuelotsapa@gmail.com
08038127832
080547886
The social media has become the most outstanding media in the world as it is now the most important marketplace for individuals, organizations, institutions and governments. Today, many individuals who hitherto regarded the social media as a place for the gathering of “small children” and “lazy bones” are beginning to realize that it is not so. Individuals, organizations and governments are beginning to understand that the social media is the new ‘oil’ that keeps one relevant and up to date in today’s fast paced world.
It is for this reason that many high profile individuals, organizations and governments now operate one, two or even three social media accounts. President Donald Trump, the current American President, is a daily user of the social media where he readily expresses himself the way he wants without recourse to been politically correct. Since becoming the number one citizen of United State of America about four years ago, President Donald Trump has made more than 12,000 Twitter posts which underscore the importance of the social media to the man and his government. Back home, Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari also operates a Twitter account where he regularly interacts with Nigerians. Internationally, the most popular social media platforms are Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Messenger, Snapchat and WhatsApp.
According to records by Statista, the leading social media platforms in the world based on the number of active accounts, as at April 2016, are: Facebook (1,590,000,000 users), WhatsApp (1,000,000,000 users), Facebook Messenger (900,000 users), QQ (853,000,000 users), WeChat (697,000,000 users), Qzone (640,000,000 users), Tumblr (555,000,000 users), Instagram (400,000,000 users), Twitter (320,000,000 users), Baidu Tieba (300,000,000 users), Skype (300,000,000 users), Viber (249,000,000 users), Sina Weibo (222,000,000 users), Line (215,000,000 users) and SnapChat (200,000, 000 users). We are in June 2020, four years after this data was presented and this would mean that the number of active users on these platforms has increased since more people; particularly people in the Third World Countries of Africa, Latin America and Asia, now have android phones more than in 2016. Also, new social media platforms such as Imo, SnapChat, Badoo, Zoom and Linkedin have since been developed, adding to the growing list of social media platforms and willing users. Apparently, the plethora of social media platforms and the caliber of personalities, institutions, organizations and governments with presence on them is a clear indication that the social media, also known as the “new media,” is here to stay for the long haul.
It is the advancements in phone and internet technologies that have made the social media very popular among both the young and old in Nigeria, but more popular among students in the nation’s tertiary institutions. Nigeria, with an estimated population of 200 million people, has the highest number of android phones and internet users on the African continent so it has become important for us to look into the impact of the social media on the academic performance of students in the country’s tertiary institutions viz a viz the education sector as a whole. An enquiry such as this is important as it is now commonplace for students in tertiary institutions to spend long hours online on the social media.
For students in Nigerian tertiary institutions, the social media provides them with the tool to making friends not only on campus but also with individuals and groups outside of school, creating virtual friendships and communities of like minds and interests. As with every technology already known to man, the social media technology and innovation has both positive and negative impacts on individuals, families, societies and nations. Discussions about the social media and its influence on students in tertiary institutions in Nigeria has become both a matter of concern and of interest to parents, stakeholders in the education sector and government at all levels.
Beyond the social connections and friendships that the social media builds and fosters, can students derive educational benefits from it? Is the social media anti traditional media? Do we stop tertiary students in Nigeria from using the social media or limit the time they spend on it? Are there empirical evidences about the impact of the social media on students’ academic performances? In a 2008 study by Sheldon, it was reported that more than 50% of college students in the United States of America log on the social media several times a day and that this has had a negative effect on their concentration in class and their overall educational performance. Two years after, Quan-Haase and Young found out that 82% of college students reported logging into Facebook several times a day even when they were in class. These figures show that students in America are becoming hooked unto the social media and this writer have observed this to also be the case with Nigeria’s tertiary institutions’ students since the average Nigerian learner is a proud owner of an android phone. This writer has also observed that Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp are the three most common social media platforms among tertiary students in the country.
What then are some of the positive influences of the social media on the academic performances of tertiary institution students in Nigeria? First, the social media has helped to connect students from far and near – and through their online interactions and debates, students are becoming acquainted and exposed to the cultural, political, religious and socioeconomic peculiarities and diversities of different local and international communities, states and countries, which is beneficial to their education.
The social media has also helped in the area of exposing students to the online versions of different local and foreign newspapers, radio and television stations at cheaper costs such that students can, by simply clicking a link, read and/or watch the news and current affairs on a daily basis. Thus keeping them abreast of the happenings around them and in the world, this is a very important aspect of learning and education.
Also, there are several educational pages on social media specially dedicated to the teaching of different courses and disciplines. On Facebook, there is a page dedicated to Mass Communication where lecturers and media practitioners teach topics and/or share their practical experiences with undergraduates via video and audio clips and written texts. Through the instrumentality of this page, many Mass Communication students from different Nigerian Universities, Polytechnics and Colleges of Education told this writer that they now understand topics they hitherto did not when taught in the traditional university/polytechnic/college of education classrooms. This is proving that for many Millennial, the social media is a more conducive, easier and friendlier ‘environment’ for teaching and learning.
On the flipside, the social media has negatively impacted on the academic performance of students in Nigeria’s tertiary institutions. According to the result of a 2011 study carried out by Moon, the more students use the social media, the more it affects their concentration in class and ultimately their academic performance. He argued that this happens because majority of tertiary institution students’ in Nigeria use their social media accounts for socializing activities; chatting and posting of comic pictures and videos than for academic and learning purposes.
Today, more than before, the social media, particularly Facebook, Snap Chat and Instagram, have become the go to place for the reckless display of truancy and nudity among young people who are mostly students of tertiary institutions in the country. On Instagram and Facebook, it is commonplace to see young girls between the ages of 15 and above expose their nudity to the public for the sake of ‘Likes’ and ‘Shares’ so as to become popular online. Some days ago, a young girl in the North Bank area of Makurdi metropolis posted a nude video of herself on Instagram and became an instant social media ‘celebrity’ as followers on the platform increased immediately that video went viral.
Thus instead of focusing and channeling all of their energies into studying their books, many students in Nigeria’s tertiary institutions are obsessed with being popular on social media. The social media has also increased the rate of internet and cyber crime/fraud popularly known as yahoo-yahoo by providing fraudsters with information and access to hundreds of unsuspecting social media users. These yahoo-yahoo boys hack into the social media accounts of users to defraud them, family members and friends.
Recently, an undergraduate student of the Benue State University in Makurdi was arrested by the Police for hacking into the Facebook account of a prominent politician blackmailing him for money. The Police High Command on 23rd June, 2020 also paraded a syndicate with specialty in online fraud. Young men and women who should be surfing the internet for educational materials from online libraries that aide their learning processes are rather preoccupied with crime – something they do to keep up with online Joneses.
Unknown to these young folks, the social media is a place where most people live fake lives. In one of this hit songs, Audio Money, Rude Boy of the Psquare fame told us that “everyone is rich on Instagram”, including those way dey owe their landlords house rent.
For the uninitiated, these positive and negative influences of the social media on the academic performance of students in Nigeria’s tertiary institutions may be considered irrelevant and less impactful at the individual student level but when put together, they become a systemic issue that makes or breaks the education sector in the country with implications for growth and development. Thus, it is imperative that everyone becomes genuinely interested in a matter such as this – especially when we know that education is one of the most important sectors for a country like Nigeria that is in a hurry to grow and develop.
In order to strengthen the positives and weaken the negatives of social media influence on the academic performance of tertiary students in particular and the education sector in general, all hands must come on deck to ensure that the minds of students are re-orientated into understanding the importance of prioritizing their education over anything else, in this period of their lives. To do this, individuals, stakeholders in education and government (local, state and federal) should launch campaigns on social media that discusses both the negatives and positives of the social media, as it concerns education. These campaigns do not have to be grand and expensive but regularly puts out messages encouraging students to utilize the social media mainly for educational and learning purposes.
Of course, students ought to socialize with others but this should not be their major occupation when on social media. Also, parents and guardians need to closely watch their children and wards so that they would be reprimanded and corrected early whenever they notice truancy and fraudulent tendencies. On their part, lecturers in tertiary institutions must be on the lookout for students who, while in class, use their phones to log unto the social media.
Generally, the social media is a welcome advancement in technology that has made the world a global village, but students in tertiary institutions in Nigeria must be counseled and guided to explore it for the advancement of their learning and education and less for activities that do not help in improving their knowledge and academic performance in school.
