The Influence Of Students Participation In The Social Media On Academic Performance: A Case Of Students In The School Of Economics And Faculty Of Arts Of The University Of Nairobi

Abstract

In recent times, social media have been a major stay in the minds of students and the world at large thereby causing a lot of drastic measure by students, teacher and even educational administrators at large. It is therefore of great importance to explore some of the trending issues facing students’ academic performance as a result of social media. Students at a University level of learning now have divided attention to studies, as a result of available opportunities to be harnessed from social media. The general objective of this study was the influence of participation in the Social Media on the Academic Performance of students in the School of Economics and Faculty of Arts of the University of Nairobi and specific objectives were to find out the social media networks that students in school of economics and faculty of arts of the University of Nairobi are more inclined to, investigate the socioeconomic factors that influenced use of social media network among students in school of economics and faculty of arts of the University of Nairobi and to examine the influence of social media on the academic performance of students in school of economics and faculty of arts of the university of Nairobi. The study adopted descriptive research design. The study targeted University of Nairobi School of economics and faculty of arts main campus students in Nairobi County. The study population was 2607 students. The sample size was 120 students. Questionnaires were used to collect data from these respondents. Interview guides were also used to collect data from 10 key informants. The collected primary data was coded entered into computer and analyzed using the statistical package for social sciences version 24. The findings were presented using Tables and Figures. From the findings, several social media networks were used by respondents that included Facebook, WhatsApp, You-Tube, Google+, Twitter, My space, Badoo among others. Most of the respondents always used WhatsApp (M=4.49), Facebook (M=4.47) and YouTube (M=4.48). Most of parents of respondents, 36.3% and 31.9% were skilled employees and foremen respectively. The household income of majority of respondents, 33.0% and 23.1% was Kshs 50,000-75,000 and Kshs 75,000-100,000 respectively. The study established that networking had improved through social media such as sharing class notes (M=3.97) and social networking had increased collaboration between fellow class colleagues and staff (M= 3.83). The study concludes that several social media networks used by respondents included Facebook, WhatsApp, You-Tube, Google+, Twitter, My space, Badoo among others. The household income for majority of respondents was sufficient to meet the costs of using social media and therefore enhancing its uptake. Networking had improved through social media such as sharing class notes. Social networking had increased collaboration between fellow class colleagues and staff. The study recommends that all institutions of higher learning in Kenya should encourage students to form different varieties of social media accounts like Myspace, Twitter, Google and Badoo. The study recommends that all telecommunication service providers like Safaricom and Airtel should continuously ensure effective network coverage for students to access social media. The study recommends that all universities in Kenya should encourage students to use social media that will see an improvement in academic performance.