Influence of Social Networking Sites on Academic Performance of University Students

Social Networking Sites (SNS) continue to play a significant role in the daily lives of humans most especially among university students. The platforms have affected university students in various ways including their academic performance. As such, this research seeks to find out how use of SNS platforms affect the academic performance of university students. Using quantitative methodology, the study samples university students who use SNS while carrying out a comparison between students of two Faculties (Communication and Media Studies Faculty and Engineering Faculty). Questionnaires were randomly distributed to 410 students of the Faculty of Engineering and Communication & Media Studies. The research was carried out in the Fall semester of 2018/2019 academic session. Findings indicate that using SNS increased students’ productivity in their academics however, when they use SNS for non-academic activities there is usually no improvement in their grades. Findings also show that the almost all the SNS platforms are being used by these university students. Findings also indicate that there is a statistical significant relationship between students of Faculty of Engineering and Faculty of Communications and Media Studies, of who are affected by SNS use in their academic performance. Keywords: SNS, Academic Performance, SNS Use, University Students