The effect of social media on middle school students' attitudes towards the social studies course

The aim of this study is to investigate the impact of middle school students' social media use on their attitudes toward the Social Studies course. The research was conducted within the framework of a correlational survey model. In this context, the effects of social media usage frequency, social media content, social media addiction, age, gender, and grade level on students' attitudes were examined. Data were analyzed using the SPSS 27.0 program. Accordingly, the data were statistically analyzed using parametric tests, including the independent samples t-test, one-way ANOVA, Pearson correlation analysis, and simple linear regression. The research findings indicate that frequent social media use negatively affects students' attitudes toward the Social Studies course, while educational social media content positively influences their attitudes. A negative relationship was identified between social media addiction and attitudes toward the course. Additionally, age, gender, and grade level were found to create significant differences in students' attitudes toward the Social Studies course. Female students exhibited significantly more positive attitudes compared to male students, and 5th-grade students showed significantly more positive attitudes compared to 6th, 7th, and 8th-grade students. The results suggest that social media use can have both positive and negative effects on students' attitudes. These findings provide important insights for educators and policymakers, highlighting the need for more effective structuring of social media use in education. Keywords: social media, secondary school students, social studies course, student attitudes, use of technology in education, digital learning.