Effects of Social Media in the Academic Performance of Senior High students

Of Palawan National School

Chapter I
Introduction
Background of the study

The Palawan National High school is having more enrolees every year. When the school year comes; the
Students of the Palawan National in Senior High School Students are addicted on the social media like Playing
Computer Games, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram, Tumbler, Tiktok, watching online even the class.
Students must really know the importance of social media to be able to fulfil their own will. Technology
nowadays is becoming more and more high tech. And it’s improves day by day for us to use in our convenience.

This technological evolution affects us but most are the “Millennials”. In research we will focus on the
Senior High School Students of Palawan National School ages from 17-19 years old. For us to get more specific
answer and accurate answer form our said research. The definition of social media is “the relationship’s that the
exist between networks of people”. However, students spend most of their time using social media like
Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, etc..., then doing their own homework.

People use social media to connect to other people who are far from them. Because of the evolution of
social media, it’s much easier and convenient to use than before. Social media can be also use to express your
feeling towards someone or something. People are fascinated how they call tell their opinions using social
media, usually for politics, education, or even entertainment. And social media really affects the student most,
because they are usually the one using.

The driving factors for adoption of social media are the progressively ubiquitous access, convenience,
functionality, and flexibility of social technologies (Brown, 2010; Schroeder, Minorca and Schneider, 2010).
These factors have made the adoption of social media very easy 3 and have tremendously improved mankind’s
life by exposing him to different ways of creating and sharing information. An additional benefit of social
technologies provided on the internet is that they are frequently free or require marginal investment, thereby
eliminating a potential barrier to adoption (Brown, 2010).

As we know, nothing interesting is ever completely one-sided, so it is for social media as it comes with
both positive and negative effects. There is a correlation between social media usage and academic performance
of students in universities. There have been various views and opinions which recognize four major advantages
of social media use in higher education. These include; enhancing relationship, improving learning motivation,
offering personalized course material, and developing collaborative abilities (Wheeler, Yeoman’s and
Wheeler,2008; Rifkin, Long Necker, Leach and Ortia,2009). Also, Riccardo et al (2007), argued that students
are socially connected with one another and therefore share their daily learning experiences and do conversation
on various topics through social media whereas Kuppuswamy and Shankar (2010), reviewed that social network
websites grab students’ attention and then diverts it towards no educational and inappropriate actions including
useless chatting.

Research has proved the heavy presence of social media usage among students. Wiley and Sisson
(2006), for instance argue that previous studies have found that more than 90% percent of tertiary school
students use social networks. It is also found out that, students use social networking sites (SNSs) approximately
thirty (30) minutes throughout the day as part of their daily routine life (Nicole, Charles, and Cliff, 2007).This
shows the level at which students are patronizing these sites and this may bring along both positive and negative
effects on students as far as their academic performance is concerned.

According to Rachel HeikeMany parents worry about how exposure to technology might affect toddlers
developmentally. We know our preschoolers are picking up new social and cognitive skills at a stunning pace,
and we don’t want hours spent glued to an iPad to impede that. But adolescence is an equally important period of
rapid development, and too few of us are paying attention to how our teenagers’ use of technology—much more
intense and intimate than a 3-year-old playing with dad’s iPhone—is affecting them. In fact, experts worry that
the social media and text messages that have become so integral to teenage life are promoting anxiety and lowering
self-esteem.

Statement of the problem

1. Does use of social media has any negative impact on student’s academic performance?
2. Does use of social media has any positive impact on student’s academic performance?
3. How do social media affect the student’s academic performance?
4. Is there any difference in academic performance on a particular course between students who use social
media and those who don’t?
Significance of the study

This study is significant to the teachers, parents and students. This study will help the teachers of the
school to know influence that social media has on their students, so as to assist them to enlighten and create
awareness to the students on the possible influence it has on them. The study is of significant to parents in the
sense that they will know the possible effects these social media usage has on their children, so as to serve as
watch –dog to their children on the usage of the social networking site.

The study will enable the students of the senior high level so that they will be aware that, apart from social
benefits of this social networking sites, using the sites more than necessary will possible dangers to their health.
It will be relevant is assisting students in understanding the diversity of social media. It will provide relevance
material for students and other researchers undertaking similar research. The study will help researchers with
more information on the influences of social media student’s academic performance.

Scope and limitation of the study

The focus of this research work is to primarily study the influence of social media on the academic performance
of students. The study will comprise student’s in Palawan National School.

Hypotheses

The following hypotheses are generated by the researcher and were tested is this study:
1. Students’ addictiveness to social media has no significant influence on their academic performance.
2. Students expose to social media network has no significant influence on academic performance.
3. Use social media do no significant influence, on the academic performance of the students in Palawan
National School.
4. There is no significant difference between male and female student usage of social media network.
5. Age does not have significant influence on the use of social media.

Definition of terms

As words may mean differently in different contexts, the following definition are given us the words used
as intended to be understood for the purpose of this study.

Social media: They are forms of electronic communication which facilitate interactive base on
certain interests. Social media include web and mobile technology.

Social Networking site: A website where people put information about them can send to others.

Social Networking: The use of internet to make information about yourself available to other especially
people you share an interest with to send message to them.

Media: Are all those media technologies that are intended to reach a large audience by mass
communication. “They are message communicated through a mass medium to a
number of people.

Academic: It is concerned with studying from books as opposed by a practical work.

Students: Someone who Studying at a University or School. someone who is very interested
in a particular subject.
Computer: A computer is a machine that receives or stores or process data quickly according
to a stored program.

Tweets: A short message posted on Twitter (a micro blog).

ICT: Information and Communication Technology.

Students' Profile
Students' Social Media Usage
Students' Academic Performance measured by their Average Prelim and Midterm Grades
Survey instrument
Evaluation through survey questionnaire, of the:
Effects of Social Media on the School Work of BSIT students of CEU-Malolos
Relationship between the use of Social Media and the Academic Performance of BSIT students of CEU-
Malolos
Presentation, analysis and interpretation of results
Effects of Social Media on the School Work of BSIT students of CEU-Malolos determined
Relationship of Social Media with the Academic Performance of BSIT students of CEU-Malolos identified
Recommendations to regulate Social Media usage at school
 Chapter 2
Review of Related Literature
This book

Literature Review
The research is focused on analysing the effects of Facebook on students’ performance. There are
numerous research studies that analyse this topic under and they are indeed relevant since most of the innovative
features offered by Facebook platform in collaboration with other social medium forums have been boosted
especially with introduction of revolutionary features and platform. The majority of the studies chosen been
published in the past four five years. According to the comprehensive literature review by Ellison (2007), the
role of Facebook in higher education is attributed to the creation of virtue classes. The review has analysed
massive research database around the world to make this review comprehensive in its coverage for almost all
aspects of an endeavour to give an explanation for the diverse roles of Facebook in higher education classes
Related Literature

A. Local Literature

According to Rejie D. Astodello (December 11, 2016) Tabuk City, Kalinga - People all over the world
have been enjoying the benefits of using technology nowadays. In the past, communicating and free sharing of
thought between people are restricted by long distance, race, and even religion. But now these barriers can no
longer stop the flow of information and knowledge because now the new world of social networking allows free
sharing of thoughts through online social networking sites such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and the like.

Since students are highly motivated to using social media sites the majority of them use these to satisfy
their social needs more than their academic needs. They have the freedom to do whatever they want – they can
upload or download data, they can make new friends and comment on other people’s lives, and they can even
create other online identities the real world does not allow. It has been observed too that the majority of the
students nowadays, particularly those in the secondary level, spend most of their time chatting with their
acquaintances, playing online games, and watching videos instead of reading their lessons, making their
assignments, and other academic requirements. The main reason is when they work or search their materials
online they get attracted to social networking sites to kill boredom during study time, diverting their attention
from their work. The darker side of this that has gained the attention of many parents is that some students
aregetting lazier and are no longer interested in going to school. This is probably due to being extensively
indulged to get global access and therefore leading them to perform less academically.
 I have observed from my Grades 7 and 8 students at the Tabuk City National High School the same
positive and negative impact of using social media inside and outside the classroom. I found these social sites
helpful when one time I needed to communicate with my students, reminding them of their assignments and
urgent requirements. In addition, l also used these social sites to refer my students to helpful resources that
could fetch them higher grades in academics. I tried to encourage the students, particularly the teens with
gadgets having internet facilities, to use it to supplement their researches in the library rather than the usual
chatting with friends all the time.

As a result, almost 85 percent of them were able cope with their academic difficulties and at least 65 to
75 percent of the class obtained the average level of performance. However, students should be encouraged to
limit the time they spend on social media sites and be advised to rather substitute those hours with reading some
learning materials – short stories, novels, etc. to improve their vocabulary. Since the use of social media sites
had affected the academic performance of students negatively, there is a need to introduce the student’s other
information resources or materials that would motivate and help them perform well in their academics.

We can’t deny the fact as years pass by the demand for internet usage keeps increasing because it is
already a necessity among end users, particularly to students. Developers have created online social media sites
where people can have more advanced, more reliable, and more creative ways of communicating. This shows
we, humans, are social animals. We always want to belong in a group where we also prefer what the group does.

According to a survey conducted by Pew Research Center, as of 2015 the largest social networking
company, Facebook for example, has 1.49 billion active users and the number of users is increasing every year.
As part of the said survey, 72 percent of high school students and 78 percent college students spend time on
these social networking sites – Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, Viber, E-mail, etc. These numbers
evidently indicate how much the student community is involved in this virtual world of networking. Students
prefer social media sites as reliable sources of information because everything is a package. A research
conducted by Gagne sometime in 2003 defined media in general as some kind of components in a students’
environment that can stimulate them to study better. Researchers also found that the use of some types of social
media has beneficial effects to students, not only on their academic needs but also to help them establish a sense
of identity and build and enhance networking skills.

B. Foreign Literature

According Literature Reviews, Social Media (January 1, 2017) This research effort is targeted at finding
the effects of Social Medial on student’s performance, Therefore, the literature review discusses the relevant
research that is useful to the objectives of this research project. Several research studies investigating the topic
under review are found to be very recent. Since most of the innovative features offered by social media
platforms life Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram, Tumbler, Tiktok, and many others are not that old and
the phenomenon of the use of these media has boosted recently with the available. Most of the students chosen
have been published in the past four to five years.

Tees (2013) presents a very comprehensive literature review paper regarding the role of social media in
higher education virtual and real classes. The review has consulted almost every popular research database
around the world to make this review rich in terms of covering almost every aspect of explaining the role of
different social media in higher education class.

This research finds Facebook to be the most popular social networking site among students as reported
by some researchers and it has reached a one billion user base in October 2012. My space is another SNS which
started in 2003 and got popular among people around 2009. However it is not that popular among educational
setups. Linkeldn with more than 35,000,000 users has been reported as the third most popular SNS but mostly
used for professional networking. In addition, this research found Blogs, Social Impact, and Twitter among the
other popular social networking sites.

The review found mix of opinion regarding whether social networking platforms and technology should
be integrated into learning processes or not. Tess (2013) literature survey finds many reasons for this mix of
opinion. Although most of the educational institutions have established infrastructure for the support of social
media integration into class room learning, however, the effective technology due to lack of proper training in
this area.

His review argues that researchers who support the integration of social media into educational setup are
of the view that conversational processes ensuring maximum interaction and maximum mix of reflections are
possible only through social networking platforms.

While reflecting on the impact of social networking sites on student’s performance, Tess (2013) again
finds a variety of diverse correlations existing in the literature. Some find significantly negative correlative
between student’s results and use of social media while others find no correlations. Even a few studies come up
with positive correlations although not very significant. Interestingly, the negative correlations between SNS’s
usage and poor performance have been associated with personality traits or other behaviour or psychological
aspects rather than solely with the use of these platforms.

Rouis, Limayen, & Salehi-Sangari (2011) investigate the effect of using Facebook on academic
performance of undergraduate students at Lulea University of Technology Sweden in relation to their
personality traits. The proposed research model test how Facebook usage effects performance of students with
different personality traits. In addition the research tries to justify the reveals very significant results. This
research establishes that using Facebook has strong negative impact on academic performance of students with
extrovert personalities. However, factor of self-regulation among students greatly reduces this negative impact
as they have high level of effective self-control while using social media platforms. Cognitive absorption, which
defines extent of deep involvement, is another personality factor taken into consideration while undertaking this
research.

Rouis, Limayen, & Salehi-Sangrari (2011) successfully make the observation that extant of cognitive
absorption determines the frequency and duration of social media usage. However they add that level of
cognitive is in turn defined by self-control and other personality factors. While multitasking skills do nothing to
reduce frequency and use of social media among students, they moderate the effects of social media on
students’ performance by tuning the cognitive absorption.
 Junco R. (2012) investigate the impact of Facebook being a social medium on student’s academic
performance on academic courses. The research analyzes data from 1839 respondents studying 4 years degrees
in residential institutes of north-eastern USA to find trends on frequency of Facebook visits and activities, time
spent on Facebook, time spent on class preparation and academic grades of the students under research.
Analysis of the collected data reveals that time spent on Facebook and frequency of visiting Facebook are
negatively related to student’s academic performance in terms of their GPA. However, there is slightly negative
correlation between time spend in studying for class. He further adds that although time spent on social media
and academic performance are negatively correlated but, this relationship in real world scenarios does not seem
to be major hurdle in academic success.

Junco R. (2012) emphasizes a further investigation into the issue to find some more variables like focus
and intervention that may be strongly related to academic performance. The negative correlation between
Facebook usage and academic outcomes be justified by some negative academic impacts related to certain ways
students use this social medium. He observe that some specific uses of this social media are related to improve
academic results.

Ul & Chand (2012) investigated the usage and popularity of famous social media network among
university students with special focus on the gender based comparison and the impact of the selected social
medium on their academic performance. The two researchers evaluate the pattern and frequency of Facebook
use among university students while focusing gender difference and student opinion about the impacts of the
medium on academic performance. The research analyzes a random sample of 348 respondents including an
equal mix of males and females. The respondents belong to undergraduate, graduate and postgraduate programs
with a mean age of 21 years.

Research analysis shows that Facebook is equally popular among male and female students of the
university under study. It is inferred from the research that majority of the users (61%) agree that this social
medium has adverse effects on their academic performance. Further analysis reveals that among these 61%
majority of the respondents were male. In addition to adverse effects of Facebook on academic performance,
there was also an opinion that use of Facebook makes it hard for them to perform the best on their career
performance. However their researcher feels that the later opinion is not very clear and established and needs
further investigation.

Hamat, Embi & Hassan (2012) studied the use of social networking platforms among undergraduate and
postgraduate students of Malaysian institutes of higher education. This qualitative research collected data on
6358 student respondents through a self-administered questionnaire and analyzed this data to make observations
on the use of networking sites among them. The study also collects opinion of students’ about the impacts of
social medium on their academic performance.

One of the significant findings of the study is about the use of social networking sites for the purpose of
learning. Majority of the respondents agree that they use SNSs as informal learning tool and that it helps them
connect to their friends and peers to get help regarding their studies. However, in case of interaction with
teachers, an equal split opposite opinions exist.

This study also support the most common findings of majority of well-structured studies that use of
social networking sites has no significantly negative impact on the students’ academic performance. They
further state that the possibility of some other factors like social media addiction, more time on internet,
chatting, cognitive absorption etc, linked with the use of internet or specifically social networking sites may
cause poor academic performance.

Yang & Tang (2003) conducted a research study on forty (40) graduates studying a course in Advance
Management Information System (AMIS) in a university in Taiwan to investigate the impact of using social
media for educational purpose on the academic performance of the students. Students were grouped into 14
teams to discuss various question based on MIS cases in an online forum specifically set up for the purpose. The
students had to come up with summaries of the discussions made on the forum. At the end of the course, data
was collected from the forty students on self-administered questionnaires for the purpose of this particular
research. The objective of the study was to find correlations among friendship, advice and adversarial factors
and students’ academic performance.

The result of the analysis show a strong correlation between centrality in friendship factor and students’
academic performance. Friendship is psychological associated with companionship which gives individuals a
better chance of accessing and information on problems. It can be inferred that promoting friendship among
students in a controlled social media environment, can help improve students’ academic performance.

Negussie & Ketema (2014) conducted a cross-sectional survey to a Jimma University Ethiopia between
March 2012 and March 2013 to find if any adverse effects of using social networking sites on students’
academic performance exist. Like many other studies, this research effort also took Facebook into consideration
to establish its findings. In a cross-sectional study of 490 respondents, the research did not find any significant
relationship between students’ duration and frequency of use of Facebook and their academic performance.

Negussie & Ketema (2014) further investigated if there any impact of using social networking sites
while accessing through different devices. Among a variety of devices, it was found that the correlation between
using Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc on mobile devices and students grades is highly negative as compared
to using social networking sites on other devices. The adverse effect is explained by the fact that using cell
phones for social networking activities may involve multitasking and all students are not equally efficient in
multitasking skills. The study suggests that students must be encouraged to use social networking sites for
educational purposes instead of blocking these platforms in the educational premises.

Gupta (2013) research is specific to impact of social media on the academic performance of students in
distance education. This research is more significant due to the fact that distance learning is totally dependent on
social networking technologies. This study is concerned with the respondents’ psychological towards using
technology for the educational purposes and identification of suitable tools and technologies to achieve
academic goals and objectives. This research analyses response of 572 students enrolled to study a postgraduate
course in management. The course delivery and management is online and utilizes information and
communication technologies for this purpose.

This research infers that students’ use of Facebook as social medium for academic purpose has no
significant relationship with the academic performance of the students. This research further establishes that
new online tools and technologies must be integrated to promote online interaction and form online social
networking purposed towards educational achievements and support. Teachers’ perceptions about students’ use
of Facebook book were not supportive in terms of adding any values to their academic performance as inferred
by Gupta (2013)

The above literature review reveals that research on the role of social media and social networking sites
in academic performance of students is still debatable. Most of the researchers have created more questions that
finding answers.

Topic: Effects of Facebook on Student’s Academic Performance

January 1, 2017, Review, Social Media
The effects of Facebook usage on student’s academic performance
Facebook being a social networking site, provide an online profile, promote and share information and
contents and have interactions with contracts and have interactions with contacts both known and unknown
(Kirkpatrick, 2010). Facebook have expanded recently, which led it’s to use by people of all generation
extensively. Several types of research examine this online platform attraction and its persuasive character and
the reason that cause people of every kind and different ages to this community. Other studies show that
Facebook extension presence can have effects that are harmful to academic performance. If students spend most
of their time on Facebook, their academic performance will reduce and thus their grades (Kirkpatrick, 2010). A
day students should have spent at least 30-35 minutes surfing Facebook. They actually sure for only three to
four minutes on each visit to be updated they severally visit Facebook a day. Others spend eight hours on the
website. Although students consider Facebook is distracting and consuming a lot of time, they note that they
can’t stop visiting the website because they prefer it and use it to contact family members and friends, whether
or not encounter them each day.

With this research, Facebook is found to be characteristically popular among other social networking
sites as well as among students as indicated by its growing user capacity that has reached over one billion.
However, the review has found a mix of opinions attributed to whether Facebook alongside other social
networking platforms ought to be integrated into learning processes or not. Consequently, this literature survey
has established many reasons for this mix of opinions. Despite may educational institutions having established
infrastructure for the support of Facebook integration into classroom learning, building an effective integration
methodology poses a major challenge for the researchers to counter.

In fact, many practitioners have not fully embraced this technology due to lack of proper skills and
training in this area. The technologic researchers who re in support the integration of Facebook into the
educational setup have a perception that conversational procedures that ensure maximum interaction as well as a
mix of reflections are made possible through social networking platforms. In the reflection of the impacts of
Facebook networking on students’ performance, Tess (2013) argues that there is a variety of correlations that
exist in the literature. Other studies though find a significant negative correlation between student’s performance
and use of Facebook while others find no correlation or weak correlations. Only a few studies come up with
positive correlations though not with high-level significance. Interestingly, the negative correlations for the
Facebook usage and poor academic performance have been associated with personality traits or other behaviour
or psychological aspects rather than solely with the use of these platforms.

Other researchers have investigated the effects of using Facebook on academic performance for
undergraduate students at the Lulea University of Technology Sweden in relation to their personality traits. The
suggested research model examines the effects of Facebook usage, personality traits. Furthermore, the research
endeavours to justify the relationship between the three aspects i.e. Facebook usage, personality traits and
academic performance (Ellison 2007) The comprehensive analysis of 239 students’ data reveals very significant
results and establishes that application of Facebook is associated with negative implications on the academic
performance of student’s population magnificently reduces the negative impacts since they are deemed to have
high levels of effective self-control with Facebook use. Cognitive absorption, which defines the extent of deep
involvement, is another personality factor taken into consideration while undertaking this research.

Many have used Facebook exclusively as their social life outsource and have a feeling that this online
platform means allowing it to take over their lives, (Kirkpatrick, 2010) which will lead to them rejecting the
platform. Some say that since they started using Facebook, they have become more organized primarily
regarding management contact and sharing information. A study by Kirkpatrick (2010) done recently also ask
question on the assumed effects that are negative on Facebook use on the academic achievement of the students
and it suggested that this interdependency is significantly moderated by learner’s interests in the colleges and
capabilities of performing many tasks at the same time. These results with controversy, additional to
information from Facebook and students’ comments on distinguished groups of Facebook, give an indication
that learners with specific profiles aim at the bridging social networking, and making new friends. Some spent
most times on Facebook compare to others; they should have more immersion in tasks related to the many hours
they spend surfing Facebook, so they are distracted likely by parallel tasks performed. Learners and other users
who are active get involved in discussion that are long on issues trending daily, checking their profiles in
Facebook from cell phones and computers.

Effects of Facebook frequency of use on student’s academic performance.

Other researchers have successfully made the observation that the extent of cognitive absorption is an
essential determinant of the frequency and duration of Facebook use. Also, they add that the level of cognitive
absorption is defined by self-control and other personality traits. Although, multitasking skills have little to
contribute towards reducing the frequency and use of social media among students, they moderate the effects of
Facebook on students’ performance by tuning the cognitive absorption.

Kirkpatrick, (2010) examines the impacts of Facebook as being social platforms that has significant effects
on students’ performance in academic courses. His research examines data from 1839 respondents studying
degrees in residential institutes of northeaster USA to find trends in the frequency of Facebook visits and activities,
time spent on Facebook and frequency of visiting Facebook are negatively related to students’ performance in
terms of their GPA.
 According to Newman, (2013) they get distraction form their studies, and load of their working memory
make it hard for them to have a focus and make effective preparations of their homework. This will lead to results
that are poor and decrease the achievements. Some studies show the attitudes, interests of students to the internet
and their activities vary with their sex, personality traits and age. Cultural backgrounds and characteristics
differences give the suggestion that there is a need to address the effects of students using Facebook in various
settings, which prompts queries about the impact of Facebook on students with distinguished cultural contexts
which is not predictable. Researchers Newman (2013) indicates that the study on whether Facebook use by
students affects their academic results, hence doing a theoretical background review and depicted the research
model that was proposed before they represented the method adopted to examine it.

From their results analysis, they concluded and made recommendations for further research. Because of
computers being popular among students in college many issues on academic performance had to be addressed.
There are suggestions that students in college use Facebook in chatting with friends and professor as a way of
getting knowledge, be informed, get support and obtain social acceptance that may cause higher levels of their
satisfaction with college life and proficiency in performance consequently. However, there is a possibility of that
Facebook quality is relevant to the effect of the Facebook use on performance in academic. If is intensively use
for the purpose of academic of on communication that essential with others, there will be a positive impact on
academic performance. Elsewhere, if is use for extensively in recreational purposely use for example playing
games and watching video games, there will be a negative effects on the student’s academic performances.
However, there is slightly negative correlation between time spent on this widely used social medium and the
time spend in studying for class. He further adds that although time spent on social media and academic
performance is negatively correlated, this relationship in real world scenarios does not seem to be a major hurdle
in academic success.

Also, Ellison (2007) emphasizes on further investigation into the issue to find some more variables like
focus and intervention that may be strongly related to academic performance. The negative correlation between
Facebook usage and academic outcomes may be justified by some negative academic impacts related to certain
ways students use this social medium. He observes that some specific uses of this social media relate to improve
academic performance while others contribute to lower academic results. Chand (2012) conducted an
investigation on the popularity of famous social media network (Facebook) among university students with a
special concern for the gender-based comparison and the effects of the selected social medium on their academic
performance. The researcher analysed the patterns as well as the frequency of using Facebook among college
students with a major focus on gender differences and student opinion regarding the impacts that this medium has
on academic performance.

This research by Ellison (2007) analysed a random sample comprising of 384 respondents both male and
female. Also, the respondents belong to undergraduate, graduate and postgraduate programs all bearing a mean
age of 21 years. The research analysis indicates that Facebook has equal popularity among male and female
students of the university under study. From the research, the majority of the users approximately 61% agree that
this social medium has adverse effects on their academic performance. Male comprised a majority 61% majority
respondents. Additionally, the adverse effects of Facebook on academic performance contribute to the opinion
that use of Facebook makes it hard for them to perform the best on their career performance. However, the
researcher is optimistic that the later opinion is rather unclear and recommends the need for further investigation.

Facebook used as a learning tool by students to improve academic performance

 Hamat & Hassan (2012) conducted a study for the adoption of social networking platforms among
undergraduate and post graduate students of Malaysian institute of higher education. The latter research is a
qualitative research that collected data form 638 student respondents by means of a self-administered
questionnaire. Later this data was analysed in a bid to make observations on the use of Facebook site. Equally,
the study collects opinion regarding from the study is about the use of social networking sites (Facebook) for the
purpose of learning tool and that it helps them connect with their friends and peers to get help regarding their
studies. However, in the case of interaction with teachers, an equal split of opposite opinions exists. Consequently,
the study supports the most common finding of the majority that the use of social networking sites has no
significantly negative impacts on the students’ academic performance. Additionally, they consider the possibility
of some other factors life Facebook addiction, excessive time spent on the internet and chatting. All these factors
associated with the use of internet and more specifically social networking sites could cause poor academic
performance.

Other researchers conducted a research study on forty (40) graduate studying a course in Advance
Management Information Systems (AMIS) in a university in Taiwan to investigate the effects of using Facebook
for educational purpose on the academic performance on the students. Students were grouped into 14 teams to
discuss various questions based on management information system cases in an online forum specifically set up
for the purpose. The students had to establish some summaries of the discussion made on the forum. At the end
of the course, data was collected form the forty students on a self-administered questionnaires for the purpose of
this particular research. The aim of the study was to find correlation among friendship, advice and adversarial
factors and student academic performance. The results of the analysis show a strong correlation between centrality
in friendship factor and the academic performance of the students.

Related Studies

Local Studies

Don’t believe everything you read in media. Such a pity that those words are being taken to heart and
mind, as they are the opposite of what was drummed into our heads by our mentors, i.e., journalism is the purveyor
of truth and possible transformation.

Not even pictures – described as saying a thousand words – can be believed, as editors cut and paste as they do
words, to eliminate bulges in a subject’s chin, erase creases from one’s forehead, or add a flourish or two to make
him/ her look picture-pretty.

Electoral campaigns, whether abroad or here, are characterized by awful lies to downgrade opponents and make
them look terribly unfit for positions they aspire for. In past Philippine presidential elections, the art of destruction
was so intense it left a bad taste in the mouth. Some of the accusations were true, but most of them were simply
speculative and false. On television today, one can see saliva dripping from the corners of critics’ mouths, or the
satanic fierceness in their eyes as they demolish the target of their assassination. There is a term for today’s head-
hunting bloggers: bastes.
The truthful journalist’s weapon against charges of false and malicious reporting was – and possibly continues to
be – libel. One must be proven without a doubt that he was out to malign the subject, and a sane court, analysing
the facts of the case and finds the respondent not guilty, will throw the petition out of the window.

Such is the case with social media. It can be used to prop up or destroy an individual and/or commercial product.
And who is to distinguish the truth and falsehood of social media reporting?

Imtiaz Ali of TechMead writes of the positive effects of social media, mainly that social networks helping
businesses in a variety of ways.

“Traditional marketing mediums such as the radio, TV commercials and print ads are completely obsolete now
and demand for thousands of dollars,” he writes. “However, with social media the businesses can connect with
their targeted customers for free, the only cost is energy and time. Through Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn or any
other social site you can lower your marketing cost to a significant level.

“The increasing popularity of social sites like Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn, social networks has gained
attention as the most viable communication choice for the bloggers, article writers and content creators.

“These social networking sites have opened the opportunity for all the writers and bloggers to connect with their
tech savvy clients to share your expertise and articles. Your audience will further share your articles, blog or
expertise in their social circle which further enhance your networks of the followers.

“Social networks have removed all the communication and interaction barriers, and now one can communicate
his/her perception and thoughts over a variety of topics. Students and experts are able to share and communicate
with like-minded people and can ask for the input and opinion on a particular topic.

“Another positive impact of social networking sites is to unite people on a huge platform for the achievement of
some specific objective. This is very important to bring the positive change in society.”

On the other hand, one of the negative effects of social media or network is it leads to addiction. “Spending
countless hours on the social sites can divert the focus and attention from a particular task. It lowers the
motivational level of the people, especially of the teenagers and students. They mainly rely on technology and the
internet instead of learning the practical knowledge and expertise of the everyday life.”

“Kids can be greatly affected by these social networking sites if they are allowed to use them. The reason is that
sometimes people share photos on social media that contains violence and sex, which can damage the behaviour
of kids and teenagers. It puts the negative impact on overall society as these kids and teenagers involve themselves
in crime -related activities.”
Karen Fraxier, public relations specialist, writes that social media “has changed the way people interact. In many
ways, social media has led to positive changes in the way people communicate and share information; however,
it has a dark side, as well. Social networking can sometimes result in negative outcomes, some with long-term
consequences.”

Karen cites a 2010 Case Western Reserve School of Medicine study that showed hyper-networking (more than
three hours on social networks per day) and hyper texting (more than 120 text messages per day) correlated with
unhealthy behaviours in teens, including drinking, smoking and sexual activity. Hyper-networking was also
associated with depression, substance abuse, poor sleep patterns, suicide and poor academic performance.

While on the surface it appears social networking brings people together across the Internet, Karen writes that in
a larger sense it may create social isolation, according to a BBC News report. “As people spend increasing
amounts of time on social networks, they experience less face-to-face interaction. Scientists have evaluated social
isolation in many studies, and have determined that it can lead to a host of mental, psychological, emotional and
physical problems including depression, anxiety, somatic complaints and many others.

Some of the harmful effects people suggest social networking has are: encouraging poor grammar, usage, and
spelling, allowing information that may be perceived as fact even in light of evidence to the contrary, exposing
children to online predators, creating a culture in which a single mistake such as a racy picture or poorly thought-
out comment can cause irreparable harm to your reputation, decreasing productivity as workers habitually check
social networking sites while they should be working.

It is inherent on the individual to use social networking constructively, and parents must be especially careful to
monitor their children's use of social networking to minimize the potential for negative outcomes.

* * * With the traffic jams making it impossible to interact on a person-to-person basis, friends have relied on the
Facebook to be connected with one another. One of my favourite FB pals is Deedee Siytangco, former press
undersecretary, and Manila Bulletin columnist whose son, David, is my inaanak.

My family and I spent one weekend in her rest house in Tagaytay. True to its name, Bella Vista has a beautiful
view of Taal lake, and the very cool air allows million flowers and yellow bells to bloom in abundance in her
garden. On Easter Sunday, the place teemed with children from the Mother Teresa Spenelli’s House of Treasures
run by the Augustinian Sisters, to hunt for Easter eggs, and have a lunch of spaghetti and hotdogs. This treat is
repeated year after year, and gladdens Deedee, whose late husband Sonny loved Bella Vista so much.

Another blessing endowed on Deedee is her daughter, Sandee who, with her husband columnist and entrepreneur
Andrew Masigan, have been running a chain of restaurants called Advent Manila, the same group behind XO46
Heritage Bistro.
The latest Masigan offering is Arroz Ecija, which puts delicious traditional Filipino food in your plate with recipes
inspired by life in the 1930s in Nueva Ecija. Attention and taste grabbers are Binghe sa Sari-saring Lamandagat
and Seafood paella. There are Cordilleragrown rice, Ilocos bagnet (deep fried pork belly) and Chorizo de Vigan.
The desserts are worth trying: kakanin, Ube brownie, sapn-sapin, puto.

Arroz Ecija is on the first floor of Arya Residences, McKinley Parkway Hills, Bonifacio Global City, Taguig City.
Telephone number of 02 800 1166.

Foreign Studies

Tweeting the Jihad: Social Media Networks of Western Foreign Fighters in Syria and Iraq
s Brandeis Universidence. Abstract

Social media have played an essential role in the jihadists’ operational strategy in Syria and Iraq, and
beyond. Twitter in particular has been used to drive communications over other social media platforms. Twitter
streams from the insurgency may give the illusion of authenticity, as a spontaneous activity of a generation
accustomed to using their cell phones for self-publication, but to what extent is access and content controlled?
Over a period of three months, from January through March 2014, information was collected from the Twitter
accounts of 59 Western-origin fighters known to be in Syria. Using a snowball method, the 59 starter accounts
were used to collect data about the most popular accounts in the network-at-large. Social network analysis on
the data collated about Twitter users in the Western Syria-based fighters points to the controlling role played by
feeder accounts belonging to terrorist organizations in the insurgency zone, and by Europe-based organizational
accounts associated with the banned British organization, Al Muhajiroun, and in particular the London-based
preacher, Anjem Choudary.

The jihadist insurgents in Syria and Iraq use all manner of social media apps and file-sharing platforms, most
prominently Ask.fm, Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, PalTalk, kik, viper, JustPaste.it, and Tumblr. Encryption
software like TOR is used in communications with journalists to obscure locational information. But
circumstances conspire to make Twitter the most popular application. Specifically engineered for cellphones, it
is easy and inexpensive to use. Posts (tweets) may contain images or text, links to other platforms can be
embedded, and an incoming tweet can effortlessly be forwarded to everyone in an address list. Some types of
social media require either 3G or wi-fi access but Twitter can be used in the absence of either.

Website managers in back offices integrate the twitter feeds of frontline fighters with YouTube uploads and
disseminate them to wider audiences. These back-office managers are often wives and young female supporters.
It makes little difference if they are working from Raqqa or from Nice. It may be that as phone and Internet
access deteriorate on the ground, the insurgents are relying on disseminators outside the war zone to spread their
messages.

Journalists, scholars, and militants communicate and follow each other on Twitter. Slow media—TV,
newspapers, and radio—routinely quote Twitter as an authoritative source of information about the progress of
the insurgency. Yet while Twitter may give the illusion of authenticity, as a spontaneous activity of a generation
accustomed to using cell phones for self-publication, the online streaming of images and information is
managed more tightly than is generally recognized. Evidence exists that the communications of the fighters are
restricted and only trusted militants maintain high volume social media activities. A few militants compulsively
update their Facebook profiles and Twitter feeds from the battlefield but many more do not communicate at all.
New recruits turn over their cell phones upon arrival to training camps. Unauthorized contact with family
members is punished, allegedly even with execution. Clearly, unmonitored communications by the foreign
fighters may inadvertently disclose information that could be exploited by law enforcement and rival
combatants. Our working hypothesis, therefore, was that what appears to be a spontaneous stream of self-
publication using social media is, in fact, controlled communications.

The Staging and Communication of Terror—Past and Present

The literature on terrorist communication has focused on what Gabriel Weimann has called the “theater
of terror.” Terrorism aims to intimidate a particular audience—or sometimes multiple audiences. Victims are
chosen not because they are the enemy but because of their symbolic importance. Alex Schmid quotes a
Chinese proverb: “Kill one—frighten ten thousands.” To achieve their objectives terrorists need to reach broad
publics. However, as clandestine organizations, they have—in the past at least—had to rely on mainstream
media to broadcast their message. This essential dilemma drives terrorist behavior. The solution is to stage
dramatic violent incidents against symbolic targets compelling the media to broadcast the message. By attacking
the Pentagon on 9/11, Al Qaeda strove to drive home the vulnerability of the American state to the muhajideen.
The orange jumpsuits worn by two American journalists beheaded by Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant
(ISIL) in August and September 2014 alluded to the jumpsuits worn by the inmates in Guantanamo Bay,
making the executions appear as acts of retribution against the American treatment of Muslims.

The focus in the terrorism literature on the theater of terrorist spectaculars overshadows the reality that
terrorists also use the Internet for the same reasons everybody else does; for organization and planning,
proselytizing and entertainment, and to educate the believers. In fact, most of the online communication of
terrorists is mundane to the point of appearing innocuous.

A multi-year study of the content of jihadist Internet forums found that the forums were dominated by
discussions of doctrine, the dissemination of information about “good” versus “bad” Koranic interpretation, and
the distribution of Al Qaeda–approved tracts. Rarely do they discuss operational matters or provide playbooks
for attacks. An analysis of a desk top computer and a thumb drive belonging to the cell responsible for the 2004
Madrid train bombing similarly revealed the material to be dominated by religious exegesis rather than
operational information—the ratio of bomb manuals to doctrinal entreaties to jihad was about 1:3.

Communication is therefore critical to terrorist strategy as well as organization. The Internet was a gift to
terrorists on both scores. Al Qaeda early on understood the potential of the Internet for building a global
movement. In a letter from 2002 to Taliban leader Mullah Muhammad Omar, Osama bin Laden wrote: “It is
obvious that the media war in this century is one of the strongest methods; in fact, its ratio may reach 90 percent
of the total preparation for the battles.” During the first jihadist insurgency in Iraq, Ayman al-Zawahiri
reiterated the lesson and wrote to the now deceased leader of Al Qaeda in Iraq Abu Musab al-Zarqawi: “We are
in a battle, and more than half of this battle is taking place in the battlefield of the media. And that we are in a
media battle in a race for the hearts and minds of our Ummah.” Documents found at the Abbottabad compound
in May 2011 revealed bin Laden's insistence upon the primacy and significance of online media. In a letter to an
associate, he wrote: “media occupies the greater portion of the battle today.”

The need to reach the intended audience—governments, publics near and far—puts terrorists in an oddly
dependent relationship to the media. After the 2001 expulsion from Afghanistan, Al Qaeda had to find a new
way to connect with the masses. The chosen medium was tapes sent by messengers to Al-Jazeera. Two months
after the 2005 London Underground attacks, Al-Jazeera broadcast an Internet posting from Ayman al-Zawahiri
taking responsibility, together with Mohammad Sidique Khan's suicide video. A year later, on the anniversary
of the London attacks, Al-Jazeera released a second video featuring a second 7/7 bomber, Shehzad Tanweer.
The novelty value of the Britons’ delivery of the message guaranteed airtime for a while.

After 2006, Al-Jazeera became wary of acting as the publicity arm of Al Qaeda and could no longer be
relied on to air Al Qaeda's videos. Fears of infiltration also pushed Al Qaeda–related groups and individuals
onto closed Internet forums and chat rooms. The forums acted as online classrooms and kept the militants busy
with translation work and administrative chores but proved constraining in key respects. The requirement that
participants be “vetted” by administrators limited the ability of Al Qaeda to spread its message beyond the circle
of those who were already motivated to seek out contact with jihadist extremists. Participants needed to know
where to go as well as have connections to someone who can recommend them to gain access with a password.
The forums were preoccupied with discussions of scripture and details of proper doctrine, which endlessly
occupied the believers but limited the value of the forums as bullhorns for the cause. A third vulnerability is that
the forums are subject to take-downs and cyberattacks.

Social media freed Al Qaeda from the dependency on mainstream media. Starting in 2011,
many jihadigroups, media outlets, and individuals moved on to mainstream social media platforms and created
new accounts on Twitter and Facebook. Most groups’ media outlets still post their content to jihadi forums but
will simultaneously create sponsored Twitter accounts where they release new statements or videos.

In the new lateral social media environment control over content is decentralized. Anyone can
participate. Distribution is decentralized via “hubs” and volunteers use mainstream interactive and inter-
connected social media platforms, blogs, and file sharing platforms. Cross-posting and re-tweeting content on
social media by volunteers is a low-cost means of dissemination to wide audiences.

The new media environment is also resistant to policing. Control practices that worked in the framework
of vertically controlled Internet environment do not work in the new environment of social networking and
micro-blogging. The widespread use of lateral integration across multiple file sharing platforms builds
redundancy through the manifold postings of the same document and resilience against disruption and
suppression by governments and Internet service providers. The question arises how the Web 2.0 media
environment has altered not only the theatricality of violent incidents but also, more broadly, how media usages
affects terrorist organization.

In 2001, the authors of a RAND Corporation report anticipated that the Internet would significantly alter
how terrorists organize. Arquilla and Ronfeldt coined the term “netwar” to describe what they saw as an
emerging mode of conflict in which the protagonists are small, dispersed groups who communicate, coordinate,
and conduct their campaigns in an “Internetted” manner and without a precise central command. In retrospect
the prediction may have been premature at the time but accurate in the social media environment. Twitter now
connects terrorist groups operating in multiple theaters of warfare and connects them with tactical support
groups outside the combat zone, eliminating geographical constraints.

To sum up, propaganda has always been central to terrorism. Terrorists prefer tight control of the
message but lacking directly control of mass media—print or television—have in the past relied on compelling
mainstream media into doing the communication by means of the staging of attacks. Social media has changed
the dynamic fundamentally. It has eliminated the terrorists’ dependency on mainstream media, reversing the
relationship by making mainstream media dependent on the jihadist-run social media. But has media self-
sufficiency come at the cost of message control? And what changes have new media brought to the theater of
terror?

The Use of Twitter in ISIL's Spring 2014 Offensive

Once in the combat zone, the fighters assume aliases. Many take names
incorporating muhajir (emigrant) or in reference to their national origin (e.g., al-Amriki). On video, men going
by the names of “Abu Muhajir” (“the immigrant”) or Al-Britani (“the Briton”), read their wills in European
languages, and declare their burning desire to die.

After the insurgents moved into Iraq, the content became increasingly gruesome. In April “Abu
Daighum al-Britani,” a British fighter with ISIL, used Twitter to circulate a screenshot made using Instagram of
himself holding a severed head. By August, Twitter had served up stills from videos of ongoing beheadings,
severed heads on fence posts, rows of crucified men hung on crosses on a platform in a dusty town like an
image from a bad movie, and even a picture of a seven-year-old Australian boy holding a severed head offered
to him by his father. The execution of James W. Foley provoked the American public and brought the United
States into the conflict. The pictures of violence starkly highlighted the role played by social media in
contemporary terrorist tactics. But it is not all brutal horror on Twitter. Tweets of cats and images of
camaraderie bridge the real-life gap between Strasbourg, Cardiff, or suburban Denver, and being in a war zone.
They may even make it seem more desirable to be in war-torn Raqqa and Aleppo than comfortably, and
boringly, in the family home: “It's actually quite fun. It's really really fun. It's better than that game Call of Duty.
It's like that but it's in 3D where everything is happening in front of you,” tweeted Abu Sumayyah Al-Britani, a
British foreign fighter with ISIL.

Prior to the civil war, the Syrian telecommunications system was among the most poorly developed in
the area. Only about one-fifth of the population was estimated to have access to the Internet but about 60
percent of the population had cell coverage. In November 2012, the Syrian government shut down Internet and
cell phone communication cartels under its control. Repeated black-outs have occurred in 2014, generally
shutting down close to all Internet traffic. Iraq ordered a shutdown of the Internet in June after ISIL's takeover
of several cities in the north and the declaration of the “Islamic State.” More specific orders were later added to
shut down access to Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter, and other apps. Complaints over poor Internet access
emerged on jihadist social media but generally the jihadists appear to have been able to overcome the practical
impediments to Internet access.