Effect of Social Media on Students‟ Academic Performance in Higher Institutions of Learning in Nigeria

The advent of internet and global system for mobile communication (GSM) has changed traditional way of doing thing ranging from academics, economics to social life of human being. One of the major benefits derived from internet is effective and timely communication. There are many social applications today such as Facebook and WhatsApp which are deployed through GSM and are being used by Nigerian Students for interaction. The declining in performance of students in higher institution of learning in Nigeria cannot be isolated from the way students engaged themselves with some social media. Research was conducted among five (5) higher institutions of learning in Ado-Ekiti, Nigeria, to ascertain how the use of social media has affected the academic performance. The research shows that 318 (86%) of the 368 students surveyed always stays online, 314 (85%) have smart phones, (33.7%) 124 are on whatsapp. A greater percentage agreed that they spend most of their time on chatting both in the morning and at night. Many also said they chat while lectures are ongoing. This of course can have negative impact on their academic performances.