Use of Online Social Networking and Academic Performance of Students

Background

Online social networking sites (OSNs) are websites that give users a range of services based on web technologies that allow individuals to build a public or semi public profile with relationships system, have a list of other users with whom they share a connection, and finally, view and navigate through the list of users' connections with those who share a connection in the system (Boyd & Ellison, 2007).

OSNs are also defined as a range of activities enabled by social technologies or social media tools include blog, microblog, wiki, social networking site, video sharing site and online discussion board or forum, and operationalized by a group of people (Hamid et al., 2009). It enables users to socialize and create networks online. Examples of OSNs that are used on a regular basis by millions of people nowadays are Facebook, Twitters, MySpace, Friendster, Youtube and Skype. In Malaysia, social interaction in cyberspace by using social networking has been adapted by many people and has changed their communication (Mustafa & Hamzah, 2011).

We define online social networking as the latest online communication tool that allows users to create a public or private profile to interact with people in their networks, share their profile information, communicate with others, and share data and information within that system.

The social technologies can support interaction among students by allowing them to actively participate in a discussion. The students can work collaboratively in an online social environment to solve problems with their peers, or to organize social events. The collaborative production’s principle embedded in social technologies enable learners and teachers to share and publish artifacts produced as a result of the learning activity (for example, course materials such as course syllabus, course notes and assignments). In this regard, the use of social technologies has changed the demand of education.

Online social networking can be classified into five categories (Fraser & Dutta, 2008), namely, (i) egocentric networks - act as a platform to build a network of friends; (ii) web communities - collecting members with identity ties based on interest, gender, race, nation, religion and others; (iii) opportunistic web – the members gathered for business purpose or professional relationship using OSN site such as LinkedIn; (iv) passion-centric network – gathered people who share interests or hobbies (communities of interest); and (v) media-sharing site – this site is defined based on its contents (such as Youtube for those who want to share videos).

Students are increasingly using these social networks for friends’ news feeds, personal updates, events and activities, notes, and messages. According to Michael, Robyn and Kate (2013) the widespread use of media among college students from texting to chatting on cell phones to posting status updates on Facebook may be taking an academic toll. They found media use, in general, was associated with lower grade point averages (GPAs) and other negative academic outcomes. Thus, this has led to a rise of below question: