POSITION PAPER

Impact Of Social Media To Students Academics

Introduction:
In contemporary society, social media has integrated itself deeply into the lives of students, offering diverse
avenues for connectivity and knowledge acquisition. While these platforms facilitate collaboration and information
exchange, concerns linger regarding their impact on academic performance. The constant influx of notifications
and multimedia content can present distractions, challenging students' ability to maintain focus and productivity.
Additionally, the pressure to curate an online presence, coupled with the fear of missing out, can amplify stress and
anxiety, potentially compromising both academic success and overall well-being. This paper aims to explore the
nuanced relationship between social media usage and academic achievement, striving to comprehend how these
platforms can both bolster and hinder students' educational pursuits.
Social media serves as a valuable tool for facilitating communication and delivering educational resources to
students. Nevertheless, excessive utilization can have negative consequences, including distraction, decreased
productivity, and mental health challenges, all of which can detrimentally impact academic performance.
Counter Argument:
Some individuals hold the belief that social media has the potential to enhance a student's academic experience by
fostering collaboration, providing improved access to educational resources, and offering platforms for discussion
and knowledge exchange. Additionally, proficiency in social media is viewed as a valuable skill in the modern
interconnected world, with benefits that extend to both academic and professional realms.
Main Argument:
Distraction And Decreased Productivity :Social media platforms are designed with features aimed at captivating
and retaining users' attention, a phenomenon that frequently results in students dedicating significant amounts of
time to these platforms. Consequently, this persistent distraction can hinder students' focus on academic tasks,
leading to procrastination, decreased study time, and ultimately, a decline in academic performance.
Impact on Mental Health: The extensive use of social media has come with mental health concerns such as stress, anxiety,
and depression for a number of students. The need to create the perfect image and compare various aspects of one's life to
their peers leads to feelings of inadequacy and low self esteem. This in turn can impact their motivation and academic
performance. Such problems are heightened with incidents of cyberbullying, and the pressures of feeling like one is missing
out.

Disruption of sleep patterns: With the increase of social media platforms designed for mobile applications, students
often find themselves scrolling hours into the night when they could be finishing assignments. Yet, smartphone
screens omit a blue light that causes stimulation and makes it harder to sleep and can disrupt user’s wake sleep
patterns. This in turn means not just less rest, but also a cognitive detriment in participating in daytime activities.
Research has proven that poor sleep quality is associated with lower academic performance, reduced cognitive
functions and impaired learning abilities.

Conclusion:

The impact of social media on students’ academic performance is a multi-faceted issue that concerns the positive
as well as the negative aspects of the matter. On the one hand, it creates platforms for communication,
collaboration, and access to educational support and resources. On the other hand, it also poses challenges such as
distractions and the disruptive point of mental health issues. In order to address these challenges, and take control
of the problem, more must be done to enhance digital literacy, promote responsible usage, and extend mental well-
being support for the millennials. Additional research of course to better understand the complexity of the issue
also is required. Ultimately, as is also the case in life, balance is the way forward.

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