Effect of social media on students

Johnson & Wales University

ScholarsArchive@JWU
MBA Student Scholarship The Alan Shawn Feinstein Graduate School

11-1-2011

The Effects of Social Media on College Students
Qingya Wang
Johnson & Wales University - Providence, qaw733@jwu.edu

Wei Chen
Johnson & Wales University - Providence

Yu Liang
Johnson & Wales University - Providence, yul118@jwu.edu

Repository CitationWang, Qingya; Chen, Wei; and Liang, Yu, "The Effects of Social Media on College Students" (2011). MBA Student Scholarship. Paper 5. http://scholarsarchive.jwu.edu/mba_student/5

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Running Head: EFFECTS OF SOCIAL MEDIA ON COLLEGE STUDENTS

1

The Effects of Social Media on College Students

Qingya Wang, Wei Chen, and Yu Liang

Johnson &Wales University

Feinstein Graduate School

RSCH5500-Research & Analysis

Submitted to Professor Martin Sivula, Ph.D. November, 2011

PeerReviewers: Frederic Juillet , Anne Catelotti, Jennifer Gay, Rohan Kichlu, Christina L. Blundin, and Volha Ban

2 EFFECTS OF SOCIAL MEDIA ON COLLEGE STUDENTS Abstract As social media sites continue to grow in popularity, it is our premise that technology is a vital part in today’s student success equation. This descriptive, exploratory research study drew a random sample (N=48) of males (n=26)and females (n=22) who were administered a student perception questionnaire on how social media affects college students. Thirty-five percent of the participants were undergraduates and 65% were graduate students, studying at Johnson & Wales University. Thirty-one percent of participants have full-time jobs, 30% have part-time jobs and 39% do not have jobs. The results of the survey questionnaireindicate that 45% of the sample admitted that they spent 6-8 hours per day checking social media sites, while 23% spent more than 8 hours; 20% spent 2-4 hours and only 12% spent less than 2 hours on this task. Results indicate while most college students use social media and spend many hours checking social media sites, there was a negative aspect to college students’ use of social media.

KeyWords: social media, college students, learning efficiency

3 EFFECTS OF SOCIAL MEDIA ON COLLEGE STUDENTS

Introduction The definition of social media is “the relationships that exist between network of people” (Walter & Riviera, 2004). In the last ten years, the online world has changed dramatically. Thanks to the invention of social media, young men and women now exchange ideas, feelings,personal information, pictures and videos at a truly astonishing rate. Seventy-three percent of wired American teens now use social media websites (Oberst, 2010). Schill (2011) states that the social media sites encourage negative behaviors for teen students such as procrastination (catching up with friends), and they are more likely to drink and drug. However, every day, many students are spendingcountless hours immersed in social media, such as Facebook, MySpace, World of Warcraft, or Sim City. At first glance this may seem like a waste of time; however it also helps students to develop important knowledge and social skills, and be active citizens who create and share content. At present, whether social media is favorable or unfavorable, many students utilize these sites on a daily basis.As social media sites continue to grow in popularity it is our belief that technology is a vital part of today’s student success equation. Many researchers have been diving into a considerable amount of research on how social media influences student retention at colleges. Many parents are worried that their college students are spending too much time on Facebook and other social media sites...