Impact of social media on Academic learning of Undergraduates

• Published in: International dental journal 2024-10, Vol.74, p.S214-S214
• Main Authors: Hussain, Sukaina, Altaf, Umaiya, Shiraz, Affan, Rasul, Aahad, Butt, Saima
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• ISSN: 0020-6539
• DOI: 10.1016/j.identj.2024.07.038

The aim of this study was to determine the impact of social media and its effect on the academic performance of undergraduates in medical and dental universities of Pakistan. This cross-sectional study was conducted at five different medical and dental universities of Karachi, Pakistan. Using the convenience sampling technique, a sample of 400 medical students were selected. The study tool included A prevalidated Servqual questionnaire adopted from a similar study. Data analysis was performed using the Statistical Packages for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 24.0. 405 undergraduate medical and dental students filled out the questionnaire. Of these 29.6% were males and 70.4% were females. A total of about 193 students were from MBBS and 212 were from BDS. Out of all the social media sites Facebook was the most popular one (86.3 %). Statistically a highly significant association was found between the students GPA and social media use with a p value of 0.004. It can be easily concluded that overall social media was very popular among the students. Facebook and Instagram emerged as the most popular sites. The most common reasons for social media usage were to eliminate boredom and to keep in touch with people & much less for learning purposes. A strong association existed between the students’ GPA and the pattern of social media usage. More studies exploring more objectively the relationship between students’ use of social media and their academic achievements and what sort of social media interventions are associated with better learning are probably needed.