Social Media Exposure of Students in Relation to Academic Performance

This study aimed to determine the level of academic performance of college students in relation to their level of social media exposure. The descriptive-correlational research design was used. The study was conducted during the First Semester of 2018-2019 in CapSU Dayao Satellite College utilizing the 186 randomly selected 4-year college students from the four curricular (4) programs. A researcher-made questionnaire was utilized. Gathered data were analyzed and interpreted using mean, standard deviation, t-test, One-way ANOVA, and Pearson r. Results revealed that the respondents were 18-20 years old age, females, and with family income below the poverty threshold level. Respondents’ level of social media exposure is “sometimes” and their academic performance is “good.” Further, no significant difference was found in the level of social media exposure when grouped according to sex and monthly income, however, a significant difference was found when grouped according to age. On the other hand, no significant difference was found in the respondents’ academic performance when grouped according to age, sex, and monthly family income. Further, no significant association or relationship was found between the level of social media exposure and the academic performance of the respondents. This implies that even though the respondents were exposed to social media they were able to maintain a good academic performance. Therefore, the time spent by students on the different social media platforms or the number of gadgets used is not indicative and determinant of how they will perform in their academics as a whole. Keywords— academic performance, social media exposure, social media platforms.


INTRODUCTION
The popularity gained by social media reflects significant technological breakthroughs highlighting the efficient way of creating and digital exchanging of information. It enabled people to be connected in a borderless world providing social interaction across cultures. In like manner, social media plays a significant role in the paradigm shift of educational practices, attitudes, and performance of students as it became an apparent part of day-to-day activities.
The unprecedented use of students of the different social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, gaming sites, and other blogging sites has increased exponentially as evidenced by the presence of growing consumption of smartphones, laptops, iPods, and other gadgets. The number of users of social media sites attests to how students respond to technology as it is the fastest way to share photos, videos, and statuses as well as maintaining connections and relationships.
Students keep themselves updated on the top trending issues, entertainments, games, Tik Toks, fashion icons, celebrities, and other trendsetters. Social media paved opportunities for finding a job, meeting new friends virtually, and strengthening relationships. This contemplated an increased time staying engaged in social media as they actively maintain one or more accounts in the different platforms. Academic performance on the other hand had undergone a massive change with social media becoming an instructional tool as its usability and accessibility among students had increased. It had also enhanced how lessons are prepared and how students respond and create their school works, activities, and performances as they have more mediums to explore and utilize.
The advantages and disadvantages of optimizing the use of social media outweigh one another as it somehow affects students' performance. According to Kuppuswamy and Shankar (2010), social network websites grab the attention of the students and then divert it towards noneducational and inappropriate actions including useless chatting. Trusov, Bucklin, & Pauwels (2009) also noted that the Internet is no doubt an evolution of technology but specifically social networks are extremely unsafe for teenagers, social networks have become hugely common and well-known in the past few years.
Likely, Rithhika & Sara (2013) concluded that students are very fond of using Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and Orkut. Paying attention to their academic progress and addressing any issues will go a long way towards keeping the negative aspects of social media from influencing their studies.
Further, Kulidtud (2017) implied that the main purpose of the students in using the internet is different from their actual activity whenever they already accessed the sites. While their common main objective of accessing the networks was for academic purposes (i.e., to communicate with people who are away from them) but in practice, they were using their internet time for social purposes (i.e., to like the post of their friends, topics and etc.). Also, Liccardi, Pau, Ounnas, & Massey (2007) reviewed that the students are socially connected by sharing their daily learning experiences and do conversation on several topics.
Progressively, social media became a constant engagement among students. However, some students become very poor academically (Egedegbe, 2014). As ascertained by Brubaker (2013), that the current generation of college students has been exposed to a technology that led them to rely on social media such as Facebook and Twitter. It has an impact on academic performance when students overuse or multitask while doing their school work.
The Philippines being coined as the social media capital of the world where millions of Filipinos stay online for hours a day scrolling and chatting as a form of social interaction, students have become accustomed to having information at their fingertips. However, how they use their time and how they prioritize what information to access in relation to their academic performance while considering the poor internet connectivity, lack of gadgets and financial limitations of the students may be examined further. Likewise, on a personal note, diverted and unfocused attention of the students due to having gadgets and very active social media which deters them from doing assignments, studying for exams, and showing improvements in their performance was observed. Thus, interest in this study was pursued.

Statement of the Problem
Thus, the researcher decided to conduct this study to see if indeed the level of social media exposure of the students affects their academic performance. This study aimed to determine the level of academic performance of college students in relation to their level of social media exposure.
Specifically, it answered the following: 1. What is the socio-demographic profile of the respondents? 2. What is the level of social media exposure of the respondents? 3. What is the level of academic performance of the respondents?
4. Is there a significant difference in the level of social media exposure considering the respondent's sex, age, and monthly family income?
5. Is there a significant difference in the level of academic performance considering the respondent's sex, age, and monthly family income? and 6. Is the level of academic performance significantly related to the level of social media exposure?

Hypotheses of the Study
Based on the given problem, the following hypotheses were forwarded: 1. There is no significant difference in the level of social media exposure considering the respondent's sex, age, and monthly family income.
2. There is no significant difference in the level of academic performance considering the respondent's sex, age, and monthly family income.
3. The level of academic performance is not significantly related to the level of social media exposure.

II. METHOD
This study utilized the descriptive-correlation research design. The dependent variable in the study was the level of academic performance while the independent variables A researcher-made research instrument was used in the conduct of the study. It is composed of two parts. Part I dealt with information regarding the socio-demographic profile of the respondents including a) sex, (b) age, and (c) monthly family income. Part II was on the level of social media exposure. The responses of the respondents on the level of social media exposure was scored and interpreted using the following scoring guide:

Score
Mean The questionnaire was subjected to face validity or content validity by a panel composed of three members considered as experts (Stoner et al., 2011) Their suggestions and recommendations were observed in the modification of the test. Once the content was validated, the instrument was pilot tested (Daud, Khidzir, Ismail, and Abdullahto, 2018) to 30 students who are not included in the identified population. Data from the pre-test was tabulated and the reliability coefficient was computed to assure stability and consistency of the instrument (Creswell, 2010). Using Cronbach's Alpha Pallant (2001) states value above 0.6 is considered high reliability and acceptable index (Nunnally and Bernstein, 1994). Whereas, the value of Cronbach's Alpha less than 0.6 considered low. Cronbach's values in the range of 0.60 -0.80 are considered moderate, but acceptable. While Cronbach's Alpha in the ranges of 0.8 and up to 1.00 is considered very good. Results were then tabulated, analyzed, and interpreted using the appropriate test statistic: mean, standard deviation, t-test, One-Way ANOVA, and Pearson r.

III. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
This section presents the results of the study.
Corresponding discussion, analysis, and interpretations of the data given were also discussed.  Table 1 shows that 137 or 73% of the respondents were 18-20 years old, 106 or 57% were females, 110 or 59.1 were earning Php 5000 and below.
Further, 165 or 88% uses Facebook as their most preferred social media platform and 183 or 98.4% use a cellphone in accessing their social media.  Table 2 reflects the overall mean of the social media exposure of students. It has a grand mean of 3.07 verbally interpreted as "sometimes." The highest statement with a mean of 3.75 was on "Social media allows me to do research for my lessons/assignments."

Overall Mean 1.07 3.07 Sometimes
The results reveal that students exhibit a sense of discipline and awareness of how access to social media can enhance their capability to cope with their school works. It fortifies the belief that students have developed a conscious decision making on optimizing the advantages gained through social media access to make their academic performance better. The results imply that students were performing favorably towards their academics with only a handful hitting the unsatisfactory range. This suggests that students are informed of their academic responsibilities and have purposely responded towards a positive outcome in their study. However, it could also be highlighted that none were able to hit the Excellent and Highly Outstanding marks which suggest that a more intensive intervention to increase academic performance is needed.   Table 3 reveals that when respondents were grouped according to sex, the significant t-value of 1.37 on the academic performance considering respondents' sex had a significant value of 0.37 which was higher than 0.5 alpha. This implies that regardless of sex, male and female have the same level of social media exposure. It further connotes that students have been exposed to the same type of social media and probably share the same kind of interest and follow the same trends and practices as they access and use the different sites. Table 4: Difference in the social media exposure grouped according to age and monthly family income. *** p < .05 Table 4 shows that there was a significant difference in the level of social media exposure when classified according to age (F = 2.100, p = 0.032) because the significant value was lower than 0.05 alpha. Meanwhile, no significant difference was found when respondents were grouped according to monthly family income (F = 0.379, p = 0.824) since the significant value was higher than 0.05 alpha. Thus, the null hypothesis was accepted.

Source of Variation
The data implies that age affects social media exposure as younger students in the age range of 18-20 access social media more than the higher age brackets. The result is supported by Lennon, Rentfro, and Curran (2012) as cited by Kulidtud (2017) presented that young adults whose ages range from 18 -20 oftentimes use social networking sites compared to those belonging to the higher age brackets.  Table 5 shows that when respondents were grouped according to sex, the significant t-value of 1.37 on the academic performance considering respondents' sex had a significant value of 0.17 which was higher than 0.5 alpha. Thus, the null hypothesis was accepted. This implies regardless of sex, male and female students gave out the same level of academic performance.  Table 6 discloses that no significant difference was found when respondents were grouped according to age (F = 0.673, p = 0.733) and monthly family income (F = 0.422, p = 0.793) since the significant value was higher than 0.05 alpha. Thus, the null hypothesis was accepted. Results signify that regardless of the age and monthly family income of the students, the academic performance generally is the same.
Further, results may imply that students have developed a sense of understanding of what good academic records could do to land them good jobs regardless of their age.
Also, the family income or finances of the students may have not presented a difference in the academic performance may be due to the initiatives of the school and government in extending financial support through scholarships and allowances for qualified indigents, academic, and sports achievers, and student leaders. Looking at the Pearson r value, no significant association between level of social media exposure and academic performance (r = 0.03; p = 0.68) was found because the significant value was higher than 0.05 alpha. The result shows that there is a very weak positive correlation but this correlation is not significant. Thus, the null hypothesis was accepted.
Students were performing academically despite accessing social media sites. It is relevant to note that in the face of social media's popularity, students can prioritize and multi-task between academic-related researches and social interactions. Correspondingly, students have learned to manage their time and were able to maximize the advantages of using social media.
Indeed, social media has contributed greatly to facilitating learning in the 21st century.

IV. CONCLUSIONS
Facebook is the most highly utilized and preferred social media platform as it is the most accessible and popular among students. The cellphone is the widely available gadget used in accessing social media platforms most likely it fits the financial limitations of students.
The level of social media exposure of students is not alarmingly high and within control which led to contemplate that students are mindful of their time and reasons for accessing social media.
Academic performance reflects good performance. However, the goal for excellence is not yet addressed. Thus, an intervention plan may be designed to help increase performance, especially for board courses.
Generation Z, for ages 18-22, demonstrates adeptness and familiarity with social media's uses and applications which allowed them to navigate sites and determine relevant information for academic and social purposes.
Provisions for social media as an educational tool for teachers and students may be explored. Advantages and disadvantages maybe weighed so countermeasures and guidelines may be established for the improvement of academic performance.
To further enhance academic performance, the administration may address the following implications: 7. The conduct of seminars or conferences in media and information literacy may be included to strengthen student's capability and knowledge in the responsible use of digital information, assert their rights and protect them from cyberbullying.

Considerations for an Enhanced Faculty Development
Plan may be given prior attention. Send faculty to seminars and training, fellowships, and scholarship grants with a focus on internationalization for continuous development and upgrading of their pedagogical skills based on the newest trends in teaching.

ACKNOWLEDGMENT
The author would like to express her heartfelt gratitude to the top management of Capiz State University headed by Dr. Editha C. Alfon and Dr. Efren Linan, VP-Research Development and Extension for the support in the conduct, presentation, and publication of this research work. The same appreciation is afforded to her colleagues and students of CapSU -Dayao Satellite College for the utmost response and assistance in the development and accomplishment of this study.