Integrating Social Media into Educational Strategies: Examining the Impact of Social Media Usage on High School Students’ Academic Performance

Abstract

Academic achievement shapes future opportunities, and social media significantly influences this. Despite its growing prominence, social media's specific effects on high school students’ academic outcomes in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan, remain unexplored. This study fills this gap by examining how social media usage relates to academic performance, study habits, study time, and perceived benefits among 402 high school students (283 males, 118 females) from 12 public and private schools. Employing a quantitative survey design, we used a "Social Media and Academic Achievement of Students" questionnaire adapted from Peter (2015). The findings reveal that sharing academic information with classmates on social media significantly enhances academic performance. However, social media usage showed no statistically significant effects on study habits and time allocation. Additionally, students reported moderate benefits from using social media for academic purposes. These results emphasize integrating social media in education to enhance student engagement and performance, and underscore the need for effective time management to manage distractions. The study's limitations include its regional focus and the self-reported nature of the data. Future research should explore these dynamics in different regions and with varied methodologies to further validate these findings.