The Impact of Technological Features in Social Media Platforms on Students' Academic Performance

<p>The ubiquitous existence of social media platforms has transformed the way people interact and communicate with each other. However, intensive social media usage has become a growing concern among students. This heavy usage can negatively impact their lives, including their academic performance. So far, there is no concrete empirical evidence from previous studies to confirm whether using social media platforms' technical features impact students' academic performance. Notably, there needs to be more research on the relationship between social media platforms' usage and students' academic performance. This dissertation aims to ascertain the effect of technological features of social media on students' academic performance and psychological well-being. The research questions guiding this study are: RQ1: How does social media engagement impact students' academic performance? RQ2: What psychological effects do social media's interactive features have on students? RQ3: How do notifications, endless scrolling, and personalization contribute to social media overuse? Mixed methods, quantitative and qualitative methods, were applied to this study. The data for this research was collected through a survey and interview of undergraduate students, and the results were analyzed using regression by using SPSS and thematic analyses using NVivo 20. The study investigated how impactful the technological features in social media are concerning the student's academic performance and psychological well-being using both quantitative and qualitative methodologies. Results suggest that the technological features of social media do have a significant impact on student's academic performance as well as psychological well-being. Qualitative narratives and statistical data add depth to the lived experiences of students, and the statistical data demonstrates the prevalence of these effects. Through the combination of these approaches, this study gives a good understanding of the intricacies of making use of social media and generates valuable implications for educational institutions and policymakers that aim to counteract the negative impacts of social media usage on students.</p>

Name thesis:degree_name

Information Systems and Technology, PhD

Level thesis:degree_level

Restricted to Claremont Colleges Dissertation

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Center for Information Systems and Technology

Year dc:date.available

2025

Author dc:creator

• Algassmi, Aliah

Contributors dc:contributor

• Itamar Shabtai
• June Hilton

• Social media overuse
• Academic performance
• Psychological well-being
• Social media platforms
• Artificial Intelligence and Robotics

Repository record dc:identifier

https://scholarship.claremont.edu/cgu_etd/1035

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:scholarship.claremont.edu:cgu_etd-2057