Influence of Social Media Usage on Study Habits of Undergraduates in North Central Nigeria: Implications for Counselling

Influence of Social Media Usage on Study Habits of Undergraduates in North Central Nigeria: Implications for Counselling

Egbe Wogasogi Onun, Akuto G. W. (PhD), Prof. James P. O., & Iordaah T. A. (PhD)

Department of Educational Foundations and General Studies, Joseph Sarwuan Tarka University, Makurdi-Nigeria

DOI: https://doi.org/10.47772/IJRISS.2023.70542

Received: 07 April 2023; Revised: 18 April 2023  Accepted: 26 April 2023; Published: 02 June 2023

ABSTRACT

The study investigated the influence of social media usage on study habits of undergraduates in North Central Nigeria: Implications for counselling. Four objectives and research questions guided the study and four hypotheses were formulated. The study adopted an ex-post facto research design. The population for this study comprises 13,292, 400 level students from four Federal Universities in North Central Nigeria. The sample size for the study was 388 400 level students who were drawn using proportionate stratified and accidental sampling techniques. Two instruments, a structured questionnaire titled “Social Media and Study Habits Questionnaire” (SMSHQ) and a semi-structured interview were used for data collection). The instruments were validated by experts. The reliability of the questionnaire was established using Cronbach Alpha method which yielded a coefficient of 0.71. Data collected for the study were analyzed using Means and Standard Deviation to answer the research questions while Chi-Square Goodness of Fit was used to test the hypotheses at 0.05 level of significance. Findings of the study revealed that, Facebook usage, Twitter usage and Instagram usage have no significant influence on the study habits of undergraduates in North Central Nigeria. WhatsApp usage was however found to significantly influence the study habits of the undergraduates positively. The study concluded that except for WhatsApp platform, the usage of social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter and Instagram negatively affect the study habits of undergraduates in North Central Nigeria. Based on the findings, the researcher recommended that University management in collaboration with counsellors should make strict rules and regulations on the use of smart phones for accessing social media platforms during lecture hours and lecturers should be supported by the management to implement these rules and through counseling, undergraduates should be made to realize all the potential harm from excessive use of social platforms and responsibly approach the learning process.

Keywords: Social Media, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, WhatsApp and Study Habits.

INTRODUCTION

The growing dimensions of the usage of social media among students cannot be underestimated as students across all levels of education; especially those in tertiary institutions are active users of these platforms. The introduction of social media have revolutionized the world of communication and today, sending and receiving messages, information and communicating with friends and relatives in distant cities and countries have now become as easy as ‘taking a walk to a neighbour’s house’. This has also bridged the gap that existed in communication where people had to rely solely on the traditional method of letter writing, visits, or the use of telegrams and land lines for phone calls as the only means of getting in touch with friends and relatives. Social media according to Awake (2011) is an online platform that focuses on building and reflecting social relations among people, who for example share same or common interests or activities.

Although, these social media platforms focus on building social relationships, the peer influence that accompanies these relationships may have strong influence on students’ study habits and academic performance.

Social media make it easier and more convenient for students to access online lecture materials, educational information, educational videos and online tutorials on varied topics. George and Dellasega (2011) contend that, the use of social media platforms improves students’ learning opportunities, fosters collaborative studies and increases access to group discussion. It allows for communication outside the classroom and enhances critical thinking. The studies of Subair, Solomon and Oreoluwa (2019) and Zahid, Ahmad, Syed and Faisal (2016) on impact of social media on student’s academic performance revealed that, social media enable flexible course of learning as it gives opportunity to students including those at the postgraduate level to share ideas, opinions and interact with friends as well as express their worries and concerns over their studies.

There are so many social media platforms available and accessible to students among which are Facebook, WhatsApp, YouTube, Instagram, WeChat, Twitter, Palmchat, Skyped, Linkedin, Imo, Snapchat, 2go, TikTok, xanga, Myspace, Classmates, Yahoo, Naijapals and Flicker However, the focus of this study will be on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and WhatsApp. The reason for restricting this study to these four social media platforms is because, previous studies (Greenwood, Perrin and Duggan, 2016; Gold, 2011; Hirsh 2012; Michael 2016; Aycan and Emre 2021) on social media usage revealed  that Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and WhatsApp are the most commonly used social media platforms among students in Universities. The present study is interested in finding out how the most commonly used social media platforms influences the study habits and academic performance of undergraduates in North Central Nigeria, hence the choice of Facebook, Twitter Instagram and WhatsApp.

Facebook as an aspect of social media represents a potentially useful tool in educational contexts. It serves as an alternative means for shy students to air their views in and out of classroom. It allows students to collect their thoughts and articulate them in writing before communicating it (Moody, Krippel and McKee, 2010). Studies have shown that, university students are the biggest fans and primary users of Facebook, with features such as photos, wall posts, and status updates which are seemingly becoming irresistible to those who want to connect with their friends (Gold, 2011).  Ellison, Steinfield and Lampe in Fromsa (2014) reported that 94% of college students are active Facebook users, spending 60-90 minutes online each day communicating with their friends of over 150–200 people. They further added that, university students are so engrossed in the use of social media that some, almost or completely ignore their academic work as they get easily distracted when using the platform.

Twitter which is another aspect of social media, promotes social connection among students globally. It enhances communication building and sharing of knowledge worldwide. It is observed that, Twitter is one of the fastest growing social media platform in terms of usage among students and has continued to provide network access to students at all levels of education especially students of tertiary institutions. Twitter plays active role in communication by providing online services that enable its users to share information and connect with others by creating a profile containing personal web page and a blog (Forsey, 2021).

Instagram is social media platform that emphasizes on photo and video sharing via mobile app. It is among the fastest growing social media where more than half of its’ users are adolescents mostly between the ages of 15- 25 years. Instagram enables its users to take, edit, and publish visual content for followers to interact with through; likes, comments and shares.  Instagram have arrays of features which make its users want to spend time on their page. Among these features are; video sharing, pictures sharing, personal identification, location finding, communication, content sharing, and friends’ connectivity (Forsey, 2021). This again point to social relationship building that promotes personal identity. However, skills of editing, publishing and commenting are useful and can be applied to other educational field.

WhatsApp which also seem to have become, one of the most popular social media offers students the opportunity to exchange instant messages, videos, photos, and audio clips with each other. The use of smart phones and their corresponding mobile devices as a means of communication between users has increased its popularity. WhatsApp application have four main functions which is to motivates the learners, help students communicate with peers, send information, help students to be up to date, save time and increases efficiency by reminding students what they have to do and what they have to bring to class (Forsey, 2021). There are various reasons attributed to the use of WhatsApp; such reasons include familiarity with the people with whom the user interacts with. In other words, it provides a closed platform to interact with the people you know and not to people you do not know or who is your friend’s friend as in case of Facebook (Forsey, 2021). The researcher being aware of the massive usage of social media by students is also well aware that, students’ academic performance is heavily dependents on the type of study habits adopted, either effective or in-effective. However, the concerned of the researcher is to empirically determine whether the usage of social media thus affect students study habits.

Study habits are acts that students perform regularly and habitually in order to accomplish the task of learning. Kelli (2019) defines study habits as the way or manner in which a student plans his or her private reading outside lecture hours in order to master a particular course or topic. It constitutes those behaviours or activities that are associated with time allocation for reading, private study, punctuality to lectures, note taking, summary and review of lecture notes, goal settings, concentration during lectures and time management. According to Alex (2011), to study is to buy out time and dedicate self to the task of study and to become engrossed in a process of learning, practice and enlightenment. Therefore, study habits can be deduced from the above as dedicating an uninterrupted study schedule to the task of learning. Study habits can be influenced by a variety of factors some of which are noisy environment, poor lighting, poor sleeping habits and procrastination. Among these factors, social media could also have influence on study habits of students. While some are of the opinion that, engagement on social media could contribute positively to students study habits by receiving timely class updates and facilitating group discussions, others are of the opinion that, rather than help students academically, students engagement on social media seem to divert their attention from reading, concentrating in class, completing assignment and hampers their preparation towards quiz and examination. The differences in opinion could be linked to the fact that, students’ engagements on social media does not effectively allow students to utilize their study time as the degree of learning depends on the amount of time a student spends engaging in learning. Richelle and Erik (2019) posited that, it is the time spent in studying that helps students to retain the materials learnt which may eventually enhance academic performance.

LITERATURE ON RELATED STUDIES

Researches have been conducted on the influence of social media usage on study habits id students. For instance, Ugyen and Tshering (2021) investigated the relationship between Facebook Usage and Academic Performance of College Students under the Royal University of Bhutan. The study found that those who spent more time on social media spent less time studying. Chibueze (2018) investigated social media use and study habits of secondary school students in Anambra State and found that there is no significant relationship between students use of social media like Facebook and study habit.  Ezeji and Ezeji (2018) conducted a study on effect of social media on the study habit of students found that the rate of social media usage among students was very high and that social media usage like Facebook, WhatsApp and Twitter negatively affected students’ revision of their lecture notes daily as well as submission and carrying out of study assignments. Further, Mathur, Nathani, Sharma and Arora (2019) in a study on the impact of Facebook Usage on Students’ Involvement in Studies who found that students use Facebook for various factors like entertainment, relaxing, passing time but not for knowledge enhancement and that due to their time spent on Facebook, it has got a negative impact on the student academics and this affect their career. Moreno (2020) in a study on the influence of Facebook addiction on study habits of the Office Administration students found that higher the Facebook addiction, the higher the study habits among the second year BSOA students in the College of Business Education and that addiction in using Facebook is a predictor of overall study habits among the BSOA second-year students. Also Saravana, Lokesha and Shivalingappa (2018) whose study on impact of Facebook addiction on the study habits of social work students found a significant positive correlation between the Facebook addiction elements with overall study habits of the students.

Huseyin and Nadire (2012) investigated the impact of Twitter on study habits and interpersonal relationships of students in tertiary institutions and found that the students’ level of using social media had a negative influence on their study habits and their interpersonal relationships. Obadara and Olaopa (2018) examined the correlation between social media utilization, study habit and undergraduate students’ academic performance in Tai Solarin University of Education Ogun State. The study found that undergraduate students displayed high level of utilization of social media like Twitter and Instagram and there was relatively low study habit pattern is in conformity to the findings of this study. Said (2017) conducted a study on the effect of using twitter on achievement and development trends among college of education students and found that participants believed twitter usage is beneficial in supporting their learning through enhanced communication and collaboration with teachers. Hirsh (2012) conducted a research on the relationship among Twitter use, students’ engagement and academic performance in online classes at an urban community college and found that students in the treatment group who self-reported that the tweets increased their level of engagement.

Ersin and Zekiye (2019) investigated the influence of Instagram usage on the study habits and self efficacy of undergraduates in Universities and revealed that there is a significant positive influence of instagram usage on undergraduates study habits, in areas such as note taking, reading and sharing of academic ideas. Michael (2016) studied the influence of WhatsApp on the study habit of University students and found that the reasons for WhatsApp usage among was for studying, for group discussion, networking, sharing contents and experience or insight. Isaac and Obiora (2020) in a study on social media usage found that majority of the students use social media like WhatsApp for the purpose of chatting with friends and family other than for academic purposes.

From the forgoing therefore, study habit plays significant role in students’ academic success. Good study habits are essential ingredients that make learning experience appear pleasant and enjoyable. Study habits such as reading, note taking, summary and review of lecture note, good time management and concentration during lectures are among the factors that seem to enhance students’ academic performance.

However, despite the crucial role study habits play in students’ academic success, observation by the researcher shows that, undergraduate within the study area seem not to take their studies seriously as most students’ attention appear to have been diverted from reading, note taking during lectures, review of lecture notes, timely completion of assignment, active class participation and concentration during lectures. Instead they appear to be pre- occupied with downloading and watching of pictures, videos, chatting with friends, sexting, taking and posting selfie on social media at the expense of their studies. The culture of staying glued to books at night for academic success seems to be gradually replaced by chatting on these platforms.

More disturbing is the fact that, most students seem to interact with their phone in the class even when receiving lectures either to respond to text, receive messages, video calls or to surf the net. Thus, the time and attention that ought to have been devoted to that lectures appears to have been frittered away.  This observation in the usage of social media among students has become a major concern and seems to support the belief of the general public that, rather than help students’ academically, these social media platforms seem to divert students’ time and attention from their studies, thereby contributing to decline in academic performance. This situation if left unchecked could lead to educational degradation.

This spurred the researcher to carry out this study to determine whether the use of social media actually has any influence on the study habits of undergraduates in North Central Nigeria.

THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK

Uses and Gratification Theory by Katz and Gurevitch in 1973

Uses and gratification theory was propounded by Katz and Gurevitch in 1973. The theory focuses on how and why people use social media to satisfy their needs. The basic assumption of this theory is that, social media users have control over their media usage and that, users play active role in interpreting and integrating media into their own lives.  The relevance of the theory to this study is that, it provides a powerful framework with which students use social media to meet their specific needs and what students do with social media. Students are more likely to use a social media platform if it effectively gratifies the need they are seeking to fulfill.

Objectives of the Study

The study sought to achieve the following objectives

1. To determine the influence of Facebook usage on study habits of undergraduates in North Central Nigeria
2. To find out the influence of Twitter usage on study habits of undergraduates in North Central Nigeria
3. To examine the influence of Instagram usage on study habits of undergraduates in North Central Nigeria
4. To investigate the influence of WhatsApp usage on study habits of undergraduates in North Central Nigeria.

Research Questions

The following research questions guided the study

1. How does the usage of Facebook influence the study habits of undergraduates in North Central Nigeria?
2. How does the usage of Twitter influence the study habits of undergraduates in North Central Nigeria?
3. How does the usage of Instagram influence the study habits of undergraduates in North Central Nigeria?
4. How does the usage of WhatsApp influence the study habits of undergraduates in North Central Nigeria?

Hypotheses

The following hypotheses were formulated and tested at 0.05 level of significance

1. Facebook usage has no significant influence on study habits and academic performance of undergraduates in North Central Nigeria.
2. Twitter usage has no significant influence on study habits and academic performance of undergraduates in North Central Nigeria.
3. Instagram usage has no significant influence on study habits and academic performance of undergraduates in North Central Nigeria.
4. WhatsApp usage has no significant influence on study habits and academic performance of undergraduates in North Central Nigeria.

METHODOLOGY

The study adopted an ex-post facto research design. The population comprises 26,320 (400) level students from seven Federal Universities in North Central Zone of Nigeria (National University Commission, Directorate of Planning, Research and Statistics, 2021). The sample size for the study was 388 400 level students from Federal University Lafia, Nasarawa State, University of Abuja, Abuja, Joseph Sarwuam Tarka University Makurdi, Benue State and University of Jos, Plateau State. This sample size was determined using Yamane sample size determination formula. In composing the sample, proportionate stratified and accidental sampling techniques were used. Two instruments, a structured questionnaire titled “Social media and Study Habits Questionnaire” (SMSHQ) and a semi-structured interview guide were used for data collection. The instruments were divided into four clusters each and developed in line with the objectives of the study. The instruments were validated by experts. The reliability of the questionnaire was established using Cronbach Alpha method which yielded a coefficient of 0.71. All the 388 copies of the questionnaire administered to the respondents were retrieved and 35 students were interviewed. Data were collected personally by the researchers with the aid of research assistants. Data collected for the study were analyzed using Means and Standard Deviation to answer the research questions while Chi-Square Goodness of Fit was used to test the hypotheses at 0.05 level of significance. For the interview guide, the responses collected on the recording device were subjected to Thematic Analysis. Thematic analysis is a method for analyzing qualitative data that entails searching across a data set to identify, analyze, and report repeated patterns. By this method, the researcher closely examines the data to identify common themes – ideas or opinions and patterns of meaning that come up repeatedly.

RESULTS

Research Question 1: How does the usage of Facebook influence the study habits of undergraduates in North Central Nigeria?

Table 1: Mean and Standard Deviation of how the usage of Facebook influence the study habits of undergraduates in North Central Nigeria (N = 388)

NoI = Nature of Item; P = Positively Worded; NW Negatively Worded

Data presented on Table 1 revealed that the respondents agreed to the negatively worded items like item 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9 with mean scores ranging from 1.99 – 2.11 which are below the benchmark of 2.50. For the positively worded items, the respondents disagreed to item 3 and agreed to items 10. The grand mean and SD of all the items were revealed to be 2.16 and SD = .98 respectively. It can therefore be deduced from this finding that Facbook usage negatively influence the study habits of undergraduates in North Central Nigeria.

Research Question 2: How does the usage of Twitter influence the study habits of undergraduates in North Central Nigeria?

Table 2: Mean and Standard Deviation of how the usage of Twitter influence the study habits of undergraduates in North Central Nigeria (N = 388) 

NoI = Nature of Item; P = Positively Worded; NW Negatively Worded

Data presented on Table 2 revealed that, the respondents agreed to the negatively worded items like (13, 16, 17 and 19) with mean scores ranging from 2.09 – 2.11 which are below the benchmark of 2.50. For the positively worded items (11, 12, 14, 15, 18 and 20) , the respondents agreed to all with mean values ranging from 2.01 – 2.13. The grand mean and SD of all the items were revealed to be 2.09 and SD = .99 respectively. It can therefore be deduced from this finding that Twitter usage negatively influence the study habits of undergraduates in North Central Nigeria.

Research Question 3: How does the usage of Instagram influence the study habits of undergraduates in North Central Nigeria?

Table 3: Mean and Standard Deviation of how the usage of Instagram influence the study habits of undergraduates in North Central Nigeria (N = 388) 

NoI = Nature of Item; P = Positively Worded; NW Negatively Worded

Data presented on Table 3 revealed that, the respondents agreed to the negatively worded items(21, 23, 24 and 26) with mean scores ranging from 2.08 – 2.11 which are below the benchmark of 2.50. For the positively worded items, the respondents disagreed to all the items (22, 25, 27, 28, 29 and 30) with mean scores ranging from 2.04 – 2.10. The grand mean and SD of all the items were revealed to be 2.09 and SD = 1.00 respectively. It can therefore be deduced from this finding that Instagram usage negatively influence the study habits of undergraduates in North Central Nigeria.

Research Question 4: How does the usage of WhatsApp influence the study habits of undergraduates in North Central Nigeria?

Table 4: Mean and Standard Deviation of how the usage of WhatsApp influence the study habits of undergraduates in North Central Nigeria (N = 388) 

NoI = Nature of Item; P = Positively Worded; NW Negatively Worded

Data presented on Table 4 revealed that, the respondents disagreed to the negatively worded items (31, 33, 34, 35, 38 and 40) with mean scores ranging from 2.88 – 2.97 which are above the benchmark of 2.50. For the positively worded items, the respondents agreed to all the items (32, 36, 37 and 39) with mean values ranging from 2.91 – 3.01. The grand mean and SD of all the items were revealed to be 2.94 and SD = 1.05 respectively. It can therefore be deduced from this finding that WhatsApp usage positively influence the study habits of undergraduates in North Central Nigeria.

Hypothesis 1: Facebook usage has no significant influence on study habits of undergraduates in North Central Nigeria

Table 5: Chi-Square Goodness of fit test of the influence of Facebook Usage on Study Habits of Undergraduates in North Central Nigeria

Df = Degree of Freedom;  = Chi-Square Calculated Value; Sig = P-Value, P<0.05

Table 5 shows the Chi-square calculated value of 54.021, degree of freedom (df) =3 and a sig (P-value=0.000) which is less than the alpha value (α) of 0.05. Since P<0.05, the result is significant, therefore the null hypothesis is rejected. This implies that, Facebook usage has significant influence on study habits of undergraduates in North Central Nigeria.

Hypothesis 2: Twitter usage has no significant influence on study habits of undergraduates in North Central Nigeria. 

Table 6: Chi-Square Goodness of fit test of the influence of Twitter Usage on Study Habits of Undergraduates in North Central Nigeria

Df = Degree of Freedom;  = Chi-Square Calculated Value; Sig = P-Value, P<0.05

Table 6 shows the Chi-square calculated value of 61.330, degree of freedom (df) =3 and a sig (P-value=0.007) which is less than the alpha value (α) of 0.05. Since P<0.05, the result is significant, therefore the null hypothesis is rejected. This implies that, Twitter usage has significant influence on study habits of undergraduates in North Central Nigeria

Hypothesis 3: Instagram usage has no significant influence on study habits of undergraduates in North Central Nigeria.

Table 7: Chi-Square Goodness of fit test of the influence of Instagram Usage on Study Habits of Undergraduates in North Central Nigeria

Df = Degree of Freedom;  = Chi-Square Calculated Value; Sig = P-Value, P<0.05

Table 7 shows the Chi-square calculated value of 21.371, degree of freedom (df) =3 and a sig (P-value=0.049) which is less than the alpha value (α) of 0.05. Since P<0.05, the result is significant, therefore the null hypothesis is rejected. This implies that, Instagram usage has significant influence on study habits of undergraduates in North Central Nigeria

Hypothesis 4: WhatsApp usage has no significant influence on study habits of undergraduates in North Central Nigeria.

Table 8: Chi-Square Goodness of fit test of the influence of WhatsApp Usage on Study Habits of Undergraduates in North Central Nigeria

Df = Degree of Freedom;  = Chi-Square Calculated Value; Sig = P-Value, P<0.05

Table 8 shows the Chi-square calculated value of 2.784, degree of freedom (df) =3 and a sig (P-value=0.442) which is greater than the alpha value (α) of 0.05. Since P>0.05, the result is not significant, therefore the null hypothesis is not rejected. This implies that, WhatsApp usage has no significant influence on study habits of undergraduates in North Central Nigeria

DISCUSSION

The first finding of the study revealed that Facebook usage has significant influence on the study habits of undergraduates in North Central Nigeria. The study revealed that Facebook exerts a negative influence on the study habits of undergraduates in North Central Nigeria. This implies that the effect of Facebook usage contribute to students’ poor study habits. Specifically, it was found from the study that intense Facebook usage adversely affect undergraduates punctuality at lectures; students’ inclination to Facebook usage affect them in reviewing their lecture notes at the end of each day; students hardly stick to their reading schedule as a result of Facebook usage and they often share my productive time of reading their books at night to reading and responding to post on Facebook. As reported by one of the students through interview session, “Facebook usage takes much of my time to an extent that I find it difficult to fully concentrate while reading because of distractions that come in form of chats and posts from friends”. Another respondent revealed that “Facebook usage has negatively affected my study habits because most of the information posted on our facebook groups are gossips and jokes and getting involved in these gossips and jokes often takes my time away from studies”. In addition, a student reported that, I always have the urge to be online (facebook) even during lecture hours and this affects my concentration and attention”. Yet on another negative note, some of the students reported that “facebook usage has been a great source of distraction to them because of its open nature to the public. The reports have it that most of the events shared on facebook can’t be controlled by them unlike WhatsApp which is personal and that, the adverts, gossips, news and jokes shared on facebook rather takes away their time from studies as they get engaged in reading them”. However, one of the students report that “facebook has really helped me in my academics because the information I get from my departmental group on facebook has helped me to be aware and updated about recent departmental issues and this has greatly enhanced my study habits”. The finding corroborate with that of Ugyen and Tshering (2021) who found that those who spent more time on social media spent less time studying. The finding agree with that of Chibueze (2018) who found that there is no significant relationship between students use of social media like facebook and study habit.  The finding also agree with that of Ezeji and Ezeji (2018) whose study on effect of social media on the study habit of students found that the rate of social media usage among students was very high and that social media usage like facebook negatively affected students’ revision of their lecture notes daily as well as submission and carrying out of study assignments. Further, the findings conforms to that of Mathur, Nathani, Sharma and Arora (2019) who found that students use facebook for various factors like entertainment, relaxing, passing time but not for knowledge enhancement and that due to their time spent on facebook, it has got a negative impact on the student academics and this affect their career. The finding of this present study does not conform to that of Moreno (2020) whose study on the influence of Facebook addiction on study habits of the Office Administration students found that higher the facebook addiction, the higher the study habits among the second year BSOA students in the College of Business Education and that addiction in using facebook is a predictor of overall study habits among the BSOA second-year students. This finding also does not corroborate with that of Saravana, Lokesha and Shivalingappa (2018) whose study on impact of facebook addiction on the study habits of social work students found a significant positive correlation between the facebook addiction elements with overall study habits of the students. The use of facebook among students has been shown to be beneficial to college students because it allows them to easily share files and links to each other.  In the present study however, it can be said that facebook usage has become an addiction to many undergraduate students who constantly check in and scan through their news feed. The amount of time they spent online and off the books could show that the use of Facebook have deteriorated their study habits.

The second finding of the study revealed that Twitter usage has significant influence on the study habits of undergraduates in North Central Nigeria. The study found a negative influence of Twitter usage on study habits of the undergraduates. It was found that Twitting’ makes it difficult for students to stick to their private study time; it affects their comprehension of learning materials; makes them loose concentration and adversely affect them in taking down notes during lectures. From the responses gotten from the interview guide, a student reported that: “twitter usage is quite detrimental to my academic life. I can’t say whether it has added something positive to my studies, but I can say that something is definitely changing in the negative in terms of my study habits”. Some of the students attested that “twitter usage tends to consume their time as they get to spend much time reading and making tweets which takes away their valuable time from studies”. Others reported that “though they use twitter to a low extent, they little time they spent on twitter makes them loose concentration especially during lecture hours”. This finding agree with that of Huseyin and Nadire (2012) whose study on impact of Twitter on study habits and interpersonal relationships of students in tertiary institutions found that the students’ level of using social media had a negative influence on their study habits and their interpersonal relationships. The findings of Obadara and Olaopa (2018) that that undergraduate students displayed high level of utilization of social media like Twitter and there was relatively low study habit pattern is in conformity to the findings of this study. Furthermore, the finding agree with that of Ezeji and Ezeji (2018) who found that the rate of social media usage among students was very high and that social media usage like Twitter negatively affected students’ revision of their lecture notes daily as well as submission and carrying out of study assignments. The finding however disagree with that of Said (2017) where the participants believed twitter usage is beneficial in supporting their learning through enhanced communication and collaboration with teachers. The finding also disagrees with that of Hirsh (2012) who found that students in the treatment group who self-reported that the tweets increased their level of engagement. It is no denying the fact that Twitter on a general note has the potential to enhance students’ learning capabilities as well as improve their motivation and engagement due to its unique features and non-traditional teaching approach. However, its usage among undergraduates in North Central Nigeria seems to have detrimental effect on their studies. This could be that instead of using twitter features for enhancing their studies, they use it mainly for social pleasures.

The finding of the study also revealed that Instagram usage has significant influence on the study habits of undergraduates in North Central Nigeria. The nature of the influence was found to be negative. Specific findings derived from the study revealed that the students barely stick to their personal study schedule when ‘Instagraming’; it affects their review of lecture notes in class; it makes them forgets to do their assignments; affect their punctuality at lectures and makes them distracted and easily lose concentrating when reading. Responses gotten from the interview schedule have it as reported by a student that “instagram is addictive and it consumes a lot of my valuable time for studies”. Some of the students reported that “they use instagram mostly for entertainment, relaxing, passing time but not for knowledge enhancement and this has negatively impacted on their study habits”. Others reported that, they use instagram for a the sole purpose, to post their pictures and videos and follow and watch videos of celebrities and this often times takes away much of the time they would have used in studying”. The finding agree with that of Obadara and Olaopa (2018) who examined the correlation between social media utilization, study habit and undergraduate students’ academic performance and found that undergraduate students displayed high level of utilization of social media like Instagram and there was relatively academic performance. This finding is not in tandem with that of Ersin and Zekiye (2019) who investigated the influence of Instagram usage on the study habits and self efficacy of undergraduates in Universities revealed that there is a significant positive influence of instagram usage on undergraduates study habits, in areas such as note taking, reading and sharing of academic ideas. While instagram usage can help students in their learning particularly by allowing them to form online groups and share information regarding a particular subject, the undergraduates as witnessed from the findings of this study uses instagram for purposes other than this and this has caused a detrimental effect on their study habits.

Further, the finding of the study revealed that WhatsApp usage has no significant influence on the study habits of undergraduates in North Central Nigeria. It was revealed from this finding that WhatsApp usage does not makes it difficult for students to stick to their lecture time table or affect them in acquisition of learning materials which aids them in writing their assignments; does not hamper their assimilation while reading nor affect their timely completion of assignments; does not distracts them from creating time to visit the library to read and neither distract them from concentrating during lecture hours among others. From the responses gathered from the interview schedule, a student reported that “because WhatsApp supports free voice and video calls, we often stay in touch with lecturers, even outside stipulated study periods and information shared greatly enhances our studies”.  Another student reported that since WhatsApp is very personal and gives him control over those he share information with, he is mostly engaged in sharing academic contents with friends/contacts that can aid his studies”. In addition, another student reported that, “the information she often get from their departmental WhatsApp group enable her to say updated with her studies and materials shared on the group by her course-mates and lecturers are always beneficial to her studies”. Furthermore, others reported that, “with WhatsApp usage, lecturers send timely reminders or notifications about exams, homework due dates, etc., to keep students engaged with the learning material and the subject and this has positively affected their studies”. However, one of the students remarked that, “I am addicted to whatsApp usage and this addiction has affected so much that I hardly have time for the academic contents shared on WhatsApp group, instead I prefer chatting and making video call with friends”. Generally, report from the interview have it that the students use WhatsApp for the academic purposes to find out activities of department and university; to resolve queries about subject or exam of other students, join group discussion, contact with the expert on the topic of the study, arrange extracurricular activities, and tutorials and consultations with teachers. This finding agree with that of Michael (2016) whose study on influence of WhatsApp on the study habit of University students found that the reasons for WhatsApp usage among was for studying, for group discussion, networking, sharing contents and experience or insight. The finding however disagree with that of Chibueze (2018) who found that there is no significant relationship between students use of social media like facebook and study habits. The finding also disagree with that of Ezeji and Ezeji (2018) who found that the rate of social media usage among students was very high and that social media usage like WhatsApp negatively affected students’ revision of their lecture notes daily as well as submission and carrying out of study assignments. Further, the finding disagree with that of Isaac and Obiora (2020) who found that majority of the students use social media like WhatsApp for the purpose of chatting with friends and family other than for academic purposes. The finding of the present study is a pointer that WhatsApp usage can boost students’ dynamic participation and inspire them to get involved in purposeful activities with a special emphasis on effective study habits. This finding as observed could be that student life away from the class room is complemented by the WhatsApp platform as well, enabling educators to push out status updates on up-and-coming events such as lectures, tutorials, assignments and major projects.

CONCLUSION

Based on the findings from the study, the researcher concluded that, except for WhatsApp platform, the usage of social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter and Instagram negatively affect the study habits of undergraduates in North Central Nigeria. The finding of this study has implications for counselling. As a helping profession that assumes a persuasive approach to convince people to behave in a particular way, counselling can be used help students in putting social media platforms to right use and at appropriate times. Counselling can play a major role in curtailing the negative influence of social media usage on study habits and students’ academic performance. Generally, counsellors provide counselling programmes in three domains within the educational domain: academic, career and personal/social. The services and programmes of the counselors help students to resolve emotional, social or behavioral problems and help them develop a clearer focus or sense of direction.

RECOMMENDATIONS

The following are therefore recommended based on the findings of this study.

1. Guidance and counseling therapeutic programmes should be organized by the universities to remedy the students who arealready addicted to social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Intagram and WhatsApp and has affected their study habits and academic performance negatively.
2. Through counseling, undergraduates should be made to realize all the potential harm from excessive use of social platforms and responsibly approach the learning process and academic results. Students should use all available online platforms effectively and they must be conscious of social media negative effects and should try as much as possible to create a balance so as not to get carried away while learning
3. University management in collaboration with counsellors should make strict rules and regulations on the use of smart phones for accessing social media platforms during lecture hours and lecturers should be supported by the management to implement these rules. By developing and implementing such a template, the study habits and academic performance of students can be enhanced

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