Investigating the Impact of Facebook on Students’ Social Behavior: SLIATE as a Case Study

International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS) | Volume IV, Issue XI, November 2020 | ISSN 2454–6186

Investigating the Impact of Facebook on Students’ Social Behavior: SLIATE as a Case Study

D. A. Akuratiya*, D. N. R. Meddage
Department of Accountancy, Department of Information Technology, ATI-Dehiwala, SLIATE, Sri Lanka
*Corresponding author

Abstract: Facebook, the world’s largest social media site of today’s world is the new trendsetter on interpersonal communication, interaction, and socializing. It has changed the face of social relationships and has taken the socio-cultural settings into a new phase. This study investigates the impact of Facebook on students’ academic, social behavior, privacy, and physical health. A sample of 223 questionnaires was collected from participants of 20-24 years of age. The findings emphasized that Facebook is used for recreation and relaxation, remaining updated about trends, and for socializing. Besides, there is no significant adverse impact on students’ academic, social interactions, and physical health. Also, the study indicates that students are aware of how to safeguard their privacy and security virtually, which is a good sign.

Key words: Facebook, Academic, Social Behavior, Privacy and Physical Health

I. INTRODUCTION

Social media has become the latest in the series of technological breakthrough in interpersonal communication and dissemination of information. Social media is all about communication and interaction. Starting from cave paintings, people have always used communication to form a relationship with others to fulfill their social needs (Kaya & Bicen, 2016). The popular social media sites like Facebook, twitter, myspace, etc. had revolutionized the way we communicate, interact, and socialize.
According to Al-Sharqi et al. (2015), social media has become universal, impacting the social and cultural fabric of the society and changing the nature of social relationships. Also, Leea et al. (2015) say, this new approach consuming and creating information in a particular way attractive to youth as a platform and space for activities not possible in the face-to-face context (p.84). The face of social media has changed rapidly from the first social media site classmates.com (founded in 1995) to today’s most popular social media site Facebook. With the easy access to the internet, computers, portable devices, and wi-fi Facebook has become an integral part of the social life of people of all ages and professions. Facebook users are allowed to set up and maintain virtual

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