Abstract
Social networking sites have played an important role in enhancing students’ social presence. As an educational tool for online courses, they have significantly contributed in promoting students’ motivation for learning. The aim of this research is to investigate the impact of social networking sites on students’ academic performance. We conduct a comprehensive review on the usage of social networking sites in academic environments to identify the influential factors and propose a new model based on several research hypotheses. To evaluate the hypotheses and verify the proposed model, a survey is conducted on the female students from a major research university in Malaysia. We use Decision Making Trial and Evaluation Laboratory to perform the data analysis. In relation to the statistical technique, this technique can find the casual relationships among the factors, their effect size and their importance levels. The results of our survey revealed that there is positive relationship between social presence, students’ social wellbeing and their academic performance.
Similar content being viewed by others
Explore related subjects
Discover the latest articles, news and stories from top researchers in related subjects.References
Ahmadi, H., Nilashi, M., & Ibrahim, O. (2015). Organizational decision to adopt hospital information system: An empirical investigation in the case of Malaysian public hospitals. International Journal of Medical Informatics, 84(3), 166–188.
Alavi, M. (1994). Computer-mediated collaborative learning: An empirical evaluation. MIS Quarterly, 18, 159–174.
Bicen, H. (2015). Determination of university students’ reasons Ofusing social networking sites in their daily life. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 190, 519–522.
Bicen, H., & Cavus, N. (2010). The most preferred social network sites by students. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 2(2), 5864–5869.
Bosch, T. E. (2009). Using online social networking for teaching and learning: Facebook use at the University of Cape Town. Communicatio: South African Journal for Communication Theory and Research, 35(2), 185–200.
Burke, M., Marlow, C., & Lento, T. (2010). Social network activity and social well-being. Paper presented at the Proceedings of the SIGCHI conference on human factors in computing systems.
Buzov, I. (2014). Social network sites as area for students’ pro-environmental activities. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 152, 1233–1236.
Cheung, C. M., Chiu, P.-Y., & Lee, M. K. (2011). Online social networks: Why do students use facebook? Computers in Human Behavior, 27(4), 1337–1343.
Dabbagh, N., & Kitsantas, A. (2012). Personal learning environments, social media, and self-regulated learning: A natural formula for connecting formal and informal learning. The Internet and Higher Education, 15(1), 3–8.
Dunlap, J. C., & Lowenthal, P. R. (2009). Tweeting the night away: Using twitter to enhance social presence. Journal of Information Systems Education, 20(2), 129–135.
Ellison, N. B., Steinfield, C., & Lampe, C. (2007). The benefits of Facebook “friends:” social capital and college students’ use of online social network sites. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 12(4), 1143–1168.
Fiori, K. L., Antonucci, T. C., & Cortina, K. S. (2006). Social network typologies and mental health among older adults. The Journals of Gerontology Series B: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences, 61(1), P25–P32.
Gunawardena, C. N., & Zittle, F. J. (1997). Social presence as a predictor of satisfaction within a computer-mediated conferencing environment. American Journal of Distance Education, 11(3), 8–26.
Helou, A. M., & Rahim, N. Z. A. (2014). The influence of social networking sites on students’ academic performance in Malaysia. International Journal of Electronic Commerce, 5(2), 247–254.
Hu, K.-C., Lu, M., Huang, F.-Y., & Jen, W. (2017). Click “like” on Facebook: The effect of customer-to-customer interaction on customer voluntary performance for social networking sites. International Journal of Human Computer Interaction, 33(2), 135–142.
Joksimović, S., Gašević, D., Kovanović, V., Riecke, B. E., & Hatala, M. (2015). Social presence in online discussions as a process predictor of academic performance. Journal of Computer Assisted Learning, 31(6), 638–654.
Kamel Boulos, M. N., & Wheeler, S. (2007). The emerging Web 2.0 social software: An enabling suite of sociable technologies in health and health care education 1. Health Information and Libraries Journal, 24(1), 2–23.
Kang, S. (2007). Disembodiment in online social interaction: Impact of online chat on social support and psychosocial well-being. Cyberpsychology & Behavior, 10(3), 475–477.
Kizgin, H., Jamal, A., Rana, N., Dwivedi, Y., & Weerakkody, V. (2018). The impact of social networking sites on socialization and political engagement: Role of acculturation. Technological Forecasting and Social Change.
Krejcie, R. V., & Morgan, D. W. (1970). Determining sample size for research activities. Educational and Psychological Measurement, 30(3), 607–610.
Lee, Y.-C., Li, M.-L., Yen, T.-M., & Huang, T.-H. (2010). Analysis of adopting an integrated decision making trial and evaluation laboratory on a technology acceptance model. Expert Systems with Applications, 37(2), 1745–1754.
Liccardi, I., Ounnas, A., Pau, R., Massey, E., Kinnunen, P., Lewthwaite, S., . . . Sarkar, C. (2007). The role of social networks in students' learning experiences. Paper presented at the ACM Sigcse Bulletin.
Lim, J., & Richardson, J. C. (2016). Exploring the effects of students' social networking experience on social presence and perceptions of using SNSs for educational purposes. The Internet and Higher Education, 29, 31–39.
Nilashi, M., Zakaria, R., Ibrahim, O., Majid, M. Z. A., Zin, R. M., & Farahmand, M. (2015). MCPCM: A DEMATEL-ANP-based multi-criteria decision-making approach to evaluate the critical success factors in construction projects. Arabian Journal for Science and Engineering, 40(2), 343–361.
Pang, H. (2018). Exploring the beneficial effects of social networking site use on Chinese students’ perceptions of social capital and psychological well-being in Germany. International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 67, 1–11.
Pempek, T. A., Yermolayeva, Y. A., & Calvert, S. L. (2009). College students' social networking experiences on Facebook. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 30(3), 227–238.
Roblyer, M. D., McDaniel, M., Webb, M., Herman, J., & Witty, J. V. (2010). Findings on Facebook in higher education: A comparison of college faculty and student uses and perceptions of social networking sites. The Internet and Higher Education, 13(3), 134–140.
Salahshour Rad, M., Nilashi, M., Mohamed Dahlan, H., & Ibrahim, O. (2017). Academic researchers’ behavioural intention to use academic social networking sites: A case of Malaysian research universities. Information Development, 026666691774192. https://doi.org/10.1177/0266666917741923.
Salahshour, M., Dahlan, H. M., Iahad, N. A., Nilashi, M., & Ibrahim, O. (2015). Using a multi-criteria decision making approach for assessing the factors affecting social network sites intention to use. Journal of Soft Computing and Decision Support Systems, 2(3), 20–28.
Salahshour, M., Dahlan, H. M., Iahad, N. A., & Nilashi, M. (2017). The role of demographic factors on academic social networking sites use behaviour from academic researchers perspective. Journal of Soft Computing and Decision Support Systems, 4(4), 11–16.
Shieh, J. I., Wu, H. H., & Huang, K. K. (2010). A DEMATEL method in identifying key success factors of hospital service quality. Knowledge-Based Systems, 23(3), 277–282.
Tsai, W. H., & Chou, W. C. (2009). Selecting management systems for sustainable development in SMEs: A novel hybrid model based on DEMATEL, ANP, and ZOGP. Expert Systems with Applications, 36(2), 1444–1458.
Tzeng, G. H., Chiang, C. H., & Li, C. W. (2007). Evaluating intertwined effects in e-learning programs: A novel hybrid MCDM model based on factor analysis and DEMATEL. Expert Systems with Applications, 32(4), 1028–1044.
Valenzuela, S., Park, N., & Kee, K. F. (2009). Is there social capital in a social network site?: Facebook use and college students' life satisfaction, trust, and participation. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 14(4), 875–901.
Valkenburg, P. M., Peter, J., & Schouten, A. P. (2006). Friend networking sites and their relationship to adolescents' well-being and social self-esteem. Cyberpsychology & Behavior, 9(5), 584–590.
Wang, Z., Mathiyazhagan, K., Xu, L., & Diabat, A. (2016). A decision making trial and evaluation laboratory approach to analyze the barriers to green supply chain management adoption in a food packaging company. Journal of Cleaner Production, 117, 19–28.
Wu, W. W. (2008). Choosing knowledge management strategies by using a combined ANP and DEMATEL approach. Expert Systems with Applications, 35(3), 828–835.
Yadegaridehkordi, E., Hourmand, M., Nilashi, M., Shuib, L., Ahani, A., & Ibrahim, O. (2018). Influence of big data adoption on manufacturing companies' performance: An integrated DEMATEL-ANFIS approach. Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 137, 199–210.
Yang, H.-L., & Tang, J.-H. (2003). Effects of social network on students’ performance: A web-based forum study in Taiwan. Journal of Asynchronous Learning Networks, 7(3), 93–107.
Yu, A. Y., Tian, S. W., Vogel, D., & Kwok, R. C.-W. (2010). Can learning be virtually boosted? An investigation of online social networking impacts. Computers & Education, 55(4), 1494–1503.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Publisher’s note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Samad, S., Nilashi, M. & Ibrahim, O. The impact of social networking sites on students’ social wellbeing and academic performance. Educ Inf Technol 24, 2081–2094 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10639-019-09867-6
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10639-019-09867-6