KINNAIRD COLLEGE FOR WOMEN (KCW)

RESARCH PROPOSAL:

IMPACT OF DEVELOPMENT OF SOCIAL MEDIA PORTALS ON

EDUCATIONAL PROCESSES IN SCHOOLS AND UNIVERSITIES

BY:

FATIMA SULTANA

NIHAL NADEEM

Advisor:

MAM KIRAN KARAMAT (HOD)

Research proposal for the degree of:

BS.C IN MASS COMMUNICATION (media studies)

Table of Contents

1. Introduction...........................................................

2. Problem Statement................................................

3. Rational…………………………………………..

4. Objectives..............................................................

5. Literature review..................................................

6. Research Questions …………………………….

7. Hypothesis ………………………………………

8. Literature Review ……………………………...

9. Theoretical Framework ……………………….

10. Research Methodology ………………………

11. References (APA Format) …………………...

Abstract:-

Use of Social media is being swiftly increasing during last few years. It’s not only being used by
the working people but also there is heavy rise in the use of social media by the students or we
can say in education society. Use of social media has been created a positive impact on the
society. With the help of Internet all the social site and various applications are available which
can be access easily, also allow users to converse and interact with each other, to create, edit and
share new forms of textual, visual and audio content. It has a vital influence on our live as it
helps a lot in every field of life such as political field, economic field and educational field. The
current technological revolution, known by the development of the following technologies of
advanced information processing: Big Data database technologies, cloud computing, machine
learning, Internet of Things, artificial intelligence, Business Intelligence and other advanced data
mining technologies. These technologies are successively implemented to developed social
media portals

INTRODUCTION:

 The Internet has been developing only for 3 decades becoming the main global
information medium and the environment for creating new types of websites and
innovative, technological startups that are successful in business if they offer attractive
information services. Examples of companies that initially as startups and now as large
technology companies have achieved spectacular business successes are corporations
offering Internet information and marketing services in the environment of created and
developed social media portals.

 Currently, there are many, at least several dozen globally operating social media portals,
several of which have gained a large, minimum percentage or larger share in the market
of information and marketing internet services. Globally, these markets are dominated
by several social media portals that have specialized in a specific profile of information
and / or information offered to a particular segment of Internet users. Social media portals
dominating globally include: Facebook, Instagram, Tweeter, LinkedIn, Google+,
YouTube, Pinterest and others. Among the Internet users, the largest segment of the
recipients of information services for social media portals are young people, many of
whom are still students of primary and secondary schools as well as students studying at
universities. As a result, social media portals used as a communication medium by
students are increasingly becoming an instrument supporting the learning process.
  Due to the above, the dynamic development of social media portals on the Internet is
currently underway. For young people using smartphones, social media portals are one
of the main sources of information. Probably the next stage in the development of social
media portals will be the implementation of artificial intelligence to these portals and to
search engines and the creation of applications of the type of interactive advisors on
individual Internet information pages. New technologies of computerized, advanced
information processing, technologies typical for the current fourth technological
revolution, known as Industry 4.0, are increasingly integrating and functioning in the
Internet environment.

 The current technological revolution, known as Industry 4.0, is determined by the

development of the following technologies of advanced information processing: Big
Data database technologies, cloud computing, machine learning, Internet of Things,
artificial intelligence, Business Intelligence and other advanced data mining technologies.
These technologies are successively implemented to developed social media portals.
Due to the development of applications of these advanced information processing
technologies, new types of computerized teaching instruments are created in
educational processes, and educational systems also undergo technological
transformation and Education 4.0 is defined.

SOCIAL NETWORKS HAVE BECOME THOROUGHLY ROOTED IN

MODERN CULTURE.
People have woven these networks into their daily routines, using Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn,
online gaming environments, and other tools. Social networking makes kids more peer-based.
Young people are motivated to learn from their peers online. They interact and receive feedback
from one another. They are motivated to learn more from each other than from adults. Teachers
and adults are no longer the only sources of knowledge. It makes kids more networked than ever.
It is easier for kids to make friends with people all over the world, most of whom they will never
ever meet without these technological advances. Professor Larry Rosen notes that teens are
developing the ability to show virtual empathy for distressed. Social media applications therefore
allow users to converse and interact with each other; to create, edit and share new forms of
textual, visual and audio content. Social media applications are seen to be open rather than
closed, bottom-up rather than top-down. III. Learning with Social Media It’s no secret that most
students and teachers have smart-phones and have used social media in education. In fact, there
are apps and web tools that offer social media in an educational context. With faculty using a
variety of software tools and free web applications to enhance learning, communication, and
engagement, the use of social media is on the rise in higher education classrooms. Compared to
traditional learning method that provide few opportunities for learners to develop and maintain
their own learning activities, learning platforms based on social media place the control of
learning into the hands of learners themselves. A growing number of research efforts have been
made to support teaching and learning using a variety of social media tools. Social networking
site for college student share been developed aiming at enhancing both collaborative study and
social interaction. The research tells that making social media tools a part of traditional learning
is attractive to students and can motivate their participation in the learning process-Learning, the
social network sites handled the big problem by providing information to the educators in the
recent period. However, Social networks have helped to resolve some of these problems, by
adding interactive side with a student, and make the participation of the students in the
educational process which leads to an increase to attract them toward e-learning and to clarify
the reason behind the attraction educated about social network sites. How Social Media affects
the Students Social media not only helps to acquire knowledge but also establishing enduring
relationships with real people, connecting with fellow dorm residents through Facebook, Twitter
and various social sites can help a student overcome the kind of isolation that otherwise might
leader to leave school. A Twitter account can provide shy student with information about events
that facilitates face-to-face encounters with other students. Such personal interactions are vital to
creating and sustaining a sense of belonging. Using technology to accommodate students‟
different learning styles is not novel. The strength of social media applications is that they offer
an assortment of tools that learners can mix and match to best suit their individual learning styles
and increase their academic success. The social networking sites focus heavily on building online
communities with common interests or activities. Social networking sites also can help students
develop leadership skills, from low-level planning and organizing to activities that promote
social change and democratic engagement. Social media tools and networking sites encourage
students to engage with each other and to express and share their creativity. Such personal
interactions are vital to creating and sustaining a sense of belonging. As there are positive effects
of social media there are some negative effects also.

Impact of Social Media on Education:

Google and education, Google has helped over 20 million student in their education using
their tools. By spending so much time working with new technologies, students develop more
familiarity with computers and other electronic devices. .With the increased focus on technology
in education and business, this will help students build skills that will aid them throughout their
lives. Talents got discovered faster, students who were good at programming got their name out
their easily, student who were good in music, got their videos out and shared leading them to
their dreams. A lot of the students were able to inform public about their issues using social
media which brought awareness and helped solve a lot of problems. The ease with which a
student can customize their profile makes them more aware of basic aspects of design and layout
that are not often taught in schools. .The ease and speed with which users can upload pictures,
videos or stories has resulted in a greater amount of sharing of creative
STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM:
Existing social media can be utilized rather than spending resources to create new ones, except
those that will be developed have special characteristics and advantages. Social media can help
facilitate communication between students and groups. They can immediately get the information
they need. in the current times it is necessary to update the news technologies tools for education,
it is not about eliminating the different social networks from the scope of study of the students, it
is necessary to include them in the teaching-learning process of the students. In these there are
many examples that can be managed in the network, for example: it is not necessary to place a
video on the educational platform of the university if it is already placed on YouTube. The impact
and influence of social media platforms in education has lead us towards totally new paradigms
i.e. Academic social networking.
Many profound applications such as collaboration, finding experts, topical authority, and
education based sentiment analysis, reviews finding, scientific impact assessment etc. are
considered as trending research fields in academic social networking. As far as the academic
research is concerned, Finding researchers having common interest, experts of particular domain,
suitable journal or article, multidisciplinary reviewers etc are significant. In fact, it has been found
out that these web-based applications can improve communication among students and between
teachers and students. Thanks to these technologies, both teachers and students can interact with
each other in a matter of seconds. Social media can also be used to promote student engagement.
Students who often complain of being intimidated or bored in the classroom may feel comfortable
to express their creativity and voice their opinion on a social network website.
RATIONAL:

I have chosen this topic because due to Covid days I have observed as a student Social media
applications therefore allow users to converse and interact with each other; to create, edit and
share new forms of textual, visual and audio content. Social media applications are seen to be
open rather than closed, bottom-up rather than top-down. III. Learning with Social Media It’s no
secret that most students and teachers have smart-phones and have used social media in
education. In fact, there are apps and web tools that offer social media in an educational context.
With faculty using a variety of software tools and free web applications to enhance learning,
communication, and engagement, the use of social media is on the rise in higher education
classrooms. Compared to traditional learning method that provide few opportunities for learners
to develop and maintain their own learning activities, learning platforms based on social media
place the control of learning into the hands of learners themselves. Media tools a part of
traditional learning is attractive to students and can motivate their participation in the learning
process. E-Learning, the social network sites handled the big problem by providing information to
the educators in the recent period. However, Social networks have helped to resolve some of these
problems, by adding interactive side with a student, and make the participation of the students in
the educational process which leds to an increase to attract them toward e-learning and to clarify
the reason behind the attraction educated about social network sites. Social media has become an
integral tool for medical societies, hospitals, and advocacy groups. These groups are using social
media to engage, teach, and connect, and they play an important role in providing accurate, vetted
health information. In addition, organizations have realized that encouraging live-tweeting or
blogging of conferences provides opportunities for wide dissemination of content. Social media as
an open-learning resource in medical education
OBLECTIVES:

Social networking sites play an important role in e-learning, as the Association of School Boards
indicates that 60% of schools now receive their online education and that 50% of students talk
about school curricula. This has prompted parents to interact with school accounts and look
forward to their children's news And their behavior and led to the reduction of negative
phenomena in schools so I will talk about e-learning and how to improve the presence of schools
with social media:
1 - Schools need to enter the social media on the condition of presence content that benefit the
community in general and parents in particular and students closer to them.
2 - Presence on the blogging platforms from the transfer of experience from students to students
at the same level of school in different schools.
3 - Employ the Facebook site in communication between students and teachers in groups and
pages of admiration to be a kind of communication outside the school hours and a network of
information and knowledge.
4 - Schools and universities are now interested in the location of LinkedIn in highlighting
personal abilities and access to employment or education through it.
5 - Research published in the last period that the way students communicate information on social
networking sites contributed to their concentration and benefit from the way they exchange and
open up questions, especially if the school was interested in guidance and use of these social
networks.
6. The activation of social media in our schools requires understanding the culture of social media
through training and practice, forming a team for this task, taking advantage of scientific research
and recording the appropriate social sites for the school and then writing content, interaction and
continuous evaluation.
7 - There are many useful sites for schools such as to educate, edutopia and tech magazine, which
helps them to understand the latest social media and education.
8 - The success of the presence of schools on social sites is built only through guidance for the
safe use of social networking sites and communication between students and teachers outside
social networking sites and advocacy to enrich knowledge on social sites, at a time when many
schools lack the skills to market on social sites and understanding All the advantages offered by
the social sites, as well as the responsibility of the ministries and educational institutions that seek
to provide all the necessary needs and the work of competitions encouraging students to be able to
constructive dialogue and dissemination of knowledge and their desire What they love and choose
the language that is understood by those of their age, new science is added to us and it is
important to employ it properly

RESAERCH QUESTIONS:

Q 1.How do social media portals help pupils and students in education?

Q2.What is the best way to use social media for educational activities?

Q3.How does social media affect education positively?

Q4.How can students use social media wisely?

Q5.What is the best way to use social media for educational activities?

Q6.Can We Use A Facebook Page To Broadcast Updates And Alerts?

Q7.Can We Use A Facebook Group To Stream Live Lectures And Host Discussions?

Q8.CAN We Use To use Instagram For Photo Essays?

Q9.Can We Use Twitter As A Class Message Board?

Q10. How can I be safer online?

HYPOTHESIS:
H1: There is a significant impact of development of social media portals on educational
processes in schools and universities
H2: There is an insignificant impact of development of social media portals on educational
processes in schools and universities.

LITERATURE REVIEW:
This study included a focused investigation of the prior literature of two disciplines. First, this
research focused on finding the association between the productive characteristics of social
media on students’ communities and how social media facilitates the sharing of opinions of
interest with others. Second, it examined the relationship between the adverse physiognomies of
social media on select Pakistani university students and the students’ communities and how
social media has a negative impact when students indulge in excessive use. The fundamental
advantage of using social media is the building of interpersonal relations through the creation of
new connections. Social networks provide platforms to make friends by utilizing inconsequential
interactions, communications, or participation in social groups, and enable people to socially
support one another. Regarding the productive aspects of social media, previous studies have
focused on how social media usage is associated with social capital. Thus, it refers to the
“characteristics of social systems and organization, for instance, social networking, social norms,
values, or social belief and trust by coordinating the cooperation to facilitate that coordination
and cooperation to ensure reciprocal benefit”. Communication is a way of interacting with
diverse communities and individuals who are different from oneself, and it is indispensable to
appreciating and comprehending various viewpoints of different kinds of people. Thus,
traditional societal settings, including communities, churches, schools, diverse volunteer groups,
organizations, and workplaces, are crucial places for people to interact and communicate with
heterogeneous individuals. In the environment of digital and social media, there are more
opportunities to engage with people with diverse perspectives, and such platforms offer diverse
types of information sharing and means of exchanging opinions, ideas, and viewpoints with other
people. Several recent studies have examined how social media and other online platforms
facilitate interactions and communications with different types of people a phenomenon called
network heterogeneity.

The Positive Effects of Social Media

Social media is increasingly becoming a critical element of human society by changing our
social norms, values, and culture. Information sharing and the distribution of content are
becoming important social desires. Social media has changed how people, including university
students and mainly female students communicate, interact, and socialize over the course of their
learning processes at educational institutions. This new form of media is playing a vital role in
content sharing among universities students and the rest of society. Students now have the
opportunity to participate in social discussion by sharing images and pictures, posting their
comments, disseminating ideas, and so on. Today, social media generally impacts youths’ daily
lives and universities students in particular. Digital media and social networking are
revolutionizing methods of everyday communication, collaboration, information sharing, and
information consumption.
Hansen et al. (2017) defined social media as a set of online applications and tools that provide
ways of social interaction and communication between digital media users by facilitating and
creating knowledge sharing and ultimately transforming a monologue into a dialog, for instance,
by an organization to customers. According to various prior studies, social media includes
diversified internet-based tools and applications based on a particular philosophical ideology and
technological foundations and functionality. Social media has changed the way its users
communicate and utilize internet-based sites as a means of dispersing content among digital
media and internet users. It has created opportunities for more affordable and highly viable
internet promotions of goods and services, it offers new ways to deal and coordinate interactions
between potential social media users, and it has spurred the creation of business opportunities
and system correspondence. Consistently, a large number of social media users distribute their
articles, photographs, videos, and recordings with the help of social media platforms, such as
Facebook, WhatsApp, Viber, YouTube, Flickr, and Word Press, and they share such information
with others.
The phenomena of user-generated data or content reached new heights in 2005 with the
introduction of Web 2.0. Numerous specialists, driven by Tim O’Reilly, noted the mounting
pattern of information sharing among social media users that led to the formation of the site.
Thus, Web 2.0 has turned out to be more focused on the valuable sharing of information among
users. Ultimately, the best observation of the current social atmosphere refers to the relevant
emerging social media of the time, for instance, Facebook (2004), Twitter (2006), and
WhatsApp. Several scholars have attempted to define social media, but the most adequate
description and definition of social media came from Andreas Kaplan and Michael Heinlein, and
they also critically distinguished the literature associated with social media. Andreas Kaplan and
Michael Heinlein depicted social media as a gathering of internet tools and applications typically
based on the philosophy underlying Web 2.0 and the mechanical establishments that authorize
the creation, sharing, and the trade of customer-produced content or site-generated data of social
media users. Social media provides platforms that enable university students and the rest of the
population to trade their ideas, thoughts, information, and conclusions; talk with each other about
the substance of information; and create contacts via social networking. Hence, via social media,
individuals may plan content, have a sound idea involving information sharing, videos, pictures,
correspondence, or coordination based on joint efforts, and create social connections with others.
Social media incorporates websites, wikis, video- or photo-sharing sites, and other diverse
platforms. At present, participating in digital media sharing and social networking is not only
beneficial, but it also facilitates individual social interactions, as well as communication, by
allowing users to building brands and create professional opportunities. The emerging and
evolving concepts of social media tools, usage, applications, and gratification encourage us to
examine the relationship between social media users and such technologies. The uses and
gratifications theory (UGT) refers to an approach that helps to understand the logic behind why
and how individuals actively seek out specific social networking and media outlets for the
satisfaction of their particular, personal goals. In other words, UGT is an audience-centered
method for understanding the subject of mass communication. This theory deviates from other,
diverse, new methods and approaches for understanding social media consequences that raise the
question: what does new media do to specific individuals?
The theory of uses and gratification focuses on the actions of people and their responses to social
media. Using this approach, this communication theory refers to positivism, which is based on
the communication tradition of socio-psychology, and it focuses on individuals’ communication
at the media technologies scale. Several driving questions arise with respect to UGT: Why do
people utilize mass media? What does people’s usage of new media mean? Thus, this theory of
UGT describes the ways in which social media users deliberately prefer media platforms that
will satisfy their given desires and permit them to enhance their desired areas of interest, such as
knowledge, relaxation, friendship, information sharing, ideas, social interactions, entertainment,
and escape. In this sense, UGT is a human-centered approach focusing on new media, and it
assumes that users have several alternatives from which to choose, allowing them to select the
option that best meets their particular needs. Thus, UGT suggests that digital or social media
users play an active role, and they know what alternative option to choose in order to satisfy their
required needs.

The Negative Effects of Social Media

Recently, there has arisen a debate on the adverse impact of social media usage on people,
particularly adolescents and student communities across the world. In this respect, digital media
and social networking sites have received criticism, and there are many perspectives regarding
the effect of social media in the context of Pakistani students.
The popularity of social media applications and social networking sites have increased
precipitously during the last decade. Typically, the reason for this rapid increase is that teenagers
and college and university students are using social media applications to gain global access.
These social media sites, such as Facebook and Twitter, are becoming the craze in our society for
everyone these days. Today, students are relying increasingly on information and data that is
easily accessible on social networking sites and the internet. This is the reason why students’
learning skills and research capabilities are decreasing in certain situations, as their engagement
with these sites reduces their focus, which causes them to dedicate less time to their studies and
results in a decline in their academic performance. Typically, as students spend more time on
social media, they spend less time socializing face to face or in person with other people, and
these habits reduce their communication skills. The wasting of students’ time on social media
may also cause them to miss deadlines on occasion. As a result, students might not be able to
communicate and socialize effectively in person, and it is well known that strong communication
skills are a key to success. Moreover, excessive social media use affects students’ mental and
physical health. Students delay their meals and fail to rest properly; instead, they consume
excessive amounts of tea or coffee to remain alert and active. This lifestyle has adverse effects
on students’ mental and physical health. Additionally, the daily overuse of social media is
unhealthy, because it enables students to avoid creating face-to-face bonds with people. Parents
are responsible for monitoring their children’s use of social media, and they should be vigilant
about whether their children use the internet for an appropriate amount of time. Ultimately,
educators and peers are also responsible for helping students understand the adverse effects of
social media on health, and they should make students aware of what they can lose in the real
world when they spend excessive amounts of time on social media sites.
The adverse effects of these social networking sites outweigh the positive ones. Thus, these sites
have caused potential harm to society. Students become victims of social networks more often
than anyone else. This may be because social media is an attractive way for students to avoid
boredom while they are studying or searching their course material online, diverting their
attention from their work. Social media platforms have also been criticized for revealing and
fueling negativity, which has a net-negative effect on students. For instance, the following social
media platforms have been ranked from the most to the least negative based on user evaluations:
Twitter, Facebook, Snap chat, and Instagram. Users have described Instagram, in particular, as
having a negative effect on people by causing stress and tension on individuals’ bodies.

According to Steven Strogatz of Cornell University, online networking can make it more
difficult for people to identify meaningful communication from other diverse interactions or
connections created via web-based social networks. Such a reduction in the number of significant
connections may intimidate individuals, making them fear the development of important
interactions and communication. Online networks also affect adolescents’ and individuals’ health
when they excessive use of social media.

THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK:
This theoretical framework shows the dependency and independency of factors gender, frequent
use of networking sites. Use of social networking websites depends upon the above four factors
so use of social networking is dependent and the above four are independent variables; whereas,
the academic performance depends upon the use of social networking websites in this case,
academic performance is a dependent variable and the use of social networking sites is an
independent variable.

Research Methodology
This study analyzed the prior literature to explore the constructive and negative factors or
elements of social media that typically impact students’ learning behavior. Therefore, to develop
a comprehensive understanding of this topic, we performed an exhaustive examination of the
prior literature found within quality journals. This study also examined postulations, meeting
procedures, and periodicals to identify supplementary information addressing the factors related
to the subject of this study. Thus, our research resulted in the identification of 18 of the most
critical elements of social media impacting students today. Furthermore, we developed a survey
to understand the view of the student community regarding social networking sites. We adjusted
the study design per their expert opinions before administering the survey, including proper
variables in the study and excluding some traditional or irrelevant elements. This study has
adopted a mixed method (survey and interviews) of sampling, and a probability cluster sampling
method was used in the data collection. Cluster sampling or one-stage cluster sampling is a
method that uses clusters of respondents to represent the wider population of the targeted sample.
The primary purpose of cluster sampling is the representation of all groups of respondents in a
specific study. This study collected data from the selected points from January to September
2021. The respondents were solicited to complete the questionnaire by utilizing a Likert scale.
The survey consisted of two classifications of selected elements, including the positive factors
and negative factors of social media use. We recorded the responses of the respondents
considering the selected variables and the information accumulated via a poll review, and the
collected data was broken down using Statistical Package. Statistical package was utilized to
check the dependability of the gathered data. At this point, the standard deviation (SD) and mean
score (M) for each characteristic were calculated, identifying the most impactful factors. Next,
we applied a t-test and analysis of variance to assess and verify the consistency of the
respondents’ opinions. In summary, the discoveries of the investigation identified significant
information that could be used to assess the essential elements affecting students’ learning
behavior. Then, media points involved in the survey provided their input for the poll study by
examining the survey discoveries and data, and the experts recommended practical proposals
based on the findings of the study. The primary objective of this study was to discover the
positive and negative factors of social media and how these factors affect the behavior of the
student community in the context of Pakistan. After careful examination and screening, this
study incorporated 18 factors that were found to influence student behavior, and we developed a
survey that included these elements to collect responses assessing the relative significance of the
selected items.
Social media usage is a useful tool for improving the social capital of citizens, as it can
strengthen existing social relationships, help them to stay connected and to keep in touch, stay
well inform them about longstanding connections and activities, and create new contacts. As the
youths of this generation are growing up, they are actively making good relationships with
different types of people through social networks. Thus, social networks have both positive and
adverse effects on students and other young people, and the ultimate effect on a student depends
on his/her behavior. The positive impact of social media includes several aspects, such as social
interaction, staying connected with friends, exchanging useful information with others through
social networking sites, and access to sites that allow students to find online support that may be
missing in traditional relationships. During this phase of critical development in their lives and
careers, students also turn to social networking sites for advice and new information on how to
satisfy their professional goals. Negative impacts of online networking and social media usage in
adolescents and youths, because some young people have been shown to use social media for
negative purposes, such as digital tormenting and excessive use of social media has also led to
the phenomenon of “Facebook despondency”

Influencing Factors List

The critical challenge of this study was to explore effect of the social media impacts identified in
the prior literature on the student community in Pakistan. Hence, the study explicitly focused on
earlier research to determine the positive and negative elements of social media that
characteristically influence students and other groups of society. These critical social media
factors were identified during a pilot survey and classified into two sets, namely, positive and
negative factors.
Questionnaire Design
The questionnaire design for this proposed study was prepared in two portions to examine the
opinions of the respondents. The preliminary survey portion collected demographic information
about the respondents, such as age, education gender, and residential regions. The second part of
the survey consisted of inquiries selected from the literature on the impact of social media. This
study also included an open-ended question to gather information about the perception of
students’ learning behavior through social media. The survey asked university students to answer
questions based on positive and negative factors, indicating how such elements affected their
daily lives, especially with respect to sustainable educational learning. The survey was based on
a five-point.
Feedback of Questionnaire and Data Processing
After the administration of the survey, we collected the questionnaires from the respondents, and
the data received were verified, confirmed, and entered. Next, descriptive statistics, frequency
analysis, reliability, descriptive statistics analysis. The response rate was calculated to be
82.033%, which is an excellent response rate. Our findings show that 53.08% of the respondents
hold a master’s degree; 26.02% of the respondents hold a bachelor’s degree, and 20.90% of the
student respondents hold a professional degree.
Perceptions of the Impact of Social Media on the Sustainable Development of Education.
We interviewed Ph.D. students with computer science backgrounds from various universities to
get their fair and expert opinions regarding the impact of social media on the learning behavior
of university students with respect to the issue of sustainable educational development. This
section presents the findings of these expert interviews on the impact of social media. Almost
65% of the technology experts stated that social media plays an indispensable role in the learning
process of university students in Pakistan, while 35% of experts noted that although they favor
the use of social media, they believe that students do not perform well in the learning process as
a result of using social media. These results provide a clear indication of the significance of
social media on learning behavior in select Pakistani universities.
Data Analysis
With respect to data analysis, the primary challenge of this specific study was to explore and
determine the most influential social media factors and their ultimate impact on the students’
communities. These factors were identified from the previous literature after an in-depth
investigation, and each element was analyzed independently.
Positive Factors of Social Media
The results of all the positively related factors are close to each other. The most significant
impacts of social media include the following: Creates awareness, Easy communication, Helpful
to maintain contacts, Reduces purchasing cost of books, improving the individual’s social and
communication skills and Reduces stress.
Negative Factors of Social Media
The most impactful negative factors, and the positioning of the elements of this group based on
the respondents’ views: Lack of critical thinking, Waste of time, Disrupted writing skills, Leads
to breakups in study connectivity, Creates laziness in students, and Health hazards. The mean
scores of the selected factors are shown respectively.

Discussion
This research presents new empirical findings regarding social media usage, and it aimed to
examine the effects of social media on university students’ learning behavior and social change.
The aim of this study is supported by the prior literature, as social media has become a vital
element of education, and it has become increasingly important in both course delivery and
course assessments. Social media is a supporting tool for students during the learning process,
and it is helpful for educators as well. However, teachers and parents have been advised to
maintain a healthy balance when allowing the use of social media, as excessive use may result in
adverse effects on students. These study findings revealed that social media has both positive and
negative impacts on students’ learning processes, and a balanced approach is recommended
while using social media applications.
The results of the study by Balakrishnan and Gan (2016) showed that student enrollment
positively impacts learning performance, and learning motivation positively influences students.
Another study revealed that emerging social media applications encourage students to use social
media for learning based on students’ different learning styles. Scholars have examined social
media to determine its potential use for practitioners of technical communication, while social
media has broader effects for students in classrooms.
Previous study evidence revealed that social media use has a relationship with mental health in
young students. Female students showed more symptoms of depression than males. Excessive
social media use may cause depression, stress, and anxiety among students and may increase
cyber-bullying, the wasting of time, and health hazards in a student’s life.
Here, the strengths of this study include the large and diversified sample of Pakistani adult
students from selected universities, the social media survey, and the validated depression,
anxiety, and stress measures overlapping with the symptoms of such health issues. Prospective
research studies are suggested to determine whether the excessive use of social media creates a
causal risk of stress, anxiety depression, and other health symptoms and whether the negative
aspects of social media are related to health impairment. Regarding the positive contribution of
social media, social media applications in the medical field, educational institutions, service
organizations, fashion industry, tourism, and social interactions are helpful. The technical
contributions of social media are vast.

Conclusions
This research focused to investigate the positive and adverse effects of social media on students’
learning environment. In the current era, the traditional teaching “models” and learning
environment receive heavy criticism because of their inability to provide students room for
variation, and the incredibly increasing popularity of social media has made the transition to
supplementary flexible models of teaching a necessity. This work contributes to the pertinent
literature by investigating social media use based on the data of this population. This study
argues that it is a novel contribution to scientific knowledge as there was no prior existing
literature evidence that bridges and integrates the students’ views on the adoption of social media
as a supporting tool in higher education. Students and educators are recognized as the most
pertinent stakeholders from an educational point of view as these two-use social medial
applications to facilitate learning environment and co-creation of knowledge. The positive
aspects of social media include its technical contribution to educational institutions and several
industries, such as health, services, tourism, and communities. The positive characteristics
include the sharing of opinions with others; the raising of awareness; the sharing of knowledge;
the building of relationships, identity, reputation, and contacts; the improving of social influence;
and the development of other communication skills. Social media is increasing across the world,
and an increasing number of adolescents, student communities, and others are joining these
social media sites to interact with friends, family, and strangers. Social media influences human
behavior, and technological advancements have contributed technically to improve learning and
social interactions, information sharing, and the receipt of updates through social networks.
Social media applications are beneficial in educational institutions, medical sciences, and
business firms. Social media has significantly transformed over the last decade the ways in
which people, social communities, and other organizations create, share, and consume
information. The emergence of social media has shaped the world in many ways, and it has been
affecting people of all walks of life.
The excessive use of social media makes students emotionally and physically imbalanced and
results in dull or irritable behavior. Considering the pros and cons of social media, students’
parents should impose regulations on their children’s use of social media, as the negative impact
of social media may affect a student’s educational performance. These findings are useful to
encourage parents to keep an eye on their children, because excessive use of social media is
harmful to adolescents. This balanced approach is useful, because using social media during the
learning process provides benefits to students. However, the adverse effects of social media
might cause health damage with disproportionate use. In this study, a theoretical model was
experimentally tested by surveying real users of social media after a comprehensive review of
technology acceptance, technology addiction, and meetings with student communities at select
universities. The findings reveal that technology acceptance, its ease of use, and its perceived
benefits play a decisive role in students’ decisions to use social media. These findings suggest
that taking a balanced approach to social media can help avoid the negative health consequences
of excessive social media use.

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Hansen et al. (2017)
By Tim O’Reilly (2005)
Steven Strogatz of Cornell University
https://europepmc.org/article/PMC/PMC8138346