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ANALYSIS REPORT
IMPACTS OF SOCIAL MEDIA ON
STUDENTS’ ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE
PREPARED FOR
MINISTRY OF EDUCATION
PREPARED BY
STUDENTS OF COMPUTER SCIENCE
APRIL 23, 2018
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
PAGE
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY………..………………..……….....….4
INTRODUCTION…………………..………………..………...….5
BACKGROUND INFORMATION………………………………..…..5
PURPOSE………………………………...……....................................7
SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY……………………….…..............8
REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE..............................................8
METHOD OF STUDY………………………………….…………….10
SOURCE OF DATA………………………………………..…………….…..10
SAMPLE SELECTION…………………………………..…………………...10
STATISTICAL METHOD……………………………..……………………..11
SCOPE OF THE STUDY……………..................................................11
LIMITATIONS OF STUDY………………………………………......11
ORGANIZATION…………………………………………………......11
RESULTS……………………………………………….…………......12
SEMESTER OF STUDY………………………………………..…….….…..12
AGE AND GENDER OF RESPONDENTS…………………..……………...12
TYPES OF INTERACTIONS…………………………………………….…..13
DISCUSSION……………………………………………….……........27
CONCLUSION…………………………………………….……..…....28
RECOMENDATIONS………………………………….………….......28
REFRENCES………...………………………………….………….......29
APPENDIX……………..……………………………….………….......30
QUESTIONAIRE…………………………….…………………………….…..30
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1 Executive Summary
This report analyzes the effects of social media on students’ academic performance and
presents recommendations for effective use of social media to enhance students’ academic
performance. Social media imparts both positive and negative effects on students. Based on
the survey conducted among the students of Computer Science (CS) department of
COMSATS Institute of Information Technology (CIIT), Attock campus by distributing
questionnaire to 30 students it was found that 50% of students enhanced their academic
performance using social media whereas, 40% students were distracted from their studies
being overwhelmed by fascinating features of social media and wasted their valuable time.
On the other hand, 10% of students regarded social media just as modern medium of
communication and were not interested in its use to enhance learning or for any other
purpose. On the basis of analysis of results obtained social media was regarded as an
effective tool for complementing academic performance of students. However, its effect is
governed by the approach of students. The results obtained from this study have certain
limitations and cannot be generalized for all students of Pakistan. Following
recommendations are made to amplify the academic performance by the use of social media:
1- An educational social networking site should be developed enabling professionals and
students to develop their profiles. In this way professionals could share their expertise and
latest research with students. Moreover, students acquiring professional degrees could also
share their research and projects to increase knowledge of other students, resolve their own
queries and help professionals to conduct further research. This would enable students to
obtain information from one site rather than searching scrap knowledge. The profiles on this
site should be monitored and well maintained preventing any unprofessional from misleading
the students.
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2- Parents should also be encouraged to learn and use social media and be aware of its
positive and negative impacts, so that they can guide their children and protect them from its
adverse effects.
3- Awareness programs should be launched in educational institutions to guide the students
regarding constructive use of social media.
2 Introduction
The term social media means websites ,tools or different kind of applications that
enable world wide users to create and share content or to participate in social networking.
The world today is a global village in which the social media is one of the most important
mean of communication. It is a modernize form of communication that allows the user to
develop social networks by connecting user’s profile with other individuals or groups. Now a
days social media play a vital role in one’s life as a mode of communication between people
anywhere, anytime. Majority of social media users are teenagers and students that are being
overwhelmed by the charm of its various addictive features. After the arrival of social media
sites, it is observed that the students' academic performance is facing a lot of challenges. It is
observed that rather than devoting more attention to studies, most of the students devote more
attention to social media. Since everything has some pros and cons, therefore, there is a need
to investigate the influence of social media networks on the academic performance of the
students. So let’s dig in.
2.1 Background Information
The revolution of internet changed the world of information with respect to sharing,
speed, storage and retrieval of information in whatever form regardless of the person’s
location. Through the Internet a number of web technologies emerged, and one technology
that is making waves with regard to information sharing and communication are the social
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media networks. The social media evolution has cut across all facets of society with its
positive and negative impacts. Social media has transformed and impacted on
communication, learning, research and education in general. Although there are a lot of
online communication tools and sites but social media sites have become the most modern,
attractive and popular tools for connecting people throughout the world.
By using this platform, organizations and individuals create profiles, share and
exchange information on various activities and interests. An interesting aspect of social
media is that, it is not limited to
desktop or laptop computers but could
be accessed through mobile
applications and smart phones making
it very accessible and easy to use.
Examples of these social media
Top Social Media Sites
platforms both on the web and mobile application include Facebook, Twitter, What’s-app,
Instagram, Blogs etc.
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A huge number of studies and surveys have been conducted to figure out the impact
of social media on students’ academic performance which conclude that teenagers use these
communication tools for a number of positive activities, which include joining the interest
related communities and participating in various activities. Social media is one of the best
source for the youth to participate in communities to their interests that help them to learn,
practice and polish their skills within a particular knowledge area without spending a penny.
Quote by Alexis Ohanian (Co-founder and executive chairman of the social news website Reddit)
Conversely, some of studies and surveys found a continuing drop of grades among
students who use social networking sites. These studies and surveys concluded that students
who use Facebook and other social media sites spend fewer hours per week on study than the
students who don’t use social media frequently and this resulted in lower grades.
2.2 Purpose
The main purpose of this report is to identify the effects and impacts of social
media on students’ academic performance.
To determine the social media network that the students are more addicted to.
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To determine how the use of social media has influence on the academic
performance of the students.
To ascertain the difference in students’ usage of social media network by gender.
To ascertain how age has influence on students’ usage of social media network.
2.3 Significance of the Study
This study is primarily significant for three groups. The first group comprises of
students of different levels, who need to know positive as well as negative impacts of social
media and learn how to use it in effective way to enhance their learning, groom their
personality and mask the adverse effects. This study also helps the student to learn how to
manage their time and optimize the use of social networking sites. The second group for
whom this study might be beneficial includes parents. Parents should be aware of the pros
and cons of social media so they can guide and save their children from becoming a victim of
criminal affairs (cybercrimes). Finally, Institutes would also learn how to incorporate social
media as a source of guidance for the students. This study would help them design several
awareness programs to make students aware as well as guide them to tackle the adverse
impacts of social media.
2.4 Review of related literature
Waleed Mugahed Al-Rahmi (2013), a member of computing faculty of university of
technology Malaysia studied three kinds of interactions on several social networking sites.
First interaction is peer –peer that allows the students to interact with their fellows and have
their opinion or help regarding any topic anywhere, any time. Second is student teacher
interaction that enables the students who are shy in class and are unable to express
themselves, to put forward their queries and have assistance from their teacher. Social media
provide backbone for collaborative learning in which student can interact with teachers and
other fellow students in more convenient way as compared to primitive class setting. Students
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are becoming internet addicts and this addiction leads students’ prefer using internet for
communication and entertainment purpose setting back their educational requirements which
ultimately lead to poor academic performance. This concludes that social media can be
beneficial for students regarding their academic problems but they need to set their priorities
and not let themselves distracted by fascinating features of social media.
Esam Al wagait (2013) a student of college of computer and information sciences,
king Saud University Riyadh Saudi Arabia surveyed students living in USA, Pakistan and
Nigeria. It was found that in USA twitter was employed for collaborative learning and was
proved an effective tool for modern education and resulted in more active participation of
students. On the other hand social media diverted the attention of Pakistani students towards
non-educational and time wasting activities such as chatting etc. and had bad impact on their
education and as a result ruined the life of teenagers, whereas, social media had no impact on
the academic performance of students of Nigeria. A survey in universities of Saudi Arabia
showed that 68% of students spent more than eleven hours on social media which resulted in
decline in their academic performance.
Ghulam Shabir (2014), a student of department of media studies, The Islamia
university Bahawalpur, Pakistan conducted a survey on 283 students of university and found
that 81.9% of the students agreed that social media is beneficial in the field of education,
while 5.3% of students disagreed .Also 68% agreed that chatting is time wasting while 13.7
disagreed 75.9% of students believed that useless information on social media creates
ambiguity and confusion in the mind of youth. On the other hand, 8.1% opposed their view
point.61% had an opinion that social media has positive impact while 12.57 disagreed with
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their opinion. Most of the users in educational computer Labs use social media for chatting
and for sharing images or videos. Despite of agreeing that most of Pakistani Youth is
becoming a victim of Cybercrimes or they themselves are involved in committing one, a
large number of citizens are using social media.
Farzana Shafique (2010), Lecturer, Department of Library & Information Science,
The Islamia University of Bahawalpur, Pakistan found that social networking sites like face
book, twitter, messenger, Wikipedia, and YouTube were used by majority of students. There
were no students who did not use any of their sites. Large number students mentioned that
they mostly used social media for academic purposes though they also use it for recreational
purposes. The students were equipped with latest technologies tools and skills so that they did
not agree with problems and security issues related to networking sites. The study also finds
that use of social media was rapidly increasing among young adults and students.
2.5 Method of study
2.5.1 Source of data
Facts and figures for this analysis were collected by developing a questionnaire. This
questionnaire was self-developed. First part of questionnaire focused on the particulars of
student such as age, gender, semester and degree/Program etc. The second section was
concerned with seeking the opinion of respondents against several statements developed
based on different types of interactions of students with social media and their behavioral
patterns.
2.5.2 Sample selection
Population constitutes all students of CS department CIIT Attock campus. A sample
of 30 students was selected based on convenience sampling technique from population
including male and female students.
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2.5.3 Statistical methods
Responses were plotted employing simple statistical techniques. Percentage of each
reply was computed to evaluate the statistics. Percentage of a particular reply was calculated
by dividing no of replies by total number of people who replied to that statement, multiplied
with hundred. Each question of the questionnaire reported different behaviors and mode
interactions of different students in context of different parameters.
2.6 Scope of the Study
This study was limited to the viewpoints of the students of CIIT (COMSATS Institute
of Information Technology), Attock campus regarding the impact of social media on
academic performance. This study was restricted to CS (Computer Science) department
students only. For the intent of this study, social media is defined as collection of social
networking sites with several appealing features that over power the youth and influence
them. Data for this study was collected during spring 2018.
2.7 Limitations of the Study
Results concluded from this study cannot be generalized due to certain limitations. Since
social media has wide range of diverse applications whereas, questionnaire developed to
obtain results covered only few of them. The sample of students of CS department for this
report are chosen due to limited resources and unavailability of free time. So, they may not be
representative of all departments as well as students of all campuses or all educational
institutions of Pakistan. All attempts have been made to minimize the effects of these
limitations.
2.8 Organization
Following sections describe the methodology employed for the collection and analysis
of data. Moreover, after the careful analysis of the data obtained logical conclusions are
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drawn. Based on these conclusions the impacts of social media on academics are determined
and is predicted as constructive or destructive regarding students’ academic performance.
Finally several suggestions are provided for immediate and future course of actions.
3 Results
Result obtained after conducting survey by distributing questionnaire among sample students
covered the following three aspects

Semester of study

Age and gender of respondents

Types of interactions and behavioral patterns of students
3.1 Semester of study
The sample population comprised of 4 students of 1st semester, 18 students of 2nd semester,
2 students of 3rd semester, 4 students of 7th semester and 1 student of 8th semester.
3.2 Age and gender of respondents
Out of the 30 respondents, 17 were female students whereas, 13 were male students 5.8%
female respondents were 18 years old, 23.5% were 19 years old, 35.29% were 20 years old,
29.41% were between 21 and 22 and 5.8% were 25 years old. Moreover, 30.7% male
students were 19 years old, 46.15% were 20 years old and 23.1% were 21 years old.
AGE GROUPS
male(19 years old)
male(20 years old)
male(21 years old)
female(18 years old)
female(19 years old)
female(20 years old)
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3.3 Types of interactions and behavioral patterns of students
Table -1 Interaction with professors and peers through social media
NO OF
STATEMENT
RESPONSE
RESPONDENTS
PERCENTAGE
5
16.67%
11
36.67%
10
33.33
3
10%
1
3.33%
Strongly agree
I feel more
Agree
comfortable in
interacting with
my professor and
peers on social
Neutral
networking sites.
Disagree
Strongly
disagree
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This table presents the responses of students for whether they feel comfortable in interacting
with their professors and peers on social networking sites. According to the results 36.67%
respondents agreed with the statement, 16.67% strongly agreed and 33.33% remained
equitable towards the statement. On the other hand 10% of students disagreed and 3.33%
strongly disagree with the statement. On average 53.3% students supported the statement
while, 13.3% were against the statement
Table -2 Subscription of educational communities on social media
NO OF
STATEMENT
RESPONSE
RESPONDENTS
PERCENTAGE
5
16.67%
5
16.67%
13
43.33%
Strongly agree
I have subscribe to
more education
Agree
communities then
entertainment
communities on
social networking
Neutral
sites
Disagree
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4
13.33%
3
10%
Strongly
disagree
This table presents responses of students when they were asked whether they subscribed
more education communities than entertainment communities on social networking sites
16.67% respondents strongly agreed, 16.67 % agreed and 43.33 of the students remained
neutral, 13.3% students disagreed and 10% strongly disagreed with this statement. Overall,
33.33% students supported while, 23.33% opposed the statement.
Table-3 Social media as helping tool for making assignments and projects
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NO OF
STATEMENT
RESPONSE
RESPONDENTS
PERCENTAGE
Strongly agree
12
40%
Agree
8
26.67%
Neutral
6
20%
Disagree
2
6.67%
Strongly
2
6.67%
Social media is
quite helpful in
making my
assignments and
projects
disagree
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This table presents the responses of students for whether social media was helpful in making
their assignments and projects. 40% students strongly agreed, 26.67% respondents agreed
and 6.67% remained equitable. 6.67% disagreed and 6.67% strongly disagreed with this
statement. Overall, 66.67% of students supported the statement while, 13.33% were against
this statement.
Table-4 Social media as a source of killing study time boredom
NO OF
STATEMENT
RESPONSE
RESPONDENTS
PERCENTAGE
Strongly agree
11
36.67%
Agree
13
43.33%
Neutral
2
6.67%
I often switch to
social networking
sites to kill my
boredom during
study time
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Disagree
3
10%
Strongly
1
3.33%
disagree
This table presents responses of students for whether they switch to social networking when
they get bored. According to the results 43.33% respondents agreed, 36.67% strongly agreed
and 6.67% remained equitable towards the statement. On the other hand 10% of students
disagreed and 3.33% strongly disagree with the statement. Overall, 80% of students
supported the statement while, 13.33% opposed the statement.
Table-5 Social media as an effective tool for e-learning
NO OF
STATEMENT
RESPONSE
PERCENTAGE
RESPONDENTS
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I believe social
Strongly agree
8
26.67%
Agree
14
46.67%
Neutral
4
13.33%
Disagree
3
10%
Strongly
1
3.33%
media in an
effective tool for
learning
disagree
This table presents responses of students for whether social media is an effective tool for
learning 46.67% respondents agreed, 46.67 % strongly agreed and some of the students were
neutral i.e. 13.3%. 10% students disagreed and 3.33% strongly disagreed with this statement.
Overall, 73.33% students supported the statement while, 13.33% were against the statement.
Table-6 Role of social media in converting this world into global village
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NO OF
STATEMENT
RESPONSE
RESPONDENTS
PERCENTAGE
Strongly agree
10
33.33%
Agree
15
50%
Neutral
5
16.67%
Disagree
0
0%
Strongly
0
0%
I believe social
media provides
easy access to
diverse knowledge
and expert
opinions from
different regions
around the globe
disagree
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This table presents responses of students for whether they believe social media provides easy
access to diverse knowledge and expert opinions from different regions around the globe.
According to the results 33.33% respondents strongly agreed, 50% agreed and 16.67%
remained equitable towards the statement. Overall, 83.33% students supported the statement
but none of them opposed it.
Table-7 Social media only as modernize means of communication
NO OF
STATEMENT
RESPONSE
RESPONDENTS
PERCENTAGE
Strongly agree
10
33.33%
Agree
16
53.33%%
Neutral
3
10%
I consider social
media just a
modernize way of
communicating
with people and
sharing one’s
activities with
others.
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Disagree
1
3.33%
Strongly
0
0%
disagree
This table presents the responses of students for whether social media is just a modernize way
of communicating. According to the results 33.33% respondents strongly agreed, 53.33%
agreed and 3% remained equitable towards the statement. On the other hand, 3.33% of
students disagreed and 0% strongly disagreed with the statement. Overall, 86.67% students
supported the statement while 3.33% were against the statement.
Table-8 Distraction caused by fascinating features of social media
NO OF
STATEMENT
RESPONSE
RESPONDENTS
PERCENTAGE
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Strongly agree
11
36.67%
Whenever I logon
to social
Agree
9
networking sites I
30%
get very much
involved
Neutral
3
10%
Disagree
7
23.33%
Strongly
disagree
0
0%
This table presents responses of students for whether as they logon to social networking sites
they get very much involved. According to the results 36.67% respondents strongly agreed,
30% agreed and 10% remained equitable towards the statement. On the other hand 23.33% of
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students disagreed and 0% strongly disagreed with the statement. Overall, 66.67% students
supported the statement while, 23.33% were against the statement.
Table-9 Social media as means of communication and entertainment only
STATEMENT
RESPONSE
NO OF
PERCENTAGE
RESPONDENTS
I used social
Strongly agree
9
30%
Agree
12
40%
Neutral
5
16.67%
Disagree
4
13.33%
media only for
communication
and entertainment
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Strongly
0
0%
disagree
This table presents the responses of students for whether they use social media only for
communication and entertainment only. According to the results 30% respondents strongly
agreed, 40% agreed and 16.67% remained equitable towards the statement. On the other hand
13.33% of students disagreed and 0% strongly disagreed with the statement. Overall, 70%
students supported the statement while, 13.33% were against the statement.
Table-10 Social media as necessity for life
NO OF
STATEMENT
RESPONSE
RESPONDENTS
PERCENTAGE
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Strongly agree
12
40%
Agree
5
16.67%
Neutral
2
6.67%
Disagree
6
20%
Strongly
5
16.67%
Without social
media my life
would have been
incomplete
disagree
This table presents the responses of students for whether without social media their life would
be incomplete.40% respondents strongly agreed, 16.67 % agreed and 6.67% of the students
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remained neutral. On the other hand 20% students disagreed and 16.67% strongly disagreed
with the statement. Overall, 56.67% students supported the statement while, 36.67% of
students were against the statement.
The following graph depicts the percentages of students and relative impacts of social media
on their academic performance as inferred from this study
PERCENTAGES OF STUDENTS AND
CORRESPONDING IMPACTS ON THEIR
ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE
50%
40%
10%
Positive impact
Negative impact
No Impact
4 Discussion
Majority of the students feel more comfortable in interacting with their professors and peers
on social networking sites. Social media plays a key role in enhancing student teachers and
student to student interaction. Thus, enabling shy students to resolve their educational queries
by interacting with professors thereby, eliminating the factor of hesitation which they
encounter during face to face communication.
Most of the students by subscribing several educational communities on social
networking sites approach proffessional assistance from different regions around the world.
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This results in increase in the quality of education. Realising the power of accessing assorted
knowledge with one click, students regards social media as an efficient tool for e-learning .
Most of the students get bored during their study time and to tackle their boredom they
used social media and once they logon on to social media they get very much involved
,mesmerized by the charm of social media. Also the lage portion of the sample population
regard social media just as means of communication and entertainment only.
5 Conclusion
Based on the analysis of results obtained from the survey, It is concluded that social media is
employed as an effective learning tool thereby, enhancing students academic performance.
Students appreciated social media’s role in converting this world into global village. It is also
concluded that the impact of social media is subject to student’s approach. Although social
media proved beneficial in amplifying academic performance of majority of students.
However, a large number of students being spell bound by fascinating features of social
media neglected their studies.
6 Recommendations
Based on the findings and conclusions of this study, following recommendations are made:
1- An educational social networking site should be developed enabling professionals and
students to develop their profiles. In this way professionals could share their expertise and
latest research with students. Moreover, students acquiring professional degrees could also
share their research and projects to increase knowledge of other students, resolve their own
queries and help professionals to conduct further research. This would enable students to
obtain information from one site rather than searching scrap knowledge. The profiles for this
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site should be monitored and well maintained preventing any unprofessional from misleading
the students.
2- Parents should also be encouraged to learn and use social media and be aware of its
positive and negative impacts, so that they can guide their children and protect them from its
adverse effects.
3- Awareness programs should be launched in educational institutions to guide the students
regarding constructive use of social media.
7 References

Al-Rahmi, W., & Othman, M. (2013). The impact of social media use on academic
performance among university students: A pilot study. Journal of information systems
research and innovation, 4(12), 1-10.

Alwagait, E., Shahzad, B., & Alim, S. (2015). Impact of social media usage on
students’ academic performance in Saudi Arabia. Computers in Human Behavior, 51,
1092-1097.

Shabir, G., Hameed, Y. M. Y., Safdar, G., & Gilani, S. M. F. S. (2014). The Impact of
Social Media on Youth: A Case Study of Bahawalpur City. Asian Journal of Social
Sciences and Humanities, 3(4), 132-151.

Shafique, F., Anwar, M., & Bushra, M. (2010). Exploitation of social media among
university students: A case study. Webology, 7(2), 34-47.
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8 Appendix
8.1 Questionnaire
This survey is being conducted for the research regrading “Effects of social media on
students’ academic performance” in Computer Science department of CIIT Attock campus.
Your participation will greatly help to obtain results.
Gender: _______________
Age: _________________
Semester: ________________
Pick the most appropriate option.
1- I feel more comfortable in interacting with my professors and peers on social networking
sites.
a) Strongly agree
b) Agree
c) Neutral
d) Disagree
e) Strongly disagree
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2- I’ve subscribed to more educational communities than entertainment communities on
social networking sites.
a) Strongly agree
b) Agree
c) Neutral
d) Disagree
e) Strongly disagree
3- Social media is quite helpful in making my assignments and projects.
a) Strongly agree
b) Agree
c) Neutral
d) Disagree
e) Strongly disagree
4- I often switch to social networking sites to kill my boredom during study time.
a) Strongly agree
b) Agree
c) Neutral
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d) Disagree
e) Strongly disagree
5- I believe social media is an effective tool for e learning.
a) Strongly agree
b) Agree
c) Neutral
d) Disagree
e) Strongly disagree
6- I believe social media provides easy access to diverse knowledge and expert opinions from
different regions around the globe.
a) Strongly agree
b) Agree
c) Neutral
d) Disagree
e) Strongly disagree
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7- I consider social media just a modernize way of communicating with people and sharing
one’s activities with others.
a) Strongly agree
b) Agree
c) Neutral
d) Disagree
e) Strongly disagree
8- Whenever I logon to social networking sites I get very much involved.
a) Strongly agree
b) Agree
c) Neutral
d) Disagree
e) Strongly disagree
9- I use social media only for communication and entertainment.
a) Strongly agree
b) Agree
c) Neutral
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d) Disagree
e) Strongly disagree
10- Without social media my life would have been incomplete.
a) Strongly agree
b) Agree
c) Neutral
d) Disagree
e) Strongly disagree
Thank you for your precious time. We value your response.
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