The Relationship between Social Media Usage and Academic Performance among Medical Students: A Cross-sectional Study

Abstract

Background: Social media applications and their use among students have increased in the last decade. However, their impact on academic performance remains unclear. This study aimed to investigate the relationship between social media usage and the academic performance of medical students at Fazaia Ruth Pfau Medical College, Karachi, Pakistan.Methods: This is a cross-sectional study pertaining to 200 medical students’ viewpoints of 2nd to 4th-year medical students of Fazaia Ruth Pfau Medical College in 2023. A research-made online questionnaire consisting of four demographic questions and three main components was designed to gather data. The data was collected from January to February 2023, and all 300 participants were asked to fill out an informed consent before participating in the study. Finally, 200 participants filled out the questionnaires completely. The Microsoft Office Excel software kit and SPSS Version 24 were used for data analyses.Results: The students’ most commonly used applications were YouTube, LMS (Moodle, etc.), Osmosis, WhatsApp, Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook, respectively, with an average of 4 to 5 hours using these applications for educational purposes. The survey also revealed that 54% of participants prefer e-learning, while 46% still value traditional books for comprehension. Using social media for educational activities showed a positive relation with academic performance (P=0.024).Conclusion: It appears that the practical use of social media could significantly influence students’ academic performance. According to the findings of this study, YouTube is the most crucial social media platform for students. This suggests that students prefer video-based platforms, and it would be advantageous to consider this for future educational planning and virtual learning.

Keywords

• social media
• academic performance
• grades
• students
• medical
• e-learning