Osarounamen Faith FREDRICK

This study was designed to investigate the use of social media among public secondary school students in Egor Local Government Area of Edo State. To achieve the purpose intended for the study, four research questions were raised to guide the study. The questions raised and examined include to what extent does the use of social media influence student academic performance in Egor Local Government Area of Edo State? Which social networking sites public secondary school students in Egor Local Government Area of Edo State visit more often? What purposes do students in public secondary schools in Egor use their chosen social media for? Which Information Communication Technologies do students’ mostly use to explore their social media? The population of the study comprised of four thousand eight hundred and sixty-four students (4,864) in the twelve (12) secondary senior schools in Egor Local Government Area of Edo State. The sample for the study consists of four ix hundred and eighty-six (486) students which 100% of the total population drawn from three (3) senior secondary schools in Egor Local Government Area of Edo State. The simple random sampling technique was used in selecting these three schools from the total numbers of Senior Public Secondary Schools in Egor Local Government Area of Edo State. One hundred and sixty-two (162) students were drawn from each school with the use of purposive random sampling technique. The reliability index of the instrument was 0.73 using Cronbach’s alpha statistical formula from data from the pilot study carried out on it. The data collected were analysed using frequency count, simple percentage, and mean score standard. Findings from the study revealed that Male and female students use social media networks differently in different frequencies. It was discovered that female students use social networking sites more to explicitly foster social connections. It was seen that gender determines the level of social media network usage from the study it was recommended that students should be educated on the influence of social media on their academic performance. Students should be monitored by information and communications technology facilities for teaching student in senior secondary schools. Teacher should properly utilize the available information x and communications technology facilities in teaching student in senior secondary schools.