IHENSEKEN

The purpose of this research study is to the effect of social media on the academic performance of undergraduate students in University of Benin. Four Research questions and two Research hypotheses guided the study. To achieve this, the descriptive survey research design was adopted. The study focused on University of Benin hence, population consists of all the 730 full-time undergraduate students. The simple random sampling technique was used to select a sample of 100 students. A four point Likert Type Rating Scale Questionnaire type, titled: effect of social media on the academic performance of undergraduate students (ESMAPUS) was used to collect data from the participants. The descriptive statistics of frequency counts and percentage, were used to analyze the demographic data while inferential statistics of Chi-square(x2) was used in testing the research hypotheses. Research findings showed that a great number of students in University of Benin, are addicted to social media. To this end, the researcher recommended that social media should be used for educational purposes as well; Social Media Sites should be expanded and new pages should be created to enhance academic activities and avoid setbacks in the students’ academic performance; and Students should be monitored by teachers and parents on how they use these sites This is to create a balance between social media and academic activities of students to avoid setbacks in the academic performance of the
students