Discussion of Findings

3. DISCUSSION OF FINDINGS


In our recent survey, we came to the conclusion that social media does affect an SST student's studies and academics.
Firstly, from the survey results, we realised that the most popular forms of social media among SST students are: Facebook, Youtube, and Whatsapp.


Secondly, the reasons why we concluded that social media affects an SST student's studies(and as well as how) were:
            
Negatively:
            
1. 58% of respondents indicated that they put in 0-4 hours, 21% - 4-6 hours, and 21% - 6-8 hours into studies before they started using social media as compared to after they started using(74% - 0-4 h, 26% - 4-6h, and 0% - 6-8h).  This will affect their study life greatly as they do not put in as much time on academics as before. According to some student’s responses, this can cause test grades to drop and other negative effects on academics and studies as they do not put in as much time and effort on academics, some of the students even having a 4 hours difference in time spent on academics before and after starting to use social media.


How many hours did you put in your studies per day BEFORE you started using any social networking platforms?
How many hours did you put in your studies per day AFTER you started using social networking platforms?




2. 68% of the people we surveyed said that they use social media because they are bored, to relieve stress, or to chat with friends. Although these activities may sound harmless or even slightly positive, they can actually eat up a lot of available time that students have that could actually be used to study or do homework. Instead of turning to studies immediately when they have free time (indicated by  48% of respondents being bored or to chat with friends), they turn to social media instead. Students may want to de-stress, and that is good, but it often will stretch to a longer period of time than planned or expected.




What do you use social network for?


Positively:
 
1. Roughly 70-85% of the people that took part in our online survey said that social media is beneficial to their study life as it is a good tool that they can utilize to communicate or discuss with friends about homework/projects. Many highlighted that without social media, communication will be troublesome and they would not be able to ask friends for help in academics. Only 26% said that social media was a distraction to their studies.


Do you think social media is beneficial your study life or not? Why?


2. According the people we surveyed, 63% said that they often use social media at the right time and for the right things (communication with friends over projects or homework etc.). Although some of their responses may seem contrary to negative point 2, they should have completed their homework then used social media as a form of relaxation. For example, communicating with friends over projects and homework when necessary, then using it as leisure when they have completed all their homework.


When do you use social media?
Do you think you use it at the right time for the right thing?


3. Although 36% of them said that they have to spend extra unnecessary hours each day doing homework at night past 11-12 midnight due to overuse of social media, a vast majority( 64%) stated that they hardly needed to stay up late during the week doing homework, and spent unnecessary hours doing homework maximum 1 day out of a whole week. This shows that they have good time management and most know the time limits when using social media.




How many days a week do you have to stay up late due to overuse of social media?



          
4. 76% of responses stated that they are able to control their time well or they are still getting the same exam results as before and therefore, social media does not affect their study life negatively.
In your opinion, does social media affect your studies?
If yes, how?
If no, how?


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