Understanding the impacts of social media platforms on students' academic learning progress

Abstract

Can social media platforms positively impact students' academic learning progress? This question and 
many more are issues confronting students and scholars in developing countries, and this study aims to 
address it. Social media platforms provide students with continuous opportunities in their learning progress. 
Students in developing countries are beginning to use social media platforms to positively impact their 
learning process because of its ability to positively change their learning process and performance. 
Students use it to improve their academic learning progress and performance effectively. However, the 
impact of social media platforms on students' academic learning progress is sometimes misinterpreted 
because of the distractive nature of the platforms to students. Many scholars believe that social media 
platforms have no positive impacts on student's academic progress. This study aims to investigate the 
impact of social media platforms on students' academic learning process. A quantitative research 
methodology was adopted in using online questionnaires among first-year university students at the North
West University, South Africa. The study found that social media platforms improve students' academic 
learning performance, communication, interaction, engagement, and self-directed learning (SDL). These 
findings provide positive impacts of social media platforms on students learning progress.