Abstract: It is a common percept in the society that students spend a lot of time on the web visiting social net working sites. It is felt that students waste a lot of time in this activity which in turn negatively affects them. A simple questionnaire was designed and used to get firsthand the perception of the youth. Students admit that they spend a lot of time on SNS, and they perceive that it wastes a lot of their time. But they feel that there is no impact on them because of this activity even though they admit that they use up their class-room hours and study time on the web. The authors recommend that students reduce the time spent on the web. Key-words: Social networking sites, SNS, Negative Impact, Positive Impact Introduction In today’s wireless (and wired) world one major concern of parents, school teachers, college professors and prospective employers is the time that youth spend on visiting social networking sites (SNS) such as Facebook, Twitter etc. The concern is seen echoing in various articles and editorials written in popular newspapers and magazines penned by multifarious authors ranging from freelance amateurs, semi-professionals and professional writers. Worldwide, scholarly articles have also been published, studying the impact on SNSs on today’s youth. In this presentation the authors have attempted to study the impact of SNS on youth with a small study using a simple questionnaire which is used to elicit the perception of the Youth about how and what they feel is the impact on them arising out of the time that they spend on SNS web-sites. Approach to the Study: The environment was scanned for literature available in the field. Based on the study a set of simple questions has been devised by the authors to obtain the perception of the students on the impact of their spending time on SNSs. This questionnaire has been distributed to the PG students of St. Aloysius College in Mangalore. 100 students were approached for their response. There were 61 returns. The sample has 21 male students and 40 female students. The returned answers have been used as the base for preparing this paper. The following five hypotheses (H0) are adopted for the Study.
Tools Used in the Study: Sophisticated Statistical tools have not been used for the study. Simple averages and percentages are used to arrive at the conclusion. A Student ‘t’ test has been used in the Study. Literature Survey In his paper “Impact of Social Networking Sites (SNS) on the Youth of India: A Bird’s eye view”, Sachdev arrives at the conclusion that some of the negative impact of SNS on the youth of India are: (a) that Indian youth admit that they waste a lot of time on these sites. He says that the urge to not miss out on anything, induces an invisible layer of stress and pressure on the individuals and quotes the study of a scientist that, “sites such as Face book, Twitter and Bebo are said to shorten attention spans, encourage instant gratification and make young people more self-centered”. He also finds that SNS visits result in poor grammar, usage, and spelling and allowing the spread of misinformation that may be perceived as fact even in light of evidence to the contrary. He cites Case Western Reserve School of Medicine study[1] which showed hyper-networking (more than three hours on social networks per day) and hyper texting (more than 120 text messages per day) correlated with unhealthy behaviors in teens, including drinking, smoking and sexual activity. Hyper-networking was also associated with depression, substance abuse, poor sleep patterns, suicide and poor academic performance. On the positive side Sachdev says that SNS allows: (a) the user to be in touch with the world, (b) it allows one to communicate easily and effectively and opening the world up, making it a smaller place than it has ever been before and (c) Speedy Communication: As our time is being stretched thinner and thinner by work and family commitments, social networking sites offer a chance to communicate in a speedy and efficient manner. In their paper “Social Networking Sites – A Critical Analysis of Its Impact on Personal and Social Life”[2] Dr. Das and Sahoo based on their literature study list four negative impacts on account of SNSs. They are (a) danger to personal privacy, (b) biological impact on humans, (c) decrease in work productivity and (d) addiction disorder. In a study, on the “Effect of Social Networking Sites Usage on the Studies of Nigerian Students”, Camilia, Ibrahim & Dalhatu[3], have concluded that: (a) most students of higher institutions in Adamawa state, Nigeria use SNSs for 2 to 4 hours daily. (b) 51% of respondents use the SNS to keep in touch with friends and family members, 28% use it to while away time. They also found that though students devote their times on the SNS, their studies and academics are not affected by it. They recommend that although their study has revealed no effect in the students’ use of SNSs on their studies, they still see the need for creating a balance between the use of SNS and students’ studies. They say that this is because students are seen using SNS even in the lecture hall while lectures are going on and also while reading (studying). There is need for students to learn time management and to allocate, to each task, a specific timeframe. Students and young adults should always make out special time for using SNSs and not devote all their available time to it. They believe that this would increase students’ academic performance. Since students are also using SNSs for their academic activities, lecturers should use SNSs to enhance teaching-learning process by uploading academic contents for use by the students. In yet another study in the education field, “Influence of social media on social behavior of post graduate students. A case study of Salford University, United Kingdom”[4], Ijeoma and Burke say that Social media have many negative effects on the students’ social behavior. It can negatively affect academic pursuits because of the time spent by the users which does not often relate to academics. In this study, findings disclosed, that students can spend at least 2-3 hours daily on social media. It can lead to or inspire improper behavior which may include riot/demonstration, gossips, terrorism, and disorderly behavior. As in the case of deviants who always have many friends, it could become a hub for grooming youths in immoral acts. Any student that linked a deviant as a friend will likely be influenced by the deviant. The friendships struck in social media have a potential for anti-social conduct. Though they say that their findings should not be generalized to other institutions they recommend that it is necessary for the University to be strict over the students that use social media as this might affect their social behavior. They recommend that software can be installed in the server computers to time-out students that spend more than 20 minutes in the social media sites. This measure will enable them concentrate on their academic. Similarly, University authority can ban using social media in the formal class and library. They say that University social media policy must be made mandatory for every institution and remain implemented since findings from their study shows that academic work is negatively affected. In his paper “Impact of Social Networking Sites (SNS) on The Youth of India” Jain lists some of the negative and positive aspects of SNS on Indian Youth According to him:
A] Devices used by the youth
B] Reasons for using SNS
Fig 3: Popular SNSs C] Popular SNS
D] Time spent on SNS
Fig: 4 Time-spend on week-days Fig 5: Time-spend on Holidays and Sundays E] Impact on Academics
Fig. 6: Perception as an aid to academics F] Impact on Studies
G] Negative Impacts
H] Positive Impact factors of SNS Visits
Conclusion The entire generation has access to the virtual world through hand-held devices (mobile phones or smart phones or through both). Lap-tops are used by about half (51%) of the youth. One-tenth of the youth are using all 4 devices. Hence it is concluded that generation-Y is completely net-savvy using mobile or static devices. However, female students outclass the male students by more than two times in terms of ownership of all four devices (mobile phones, smart phones, lap-tops and desk-top computers). From the study it is seen that the most spelt out reason for using the SNS is to keep in touch with the friends. Just over 3/4thare using SNS for keeping in touch with their friends or to while away the time or to be a part of a group. Thus we see “social need for interaction” as one reason for predominant usage of the SNSs by the youth. Such large opinion leads to a conclusion that SNS cannot be considered as a positive impact on the academics of the youth. It is also concluded that there is no significant difference between male and female students in respect of this aspect. However there is a small group that perceives that they are able to improve on their knowledge by visiting SNS. This can be seen as a positive impact. In this respect female students’ opinion is more vigorous than that of male students. However the non-positive impact overshadows the positive. Facebook and Whatsapp emerge as the most popular SNSs followed by Google + and Youtube. From the rating given by the students, it is seen that Facebook is more popular with the male students whereas Whatsapp is more popular with the female students. Nearly half of the male students prefer Facebook while a similar number of female students prefer Whatsapp. The amount of time spent by the students and by their number appears staggering. If 8 hours of sleep time is apportioned off in a working day, almost half the students are spending 1/8th of their waking hours in visiting SNS and up to 1/4th of them are spending up to 1/4th of their waking hours on SNS. But during Sundays and holidays the time spent on SNS increases sharply. The number of students who spend 2 or less hours per day on the SNS drops down by half and they shift towards spending anywhere between 4 to 8 hours on the SNS on Sundays and holidays. This leaves only half of their waking time available for other pursuits on Sundays and holidays. Just over 1/3rd of the students are found to spending 4 to 8 hours on the SNS on holidays and Sundays. On a working day female students spend, on an average, 20% more time on the SNS, but on Sundays and Holidays there is no substantial difference in the average time spent by a male student and a female student visiting the SNS. On an average about 1/3rd of their waking time is spent on SNS by the student community on holidays and Sundays. This, the authors submit, distracts the modern day youth from pursuing other productive interests on Sundays and holidays! And since up to 1/4th of the waking time on working days is allotted by the students for visiting SNS, the authors submit that after taking into account the time that they have to spend in class rooms, students are left with very little time to engage in other social activities (like face to face interactions with others) and including spending more quality time on their own vocation and self-improvement. With everyday (and on holidays) so much time being spent visiting SNSs, this phenomenon is to be considered as a ‘habit’ prevalent among the students. From the survey it is seen that in almost equal measure both female students and male students agree that visiting SNS is making them an addict. The study throws up a result that no student agrees (there is a strong disagreement by all) with the proposition that visiting SNS does not help them in doing their academic assignments. While just over 3/4th of the female students agree with this proposition (that visiting SNS helps in doing academic assignments) only just below ½ of the male students agree with this. While overwhelmingly (86%) of the female students feel that visiting SNS has no or positive impact on their academics their male counter parts are not so very enthusiastic. Only 62% of the male students concur with the female students on this premise. Male students who say that their academics are affected by visiting SNS is thrice of that of the female students. From this we can conclude that the academics of male students are more affected than female students on account of their habit of visiting SNSs, though on an average a female student spends more hours per day going to the SNS. (Though as seen above male Students and female students are nearly matched with respect to the hours that they spend on SNS on holidays and Sundays). Half of the student community is spending a part of their study time and class hours in visiting SNS, while only 1/3rd of them have exclusive hours for using the SNSs. Male students are categorical is saying that their studies are affected because of the time that they use up from their class hours and study time for visiting SNSs. Compared to the male students only half their size of the female students say that their studies are affected by their visiting SNSs during study time and / or class-hours. Both male and female students in equal measure agree that human contact comes down on account of the time that they spend on visiting SNS. They also agree that not only their time is wasted but also that their writing skills, language and vocabulary is affected due to the phenomenon of visiting SNSs. One strong positive impact arising out of the SNS visits is that SNS helps in bringing opinion on social issues together and for sharing knowledge and ideas. The other key positive impacts as seen by the youth are: (a) potential to increase business contacts and thereby improve the job opportunities and (b) improvement in their skills in handling computers. Summary: Students spend substantial portion of their free time on visiting SNS. In the perception of the students there is no impact on their academic(s) (performance) on account of the time that they spend visiting SNSs. In the perception of the students there is no negative impact account of the time that they spend visiting SNSs. There is no significant difference between the male students and the female students on the reason that they spend time on SNS (predominant reason selected being “to be in contact with friends”) however girl students spend more (average) time on SNS than the male students. But more male students say that they are negatively affected in their academic performance and studies compared to the female students on account of this “habit”. Cutting across both the genders the general consensus is that visiting SNSs is wasting a lot of time for the youth. It is also seen that there is no significant difference on the impact of the positive and negative parameters on the youth, considered in this study, on account of visiting SNSs. Limitations of the Study and Future Scope: This study is based on feedback taken from a very small sample and therefore would not reflect the true proportion of the students in the country. For practical purpose this can be treated as a pilot-study. Scope exists for enlarging the study to cover the student community across the country. This study is based only on the recordings of the perceptions of the students with respect to the impact (both positive and negative) of visiting SNS. The study does not correlate the academic or behavioral changes in the students due to SNS visits. Further scope exists for an expanded study through a 360o study on behavioral changes by taking feedback from parents and relations, friends and peers, teachers and co-students and a longitudinal study of the academic performance from Xth standard onwards to current levels correlated with the duration and habit of SNS site visits to assess material impact on the youth on account of such visits. No controlled experiment has been conducted to study if there are any differences in the academic performance and social behavior of the students based on the time that they spend or do not spend on the SNS. Recommendation: If the students can reduce the time spent on SNS (even by 1 hour), the authors strongly feel that it would improve their inter-personal relationship skills and give them that little extra time to spend for their own self-improvement (like more concentration on academics, reading) and for contributing their holiday time for useful social causes. The time that would be made so available would so much large that it could become a valuable contribution for the betterment of the society and the country at large. -O- References Sachdev, Ruchi, Impact of Social Networking Sites (SNS) on the Youth of India: A Bird’s eye view, http://www.aisectuniversity.ac.in/Anusandhan/16.%20IMPACT%20OF%20SOCIAL%20NETWORKING%20SITES_SNS_%20ON%20THE%20YOUTH%20OF%20INDIA%20%20A%20BIRD_S%20EYE%20VIEW..pdf Jain, Pratyasha, Impact of Social Networking Sites (SNS) on The Youth of India, pioneerjournal.in/files.php?.../Impact_of_Social_Networking_Sites...You ------------------------------------ [1] IEEE 802.16 and WiMAX: Social networking sites Access for Everyone, Intel Corporation, 2003. http://www.intel.com/ebusiness/pdf/SNS/intel/80216_wimax.pdf [2] International Journal of Business and Social Science Vol. 2 No. 14 www.ijbssnet.com [3] The International Journal Of Engineering And Science (IJES) ||Volume||2 ||Issue|| 7 ||Pages|| 39-46||2013|| ISSN(e): 2319 – 1813 ISSN(p): 2319 – 1805 [4] IOSR Journal of Research & Method in Education (IOSR-JRME) e-ISSN: 2320–7388,p-ISSN: 2320–737X Volume 3, Issue 6 (Nov. –Dec. 2013), PP 39-43 www.iosrjournals.org
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