EFFECTS OF SOCIAL MEDIA ON PSYCHOLOGICAL WELLBEING AND ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE AMONG UNIVERSITY STUDENTS IN SINDH

Abstract

Social media usage has been a defining characteristic of the digital age, and its effects have been felt among university students, particularly regarding their academic performance and psychological well-being. This study examines the role of social media in these areas. A sample of 600 full-time undergraduate students from the Faculty of Social and Natural Sciences, from Universities of Sindh, participated in the survey. It is a fact that Social media had favorable and unfavorable impacts on students' mental health and academic performance. According to this study, social media addiction has a moderate but statistically significant relationship with grade point average (GPA). The correlation between social media addiction, psychological well-being, and academic performance was negative. Further, males showed higher levels of social media addiction than females. According to these findings, social media addiction negatively impacts students' academic performance and psychological wellbeing. It is concluded that Students need to use social media responsibly by participating in awareness sessions to learn about its positive and negative effects and following guidelines set by their institution. To ensure academic success, universities should allow only necessary academic applications in labs and discourage the compulsive use of social media.