The impact of social media use on academic performance among nursing students, Menoufia University, Egypt

Background: Social networking has become essential to everyone's life in the twenty-first century. When university students use social media appropriately and for their educational objectives, it will improve academic achievement by allowing users to communicate, produce, or share content. However, prolonged or inappropriate use of social media for non-educational objectives leads to addiction to social media among younger people, leading to a serious impact on academic achievement. Aim: to determine the impact of social media use on academic performance among nursing students, Menoufia University, Egypt. Research Design: A descriptive correlation design was utilized. Setting: The study was carried out at the faculty of nursing at Menoufia University, Egypt. Subjects: A convenient sample of 753 nursing students. Tools: An online self-administered questionnaire, a Google form, was used. It is composed of two parts. The first part of the questionnaire contained information about participant demographics. The second part was composed of five subscales: it contained questions about students’ addiction to social networks and academic performance. Results: There was a statistically significant correlation between students' addiction to social media and academic performance. This means that students who are not addicted to social media and use it in a regulated manner and for scientific purposes have a positive impact on their academic performance, and vice versa; for students who are addicted to it, it harms their academic performance.