A Study of the Correlation between Social Media Use and Academic Achievement

Abstract

    Powered by the unprecedented IT technology in Information Age, social media, “internet based applications that allow the creation and exchange of content which is user generated” (Kaplan and Haenlein, 2010), have gained unseen popularity among people all around the world, including those in China. Aided by these telecommunication tools, everyone now is able to communicate in a fairly effective way with people around the world. Adding “friends” to share information and ideas, choosing to “follow” others and learning about their status, updating daily experiences with sights and sounds, receiving comments and feedback… all of those which appeared to be illusionary for our counterparts of the past have become part of our routine since the expansion of internet use. It seems that an effective mode of social networking now becomes available with our access to cyberspace. Beside its role as an access to effective social networking, social media also functions as one of the major platforms of news communication. However, despite the merits of effectiveness and convenience it has brought, the prevalence of social media has also woven some new problems into our social fabrics to be identified and addressed, providing an exciting new area of study in the field of sociology and psychology.