Social networking has been linked to poor academic performance, according to new research published in the journal Emerging Adulthood, which finds that female students studying at colleges and universities in the US who spend a lot of time on websites such as Facebook, as well as texting, etc., throughout the year may have lower grades in their courses on average.
Researchers from the Miriam Hospital Center for Behavioral and Preventive Medicine surveyed 483 female students and discovered that – in addition to social media – girls who performed poorly in class spent about 12 hours a day on social media, using their cell phones, watching television, and reading magazines.
Jennifer Walsh, lead author of the study, said: “Women who spend more time on some forms of media report lower academic performance, lower engagement in class and completing homework and study, and other problems that affect their academic performance.” These problems include lack of sleep, but even substance abuse, Jennifer Walsh added.
Psychologist Dr Arthur Cassidy argues: “Social networking, although still in an empirical stage of study, has so far yielded significant research findings.
A recent study in the United Kingdom that looked at Internet trolls (see www Knowthenet.org.uk), found that young men aged 19 are more likely to fall victim to online trolls, as well as other aspects of negative behavior on social media.
The American study, however, has focused more on the identity of young girls and adolescents, as it has been shown that women are more vulnerable to intense online activity and may devote more time to it, given that they negotiate their identity more than men, from late adolescence to early adulthood.
"Since they are more emotionally communicative than men, they are more vulnerable to psychological dependence and feedback from others on social networking sites," the researchers argue.
Source: koutipandoras.gr
