The Effect of Social Media Use on the Academic Achievement of Students at the Faculty of Medicine, Alkhairaat University, Palu

Ruslan  Ramlan Ramli; Viini Chintia Sampo; Marina Musyawwirina

Ruslan Ramlan Ramli
Viini Chintia Sampo Department of Medical Education, Faculty of Medicine, University of Alkhairaat, Palu, Jl. Diponegoro 94221, Central Sulawesi
Marina Musyawwirina Department of Neurology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Alkhairaat Palu

Keywords: Social Media Use; Academic Achievement.

Abstract

Social media, particularly TikTok and Instagram, plays an important role in improving communication and learning among students. Although it has both positive and negative impacts—such as access to information—unwise use can reduce academic performance. This study aimed to determine the effect of social media use on student academic achievement and how it influences students at the Faculty of Medicine, Alkhairaat University, Palu. This research employed an observational analytic design with a cross-sectional approach to evaluate the effect of social media use on the academic achievement of medical students. A total of 126 pre-clinical students completed questionnaires. The results showed that the data were not normally distributed (p = 0.001), so hypothesis testing was carried out using ANOVA for further analysis. Analysis using the Chi-square test showed a significant difference between social media use and academic achievement (p = 0.034). Among the 126 respondents, the majority were female, class of 2022, and moderately active users. The mean GPA of male students was 2.83 and that of female students was 2.92. The class of 2021 had the highest average GPA (2.99). The Chi-square test showed a significant difference between categories of social media usage and academic achievement (p = 0.034).