The harmful impact of Facebook on the academic and social skills of students in Lebanon

Abstract

The purpose of this was to illustrate the aspects of Facebook, which contribute into the effects on academic performance and socialization habits of Lebanese tweens. In order to achieve this objective three research questions and two related hypothesis were measured. (1) Does long hours on Facebook reflect negative effects among adolescents? (2) What are the various effects of Facebook on adolescents spending increased amount of time on this social networking website? (3) Is there a correlation between the academic performance of adolescents and the time spent on Facebook? The related hypothesis were: (1) Spending more time on Facebook affects the academic performance negatively in Lebanon. (2) On this specific age group, Facebook leads to negative effects on the Lebanese population similar to the worldwide trends. To answer the research questions and examine the hypothesis, collected data from four different schools based on a convenience sampling were analyzed, with the help of the Head or Principal of each school. The survey developed consisted of four demographic variables and sixteen closed-ended variables. Using SPSS, Correlations, T-test, and regression analysis were conducted; having the GPA as the main independent variable, in order to explore the relationships among variables and assess the effects of Facebook has on academic performances and social habits among tweens in Lebanon. Findings supported the analyses conducted through SPSS showing significance among the variables studied. As a conclusion, this study probed that there was a significant negative correlation between time spent on Facebook and academic performance of students. Moreover, tweens in Lebanon have a tendency to use Facebook as a mean of communication such as updates of friends and family and chatting, resulting with the increase of time spent on Facebook.