The study examines the contributions of Instagram to academic activities of female students in Delta State University, Abraka. The study adopted the cognitive theory of mass communication. A total of three hundred eighty respondents were systematically selected from the total population of nine thousand, seven hundred and twenty female students through the simple random sample technique. The study concluded that students use Instgram frequently as they follow good number of Instgram accounts. The study also concluded that Instagram is convenient for them to use and it exposed them to lecture video and picture for their academic performance. The study recommended that students should at all times know that academic activities are top priority to them as such whenever they visit the Instagram account to check out the happening, they should ensure academic posts, comments and like should be appreciated more. Also, students should get best inspiration for visiting Instagram for academic satisfaction and with this, the will gain academic information which will enhance their academic performance in school.
1.1 Background to The Study
Social media are social interactive platforms where users make use of new media technologies to engage with other users for mutual understanding. Importantly, social media are possible because of the revolution in technology. Rapid evolution of technology facilitates the birth of new media being used by students in social and academic settings.
In all aspects of human activities, social media have to improve life both for adults and young people,(Boyd, 2011). Berstrom and Backman (2013) explained that social organizational levels in modern society. With the internet and smartphone, it has become a central tool imperatively, there are various platforms of social YouTube, Pinterest Tumbir, Flickr, Reddit , Snapchat, Whatsapp, Facebook etc. however preference to the use of these social media varies from one country to another.
In Nigeria few social media platforms are commonly used. These are Facebook, Instagram, Whatsapp, twitter, (Akra and Kumar, 2017). According to Fitri (2016), social media is a mobile based technology which is used extensively for the purpose of communication networking online through words, pictures and videos.
Facebook, twitter and Instagram are mostly common platforms of social media known by the people.
Instagram is a worldwide online social networking site that provides a platform for people to share photos and videos with others. It was launched 26th October 2010 and was later acquired by Facebook in 2012. Presently, Instagram has about 800 million active users across the world, (Ting, 2014).
Instagram carries array of features which make users to be fascinating to spend quality time on their instagram page or profile. Among these features include video sharing, picture, personal identification, location finding, communication, content sharing, and friends’ connectivity. According to Ting (2014) the activities engaged on Instagram by users are comments on friend’s posts, likes, upload and download of videos and pictures, tagging friends, hashtagging and shopping online. Instagram is an online, mobile phone, photo-sharing, video sharing and social networking services that allow users to take pictures and videos and share them on their social media platform (Frommer, 2010). He further stated that instagram which can be seen as social media platform is a mobile is a mobile, desktop and internet based photo-sharing application and services that allow users to share pictures and video either publicly or privately.
Stec (2015), also stated that Instagram is a photo-sharing mobile application that allows its users to take pictures, apply filters to them and share them on the platform itself as well as other platforms. In other words, Instagram is a platform where one can share photos, videos, audios and other things to the public. He stated that Instagram, a mobile photo and video capturing and sharing service, has emerged very fast as a new medium in spotlight in recent years.
Kelly Lux (2011), you can take pictures within the app or use photos that already exist in your camera roll. You can give your photo a title, which is helpful and fun. Photos can be instantly shared, not only on Instagram, but also Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, Posterous and Tumblr. You can also connect with your foursquare account and tag your photos with location. By default, photos are public on Instagram. If you want people to have to ask permission before they follow you, set to private. To date, I don’t follow anyone with a private account. That’s what Facebook is for.
Instagram, like any other social network, is based around having friends or followers. On Instagram you ‘follow’ people. At the top of your profile (or anyone’s profile) you will see the username, profile pic, how many photos have been uploaded, how many followers the account has, and how many they are following. When you follow someone, their photos show up in your stream. The only other things you can do are like photos and comment on them. Both are appreciated. People ask questions in the comments, like ‘where was this taken’ or ‘what app did you use for that?’. Once you get into using Instagram, you will see how laid back people are and how much fun they are having. It’s currently a very friendly community.
Social media has so many features and contributions to the society especially in educational development. Since inception many people have seen these features interesting and they have improved education of young people both formal and informal sphere. Today the users of Social media users in Nigerian tertiary institution have increased because students have been engaging Social media for their academic for their academic information. According to Akhur et al (2017), in academia, Social media is deemed as valuable in language learning as their community-centered design support the dissemination of authentic language and encourage meaningful interactions beyond the classroom.
According to Akram and Kumar (2017), Instagram as a social media technology allows students to share educational thoughts with another. It helps students to release education information with other students to relate educational information with other students in other countries. Students can easily communicate or share information quickly with each other.
The use of Social media in educational environment is focused on their improving academic performance or negatively affecting academics performance or negatively affecting academic performance for this study academic performance is the level of academic achievement which includes grades, speaking, writing socialization and general character disposition. The delta state university motto reads thus “academic excellent character and service”. When a student is not leveling up with desired grades and other indices, the students is said to perform poorly.
1.2 Statement of Problem
The internet is today the most important source of information and the growing dimensions of the use of social media by students cannot be underestimated. It has been observed that students devote more attention and time to social media than they do for their studies and they cannot pass their examinations well if they do not learn (Osharive, 2015). Also, the study conducted by Maya (2015), revealed that media use contribute to lower academic performance, low self-perceptions and less interest in college oriented carriers. Studies have also revealed that social media affects students’ use of English. They tend to use short- handwriting to chat with friends and get used to it thereby replicating the same errors during examinations (Obi, Bulus, Adamu and Sala’at, 2012).
In the recent survey, Instagram is regarded as the most popular social media for university students because of its captivating features that allowed students to share textual and photo information to their friends in both distance and near locations, ( Mamsor and Rahim, 2013).
However, not much research appears to have been conducted on the contributions of Instagram to the academic performance of female university students. Studies seek to generalize the social media concept whereas female students of tertiary institutions are the most users of Instagram because of their photo and admiration quests at every given time.
Therefore, this study seeks to answer some questions as regard to the contributions of Instagram towards academic performance of students in Delta State University. The result from the finding will close knowledge gap of the following objectives of the study;
1.3 Objectives of the Study
The followings are the objectives of the study;
- To determine the extent at which female students of Delta State University, Abraka use the Instagram.
- To find out the reasons female students of Delta State University Students use Instagram.
- To discover the contributions of Instagram to academic performance of female students in Delta State University Abraka.
1.4 Research Questions
The followings research questions guided the study
- What is the level of use of Instagram among Students of Delta State University, Abraka use the Instagram?
- What are the reasons for the use of Instagram female students of Delta State University Students?
- What are the contributions of Instagram to academic performance of female students in Delta State University Abraka?
1.5 Significance of the Study
There has been need to research on this topic because of the new dimension of social media usage in all aspect of life including politics. Many scholars has rule out educational functions of the social media (Instagram) because of the radio and television. So this study is to reveal the gap that exist as well as provide resolution adopted in recent time to close the gap using Instgaram as a means for academic performance. The study will determine the extent at which female students of Delta State University, Abraka use the Instagram, find out the motive female students of Delta State University Students use Instagram and discover the contributions of Instagram to academic performance of female students in Delta State University Abraka.
The findings from this study will provide scholars with knowledge for further research. Also, it will be guiding principles to students and educational administrations.
1.6 Scope of the Study
The study covers students of Delta State University, Abraka. The coverage will be restricted to two departments in the faculty of the Social Sciences and the departments are Sociology and Mass Communication. The scope covers 2018/2019 academic session.
1.7 Definition of Terms
Social Media: This means social networking site design to create flow of information among users in their social quest. These include but not limited to facebook, whatsapp, instagram, twitter e.t.c.
Instagram: This is a photo and video sharing social media platform that is commonly used by young people in the society for social interaction.
Student: This is a person who is gainfully admitted into the University or other Institution of higher learning for the purpose to acquire educational knowledge.
Academic Performance: This is the level of academic achievement of students as against the standard in both grades and character. It could be negative or positive depending on the contributions of some social and academic factors.