Exploring the Influence of Social Media Usage for Academic Purposes Using a Partial Least Squares Approach

Social media applications have been increasingly gaining significant attention from online education and training platforms. Social networking tools provide multiple advantages for communicating, exchanging opinions, and discussing specific issues. Social media also helps to improve the processes of teaching and learning through sharing educational programs. In this study, we used a quantitative research technique based on the partial least-squares (PLS) linear regression method to determine the influence of using social media as an online discussion and communication platform for academic purposes by assessing the relationships among the skills obtained through social media, the usage of social media, and the purpose of social media. A total of 200 students participated in this study (88% female and 12% males), and a purposive sampling technique was used to select a suitable population for the study. The results show that 61.5% of the participants use the web daily for more than five hours, mainly for social communication (meaningful dialog and discussion skills) and entertainment. The students agreed that social media develops their creative thinking, but it has no positive impact on their academic performance.