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Social media platforms have become an integral part of daily life for university students in Tanzania. With widespread adoption of smartphones and affordable mobile data, platforms such as WhatsApp, Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok have transformed how young people communicate, access information, and spend their leisure time.
Despite growing prevalence of social media among Tanzanian students, limited empirical research exists examining the specific relationship between social media usage patterns and academic outcomes within the Tanzanian higher education context.
The study aims to: (i) Determine patterns of social media usage among undergraduate students. (ii) Examine the relationship between daily social media usage and academic performance (GPA). (iii) Identify platforms most used during academic activities. (iv) Recommend strategies to support academic performance.
This study is grounded in the Uses and Gratifications Theory (Katz, Blumler & Gurevitch, 1973), which posits that individuals actively select media to satisfy specific needs including information, entertainment, personal identity, and social interaction.
This study adopted a Quantitative descriptive correlational research design. Data was collected using a structured questionnaire administered through the Tafiti Pro online platform.
Using Krejcie and Morgan's (1970) formula, a sample of 150 students was selected using stratified random sampling from the University of Dar es Salaam.
78.7% of students spend more than 3 hours daily on social media. WhatsApp was most used (94.4%), followed by YouTube (72.3%) and Instagram (61.7%). Pearson's correlation revealed a statistically significant negative correlation between social media usage and GPA (r = −0.47, p < 0.01).
This study established that excessive social media usage has a statistically significant negative impact on academic performance. Students should adopt intentional digital wellness strategies. Universities should develop digital literacy programmes and clear policies regarding smartphone use during lectures.
Junco, R. (2012). Too much face and not enough books. Computers in Human Behavior, 28(1), 187–198.
Katz, E., Blumler, J. G., & Gurevitch, M. (1973). Uses and gratifications research. The Public Opinion Quarterly, 37(4), 509–523.
TCRA. (2023). Quarterly Statistics Report Q4 2023. Dar es Salaam.
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