Researchers at Ohio University has found that students who spend most of their time on Facebook, adding friends, chatting and “poking” others are more likely to perform poorly in exams.
Aryn Karpinski, one of the Ohio State education department researchers, was quoted in the Times of London as saying, “Our study shows people who spend more time on Facebook spend less time studying. Every generation has its distractions, but I think Facebook is a unique phenomenon.”
Ms. Karpinski will be presenting her findings this week at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association.
Researchers questioned 219 US undergraduates and graduates about their study practices and general internet use, as well as their specific use of Facebook.
They found that 65% of Facebook users accessed their account daily, usually checking it several times to see if they had received new messages. The amount of time spent on Facebook at each log-in varied from just a few minutes to more than an hour.
The Ohio report shows that students who used Facebook had a “significantly” lower grade point average – the marking system used in US universities – than those who did not use the site.
“It is the equivalent of the difference between getting an A and a B,” said Karpinski.
21-year-old Daisy Jones, an undergraduate in her final year at Loughborough University said, “I was in the library trying to write a 2,000-word essay when I realised my Facebook habit had got out of hand. I couldn’t resist going online. You do that, then someone’s photo catches your eye. Before you know it, a couple of minutes has turned into a couple of hours and you haven’t written a thing”.
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