Human beings are said to be social animals. This only means that people are connected to one another and continue looking for ways to link one person to another despite the distances between them. In fact, the use of Social Networking Sites (SNS) made this possible. There are numerous social media websites available on the internet today that people all over the world can use to connect with distant relatives and friends as well as find new comrades. SNS like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram are just three of the most popular social media platforms being used by billions of people. Currently, Facebook ranked one (1) as the largest social networking site in the world and one of the most widely used (Make A Website, 2021). This has been one of the trends in the research world as more and more people are getting hooked on using social media. According to Facebook statistics (2014), there are more than 1.3 billion users of this social media, and the majority of them are students. Most of the students devote a lengthy time to browsing, posting, and communicating using their Facebook account (Ellefsin, 2015). Likewise, because of the popularity of this social media platform, it is being seen to have a high potential as an educational tool.
Based on the study conducted on one of the largest Universities in Malaysia among the 105 student- respondents, it was found that only three (3) students did not use Facebook; this is only equivalent to 2.8 percent ( Alhazmi and Rahman, 2013). Similarly, Aldheleai (2010) stated in his study that 97.10 % of students utilized Facebook compared to 28.50% use blogs and 14.50% of the students use Twitter aside from using Facebook. Alhazmi and Rahman (2013) also claimed that 78.9 % of students spend more than one hour a day using Facebook. While Junco (2012), revealed that students devoted 100 minutes every day to this social media site. He also added that Facebook became an avenue for the students to connect themselves in their virtual world.
In furtherance, students use Facebook for various reasons and purposes. Some of them include; information-sharing like receiving and gathering ideas, learning, problem-solving and sharing work, social purposes such as chatting and keeping in touch with friends and relatives, and gaming and relaxing purposes( Wesseling, 2012). Consequently, students have a positive perspective regarding the utilization of social networking sites as a platform for e-learning.
In the Philippines, the educational system has adapted various learning modalities where students can easily access learning, and one of those is the utilization of Facebook. According to some teachers, they preferred to use this social network site since students are teachers who are already familiar with this, aside from the fact that Facebook is indeed user-friendly (Philippine News Agency, 2020). Presently, Facebook is being used by many teachers and students both in public and private as a way to integrate socialization in schools which is one of the important roles of education. Through this, it can enhance the communication between the instructor and the students, promote collaboration, and develop the students’ computer and language skills. Likewise, Facebook is found to be well-suited for sharing discussions and thoughts about current events.
Similarly, Facebook can be used as a medium in facilitating peer support among the students (Mingle and Adams, 2015). They also found that FB has been used mostly to facilitate exchanges that promote group cohesiveness and teamwork. Nevertheless, in spite of positive feedback from the students who spend much time on FB, there are still some negative comments thrown against this social media site particularly its influence on the lives of the students ( Barrat, Hendrickson, Stephens, and Torres, 2005). Some researchers justified the negative impact on the academic performance of the students, especially those who devoted so much time to using social media. Boogart and Robert (2006), claimed that too much use of FB is connected with the lower academic achievement of the students insinuating a negative effect on the scholastic performance of the students. Therefore, it is essential to conduct more studies in order to investigate and examine how Facebook can be utilized to increase the academic performance of the students ( Hicks and Graber, 2010).
By: Catherine L. Jongco | Master Teacher I | Bataan National High School | Balanga, Bataan
