Effects of Excessive Social Media Use on Student Academic Performance: A Cause and Effect Analysis

The increased awareness among parents and teachers to social media is increasingly being viewed as a major obstacle to the academic performance of students. Though social media is an effective communication tool, its extensive application in the educational setting has become a hot issue all over the world. Study findings are increasingly pointing to a strong correlation and more and more a causational relation between the use of social media heavily and dwindling academic achievement. Reports of reduced academic achievement are the follow-ups of an increase in the use of social media. This trend leads to a significant question to the educational community: what can we do to develop healthy digital practices that will not only support but also undermine the student learning and achievement?. This paper synthesizes four primary causal mechanisms, reviews key empirical studies, presents realworld case studies, and provides actionable recommendations for students, educators, and policymakers