Study shows Facebook can lead to lower GPA

By: Analia Fiestas / Staff Writer

With wall posts and comments, tagged pictures, “poking” wars and birthday calendars, what began as an entertaining social networking website, is becoming a threat to the grade point average of many of its college users.

A recent pilot study by Ohio State University, presented at the American Education Research Association, has demonstrated that college students who have a Facebook account spend less time studying, and consequently, have a lower grade point average than the students who do not have a profile on the popular website.

Here at Florida International University, for example, students can be seen checking their Facebook profiles on their laptops or smart phones as they sit through class lectures, instead of paying close attention to what the professors explain.

“Facebook has some positive things, but I don’t think it should be done in class. However, if students want to waste their college dollar, and if that is their priority, that’s okay. People can make their own choices,” said Psychology Professor William Berry.

Berry believes that there is an “addictive aspect” to Facebook for some students that they “just can’t seem to get away from.”

“They check it compulsively,” said Berry. “I think maybe that is one of the reasons why students that have any sort of online network—whether it be Facebook, Twitter, Tumbler, or whatever—are getting lower grades. Technology is a distraction.”

The results of the conducted study revealed that students who have a Facebook account have grade point averages ranging from 3.0-3.5. On the other hand, the students that do not have a profile on Facebook have grade point averages ranging from 3.5-4.0.

“I think that Facebook is extremely time consuming. It is logical to think that because students are spending time on Facebook, instead of working on an assignment, their grades will drop,” said Frances Gray, an English professor.

The study also concluded that Facebook users study about five hours a week, while non-Facebook users study about fifteen hours per week.

“I do believe Facebook causes students to study less because instead of doing their work, they log onto Facebook and they procrastinate,” said senior, Jessica Alchosst. “To be honest, I do it too. I do admit that Facebook is a major distraction to college students.”

Ivan Garcia, a non-Facebook user, agrees that Facebook can be addictive enough to affect someone’s academic performance.

“If students have an online class, they are even more tempted to be on Facebook,” said Garcia.

However, more than three quarters of those surveyed in the study claimed Facebook does not interfere with their academic lives. Here at the University, some students also disagree.

“I have a Facebook, and I do socialize online, but my GPA is above a 3.5. I do not comprehend how Facebook could be the reason why students are getting lower grades. How about the students that do not own a Facebook, and yet, have lower grades than the students that do have a Facebook profile?” argued freshman, Kelly Mayorga.

Freshman Mario Lugo logs on to Facebook whenever he can, but keeps his college work as top priority. He believes that if a student sets his mind on a goal, nothing should serve as a distraction.

“If something were to serve as a distraction, it would certainly not be Facebook, when there are more exciting things to do such as partying, hanging out with friends or even sleeping,” said Lugo.

According to Aryn Karpinski, doctoral student in education at OSU and co-author of the study, although the study did not prove that the use of Facebook leads to lower grades and less studying, it confirmed that there is a solid relationship between Facebook usage and lower grades.

“It may be that if it wasn’t for Facebook, some students would still find other ways to avoid studying, and would still get lower grades. But perhaps the lower GPAs could actually be because students are spending too much time socializing online,” declared Karpinski.

There were no differences in the study results due to gender, racial and ethnic groups.

The study was relativelysmall, but it has been among the first to discover a relationship between college Facebook users and their academic performance.