Investigating social media addiction, purposes, benefits and impact on academic performance among the diploma of information management students at Universiti Teknologi MARA

This qualitative study Investigating Social Media Addiction, Purposes, Benefits and Impact on Academic Performance among the Diploma of Information Management Students at Universiti Teknologi MARA branch campuses (Kedah, Kelantan, Negeri Sembilan, Johor, Sarawak). Guided by three theoretical frameworks: Uses & Gratifications (purposes of use), the I-PACE model (student addiction), and Social Cognitive Theory (learning benefits), the study examines three research objectives: (i) types of student addiction, (ii) purposes of social media use, and (iii) benefits of social media use. Using semi-structured interviews as the primary data collection method, data were analyzed through thematic analysis, resulting in 13 main themes, 33 subthemes at level 1, and 10 sub-themes at level 2. The findings revealed that the types of students' social media addiction are characterized by time allocation and habitual use. Most students prefer using social media apps late at night, rely on them to boost mood regulation, and tend to reduce their offline socializing because the information and entertainment content on these platforms satisfy their needs. However, they acknowledge that these habits disrupt the learning process, fostering carelessness and contributing to the neglect of assessment tasks. The findings also revealed the purposes of social media use, such as enabling real-time academic collaboration and discussions, allowing quick access to various resources, facilitating the exchange of opinions to enhance assignment quality, improving English pronunciation, providing relaxing entertainment, strengthening in-person communication, and enabling selfimprovement through personal expression. In addition, the benefits of social media use in academic contexts include facilitating collaboration on group work, providing rapid and diverse answers, and supporting learning through educational video channels. Social media also benefits learning by enabling the self-directed exchange of educational information within academic settings, strengthening study skills, fostering self-development, and improving overall academic performance. Likewise, social media-based group discussions create a supportive environment that strengthens friendships and enhances communication, information-seeking, and critical-thinking skills. Future research should examine how personality traits and mental health shape the academic effects of social-media addiction. Additionally, it should conduct platform-specific comparisons of all types of social media apps to map the types, frequency, patterns, and differences in academic performance.