IMPLICATIONS OF TERTIARY STUDENTS’ STRAINED USE OF SOCIAL MEDIA AND THEIR WRITING SKILLS: AN IMPACT ASSESSMENT

Abstract

Social media are phases of new media. They have been impacting on teaching and learning for decades now. This study assesses the impact of strained use of social media on tertiary students’ writing skills. It relies on secondary data and employs descriptive survey and qualitative method. Drawing evidence from the data, the study shows that strained use of social media makes many students resort to using alphanumeric writing system and new media language features in their formal compositions. Consequent upon using them in their compositions, most of them perform poorly, while others fail in tests and examinations of language courses. The study concludes that tertiary students’ writing skills get adversely affected by strained use of social media. Students need to reduce their use of social media and familiarise themselves with the essentials of formal writing styles and features. Teachers and parents should continually guide students on how best to use social media.