Abstract:

Different research and studies establish the fact that social media have become the means to establish connections and maintain communication among adolescents (Orange Foundation, 2010; Pfizer Foundation, 2009; Millennials and Social Media, 2010; O´Keeffe and Clarke-Pearson, 2011; Pew Internet and American Life Project, 2010). Internet and social networking sites have become the most common among the so called NET Generation, being the most useful and effective mean to satisfy their needs to connect, to communicate, and to have the feeling of belonging to a group or a community.
Adolescents have become mainly a group of social media cybernauts, hence the object of this investigation was to analyze and relate the academic performance rate of the adolescents in this sample with the exposure time to Internet and to social networking sites. Consequently, the hypothesis was: Is there a connection between the use of social networking sites and Internet and the academic performance variable in the subjects of the sample?
The investigation design was comparative and ex post facto. The independent variables were: gender, academic performance, and course. The dependent variables were: Internet usage habits, social networking sites usage habits, and perception of the influence of social networking sites on the adolescent. The Chi-square test was the statistical tool used to evaluate the differences between categorical variables.
The sample was made up of two groups of subjects between the ages of 12 and 16. One of the groups came from Caracas, Venezuela and the other from Madrid, Spain. Both are enrolled in educational levels that correspond to the obligatory secondary education. The number of subjects was: 1,103 from Venezuela and 1,225 from Spain.
The data collection instrument was a questionnaire prepared based on a set of specific items that gave an answer to the objectives of this study.

The results indicate that there is an evident relation between the frequency of Internet use in general and the low performance rate, as it is indicated below:

1. There are differences regarding the daily exposure time to the Internet. Those subjects who engage the longest have a lower performance rate both in Venezuela and in Spain. There is no difference between parent control and academic performance.
2. The use of social media has no influence on the academic performance. However, if the purpose of the use of the social media is for leisure, to meet new people and interact then there is evidence of low performance.
3. In relation to the perception of the influence of the social media, there is no influence in the academic performance of the sample.

In conclusion, the results of this study reveal that there is an implication between the use of social networking sites and the academic performance rate. As far as educational implications, it was considered important that the educator use social media as one more tool that can favor the learning teaching process.

Keywords:

Social networking, academic performance.