Top-Performing students' use of social networking sites

Abstract

This study aims to identify patterns in Internet and Social Networking Site (SNS) usage among topperforming students at Malaysian universities. Data were gathered from 6358 public and private university students through an online survey. The top performers (reported CGPA of 3.6 and above) were found to be the most likely to have an SNS account and they spent more time using the Internet than other students. The findings also show that in terms of SNS usage, top-performing students display patterns similar to other students. However, among their various Internet activities, they rank social networking as the fourth most preferred activity, whereas other groups rank it as first. The preferred Internet activity for the top performers is emailing, which literature suggests may be linked to their academic performance. © Maxwell Scientific Organization, 2013.