Title: Impact of Social Media Usage on the Reading Culture among Students: A case of Jangwani Secondary School in Dar es Salaam

Authors: Angella Michael & Henry L. Mambo

 Angella Michael Masters Student, Faculty of Arts, Social Sciences and Mass Communication, The Open University of Tanzania (OUT), Dar es Salaam, The United Republic of Tanzania.
 Henry L. Mambo Senior Lecturer and Head of Department of Media and Library Studies, the Open University of Tanzania (OUT). Dar es Salaam, The United Republic of Tanzania.
*Correspondence: angellamichael69@gmail.com

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to present the study that was conducted to assess the “impact of Social Media usage on the Reading Culture among secondary school students in Tanzania”. Specifically, the study wanted to find out the relationship between social media and reading habits in order to measure the extent to which students were affected either positively or negatively. The population was school teachers and students of Jangwani Secondary. The study used an explanatory research design whereas a sample of 66 respondents was selected from Jangwani Secondary. Simple random sampling was used to select respondents. Data were collected through questionnaires and the IBM SPSS version of 2019 was used to analyze data thereafter data were presented using tables, graphs, and frequency. Based on the findings, all 66 (100%) were using social media, and 36 (55%) out of 66 were using social media as a tool for academic materials searching and current news and information. Eventually, according to the findings 66 (100%) respondents used social media, 36 (55%) respondents were using social media to search academic materials and current information and news affairs, and 60 (91%) respondents were using Facebook, Instagram. and Tik Tok. Furthermore, 32 (49%) respondents were spending 4-8 hours on social media. Based on the findings, it is argued that social media have a positive impact on students, especially in increasing reading habits and academic performance because of the easy accessibility of academic materials. Therefore, this paper recommends that there should be proper ways of making school students use social media positively, especially with the aim of increasing the reading culture.

Keywords: Social Media, Social Media Usage, Reading Culture, Secondary Students