WhatsApp Messenger application among business students in Malaysia – an exploration
WhatsApp Messenger, one of the social media applications on smart phone is gaining popularity as a mode of social interaction recently. Many people, particularly part-time university students,have used this application, not only for daily communication but also for discussion on their academic tas...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Pusat Pembangunan Mahasiswa dan Perhubungan Alumni, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia
2015
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| Online Access: | http://journalarticle.ukm.my/10874/ http://journalarticle.ukm.my/10874/ http://journalarticle.ukm.my/10874/1/Noor-Azuan-Hashim.pdf |
| Summary: | WhatsApp Messenger, one of the social media applications on smart phone is gaining popularity as a mode of
social interaction recently. Many people, particularly part-time university students,have used this application,
not only for daily communication but also for discussion on their academic tasks. Therefore, high level of usage
of this application is expected amongst part-time university student in Malaysia. However, little is understood
from empirical viewpoint about the intensity of WhatsApp messenger usages and its impact on the academic
performance of students in the university. This study seeks to investigate the perceived impact of WhatsApp
messengeron the academic performance of university students in Malaysia. A survey and face-to-face interviews
were carried-out which involved 86 part-time students in the survey and 15 students in the interviews. The findings
indicated that WhatsApphas enhanced effective flow of information and idea sharing among students. Despite
making communication easier and faster, WhatsApp has also negative impact on the performance of students.
The studyrevealed that: WhatsApphas taken much of students study time and concentration because they are
being bothered by the incoming messages. This resulted in procrastination due to inabilities to manage time in
balancing online activities, lack of concentration during lectures and academic discussion, distracts students from
completing their assignments and affecting student ability in spelling and grammatical construction of sentences
on assignments. In addition, some issues on the WhatsApp application were also discussed. |
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