Carolin Ann Enchas, Pressca Neging, Aimi Nuraida Ali Hassan
At the current endemic stage, traditional teaching and learning activities have changed to online approach. The usage of social media in online teaching and learning is increasingly popular. There are various concerns with these changes because these are not the norm in Sarawak education system. With the rapid evolution of web technologies, social media is the best website in bridging the gap of communication in the world. It comprises of applications that connect people around the world like no other technology has before. Applications that were once thought of as platforms to use to reconnect with long lost friends or acquaintances have now become ubiquitous among university students. Some empirical evidence have illustrated that social media use among them are mainly on keeping up with hometown relations and adding new friends to following their favorite social media influencers. However, these activities create major worries among the educators as they would influence their grades. This is because the main characteristic of social media is the use of Internet-based applications which can be addictive and a diversion from educational purposes. Having said that, Internet and social media are very useful as they can provide the end users with lots of information. Its nature has the capabilities of educating, enticing, and entertaining the users and audience. However, if they excessively misuse it, they will experience poor academic performance. Thus, the purpose of this study is to determine the effects of influencing factors such as social media use, online engagement and personality on university students’ academic performance. A new variable, personality; is proposed into a model because many researchers have suggested that personality has been shown to be relevant to many types of interactions especially in online platforms.