Study: Facebook users receive lower grades

A study from an Ohio State graduate student revealed that Facebook use correlates with lower GPAs for college students.

But Aryn Karpinski, the author of the study, did not claim that Facebook was a direct source for the lower grades.

“I am not saying that Facebook causes poor academic performance,” Karpinski said in an e-mail. “I am saying that the research shows that there is a relationship between Facebook use and academic performance.”

What exactly this relationship is remains unclear.

“There are many other factors involved, and if Facebook weren’t around, something else would be the distraction,” Ph.D. student Kevin Makice said.

Karpinski recognizes that more research needs to be done in the area.

“My study is easy to criticize statistically and methodologically, obviously, but know that I am fully aware of what the problems are,” Karpinski said, adding this was merely a pilot study.

Eszter Hargittai, Northwestern University associate professor, posted on crookedtimber.org that she hasn’t found any relationship between Facebook and lower GPAs.

Hargittai also stated that Karpinski’s research did not provide information on how the findings were administrated or how Facebook usage and grades were measured.

Graduate student in informatics Christian Briggs said students have countless reasons for not studying.

“Some students are just prone to blowing off work,” Briggs said.

Karpinski defended her research by saying that there was a correlation between lower grades and Facebook use.

“There’s a disconnect between students’ claim that Facebook use doesn’t impact their studies, and our finding showing they had lower grades and spent less time studying,” she said.

Briggs said that when the computer and mobile phone were the new frontiers of technology, people feared them.

“It’s interesting – whenever a new technology comes out, people tend to freak out,” Briggs said. “Students have always been wasting time.”