The Impact of Virtual Social Networks on Students’ Academic Achievement in Birjand University of Medical Sciences in East Iran

Social networking sites (SNSs) have extended all over the world nowadays. These sites have various effect of their users’ life. This case-control study was conducted in Birjand University of Medical Sciences in 2011. The study included 70 students with grade point average (GPA) less than 16 of 20(Case group) and 140 students with GPA equal 16 of 20 and higher (Control group). 54.3% of students in case group and 35% in control group were registered in this networks.(OR=2.2,CI=1.23-3.95). The average time spending in the SNSs in case and control group was 0.9 and 0.44 hours per day respectively (p=0.04). Membership start in the majority in case group(57.9%) was the first term and in the control group (47.1%)was before the university. Contact with old friends was the most common cause of using social networks in both cases and controls.The result of this study has shown a negative relation between use of SNSs and GPA. In this context we need a culture of SNSs’ use with considering its impacts on students’ Academic Achievement.