The Impact of Social Media on Academic Writing Skill: A Case Study of Undergraduate Students at KUST

Abstract

This study examines the influence of social media use on the academic writing skills of undergraduate students in the Department of English at Kohat University of Science and Technology (KUST), Pakistan. In today’s digital environment, platforms such as WhatsApp, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter play a central role in students’ daily communication. These spaces encourage informal linguistic practices including abbreviations, nonstandard spellings, emojis, and simplified grammar. While social media increases exposure to English and interaction, scholars worry that digital language may appear in formal academic writing. Grounded in Crystal’s Digital Language Change Theory (2006), this mixed-methods study explores whether social media affects students’ formal writing proficiency and identifies linguistic features transferred from online discourse to academic texts. Quantitative data was collected through questionnaires measuring patterns of social media use. Qualitative data came from teacher interviews, students’ social media samples, and academic assignments. Linguistic content analysis and thematic analysis examined grammar, vocabulary, punctuation, coherence, and academic tone. Furthermore, results show that heavy social media use often correlates with informal features in academic writing, such as abbreviations, colloquial vocabulary, and grammatical inconsistency. However, social media also expands vocabulary exposure and communicative confidence. Overall, its impact is complex and context dependent. The study contributes to applied linguistics and TESOL by evidence from Pakistani context and suggests teaching strategies that help students separate informal language use clearly.