Volume VI Issue III July-September 2026

Name of Author : Syeda Hafeeza Sultana, Fatima Omer Sadia

Title of the paper : Social Media Use, Academic Engagement, and Communication Competence among Undergraduate and Postgraduate Students in Hyderabad

Abstract: Social media is now central to university students academic and social lives, yet limited research quantitatively examines its combined association with academic engagement and communication competence across student groups. This quantitative, non-experimental, comparative study examines the relationship between social media use, academic engagement, and communication competence among undergraduate and postgraduate students. The structured questionnaire was designed based on existing validated instruments by Jenkins-Guarnieri, Wright, and Johnson 2013, Schaufeli, Martínez, Pinto, Salanova, and Bakker 2002 validated by Carmona-Halty, Schaufeli, Salanova, 2019, and McCroskey and McCroskey 1988, assessing social media integration, academic engagement Vigor, Dedication, Absorption, and communication competence across Public Speaking, Meeting, Group, and Dyadic contexts. Reliability and validity were established through Phase 1 pilot testing, after which the finalized tool was administered to the target population across Hyderabad, yielding 181 valid, individual-level responses 185 total responses received that were compared across groups. Findings suggest a curvilinear inverted-U relationship between social media use and academic engagement, with moderate use associated with the highest engagement, while overall use intensity showed no significant linear association with communication competence, which instead varied substantially by communicative context and audience.

Keywords : social media, academic engagement, communication competence, undergraduate and postgraduate students, comparative study

DOI :

Page No. : 43-67