Asian Journal of Sociological Research

This study investigated the influence of peer pressure and gender as predictors of social media usage and academic performance among school-going adolescents in Wukari Educational Zone of Taraba State, Nigeria. Research objectives, questions and hypotheses were formulated while Correlational survey design were adopted to conduct the study. The population of the study covered all public secondary schools in wukari educational zone with the total population of 3525. A sample of three hundred and forty six (346) students were randomly selected from a population of 3525students, using simple random sampling technique as guided by research advisory table. The peer pressure, social media usage questionnaire and qualifying Examination result scores of SSII students going to SSIII validated and subjected to pilot testing with reliability of 0.64 and 0.81 respectively. While data was analysed based on the questions and hypotheses raised using SPSS Version 23. The results revealed that peer pressure and gender significantly influence social media usage and academic performance of school-going adolescent in Wukari Educational Zone. Based on the findings of this study it’s recommended that teachers and parents to restrict students’ from accessing sites not meant for educational progress and purpose.