The Perceived Influence of Social Media Content on Mental Health and Its Effect on Academic Performance Among Fountain University Students

Many students spend a significant amount of time online, exposed to content that may affect their psychological state and subsequently diminish their academic performance with mental health stigmatization that is still common in Nigeria, student may lack support to cope with issues triggered by online influences, further affecting their ability to perform academically. Studies have shown that social media content the likes of cyberbullying, unrealistics standards of beauty and success and misinformation negatively affect mental health. Exploring this effect in a university context provide an insight into specific mental health challenges students face due to these influences, to assess the perceived influence of social media content consumed on their mental health among fountain university student. This study adopted a descriptive cross-sectional research design among undergraduate student conducted at fountain university, Osogbo, Osun state Nigeria. Social media usage pattern of respondent; 0-3 low (Healthy/minimal), 4-6 moderate (At risk), 7-10 high(harmful use) Student in the high usage group are more likely to report mental health challenges and academic stress, mental health status 0-3 poor (severally affected), 4-6 fair (moderately affected), 7-10 good (mentally stable) according to their academic performance 0-3 negative effect (poor performance), 4-6 moderate effect (average performance), 7-10 no effect (good performance).The data collection was carried out within 2 week at the hostels, central gathering point and café by assuring their confidentiality, data analysis was performed using SPSS software, ensuring accuracy and reliability in the results. It was discovered that 25% of the respondent use Whatsapp while 24% use Tiktok as their social media platform, 15% claims they use social media frequently while attending lectures while (26.3%) claimed they never do, 49.0% of the respondent claimed that their main reason they use social media is for entertainment, it shows that 49.8% of the respondent consume good social media content while 50.3% of the respondent consume poor social media content, 44.8% of the respondent have positive influence of social media while 55.3% of the respondent have negative influence of social media, 39.5% of the respondents have positive social media consumption on their mental health while 60.5% of the respondent have negative social media consumption on their mental health. Many students admitted that constant exposure to curated lifestyles success stories, beauty standards made them feel anxious, inadequate or emotionally drained, this shows how social media can negatively affect their self-esteem and trigger feeling of low self-worth, this study also found that mental health challenges like anxiety, depression, poor sleep were strongly related to declining in academic performance. The key issue is not just the time spent online, but the type of content consumed by student and how student respond to it emotionally, this study call for increase in awareness, digital literacy and emotional support so that fountain university student can navigate social media mindfully, set boundaries and seek help when they notice changes in their mental and academic wellbeing. Key words: Social media content, mental health, academic performance. Word count: 477 words.