This study investigated the influence of social media usage on students’ academic engagement in public secondary schools in Cross River State, Nigeria. The study adopted a descriptive survey research design, with a population of 16,804 students across 84 public secondary schools as reported by the Cross River State Ministry of Education (2026). A sample of 600 students was selected using stratified random sampling based on school location and class level. Data were collected using a researcher-developed instrument titled Social Media Usage and Academic Engagement Questionnaire (SMAEQ), which contained 40 items measuring Twitter (X), WhatsApp, Facebook, and Instagram usage, as well as behavioral, emotional, and cognitive dimensions of academic engagement. The instrument was validated by experts and yielded a Cronbach’s Alpha reliability coefficient of 0.86. A total of 578 completed questionnaires were analyzed, representing a 96.3% response rate. Data were analyzed using mean and standard deviation to answer research questions, while Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) was used to test hypotheses at the 0.05 level of significance. The findings revealed that all four social media platforms significantly influence students’ academic engagement, with both positive effects such as enhanced collaboration, communication, and access to learning resources, and negative effects such as distraction and poor time management. It was concluded that social media usage plays a dual role in students’ academic engagement depending on the manner of use. The study recommended structured integration, regulation, and monitoring of social media usage to optimize its academic benefits.

Keywords: Social media usage, academic engagement, Twitter (X), WhatsApp, Facebook, Instagram, secondary school students