Abstract
The paper analysed social-media-induced digital distraction among Nigerian students, focusing on its relationship with study habits and academic engagement. It examined how poorly regulated social-media use could compete with sustained attention, study time and academic priorities. The paper was anchored on Cognitive Load Theory and Self-Regulation Theory, which explained how competing digital stimuli could increase cognitive demands and how students’ capacity for self-regulation could influence their digital behaviour. It discussed excessive and habitual socialmedia use, continuous connectivity and notifications, social-media multitasking, entertainment-oriented content, poor time management, peer influence and smartphone accessibility as factors contributing to digital distraction. The paper maintained that social media was not inherently detrimental to learning; rather, excessive, poorly regulated and academically irrelevant engagement constituted the major concern. It therefore argued against blanket technological prohibition and advocated digital discipline and purposeful technology use. The paper concluded that effective management required shared responsibility among students, families, teachers and educational institutions. It suggested personal limits on social-media use, notification control, structured study periods, family digital-use routines, institutional guidelines on device use, teacher-led attention management, and digital-literacy policies that promoted selfregulation and responsible social-media engagement.