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This study aimed to identify how college students use social media and explain how they utilize social media to stay informed on important news and events. Furthermore, the studys goal was to explore the survey results with 100 college student participants, which focused on gathering information about students use of social media. Thus, combining the survey results with literature review allowed the research to define several important conclusions.
Firstly, even though many experts suggested that social media negatively affects students academic performance, the survey results showed that social media provides significant assistance for college students in staying informed about important news and events. More than 80% of students expressed that social media provides them with a source of informational help, which adds a new perspective to understanding social media as a substantial source of relevant information. Furthermore, nearly half of respondents (48%) suggested that news is more interesting on social media than pop culture news and opinion articles. Most of the literature on adolescents use of social media focuses on social media addiction, which causes a range of negative outcomes, such as reduced quality of sleep and short-term memory recall (Spence et al., 2020). Lastly, the existing body of knowledge on social media, which prioritizes the positive effect of social media on college students, predominantly focuses on the perception of social media as an essential component of peer communication.
However, the survey results emphasize the informational aspect of social media, providing a new perspective on social medias positive functions. According to a study conducted by Xu et al. (2018), social media competencies contribute to a better understanding of digital citizenship in college students. Thus, the survey results illustrate the connection between digital citizenship culture development and the use of social media by college students. Therefore, in discussing social medias positive and negative effects on college students, the development of digital citizenship presents a substantial positive argument.
Next, considering the aspect of the authenticity of news in social media, the literature research shows that the spread of fake news is associated with a higher proportion of college students presence in social media. According to Leeder (2019), there is a significant prevalence of college students in social media compared to people from older age groups. Furthermore, the author suggested that college students inability to evaluate the trustworthiness of news and identify correct sources presents the main factors of fake news widespread. However, the survey results showed that more than half of respondents (55%) prefer to research an issue before sharing the news, and others check original news sources (20.2%) or credible websites (12.1%). Leeders study suggests that exposure to journalistic standards utilized in traditional news sources and analytical skills helps the majority of students to identify fake news. However, the survey results show that college students can voluntarily conduct additional research investigating the credibility of news and generally prefer to verify news by using credible websites.
Therefore, the spread of fake news on social media cannot be caused by the higher presence of college students and their inability to identify fake news. Moreover, the survey identified that many students do not use social media as the sole news source. For example, 67,7% of respondents marked credible websites as the primary source of news, and 42.5 % chose television. Thus, by combining social media news sources and traditional news sources, students ensure the trustworthiness of the information.
Lastly, the survey asked the participants question about their preferred social media platform for news. The results suggest that more college students frequently visit Twitter to stay informed about the news, and fewer students visit Facebook for news. According to a study conducted by Baldwin-White and Gower (2021), different social media platforms promote different life values, which contributes to the life values formation process for adolescents. The authors identified that students presence on various social media platforms influences their perceptions of healthy relationships. Furthermore, the survey results of Twitters primary position as the social media platform most frequently visited by college students suggest that the platforms promoted values correlate with students perceptions of life values. Twitter as a social platform is famous for the authentic and concise character of conversations between users and easier ways of sharing information with followers through the system of retweets and AI algorithms. Therefore, college students commitment to Twitter emphasizes the expectations that college students have from news on social media: the news should use a concise form, refer to credible sources, and favor authentic discussion between users.
Thus, the research defined three significant conclusions that add to the existing discussion on the topic of social media use by college students. Firstly, the research explained the positive role of social media in promptly informing students about important news and the development of digital citizenship, as opposed to views on social medias adverse effect on academic performance. Next, the research defined that students inability to verify credible news sources does not represent a cause of fake newss spread as most students use a combination of social media news and traditional news sources. Lastly, the research outlined students expectations from news on social media by analyzing college students commitment to frequent use of Twitter as a preferred social platform.
References
Baldwin-White, A., & Gower, K. (2021). Influence of social media on how college students perceive healthy relationships and consent. Journal of American College Health, 1-9. Web.
Leeder, C. (2019). How college students evaluate and share fake news stories. Library and Information Science Research, 41(3), 1-11. Web.
Spence, A., Beasley, K., Gravenkemper, H., Hoefler, A., Ngo, A., Ortiz, D., & Campisi, J. (2020). Social media use while listening to new material negatively affects short-term memory in college students. Physiology & Behavior, 227, 1-6. Web.
Xu, S., Yang, H. H., MacLeod, J., & Zhu, S. (2018). Social media competence and digital citizenship among college students. Convergence: The International Journal of Research into New Media Technologies, 25(4), 1-18. Web.
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