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Social Media in the Academic Life of International Students in Turkey: A Survey Study

Year 2017, Volume: 3 Issue: 2, 205 - 218, 30.12.2017

Abstract

As social media becomes the ideal
space of sharing information in a simple and convenient way, it continues to
attract numerous scholarly studies. This paper investigates the peculiarity of
social media in the academic life of international students in Turkey, with an
aim of ascertaining the social media tools used by international students.
Secondly is to scrutinize the academic purposes of social media usage among international
students in Turkey. The third objective is to determine the academic benefits
attained by international students in the usage of social media. This study was
inclined in the Uses and Gratification theory, the researcher considered a
randomly selected sample of international students in Istanbul City. Due to the
nature of this study both qualitative and quantitative approaches were applied.
Thus semi- structured interviews and questionnaires were used to get data on a
randomly selected sample. Observantly, social media platforms found vital in
the academic life of international students included; YouTube, Facebook,
WhatsApp and Twitter. In the same way, findings indicates that international
students frequently use social media for more than twice a week to interact
with their course mates as an encouragement for studying outside classroom.
Remarkably, international students benefit from social media as they use You
Tube to watch educational video clips on lectures delivered from other
universities to widen on their understanding on a particular subject. Equally,
Facebook and Whatsapp were purposely for instant messaging, sharing academic
information about study topics with classmates and professors, arranging study
groups and asking for help with studies. This paper correspondingly concludes
that despite the potentiality of the social media in the academic sphere, it
cannot go unnoticed that international students use it for other benefits
especially for creating new friendship in and outside Turkey, sharing ideas and
information plus communicating to their families and friends in their home
countries about social and current affairs.

References

  • Aghaee, N.M. (2010) “Social Media Use in Academia: Campus Students Perceptions of How Using Social Media Supports Educational Learning”, Magister thesis, Uppsala University, Department of Computer and System Science, Uppsala, Sweden.
  • Anabel, Q-H.; Alyson, Y. (2010).“Uses and gratifications of social media: A comparison of Facebook and instant messaging “Bulletin of Science, Technology and Society, 30(5), 350-361.
  • Boateng, R.O.; Amankwaa, A. (2016). The Impact of Social Media on Student Academic Life in Higher Education. Global Journal of Human-Social Science (G), 16(4), 2249-460x international students. International Student Experience Journal, 2(1), 2014
  • Grace, S, Abbott, W., Donaghey, J. McDonald, C. (2012). "Social Media for International Students: It's Not All About Facebook." Proceedings of the IATUL Conferences. Paper 19. Accessed from: http://docs.lib.purdue.edu/iatul/2012/papers/19, 14 October, 2016
  • Hall , .K. Holly and Thillainatarajan, S., (2014). Social media use among international students. International Student Experience Journal (ISEJ). 2(1), 2014
  • Helou, A.M.; Ab.Rahim, N.Z. (2014). The Influence of Social Networking Sites on Students’ Academic Performance in Malaysia. International Journal of Electronic Commerce Studies, .5(2), 247-254
  • Jih-Hsuan, L; Wei, P.; Mijung, K.; Robert, L. (2011). Social Networking and among International Students. Journal of New Media & Society, from nms.sagepub.com
  • Kaplan, A.M.; Haenlein, M. (2012). Social Media: Back to the Roots and Back to the Future. Journal of Systems and Information Technology 14(2), 101-104.
  • Marisol, G.; Sergio, R.; Pedro, F. (2012). A Descriptive Study of the Academic Use of Social Networks among University Students. Scientific Journal of Media Education. http://www.revistacomunicar.com (Accessed: 16/03/2016)
  • Perry, D.K. (2002) Theory and Research in Mass Communication Contexts and Consequences2nd Ed, New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Publishers.
  • Pfeiffer, D. (2001). Academic and Environmental Stress Among Undergraduate And Graduate College Students: A Literature Review. Master Research Paper, University of Wisconsin-Stout, Department of Guidance and Counseling-Mental Health, USA.
  • Salvation, M.; Adzharuddin, N.A. (2014). The Influence of Social Network Sites (SNS) upon Academic Performance of Malaysian Students. International Journal of Humanities and Social Science, 4(10), 131-137.
  • Tural, N.K. (2007). Universities and Academic Life in Turkey: Changes and Challenges. International Journal of Educational Policies. 1 (1)63-78.
  • Wimmer, R.; Dominick, J. (2011) Mass Media Research: An Introduction, 9th Ed, Wadsworth, Boston.
  • Internet Resources International Trends in Higher Education, University of Oxford International Strategy Office, 2015 Accessed on 30/11/16 at: https://www.ox.ac.uk/sites/files/oxford/International%20Trends%20in%20Higher%20Education%202015 What Defines an International Student? A Look Behind the Numbers. World Education News & Reviews. Accessed : 30/11/16) Accessed at http://wenr.wes.org/2009/09/wenr- september-2009- feature
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_student, (Accessed 29.11.2016).
  • http://www.internationalstudentsymposium.com/en/?page_id=2240; (Accessed 14.10.2016).
  • http://www.dailysabah.com/education/2015/05/07/turkey-aims-to-educate-100000-international-students-in-2018 (Accessed 18.03.2016).
  • www.kalkinma.gov.tr (Accessed 27.02. 2016).
Year 2017, Volume: 3 Issue: 2, 205 - 218, 30.12.2017

Abstract

References

  • Aghaee, N.M. (2010) “Social Media Use in Academia: Campus Students Perceptions of How Using Social Media Supports Educational Learning”, Magister thesis, Uppsala University, Department of Computer and System Science, Uppsala, Sweden.
  • Anabel, Q-H.; Alyson, Y. (2010).“Uses and gratifications of social media: A comparison of Facebook and instant messaging “Bulletin of Science, Technology and Society, 30(5), 350-361.
  • Boateng, R.O.; Amankwaa, A. (2016). The Impact of Social Media on Student Academic Life in Higher Education. Global Journal of Human-Social Science (G), 16(4), 2249-460x international students. International Student Experience Journal, 2(1), 2014
  • Grace, S, Abbott, W., Donaghey, J. McDonald, C. (2012). "Social Media for International Students: It's Not All About Facebook." Proceedings of the IATUL Conferences. Paper 19. Accessed from: http://docs.lib.purdue.edu/iatul/2012/papers/19, 14 October, 2016
  • Hall , .K. Holly and Thillainatarajan, S., (2014). Social media use among international students. International Student Experience Journal (ISEJ). 2(1), 2014
  • Helou, A.M.; Ab.Rahim, N.Z. (2014). The Influence of Social Networking Sites on Students’ Academic Performance in Malaysia. International Journal of Electronic Commerce Studies, .5(2), 247-254
  • Jih-Hsuan, L; Wei, P.; Mijung, K.; Robert, L. (2011). Social Networking and among International Students. Journal of New Media & Society, from nms.sagepub.com
  • Kaplan, A.M.; Haenlein, M. (2012). Social Media: Back to the Roots and Back to the Future. Journal of Systems and Information Technology 14(2), 101-104.
  • Marisol, G.; Sergio, R.; Pedro, F. (2012). A Descriptive Study of the Academic Use of Social Networks among University Students. Scientific Journal of Media Education. http://www.revistacomunicar.com (Accessed: 16/03/2016)
  • Perry, D.K. (2002) Theory and Research in Mass Communication Contexts and Consequences2nd Ed, New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Publishers.
  • Pfeiffer, D. (2001). Academic and Environmental Stress Among Undergraduate And Graduate College Students: A Literature Review. Master Research Paper, University of Wisconsin-Stout, Department of Guidance and Counseling-Mental Health, USA.
  • Salvation, M.; Adzharuddin, N.A. (2014). The Influence of Social Network Sites (SNS) upon Academic Performance of Malaysian Students. International Journal of Humanities and Social Science, 4(10), 131-137.
  • Tural, N.K. (2007). Universities and Academic Life in Turkey: Changes and Challenges. International Journal of Educational Policies. 1 (1)63-78.
  • Wimmer, R.; Dominick, J. (2011) Mass Media Research: An Introduction, 9th Ed, Wadsworth, Boston.
  • Internet Resources International Trends in Higher Education, University of Oxford International Strategy Office, 2015 Accessed on 30/11/16 at: https://www.ox.ac.uk/sites/files/oxford/International%20Trends%20in%20Higher%20Education%202015 What Defines an International Student? A Look Behind the Numbers. World Education News & Reviews. Accessed : 30/11/16) Accessed at http://wenr.wes.org/2009/09/wenr- september-2009- feature
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_student, (Accessed 29.11.2016).
  • http://www.internationalstudentsymposium.com/en/?page_id=2240; (Accessed 14.10.2016).
  • http://www.dailysabah.com/education/2015/05/07/turkey-aims-to-educate-100000-international-students-in-2018 (Accessed 18.03.2016).
  • www.kalkinma.gov.tr (Accessed 27.02. 2016).
There are 19 citations in total.

Details

Subjects Communication and Media Studies
Journal Section Research
Authors

Rajab İdd Muyıngo This is me

Ali Murat Kırık

Publication Date December 30, 2017
Submission Date September 14, 2017
Acceptance Date November 7, 2017
Published in Issue Year 2017 Volume: 3 Issue: 2

Cite

APA Muyıngo, R. İ., & Kırık, A. M. (2017). Social Media in the Academic Life of International Students in Turkey: A Survey Study. Uluslararası Kültürel Ve Sosyal Araştırmalar Dergisi, 3(2), 205-218.

 International Journal of Cultural and Social Studies