Investigating Social Media Usage Purposes of University Students According to Several Variables

Öz

The main objective of this study was to examine the purpose of university students’ use of social media according to some variables (i.e., faculty type, gender, age groups, time spent in a day in social media and academic achievement levels). The research was conducted in 2019-2020 academic year with 3283 students employed at a private university located in İstanbul. Social Media Usage Purposes Scale was administrated to collect the data. According to the general results of the research, the participants used social media for four different purposes: “information acquisition and sharing”; “entertainment”; “social interaction and communication” and “problem solving”. Furthermore, it was observed that the purposes of the students’ use of social media differed statistically according to the variables of “faculty type”, “gender”, “age groups”, “time spent in social media” and “academic achievement levels”. It was found that the tendency to use social media varied statistically as the type of the employed faculty changed. Except for social communication and problem solving purposes, it was observed that the preferences of the participants for all other social media usage purposes differed according to the gender variable. Except for the purpose of problem solving, it was found that the preferences of the participants for all other social media usage purposes differed statistically by the age groups. As an important finding, according to the research findings, the purposes of the social media using differed considerably based on the time spent on social media. It was revealed that as students’ academic achievement levels increase, they seemed to tend to use social media for more information sharing. In line with the findings, the use of social media tools in the teaching-learning process was discussed and several recommendations were offered.

Anahtar Kelimeler

• Social media
• University students
• Use of social media

Üniversite Öğrencilerinin Sosyal Medya Kullanım Amaçlarının Çeşitli Değişkenler Açısından İncelenmesi

Öz

Bu çalışmanın temel amacı üniversite öğrencilerinin sosyal medyayı kullanım amaçlarını, bazı değişkenlere (öğrenim görülen fakülte türü, cinsiyet, yaş grupları, sosyal medyada bir günde geçirilen zaman ve akademik başarı düzeyleri) göre incelemektir. Araştırma, 2019-2020 akademik yılında, İstanbul’da bir vakıf üniversitesinde öğrenim gören 3283 öğrenci ile yürütülmüştür. Verilerin toplanmasında “Sosyal Medya Kullanım Amaçları Ölçeği” kullanılmıştır. Araştırmanın genel sonuçlarına göre katılımcılar, sosyal medyayı dört farklı amaçla kullanmaktadırlar. Bu amaçlar bilgi edinimi ve paylaşımı, eğlence, sosyal etkileşim ile iletişim ve problem çözmedir. Ek olarak, öğrencilerin sosyal medyayı kullanım amaçlarının "öğrenim görülen fakülte türü", "cinsiyet", "yaş grupları", "sosyal medyada bir günde geçirilen zaman" ve "akademik başarı düzeyleri" değişkenlerine göre istatistiki olarak anlamlı bir şekilde farklılaştığı gözlemlenmiştir. Öğrenim görülen fakülte türleri değiştikçe sosyal medyayı kullanım eğilimlerinin istatistiki olarak farklılaştığı tespit edilmiştir. Sosyal iletişim ve sorun çözme amaçları hariç, katılımcıların diğer tüm sosyal medya kullanım amaçlarına yönelik tercihlerinin, cinsiyet değişkenine göre farklılaştığı gözlemlenmiştir. Sorun çözme amacı hariç, katılımcıların diğer tüm sosyal medya kullanım amaçlarına yönelik tercihlerinin, yaş gruplarına göre istatistiki bir şekilde farklılaştığı bulunmuştur. Önemli bir bulgu olarak, sosyal medyada geçirilen zaman değiştikçe, kullanım amaçları da ciddi derecede değişkenlik göstermektedir. Öğrencilerin akademik başarı düzeyleri arttıkça sosyal medyayı daha çok bilgi paylaşımı amacıyla kullanma eğiliminde oldukları görülmüştür. Bulgular doğrultusunda sosyal medya araçlarının, öğretme-öğrenme sürecinde kullanılabilirliği tartışılmış ve önerilere yer verilmiştir.

Anahtar Kelimeler

• Sosyal Medya
• Üniversite öğrencileri
• Sosyal medya kullanımı

Kaynakça

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