Facebook Friendships Between College/University Instructors And

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

Facebook Friendships Between College/University Instructors And Georgia State University ScholarWorks @ Georgia State University Communication Dissertations Department of Communication Spring 5-2011 Facebook Friendships between College/University Instructors and Students: Deciding Whether or Not to Allow Students as Friends, Communicating with Students, and the Individual Differences that Influence Instructors' Impression Management on Facebook Melissa S. Plew Georgia State University Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.gsu.edu/communication_diss Part of the Communication Commons Recommended Citation Plew, Melissa S., "Facebook Friendships between College/University Instructors and Students: Deciding Whether or Not to Allow Students as Friends, Communicating with Students, and the Individual Differences that Influence Instructors' Impression Management on Facebook." Dissertation, Georgia State University, 2011. https://scholarworks.gsu.edu/communication_diss/26 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Department of Communication at ScholarWorks @ Georgia State University. It has been accepted for inclusion in Communication Dissertations by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks @ Georgia State University. For more information, please contact [email protected]. FACEBOOK FRIENDSHIPS BETWEEN COLLEGE/UNIVERSITY INSTRUCTORS AND STUDENTS: DECIDING WHETHER OR NOT TO ALLOW STUDENTS AS FRIENDS, COMMUNICATING WITH STUDENTS, AND THE INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES THAT INFLUENCE INSTRUCTORS‟ IMPRESSION MANAGEMENT ON FACEBOOK by MELISSA S. PLEW Under the Direction of Dr. Cynthia Hoffner and Dr. Jaye Atkinson ABSTRACT This research examined Facebook friendships between college/university instructors and students. Based on the development of instructor-student dual relationships, this study described instructors‟ Facebook use with students. This included explanations for allowing/not allowing students, communication with students, and ethical concerns. Rooted in the theories of impression management, self-monitoring and role conflict, plus the concept of ambient awareness, hypotheses predicted relationships between instructors‟ individual differences and Facebook use: (1) self-monitoring would be positively related to role conflict; and (2) self- monitoring, (3) role conflict, and (4) ambient awareness would be positively related to instructors‟ self-presentation, impression management behaviors, and privacy management. Emails were sent to faculty at 270 colleges/universities throughout the U.S. and 331 instructors completed the online survey. Of these, 56.2% allowed students as friends. Open-ended answers revealed that instructors allowed students as friends to communicate, to facilitate learning about each other, and because it was difficult to decline requests. Some instructors did not allow certain students (e.g., problematic students, undergraduates). They communicated by commenting on and liking posts on students‟ pages, and had ethical concerns about negative consequences. Open-ended answers revealed that instructors did not allow students as friends to maintain the professional divide and avoid favoritism, which explained their ethical concerns. Hierarchical regression analyses tested the predicted relationships. Results revealed that self-monitoring approached significance as having a positive relationship with role conflict and a negative relationship with privacy management, but was not related to self-presentation or impression management behaviors. Role conflict was not related to impression management. Awareness of students was positively related to self-presentation and impression management behaviors, but unexpectedly, perception of students‟ awareness of instructors was negatively related to privacy management. A partial correlation analysis tested high/low self-monitors separately and not only replicated the results, but also revealed that high self-monitors‟ perception of students‟ awareness was positively correlated with self-presentation and impression management behaviors. These findings indicate that ambient awareness is related to online communication and should be studied further. This is especially intriguing since the two types of ambient awareness related differently to the three types of impression management studied in this research. INDEX WORDS: Facebook, College/university instructors, Instructor-student relationships, Self-monitoring, Role conflict, Ambient awareness, Impression management, Ethics FACEBOOK FRIENDSHIPS BETWEEN COLLEGE/UNIVERSITY INSTRUCTORS AND STUDENTS: DECIDING WHETHER OR NOT TO ALLOW STUDENTS AS FRIENDS, COMMUNICATING WITH STUDENTS, AND THE INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES THAT INFLUENCE INSTRUCTORS‟ IMPRESSION MANAGEMENT ON FACEBOOK by MELISSA S. PLEW A Dissertation Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the College of Arts and Sciences Georgia State University 2011 Copyright by Melissa S. Plew 2011 FACEBOOK FRIENDSHIPS BETWEEN COLLEGE/UNIVERSITY INSTRUCTORS AND STUDENTS: DECIDING WHETHER OR NOT TO ALLOW STUDENTS AS FRIENDS, COMMUNICATING WITH STUDENTS, AND THE INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES THAT INFLUENCE INSTRUCTORS‟ IMPRESSION MANAGEMENT ON FACEBOOK by MELISSA S. PLEW Committee Chairs: Cynthia Hoffner Jaye Atkinson Committee: Greg Lisby Kathryn Fuller-Seeley Mary Shoffner Electronic Version Approved: Office of Graduate Studies College of Arts and Sciences Georgia State University May 2011 iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Earning a Ph.D. is a long and often difficult process, but I was lucky enough to have many people who supported my goal of getting this degree. I am afraid I will miss someone if I mention too many names, but please know that if you played any part in my life over the past five years, you helped me get here and I thank you. My friends deserve the first thank you because they were the ones constantly there for me during this process. I want to especially thank Elizabeth Cohen and Melissa Miller, who were awesome enough to help me code the open-ended data. I appreciate the time you both took from your own work to do that. Add in Anita Atwell-Seate and you have three of the best academic friends anyone could ask for. You were the ones who supported me when I was feeling incompetent, frustrated and lost; but, you were also the ones who made sure I had fun along the way! My family deserves more thanks than I can ever give. You have always been there for me and I could not have done this without you. It was your love and support that made me realize I could do this. Dad, your never-ending encouragement and constant belief that I could accomplish anything I set my mind to has helped me reach more goals than you‟ll ever know. Mom, I miss you and know that you would be bragging to everyone you met that your daughter has a Ph.D. Dan, I know you take credit for any intelligence I have, so thank you for that (and for being a pretty cool brother). Thank you all for being my biggest cheerleaders. I owe a deep debt of gratitude to my advisors, Drs. Cindy Hoffner and Jaye Atkinson. Thank you both for the all the help and advice you have given me. The compliments on things I did well encouraged me to keep going and the constructive criticism on the things I needed to improve helped me become better. I appreciate the fact that you both pushed me to become a v better researcher. I know these skills will help me in all my future academic endeavors. Thank you both for the time and effort you took to make sure I was always doing my best work. I also want to thank the rest of my committee for everything they have done to help me finish this dissertation. Drs. Greg Lisby, Kathy Fuller-Seeley and Mary Shoffner - thank you for the advice on how to make this a better project. Sometimes a fresh eye can make a world of difference and I know your comments and suggestions helped me move forward with this research. I appreciate your support during this process. Drs. David Cheshier and Carol Winkler also deserve acknowledgement for the opportunities and advice they provided during my time at Georgia State. I thank Dr. Cheshier for giving me countless opportunities to add to my vita and for all the advice he gave when I needed to figure out what to do next. I thank Dr. Winkler for giving me the opportunity to work with her during this past semester. Not only was I able to work from home and devote more time to writing my dissertation, but working on the data analysis helped me realize I really do know what I am doing! Thank you both for being such adamant supporters of and advocates for the students in the communication department. Last, but by no means least; thank you, Daniel. I know you got the brunt of my stress during this process, but you were also the one that kept me sane. Thank you for the always- brewing coffee, the insistence that I was capable of doing this, and making me laugh when I didn‟t think I could. Most importantly, thank you for loving me, even when I made it difficult to do. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEGEMENTS iv LIST OF TABLES xiii CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION 1 The Present Study 6 2. LITERATURE REVIEW 11 Foundational Background 11 Instructor-Student Relationships 11 Dual relationships 13 Ethical communication 16 Online Social Network Sites (SNSs) 24 Facebook 26 Instructor-student use of Facebook 30 Conceptual Background 33 Role Identity 33 Role identity on Facebook 37 Role conflict 38 Role conflict on Facebook 39 Self-Monitoring 41 Self-monitoring on Facebook 43 Impression Management 45 Self-presentation as impression management 45 vii Posting as impression management
Recommended publications
  • A Study on Impact of Facebook on Teenagers
    International Journal of Science and Research (IJSR) ISSN: 2319-7064 Impact Factor (2018): 7.426 A Study on Impact of Facebook on Teenagers S. T. Saravana Kumar1, S. B. Jenanee2 1Assistant Professor, Department of Commerce, Sri Krishna Adithya College of Arts & Science, Kovaipudur, Coimbatore – 42, India 2III B.Com (AF), Department of Commerce, Sri Krishna Adithya College of Arts & Science, Kovaipudur, Coimbatore – 42, India 1. Introduction still lack of strong empirical evidence to show how the use of these tools brings impact in teenager’s life. In the early 2000’s, the Web became much more personal as social networking websites were introduced and embraced 1.4 Methodology of the Study by the masses. Social networking sites (SNS) are defined as web-based services that allow individuals to construct a The methodology of this study includes the description and public or semi-public profile within a limited system, discussion of research design, sample size, sampling articulate a list of other users with whom they share a technique, tools and procedures of data collection and connection, and view and traverse their list of connections methods of analysis. The validity and value of a research and those made by others within the system. The nature and depends on the systematic method of collecting the data and terms of these connections may vary from site to site analyzing them insightfully and methodologically. In the present study, extensive and systematic use of primary data Here are some prominent examples of social media- along with the secondary data has been made. Facebook is a popular free social networking website that allows registered users to create profiles, upload photos Sources of Data and video, send messages and keep in touch with friends, Primary data family and colleagues.
    [Show full text]
  • Aristotelian Rhetoric and Facebook Success in Israel's 2013 Election Campaign
    Online Information Review Aristotelian rhetoric and Facebook success in Israel's 2013 election campaign: Tal Samuel-Azran Moran Yarchi Gadi Wolfsfeld Article information: To cite this document: Tal Samuel-Azran Moran Yarchi Gadi Wolfsfeld , (2015),"Aristotelian rhetoric and Facebook success in Israel's 2013 election campaign", Online Information Review, Vol. 39 Iss 2 pp. - Permanent link to this document: http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/OIR-11-2014-0279 Downloaded on: 30 March 2015, At: 00:49 (PT) References: this document contains references to 0 other documents. To copy this document: [email protected] The fulltext of this document has been downloaded 18 times since 2015* Users who downloaded this article also downloaded: G E Gorman, (2015),"What’s Missing in the Digital World? Access, Digital Literacy and Digital Citizenship", Online Information Review, Vol. 39 Iss 2 pp. - Noelia Sanchez-Casado, Juan Gabriel Cegarra-Navarro, Eva Tomaseti-Solano, (2015),"Linking social networks to Utilitarian benefits through counter-knowledge", Online Information Review, Vol. 39 Iss 2 pp. - Azi Lev-On, (2015),"Uses and gratifications of members of communities of practice", Online Information Review, Vol. 39 Iss 2 pp. - Access to this document was granted through an Emerald subscription provided by 172715 [] For Authors If you would like to write for this, or any other Emerald publication, then please use our Emerald for Authors service information about how to choose which publication to write for and submission guidelines are available for all. Please visit www.emeraldinsight.com/authors for more information. About Emerald www.emeraldinsight.com Emerald is a global publisher linking research and practice to the benefit of society.
    [Show full text]
  • The Effect of Social Media Language on EFL Learners' Academic Writing
    PEOPLE’S DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF ALGERIA MINISTRY OF HIGHER EDUCATION AND SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH UNIVERSITY OF MOHAMED BOUDIAF - M’SILA FACULTY OF LETTERS AND LANGUAGES DOMAIN: FOREIGN LANGUAGES DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH STREAM: ENGLISH LANGUAGE N°:……………………………………….. OPTION: LINGUISTICS The Effect of Social Media Language on EFL Learners’ Academic Writing Performance. Case of Master One Linguistics Students at M’sila University. Dissertation Submitted to the Department of English in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master Candidates Supervised by Miss. Nedjla BENSAID Dr. Mourad TOUATI Miss. Fatima Zohra MOUMEN Board of Examiners Mr. Saber Mouhamed Boudiaf University, Chairperson M’sila Dr. Touati Mourad Mouhamed Boudiaf University, Supervisor M’sila Ms. Hamouma Mouhamed Boudiaf University, Examiner M’sila June 2019 DEDICATION This thesis is dedicated to: My precious beloved parents who have always been a constant source of support and encouragement during the challenges of my whole college life, and for their endless care and love. My treasured brothers and sister: Issam, Anis & Amani, and to my nephew Aylane, whom I am truly grateful for having in my life. My dear family, teachers, colleagues and friends. All people who left a touch in my life. BENSAID Nedjla II DEDICATION To my dear parents who gave me strength and confidence and have been the source of inspiration behind all my achievements. To my husband and my lovely brothers for their support and love. To all my family and friends for their encouragement and prayers . I appreciate you all . To everyone who stood beside me and had contributed to my education. MOUMEN Fatima Zohra III Acknowledgments We would like to express our deeper and sincere gratitude to our respected supervisor Dr.
    [Show full text]
  • Effects of Facebook News Reception on Threat Perceptions and Personality Traits in Germany
    Page 251 The Journal of Social Media in Society 6(1) Effects of Facebook News Reception on Threat Perceptions and Personality Traits in Germany Nico Dietrich & Nicole Haußecker Abstract Based on the dual process motivational model (Duckitt, 2001) and cultivation research (Gerbner, 1969), this study analyzes news reception on Facebook and its consequences for the recipient’s world view, right-wing authoritarian- ism, and threat perceptions in Germany. An online survey was completed by 429 Facebook users. Results demon- strate that Facebook news reception is relatively low but as predicted influenced by duration and intensity of Face- book use. No correlation occurred with general interest in news, which supports the idea that people find news coin- cidentally. Regression analyses revealed significant posi- Nico Dietrich and Dr. Nicole Haußecker are Research Assistants at the Institute of Communication Research, Department of Communication Psychology, Friedrich Schiller University Jena. Correspondence can be directed to [email protected]. Page 252 tive influences of duration on perceived economy-based threat and negative world view. The effects of news recep- tion partly correspond to the findings of cultivation re- search; however, contrary findings appear with right-wing authoritarianism. hreat perceptions are a crucial base for inter- cultural conflicts. At the same time, the media are an important source for the construction of T threats and intercultural conflicts (Frindte & Haußecker, 2010). Due to the medial change and increas- ing Internet usage, the research of online media use is es- sential (Hasebrink & Schmidt, 2013). On the basis of so- cial media use (e.g. 43% of German online users [Tippelt & Kupferschmitt, 2015]) and the rise of online-organized anti-migrant protest movements in Germany (e.g.
    [Show full text]
  • Facebook Fake News in the Post -Truth World
    9-717-473 REV: SEPTEMBER 14, 2 0 1 7 JOHN R. WELLS CAROLE A. WINKLER Facebook Fake News in the Post -Truth World Our mission is to make the world more open and connected. — Mark Zuckerberg1 Introduction In January 2017, Mark Zuckerberg, founder and CEO of Facebook was surrounded by controversy. The election of Donald Trump as the next President of the United States on November 8, 2016 had triggered a national storm of protests, and many put the blame at the door of fake news stories served up on Facebook’s Trending News Feed.2 Facebook had launched the service in January 2014 to deliver news stories that might be of interest to Facebook users, in addition to the automatic News Feed that told them what was going on in their social network. Individuals could select items that they were interested in, but an algorithm served up news items that might appeal based on past reading habits and those of their close friends.3 The argument against Facebook was that this process polarized public opinion, fueled prejudices and encouraged the bitter partisan character of the election campaign.4 Some claimed that fake news, propagated through News Feed, supported the rise of anti-establishment sentiments amongst groups that felt left behind by the establishment elite.5 Zuckerberg was unapologetic. On November 10, 2016 he had commented, “Personally I think the idea that fake news on Facebook, which is a very small amount of the content, influenced the election in any way — I think is a pretty crazy idea.”6 He argued that fake stories were posted on both sides of the political spectrum.
    [Show full text]
  • Facebook Usage and Academic Achievement of High School Students: a Quantitative Analysis
    View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by Pepperdine Digital Commons Pepperdine University Pepperdine Digital Commons Theses and Dissertations 2012 Facebook usage and academic achievement of high school students: a quantitative analysis Celeste Marie Alexander Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.pepperdine.edu/etd Recommended Citation Alexander, Celeste Marie, "Facebook usage and academic achievement of high school students: a quantitative analysis" (2012). Theses and Dissertations. 294. https://digitalcommons.pepperdine.edu/etd/294 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by Pepperdine Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Pepperdine Digital Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected] , [email protected]. Pepperdine University Graduate School of Education and Psychology FACEBOOK USAGE AND ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT OF HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS: A QUANTITATIVE ANALYSIS A dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Educational Technology by Celeste Marie Alexander August, 2012 Eric Hamilton, Ph.D. – Dissertation Chairperson This dissertation, written by Celeste Marie Alexander under the guidance of a Faculty Committee and approved by its members, has been submitted to and accepted by the Graduate Faculty in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF EDUCATIONAL TECHNOLOGY
    [Show full text]
  • Facebook Engagement on College Students' Interpersonal and Intrapersonal Functioning Scott .S Deatherage Purdue University
    Purdue University Purdue e-Pubs Open Access Dissertations Theses and Dissertations 8-2016 Facebook engagement on college students' interpersonal and intrapersonal functioning Scott .S Deatherage Purdue University Follow this and additional works at: https://docs.lib.purdue.edu/open_access_dissertations Part of the Clinical Psychology Commons Recommended Citation Deatherage, Scott .,S "Facebook engagement on college students' interpersonal and intrapersonal functioning" (2016). Open Access Dissertations. 748. https://docs.lib.purdue.edu/open_access_dissertations/748 This document has been made available through Purdue e-Pubs, a service of the Purdue University Libraries. Please contact [email protected] for additional information. Graduate School Form 30Updated1212612015 PURDUE UNIVERSITY GRADUATE SCHOOL Thesis/Dissertation Acceptance This is to certify that the thesis/dissertation prepared By Scott S. Deatherage Entitled F ACEBOOK ENGAGEMENT ON COLLEGE STUDENTS' INTERPERSONAL & INTRAPERSONAL FUNCTIONING For the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Is approved by the final examining committee: Heather L. Servaty-Seib, Ph.D. Reyno! Junco, Ed.D. Chair Eric D. Deemer, Ph.D. Christopher D. Slaten, Ph.D. Susan L. Prieto-Welch, Ph.D. To the best of my knowledge and as understood by the student in the Thesis/Dissertation Agreement, Publication Delay, and Certification Disclaimer (Graduate School Form 32), this thesis/dissertation adheres to the provisions of Purdue University's "Policy of Integrity in Research" and the use of copyright material. Approved by Major Professor(s): Heather L. Servaty-Seib, Ph.D. Approved by: Ala Sumarpungavan, Ph.D. 2/3/2015 Head of the Departmental Graduate Program Date FACEBOOK ENGAGEMENT ON COLLEGE STUDENTS’ INTERPERSONAL AND INTRAPERSONAL FUNCTIONING A Dissertation Submitted to the Faculty of Purdue University by Scott S.
    [Show full text]
  • EXPLORING the USE of FACEBOOK AS a COMMUNICATION TOOL in AGRICULTURAL-RELATED SOCIAL MOVEMENTS by MICA PAIGE GRAYBILL, B.A. a TH
    EXPLORING THE USE OF FACEBOOK AS A COMMUNICATION TOOL IN AGRICULTURAL-RELATED SOCIAL MOVEMENTS by MICA PAIGE GRAYBILL, B.A. A THESIS IN AGRICULTURAL COMMUNICATIONS Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of Texas Tech University in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of MASTER OF SCIENCE Approved Courtney A. Meyers Chairperson of the Committee David Doerfert Erica Irlbeck Ralph Ferguson Dean of the Graduate School December, 2010 Copyright 2010, Mica Graybill Texas Tech University, Mica Graybill, December, 2010 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS E.L. Doctorow once said that, “writing a novel is like driving a car at night. You can only see as far as your headlights, but you can make the whole trip that way.” Writing a master’s thesis, I have found, is very much the same. I would like to acknowledge those who helped me make it to the end of my trip. I would first and foremost like to thank the person who has guided me in my studies, Dr. Courtney Meyers. She constantly pushed and directed me to work as hard as I could, to give my very best, and to want to be successful in every effort I put forth. She is not only a wonderful advisor and teacher, but the friendship I have built with her will be forever carried with me. I have been working with Dr. David Doerfert since I first applied as a graduate student at Texas Tech. He is a very sincere and genuinely caring person, and I will always cherish the friendship that I have built with him. Even when times got tough, he was always there to be an encouragement.
    [Show full text]
  • Information Privacy in Online Social Networks: Uses and Gratification Perspective
    Accepted Manuscript Information Privacy in Online Social Networks: Uses and Gratification perspective Alireza Heravi, Sameera Mubarak, Kim-Kwang Raymond Choo PII: S0747-5632(18)30121-3 DOI: 10.1016/j.chb.2018.03.016 Reference: CHB 5420 To appear in: Computers in Human Behavior Received Date: 10 November 2017 Revised Date: 06 March 2018 Accepted Date: 09 March 2018 Please cite this article as: Alireza Heravi, Sameera Mubarak, Kim-Kwang Raymond Choo, Information Privacy in Online Social Networks: Uses and Gratification perspective, Computers in Human Behavior (2018), doi: 10.1016/j.chb.2018.03.016 This is a PDF file of an unedited manuscript that has been accepted for publication. As a service to our customers we are providing this early version of the manuscript. The manuscript will undergo copyediting, typesetting, and review of the resulting proof before it is published in its final form. Please note that during the production process errors may be discovered which could affect the content, and all legal disclaimers that apply to the journal pertain. ACCEPTED MANUSCRIPT Title Page Alireza Heravi [corresponding author] Information Assurance Research Group School of Information Technology and Mathematical Sciences University of South Australia, Mawson Lakes Campus (F2-23), tel: +61 8 830 25363, fax: +61 8 830 23381 Adelaide, Australia [email protected] Sameera Mubarak Information Assurance Research Group School of Information Technology and Mathematical Sciences University of South Australia, Mawson Lakes Campus (F2-27),
    [Show full text]
  • Personal Information Sharing Behavior of University
    View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by UNL | Libraries University of Nebraska - Lincoln DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal) Libraries at University of Nebraska-Lincoln February 2017 Personal Information Sharing Behavior of University Students via Online Social Networks Ghulam Murtaza Rafique PhD Scholar at Department of Information Management, University of the Punjab, Lahore | Librarian at Government Punjab Public Library Lahore, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/libphilprac Part of the Scholarly Communication Commons, and the Scholarly Publishing Commons Rafique, Ghulam Murtaza, "Personal Information Sharing Behavior of University Students via Online Social Networks" (2017). Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal). 1454. http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/libphilprac/1454 Personal Information Sharing Behavior of University Students via Online Social Networks Abstract Background – With privacy concerns growing on a daily basis, it is important to understand how university students guard their personally identifiable information. Despite the students' perceived readiness and several studies on the topic, it is not fully understood what personally identifiable information university students are sharing via Online Social Networks (OSNs). Purpose – Therefore, the purpose of this study was to determine the personal information sharing behavior of university students through online social networks. Design/methodology/approach – Quantitative approach was used and a survey questionnaire was solicited to collect the data from 250 out of 712 master’s students of faculty of Economics and Management Sciences, University of the Punjab, Lahore, Pakistan. Equal sized stratified simple random sampling technique was used to select the required sample size.
    [Show full text]
  • The Effect of Social Network Sites on College Students' Social Capital
    1 Lessons from Facebook: The Effect of Social Network Sites on College Students’ Social Capital1 Sebastián Valenzuela2, Namsu Park3, and Kerk F. Kee4 University of Texas at Austin Submitted to the 9th International Symposium on Online Journalism Austin, Texas, April 4-5, 2008 1 We wish to thank Dr. Sharon Strover for her intellectual and financial support for this project, as well as the participants of the seminar “Interactivity and Web 2.0,” held during Fall 2007 at the University of Texas at Austin. Corresponding author: Sebastián Valenzuela; E-mail: [email protected]. 2 PhD student, School of Journalism, University of Texas at Austin. 3 PhD student, Department of Radio, Television and Film, University of Texas at Austin. 4 PhD student, Department of Communication Studies, University of Texas at Austin 1 Lessons from Facebook 2 Abstract This study examines if Facebook, one of the most popular social network sites among young adults in the U.S., fulfills the promise of civic journalism: to spark attitudes and behaviors that enhance public life and civic action. Using data from a random web survey of college students in Texas (n = 2,603), we find moderate, positive relationships between intensity of Facebook use and students' life satisfaction, social trust, civic participation and political engagement. The associations between Facebook usage and students' social capital are detectable even when taking demographic, socioeconomic and socialization variables into account. These findings highlight important lessons for journalists and media interested in reconnecting individuals, especially young adults, to society and public life. Lessons from Facebook 3 Lessons from Facebook: The Effect of Social Network Sites on College Students’ Social Capital Moral panic is a common reaction to new forms of communication.
    [Show full text]
  • Gender and Efl Writing: Does Whatsapp Make a Difference
    Teaching English with Technology , 18(2), 21-33, http://www.tewtjournal.org 21 GENDER AND EFL WRITING: DOES WHATSAPP MAKE A DIFFERENCE?[1] by Ruba Fahmi Bataineh, Raghda Fayez Al-Hamad and Dina Abdulhameed Al-Jamal Yarmouk University, Irbid, Jordan [email protected] Abstract WhatsApp is a potentially influential informal learning tool that may be used on the go. This study examines its potential utility in EFL writing with special reference to gender. The treatment encompasses a WhatsApp -based instructional program designed specifically to help develop writing performance, along the aspects of content and ideas, organization and mechanics, vocabulary, and language use , among 98 Jordanian eleventh-grade students. The participants were divided into two experimental groups, one male and one female, taught through WhatsApp . The data were collected by means of a pre-/ post-test whose analysis revealed improved writing performance, more for female participants than for their male counterparts. Keywords: WhatsApp ; gender; writing performance 1. Introduction and background Gender parity has been a matter of controversy and a concern for educational practitioners and researchers alike. Despite abounding evidence that boys enjoy higher literacy rates than their female counterparts, the latter are reported (e.g. Levy, 2016; Mullis, Martin, Foy, & Drucker, 2012; Twist & Sainsbury, 2009) as better achievers in language and mathematics in almost all internationally competitive tests (e.g., Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS), Trends in Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS)). More specific to the purpose of the current research, gender is believed to affect EFL writing performance (e.g., Cheng, 2002; Hedges & Newell, 1999; Jafari & Ansari, 2012).
    [Show full text]