The Effects of Social Media on Texas Tech University Students -KNA

“We think therefore we are, we share what we are.”

                                                              Charles Leadbeater          

I.Introduction

            In today’s world, technology is a big part of our lives. Most people spend many hours using internet. We could call using social media more than once per day ‘social habit’.

            There are many explanations which define what Social Media is. “Social media is the social interaction among people in which they create, share or exchange information and ideas in virtual communities and networks” (Ahlqvist, T. & Bäck, A. & Halonen, M. & Heinonen, S. 2008).

The first social media networking site, ‘Usenet’, was created by Tom Truscott and Jim Ellis in 1979 (Bonnett, C. 2010). The second one ‘MySpace’ was created in 2003 and then Facebook was developed in 2004. Hereafter, the development of social media started.

            Statistical information about social media is totally shocking. According to Jeff Bullas (2013), Facebook has 665 million active users on a daily basis. If it is compared with Twitter, Twitter has fewer users than Facebook has. But, Twitter has more development. It has 44% growth between June 2012 and March 2013. On the other hand, YouTube has more visitors (1 billion monthly) than the other social media networking sites.

            It is well known that young people are more interested in social media than old people. The study shows that 89% of people who are 18-29 years old use social media (Bullas, J. 2014). However, the aged people are not far from using social media. “60% of people between 50-60 years old are active on social media” (Romeri, 2014).

            Social media is something that everybody has some idea about even though they may not have an account on the sites. Obviously the way of using social media depends on age, region, gender, etc. This research includes the difference between females and males while they are using social media.

II. Literature Review

Social media is an important part of our lives. According to Joy Baer, 22% of Americans check their profiles on social media several times in a day (Baer, J. 2012). In the research of Social Media, we decided to investigate the effects of Social Media on Texas Tech students.

            One study shows that 96% of UNH Whittemore School of Business students use Facebook more than the other Social Media websites. The second website that UNH Whittemore School of Business students check more is YouTube (Bart, 2009). We would like to know which Social Media sites Texas Tech University students are using the most.

            According to a study, keeping in touch with family and old friends is more important for women (Smith, 2011). They like to find the old friends and have an interaction with them. It is hypothesized that women use social media emotionally (Joiner, 2014). Texas Tech University students will be questioned about the way of using Social Media.

            Studies show that every social media website has different ways of being used. A research which was done with the undergraduate students at a private university claims that students spend one hour checking their Facebook per day. The reason they check Facebook is update their ‘Newsfeed’ and read what their friends posted (Pempek &, Yermolayeva & Calvert, 2009). On the other hand Americans use Twitter to connect with a public figure, for example, athletes, singer, actor, politician etc. (Smith, 2011). This research will show the reasons for Texas Tech University students using social media sites.

            It is hypothesized that using Social Media ruins friendship. (Burbach, C.)  Young people want to share everything they do. When they meet they have nothing to talk about, because they have already gotten updated from social media what they are up to (Moore, 2011). Also if they get game request from friends, they start to think about ‘unfriending’ them. This research will show how Texas Tech University students feel about their friendship with using Social Media.

            The above mentioned hypotheses will be examined by asking Texas Tech University students.

           

References;

Ahlqvist, T., Bäck, A., Halonen, M., Heinonen, S (2008). Social media road maps exploring the futures triggered by social media. VTT Tiedotteita – Valtion Teknillinen Tutkimuskeskus

Bart, M. (2009, Dec. 30). Do college student spend too much time on Facebook, YouTube and other social networking sites? Faculty Focus. Retrieved (October 2, 2014) http://www.facultyfocus.com/articles/edtech-news-and-trends/do-college-students-spend-too-much-time-on-facebook-youtube-and-other-social-networking-sites/

Baer, J. (2012). 11 Shocking New Social Media Statistics in America Convince and Convert http://www.convinceandconvert.com/social-media-research/11-shocking-new-social-media-statistics-in-america/

Baer, J. & Falls, J. & Shaefer, M. & Webster, T. (N.D.) The Social Habit: Social Media Research Retrieved (N.D.) http://socialhabit.com/about/

Bonnett, C. (2010, May 17). A Piece of Internet History Duke Today http://today.duke.edu/2010/05/usenet.html

Bullas, J. (2013). 21 Awesome Social Media Facts, Figures and Statistics for 2013 http://www.jeffbullas.com/2013/05/06/21-awesome-social-media-facts-figures-and-statistics-for-2013/

Bullas, J. (2014, January). 22 Social Media Facts and Statistics You Should Know in 2014 http://www.jeffbullas.com/2014/01/17/20-social-media-facts-and-statistics-you-should-know-in-2014/

Burbach, C. Ways Social Networking Ruins Friendship About Relationships Retrieved (September 25, 2014). http://friendship.about.com/od/Social_Networking/tp/Ways-Social-Networking-Ruins-Friendship.htm

Joiner, R. & Stewart, C. (2014). Publically different, privately the same: Gender differences and similarities in response to Facebook status updates. Computers in Human Behavior, 39(0): 165-169.  http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0747563214003707

Kaplan A. M. & Haenlein, M. (2010). Users of the world, unite! The challenges and opportunities of Social Media.  Business Horizons Retrieved from http://www.slideshare.net/escpexchange/kaplan-haenlein-users-of-the-world-unite-the-challenges-and-opportunities-of-social-media

Moore, E. (2011, August 19). Texting, social media affecting teen sleeping patterns. The Daily Iowan . Retrieved (September 18, 2014) from http://friendship.about.com/od/Social_Networking/tp/Ways-Social-Networking-Ruins-Friendship.htm

Pempek, T. A., Yermolayeva, Y. A., & Calvert, S. L. (2009). College students' social networking experiences on Facebook. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 30(3), 227-238.

Romeri, M. J. (February 2014) New Social Media Statistics You Need to Know. Retrieved from http://www.socialmediatoday.com/content/new-social-media-statistics-you-need-know

Smith, A. (2011, November 15) Why Americans use social media. Retrieved from http://aosresourcecenter.com/file_depot/0-10000000/390000-400000/398422/folder/1145143/WhyAmericansUseSocialMedia.pdf

                                                                                                                   

Hypotheses;

-We would like to know which social media sites Texas Tech students are using the most.

-We would like to know the reasons Texas Tech students use social media sites.

-We thought that women expressed their emotions more on social media.

-We were curios of how many Texas Tech students connected to public figures on social media.

-We want to know how Texas Tech students feel about the influence of social media on friendships.