Patterns of Social Media Usage among Malaysians During the Covid-19 Pandemic

Abstract

This paper explores the use of social media among Malaysians during the Covid-19 pandemic. Questionnaires were distributed to 424 people in Malaysia who were directly affected by the Covid-19 pandemic. The research findings revealed that the main reasons that drove people to use social media were cognitive aspects, escapism, affective factors, and social integration. The data also shows that Malaysians frequently employed social media to search for information, for diversion purposes, and due to habit. Meanwhile, the highest levels of gratifications were derived from factors of convenience, surveillance, and interpersonal discussion. This study concludes that social media plays a crucial role for Malaysians while confronting the Covid-19 pandemic, alongside other media components. It cannot be denied that technology also influenced uses and gratifications among the audiences. The uniqueness of social media, coupled with the smartphone, gives it a distinct advantage over other media forms. The audiences had at their disposal a multitude of information that could bring numerous usages and forms of gratifications.

Correlation between Social Media Utilization and the Young Generation’s Online Shopping Behavior in Eastern Indonesia

“…Moreover, buyers preferred simple, hassle-free, and reasonable purchasing options (Sneader & Singhal, 2020). Findings in concurrence with those of Meri et al (2022) who illustrated that in the middle of COVID-19 pandemic, people used social media often to seek for information, for entertainment, and out of habit.…”

Online Teaching Practice of Preservice Teachers during Pandemic COVID-19

“…Likewise, the manager of the microteaching laboratory as the organizer of the PPL, therefore, prepared and carried out this crucial task. There is no doubt about the readiness of DPL, because online learning at tertiary level of education was also practiced (Meri et al, 2022), which is the evidence of the readiness of master teachers. The obstacle that reduces the effectiveness of the implementation of the PPL is not in the competence of the resource managers and persons in charge (FITK leaders, PPL managers, DPL, and tutors or master teachers), but rather it lies in the management system carried out by the components of the human resources.…”

“…Several previous studies have focused on increasing the competence of pre-service teacher students through micro-teaching courses (De Lange & Nerland, 2018;Rosali & Singkawijaya, 2020;Wangchuk, 2019); online teaching practice in elementary school (Brinia & Psoni, 2021;Ramot & Donitsa-Schmidt, 2021;Weldon, Ma, Ho, & Li, 2021); and use of interactive media in teaching and learning process (Littlejohn et al, 2021;Meri et al, 2022;Tang et al, 2020). Results of these researches have indicated the implementation of practical courses online, but have not linked the professionalism of preservice teachers with their teaching.…”