University student social media use and its influence on offline engagement in higher educational communities

Abstract

Previous research has emphasised social media adoption by students and the implementation of social media by educators, yet few studies have explored whether students are using it to facilitate engagement in offline environments with peers within university communities. Studies suggest engagement in educational communities and extra-curricular activities can reduce student attrition. This study surveyed 106 undergraduate students to investigate whether students using social media to interact online with their university felt: (i) connected to the broader university community, and (ii) social media helped them engage offline by meeting up with peers and attending university events. The results indicated that the majority (82%) never or rarely used the technology to facilitate offline engagement within their academic communities. Fourth year students were most likely to use social media to engage offline (66.7%). However, more than half of students (52.8%) felt that university social media profiles helped them to feel part of their academic community. 

Gender variations in social media usage and academic performance among the students of University of Sharjah

“…In a study conducted in Australia (2018), 106 undergraduate students were surveyed with 67% of them attributing their successful academic performance to the usage of technology 7 . Similar results were obtained in a study conducted amongst 30 male students at the Petroleum Institute in Abu Dhabi, the United Arab Emirates (UAE); specifically, students with high GPAs were found to spend much time on social media sites and applications 8 .…”

“…Many studies around the world have illustrated the relationship between the usage of social media and academic performance and achievement of undergraduate university students. Amongst adults aged 18 years–29 years living in the United States of America, social media usage increased from 12% in 2005 to 90% along with the widespread usage of smartphone technology 7 . One study conducted over 15 countries acknowledged students in higher education as being responsible for the growing usage of different portable devices, such as tablets and smartphones.…”

“…One study conducted over 15 countries acknowledged students in higher education as being responsible for the growing usage of different portable devices, such as tablets and smartphones. Students who used social media wisely improved in their academic performance 5, 7. However, those who failed to regulate their usage of social networks often lead to addictive usage and negatively affected their studies 5…”

The Impact of Electronic-Word-of Mouth on e-Loyalty and Consumers’ e-Purchase Decision Making Process: A Social Media Perspective

“…Hence, this study has selected four private HEIs based on (a) research-intensive, (b) teaching-intensive, (c) regional-focused and (d) special interest [53]. This study has selected the undergraduates since the social media usages among young generation have grown rapidly from 12% in 2005 to 99% in 2017 [54], [55].…”

Non-Financial Information versus Financial as a Key to the Stakeholder Engagement: A Higher Education Perspective

“…A possible explanation relies on their greater exposure to public scrutiny, which leads to more attention, and in turn, reactions to information published in their social media. Likewise, as students are a collective who are very keen on using social media [114,115], there is a greater probability of obtaining significant interactions in the social media of universities. Therefore, the larger the student population, the greater the need for interactions.…”