Use of social networking sites and instant messaging applications for university-related work and studying

Abstract

Social Networking Sites (SNS) and Instant Messaging (IM) applications have become very popular in the last decade. This article aims to investigate to what extent university students make use of SNS and IM in relation with learning and university-related work. In order to do so, a survey was conducted among 115 university students. Results show that answering surveys posted by other students (for their university work), being part of groups created for doing university work or studying and sharing university-related links are some of the education-related activities that students most perform on Facebook. Alongside Facebook, WhatsApp, YouTube and LinkedIn are the most popular SNS or IM applications when it comes to studying, doing and organizing university-related work. Some differences among male and female students can be inferred from the data though, although it was not the aim of this study to explore such differences and further research would be needed. The paper concludes that university students make good and ample use of SNS and IM applications for education-related purposes and a recommendation for lecturers to adopt these tools is made.