USAGE OF FACEBOOK AMONG STUDENTS AN APPRAISAL

CHAPTER ONE

1.1 Background to the Study

Moral panic is a common reaction to new forms of communication. The advent of television spawned fears of mass idolization. Similarly, in the early 90’s, critics held the diffusion of internet as evidence of individual’s increasing alienation from society and public life. The story with social network site such as, Facebook is not any different; unsafe disclosure of information, cyber bullying, addiction, risky behaviour and contacting dangerous communities are but a few of the concerns raised in the media about the use of online social networks. Before the emergence of Facebook, the methods of communication used were face-to-face conversations, phone calls, text message, hand-written letters or cards, e-mails, instant messages etc. and all these are called modern means of communication. Communication can therefore be said to be, the process of sharing ideas, information and messages with others at a particular time and place. There are diverse means of communication but are all classified into two, which are: 1) Traditional means of communication. 2) Modern means of communication. Facebook is one part of the internet which is a means of modern communication. Facebook has recently attracted considerable attention among researchers. As a social networking site,

Facebook can be defined as an online platform where users create profiles, generate and share contents and information, interact with other individuals which cloud be known and unknown. It can also be said to be a social directory that enables people to share information. Facebook has experienced vast expansion during the last few years, leading to extensive use by people from all walks of life. As of May 2012, according to Facebook’s consumer report survey, Facebook has over 900 million active users and as experienced an annual growth of 45.2%. Several studies have examined the attraction and persuasive nature of online platform and similar networking sites as well as reason that lead people from all walks of life and age ranges to join this “community” or other similar “communities” as its popularly called by users.

Researchers have examined the profile of these website users to determine to what extent such individuals are keen on posting their entire identity, sharing their pictures and videos, and stating their religious ailiation, marital status and political orientation on the internet. In turn, they interact, exchange information about their interests, raise discussions about new topics, and follow news about specific topics (e.g. companies, political parties, favourite websites, and entertainers). Meanwhile, some other studies have shown that extended presence of students and employees on Facebook has a harmful eect on their productivity. These studies demonstrated that long hours spent on Facebook seem to decrease the attention given to other task, most especially, students’ performance. Many students acknowledged that they find the website totally distracting and time consuming, but they also noted that they cannot quit visiting the website because they like it and can use it to keep in contact with family members, old friends and also develop new friends. Some people also recognized that they “have outsourced their social life exclusively to Facebook”. Others noted feelings that using Facebook means allowing this application to take over their daily lives, so they decided not to have a profile on this platform. Moreover, some students are likely to spend more time than others on the social network; they would also be more immersed in related tasks as they spend long hours surfing the website, thereby promoting their distraction from immediate tasks. For example, users become interested in sharing information with their contacts (friends) and participating in discussions as well as uploading or watching videos and pictures. Thus, students also check updates while reading, which interferes with their assimilation. They are distracted from their main task and working their memory allocated to this task makes it difficult for them to concentrate.

However, individuals participate on these networking activities differently according to their personalities and cultural disparities. Several studies have discussed people’s attitudes related to the internet, showing that their interests and activities on this tool vary according to their age, gender and personality traits. Cultural background determines individuals’ personalities during social learning processes and through inherited human nature, which shape individual common characteristics. These differences in cultural backgrounds and characteristics demonstrate the need to address the impact of students’ Facebook usage, which leads to the question about the unpredictability of the effect of Facebook among students with different characteristics and in different cultural contexts. In view of this development it becomes imperative to appreciate student opinion on Facebook. Hence, this research is a help in that direction among 400 level students of Tai Solarin University of Education.