The perceived impact of social networking sites and apps on the social capital of saudi postgraduate students : a case study
- Authors: Alghamdi, Abdulelah , Plunkett, Margaret
- Date: 2021
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Future Internet Vol. 13, no. 1 (2021), p. 1-24
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- Description: With the increased use of Social Networking Sites and Apps (SNSAs) in Saudi Arabia, it is important to consider the impact of this on the social lives of tertiary students, who are heavy users of such technology. A mixed methods study exploring the effect of SNSAs use on the social capital of Saudi postgraduate students was conducted using a multidimensional construct of social capital, which included the components of life satisfaction, social trust, civic participation, and political engagement. Data were collected through surveys and interviews involving 313 male and 293 female postgraduate students from Umm Al-Qura University (UQU) in Makkah. Findings show that male and female participants perceived SNSAs use impacting all components of social capital at a moderate and mainly positive level. Correlational analysis demonstrated medium to large positive correlations among components of social capital. Gender differences were not evident in the life satisfaction and social trust components; however, females reported more involvement with SNSAs for the purposes of political engagement while males reported more use for civic participa-tion, which is an interesting finding, in light of the norms and traditional culture of Saudi society. © 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.
Using activity theory to understand the impact of social networking sites and apps use by Saudi postgraduate students
- Authors: Alghamdi, Abdulelah , Plunkett, Margaret
- Date: 2022
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Behaviour and Information Technology Vol. 41, no. 6 (2022), p. 1298-1312
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- Description: Social networking sites and apps (SNSAs) are being used more frequently across the world and yet the nature of this online environment and associated interactions are not fully understood. With no restrictions for SNSAs use related to specific geographical regions, language, age, gender, educational level, or any other factors, it is important to find a concept to describe and explain the components of this online environment and their relationships. This paper describes the environment of SNSAs use by Saudi postgraduate students from the perspective of second-generation activity theory (AT). The findings supported the theoretical framework of AT as a useful lens in understanding SNSAs use from the perspective of students, particularly in a cultural environment where physical communication has restrictions based on gender. A similar AT model can be drawn for the use of SNSAs, taking the perspective of different groups of academic users. The flexibility of the AT model appears at the level of SNSAs as technical and physical tools, and at the level of users’ community, which was managed by the explicit and implicit rules relating to communication. This feature reveals the way in which this extended framework can be used to indicate pertinent features of SNSAs. © 2021 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.