Measuring personal and academic differences in students’ perceived social media credibility
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/DLP-06-2021-0048 |
| Published date | 10 December 2021 |
| Date | 10 December 2021 |
| Pages | 251-262 |
| Subject Matter | Library & information science,Librarianship/library management,Library technology,Records management & preservation,Information repositories |
| Author | Iqra Bashir,Amara Malik,Khalid Mahmood |
Measuring personal and academic
differences in students’perceived
social media credibility
Iqra Bashir,Amara Malik and Khalid Mahmood
Institute of Information Management,
University of the Punjab, Lahore, Pakistan
Abstract
Purpose –Social mediais a popular source for informationsharing in the contemporary world. Social media
allow individuals to create, publish and diffuse contents directly. This openness has increased the risk of
running into misinformationand raised questions about credibilityof information shared. This study aims to
examine the credibility of social media throughthe perceptions of university students. It also intends to see
the differencein opinions based on their gender, academic disciplines and programsof study.
Design/methodology/approach –The study was based on a cross-sectional survey; a structured
questionnairewas developed by consulting the relevant literature.Students were selected on convenient basis
from all the programs of four universities of Faisalabad, Pakistan. Four hundred students were selected
randomlyfrom each university.
Findings –The findings indicated that students considered social media partially credible. Currency,
community wellness, understandability and completeness of informationwere the highly rated facets, while
factual and unbiasedinformation was the low rated aspects. The perceivedcredibility of social media among
the universitystudents was the same across genders, programsof study and academic disciplines.
Research limitations/implications –The study may be helpful forsocial media service providers to
addressthe concerns that students had in their perceptionregarding its credibility.
Originality/value –This study may likely benefit faculty members, researchers, librarians/information
professionals and digital librariesto understand the students’concerns about social media credibilityfrom a
developing country’s perspective. Such understanding will enablethem to better address, educate and train
university students at how to evaluate the quality of information on social media by offering information
literacy programs. It is direly needed that university libraries should train the students to be proficient in
assessing the qualityof information by offering information or digital literacyprograms. Moreover, the study
may be helpfulfor social media service providers to addressthe concerns that students had in their perception
regardingits credibility.
Keywords Social media, Social networking sites, Credibility, Trustworthiness, University students,
Pakistan, Fake information
Paper type Research paper
Introduction
Social media platforms are based on interactive computer-mediated technologies which
empower individuals to be creators rather than just static receivers of information. The
communication process has emerged as multidirectional in the form of user-generated
content (UGC). According to the Global Digital 2021 report, 58% of the world’s population
(4.55 billion) is now social media users. Facebook, YouTube, WhatsApp, Twitter and
The authors acknowledge the study participants for their time.
Personal and
academic
differences
251
Received11 June 2021
Revised31 August 2021
26October 2021
Accepted18 November 2021
DigitalLibrary Perspectives
Vol.38 No. 3, 2022
pp. 251-262
© Emerald Publishing Limited
2059-5816
DOI 10.1108/DLP-06-2021-0048
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