Social media as information source: Undergraduates' use and evaluation behavior

A survey study was conducted to investigate what kinds of social media are used as information sources and why. It also examined what kinds of actions users take in order to evaluate the trustworthiness of information provided by social media sources. A total of 446 undergraduate students from a public university participated in the study. A Web- based survey questionnaire consisting of two parts was used in the study: one part on the use and evaluation of social media sources and the other on the user characteristics. The study found that Wikipedia, social networking sites (e.g., Facebook) and online user reviews were among those frequently used for finding information, and that Wikipedia, YouTube, QA for YouTube and Q&A sites, check others' reactions). Based on the findings, suggestions were made for information literacy education.

[1]  Soo Young Rieh.  Credibility and Cognitive Authority of Information , 2010 .

[2]  Kyung-Sun Kim,et al.  Selecting quality sources: Bridging the gap between the perception and use of information sources , 2011, J. Inf. Sci..

[3]  Erin E. Hollenbaugh.  Motives for Maintaining Personal Journal Blogs , 2011, Cyberpsychology Behav. Soc. Netw..

[4]  Brian S. Butler,et al.  Determinants of the Use of Relational and Nonrelational Information Sources , 2007, J. Manag. Inf. Syst..

[5]  Susan Gardner,et al.  What Students Want: Generation Y and the Changing Function of the Academic Library , 2005 .

[6]  Carolyn M. Hall,et al.  Encyclopedia of Library and Information Science , 1971 .

[7]  Naresh Kumar Agarwal,et al.  A context-based investigation into source use by information seekers , 2011, J. Assoc. Inf. Sci. Technol..

[8]  Alison J. Head,et al.  Lessons Learned: How College Students Seek Information in the Digital Age. Project Information Literacy Progress Report. , 2009 .

[9]  Eszter Hargittai,et al.  Whose Space? Differences Among Users and Non-Users of Social Network Sites , 2007, J. Comput. Mediat. Commun..

[10]  George Buchanan,et al.  Cognitive economy and satisficing in information seeking: A longitudinal study of undergraduate information behavior , 2009, J. Assoc. Inf. Sci. Technol..

[11]  Qin Li,et al.  Understanding the millennials: updating our knowledge about students , 2004 .

[12]  Aaron Smith,et al.  Social Media & Mobile Internet Use among Teens and Young Adults. Millennials. , 2010 .

[13]  Sook Lim,et al.  How and why do college students use Wikipedia? , 2009, J. Assoc. Inf. Sci. Technol..

[14]  Karen E. Fisher,et al.  Mobile social networking as information ground: A case study , 2010 .

[15]  Alison J. Head,et al.  How college students use the Web to conduct everyday life research , 2011, First Monday.

[16]  Pnina Shachaf,et al.  A structuration approach to online communities of practice: The case of Q&A communities , 2010, J. Assoc. Inf. Sci. Technol..

[17]  Jennifer M. Berryman,et al.  Judgements during information seeking: a naturalistic approach to understanding the assessment of enough information , 2008, J. Inf. Sci..

[18]  Alison J. Head,et al.  How Today's College Students use Wikipedia for Course-related Research , 2010, First Monday.