Influence Of New Media On University Students: Merits, Pitfalls And Preventions

Abstract

The trends in using social media like Facebook, Twitter and WhatsApp have gained substantial attention from the researchers across the globe. This paper outlines the findings of a qualitative inquiry using an interview procedure to address the issues that have emerged from these three themes. These themes are the positive influence of social media on university students, the negative influence of social media on university students and the role of authorities in preventing the negative influence. The participants of this study were experts from two universities. Seventy-five participants were interviewed, and their responses were analysed using NVivo. The findings suggest that social media has both positive and negative influence on university students. The positive influences of social media include sharing knowledge and information, exploring real-time multiple sources of information and engaging with multiple groups for gaining and sharing information using different modes. The negative influences include students' disengagement with the society, addiction, inconsistent beliefs. Further, the students may be easily manipulated by the fake information. However, the authorities could easily check the negative influence by imposing strict regulations.