Impact of social media use on critical thinking ability of university students

Abstract

PurposeThis research aims to discover the relationship between social media usage (SMU) and the critical thinking ability (CTA) of university students, and to answer the question that whether social media dependence (SMD) affects the development of CTA, and thus providing a reference for the social media access strategy of academic libraries from the perspective of media information literacy.Design/methodology/approachThe research data were collected via 300 valid questionnaires whose respondents are students from three universities in China. Multistage stratified cluster sampling method was used to select the respondents, which guarantees statistical representativeness. A pre-test was conducted to ensure the validity of the questionnaire.FindingsIt is shown that the total score of CTA and the six sub-dimensions are significantly positively correlated with SMU, but strongly negatively correlated with SMD. Based on the mediating effect testing, it is discovered that the degree of SMD can affect the promoting relations between the usage intensity of social media (UISM) and CTA. Clearly, SMU is a double-edged sword. While it narrows the digital gap in terms of accessibility, it widens the digital gap in terms of usage.Originality/valueThe differences in SMU have a significant impact on the development of CTA of university students. This inspires us to consider the ability of “using social media in a balanced way” as an important evaluation and training direction when inquiring media literacy. As social media is becoming a critical channel in cultivating individual's thinking skills, it is highly suggested that the amount of time spent on reading fragmented information on the internet should be controlled.

Editorial: 40th anniversary: contemporary library research

“…Social media and library and information services Social media is particularly impactful to the younger generation, not just in their daily lives but also in their learning (Leung et al, 2021;Wang et al, 2021;Lei et al, 2021;Dong et al, 2021;Cheng et al, 2022;Wang and Xie, 2022;Dong et al, 2021;Wang et al, 2022b). Thus, library services also need to be promoted and provided on social media (Chan et al, 2020b;Cheng et al, 2020;Fong et al, 2020;Lam et al, 2022;Guo et al, 2022;Yang et al, 2022).…”

Guest editorial: Contemporary learning behaviors on mobile devices and social media – part II

“…In this issue, Cheng et al (2024) examine the relationship between social media usage (SMU) and the critical thinking ability (CTA) of university students and found that SMU is a double-edged sword, narrowing the digital gap in terms of accessibility but widening the digital gap in terms of usage. Chen and Chen (2024) show that the mobile information environment significantly impacts perceived usefulness and ease of use for learning.…”

Does personal relative deprivation mediate the relationship between passive social media use and beliefs in conspiracy theories? Cross‐sectional correlational and experimental evidence

“…In the present paper, we tried to acknowledge the key role of social media use in beliefs in conspiracy theories. Based on the distinction between active and passive social media use and judging from the role of active engagement with social media in enhancing critical thinking and literacy (Cheng et al, 2022;Xu et al, 2019)-two consistently negative predictors of conspiracy beliefs (Swami et al, 2014), we hypothesize that:…”

“…In the present paper, we tried to acknowledge the key role of social media use in beliefs in conspiracy theories. Based on the distinction between active and passive social media use and judging from the role of active engagement with social media in enhancing critical thinking and literacy (Cheng et al., 2022; Xu et al., 2019)—two consistently negative predictors of conspiracy beliefs (Swami et al., 2014), we hypothesize that: Social media use will be related with endorsement of conspiracy theories. This prediction is specified to two directional hypotheses: Hypothesis Active social media use will be negatively correlated, while passive social media use will be positively correlated with beliefs in conspiracy theories (Study 1). Hypothesis Likewise, investigating causal effects through manipulation of social media use, we hypothesize that active social media use will have a negative effect, and passive social media use will have a positive effect, on beliefs in conspiracy theories (Study 2).…”