Promoting Positive Psychology Using Social Networking Sites: A Study of New College Entrants on Facebook

Abstract

This study explores the potential of promoting college students’ positive psychological development using popular online social networks. Online social networks have dramatically changed the ways college students manage their social relationships. Social network activities, such as checking Facebook posts dominates students’ Internet time and has the potential to assist students’ positive development. Positive psychology is a scientific study of how ordinary individuals can apply their strength effectively when facing objective difficulties and how this capability can be cultivated with certain approaches. A positive message delivery approach was designed for a group of new college entrants. A series of positive messages was edited by university counselors and delivered by students to their Facebook social groups. Responses from each posted positive messages were collected and analyzed by researchers. The responses indicated that: (1) relationships of individual engagement and social influence in this study can partially explain the observed student behavior; (2) using class-based social groups can promote a positive atmosphere to enhance strong-tie relationships in both the physical and virtual environments, and (3) promoting student’s positive attitudes can substantially impact adolescents’ future developments, and many positive attitudes can be cultivated by emotional events and social influence.

Motives influencing Facebook usage as a social networking site: An empirical study using international students

“…Even though Baym et al (2004) discovered that students prefer to communicate faceto-face, findings of this research concur with those of Chen and Hanasono (2016) who established that distance and cost barriers in international communications necessitate the utilisation of SNSs like Facebook as these are cheap and more convenient to the students than the traditional means of communication such as voice calls. These results were similar to those of a previous study conducted on a sample of 142 Chinese international students in Japan which indicated that the need to stay connected positively influences Facebook usage (Chang et al 2014). …”

“…According to Schneider et al (2016), SNS users use them to stay connected with close people who would not be physically present, mainly to ensure that they are not left behind and also because of the need to belong. In the same line, a recent study on a sample of 142 Chinese international students in Japan indicated that people use SNSs to stay connected as they benefit from increased social networking and psychological well-being (Chang et al 2014). International students use SNSs to connect and stay connected with their families and former classmates from their countries of origin (Forbush & Foucault-Welles 2016).…”

“…This research revealed that international students use SNSs like Facebook to search for information; therefore, service providers need to put platforms where international students can search for information. Chang et al (2014) discovered that international students adapt to the host countries' environment through frequently visiting official websites for information purposes. Therefore, there is a need for service providers to disseminate information from platforms such as Facebook where there is high traffic of international students.…”

“…Furthermore, studies on international students (e.g. Binsahl et al 2015;Chang et al 2014;Chen & Kuo 2017;Kumar, Joshi & Sharma 2016) have been contextualised in favour of students who study mostly in urban areas. However, there appears to be neglect within the research community on understanding the experiences of international students especially at rural campuses.…”

Qualitative Study on University Town’s Health Education among Undergraduate in Chongqing University Town, China

“…College students are willing to accept the more creative and fresh health education method. The present study has concluded that seminars or lectures are acceptable by majority of the students, the students' associations play a positive role in health education and with the development of network, social network has become one of the most popular informal channels for students [22], but key figures considered network publicity of health knowledge were imperfect, so that school may consider using its potential social influence to assist students in their life adjustments and positive development in physical and psychological health [23,24]. Our results found that the sports facilities and venues don't fully meet the need of most students.…”