Social Media Usage among Dental Undergraduate Students—A Comparative Study

Abstract

Social media use among students has infiltrated into dental education and offers benefits but may also cause problems. The aim of this study was to explore and compare current social media usage among dental undergraduate students from two countries—Malaysia and Finland. A self-administered structured online questionnaire was used. WhatsApp, YouTube, Instagram, Facebook and Snapchat were the services that were most familiar to the respondents from both countries. There were differences between the students from the two countries among the most preferred platforms. The most frequently used applications were WhatsApp (91.1% of students in Malaysia and 96.1% in Finland used it very frequently) and Instagram (74.3% of students in Malaysia and 70.0% in Finland used it very frequently). Students in Malaysia spent significantly more hours per week using the platforms as study tools than students in Finland. Over 80% of the Finnish dental students reported that lack of knowledge was not an issue in social media usage, while 85% of Malaysian students felt that lack of knowledge prevented them from using social media platforms frequently. The findings offer evidence that dental students used social media extensively.

E-Professionalism among Dental Students from Malaysia and Finland

“…In both countries, the dental curriculum is five years. In our previous study, we compared the usage of different social media platforms among these dental undergraduate students [ 17 ]. We found that the same top five platforms (WhatsApp, YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, and Snapchat) were the most familiar services to the respondents from both countries.…”

“…Part 2 included questions related to the social media usage in general, and Part 3 included questions related to e-professionalism. We have reported findings about social media use in a previous study [ 17 ]. In this article, we focus on perceptions of e-professionalism and on the challenges that dental students may face with the use of communication technologies in dental education.…”

“…The questionnaire was translated into Finnish. Details about the pre-testing and estimated sample size are reported in our previous article [ 17 ].…”

“…Differences in social trends, cultural beliefs, and perceptions between Asian and European countries can affect the use of different social media applications. We have recently reported findings about social media usage among dental students in Malaysia and Finland [ 17 ]. We found that there were country-specific differences among students in the familiarity and usage of the social media platforms.…”

Use of WhatsApp in Dental Education: a Scoping Review

“…These apps in medical and dental education have proven to increase student participation, improve the feedback process, and improve communication between student and tutor [ 9 ]. WhatsApp is the social media app most popular among dental students due to its facility of keeping in touch with friends or family [ 10 ]. Thus, the integration of WhatsApp in educational courses allows its users a variety of resources, and therefore teachers and students are encouraged to use the apps in education due to its positive qualities and resources that increase understanding [ 11 ].…”