INTRODUCTION

Social media is a vital part of the internet that helps people to communicate and
allow free sharing of thoughts among people that are restricted by long distance
and others. With that being said, most of the students get information and
knowledge from social media.
Social media is becoming an integral part of life online as social websites and
applications proliferate. Most traditional online media include social components,
such as comment fields for users. In business, social media is used to market
products, promote brands, connect to current customers and foster new
business.
Some prominent examples of social media are Facebook, Twitter, Google+,
Wikipedia, Instagram, WhatsApp and others.
Social media may bring benefits of using it to students since it will help them
with homework and others. But, excessive usage of social media may also bring
harm to students since the type of actions users take and the kinds of
information that they are adding to their profiles are a reflection of their
identities.

METHODOLOGY
The method that was used to carry out this mini survey is by distributing a
simple questionnaire that contains 4 questions of multiple choice questions, 5
statement of agreement scale and 3 questions for rating scale.
The total questionnaire that was distributed is 60 pieces. We distribute them
equally by 12 pieces to each POLISASS department which are Department of
Engineering, Department of Electrical, Department of Mechanical, Department of
Food Technology and Department of Commerce.
The questionnaire was distributed randomly according to the schedule to female
and male students of each department.

Monday 9th January 2017 : Department of Civil Engineering (12pcs) &

Department of Commerce (12pcs)
Tuesday 10th January 2017 : Department of Mechanical Engineering (12pcs) &
Department of Electrical Engineering (12pcs)
Wednesday 11th January 2017 : Department of Food Technology (12pcs)

The students were given about 5minutes to answer the questionnaire and after it
is done, the questionnaire is collected and ready to be process.

RESULTS

Department
COMMERCE; 20%

CIVIL ENGINEERING; 20%

ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING; 20%

MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; 20%
FOOD TECHNOLOGY; 20%

Chart 1.0 : The percentage of questionnaire distributed to each department in

POLISAS

From this chart, it is shown that the questionnaire was distributed equally into
each department in POLISAS.

RESPONDeNTS
MALE; 32%

FEMALE; 68%

Chart 1.1 : The percentage of students gender answered the questionnaire

From this chart, it is shown that 41 students of female and 19 students of male
answered the questionnaire which makes the percentage for the female student
is 68% while male student 32%.
This can be said, around two thirds from the total of 60 are female students and
nearly a third from the total of 60 are male who answered the questionnaire.

MULTIPLE CHOICE QUESTION NUMBER 1

What kind of social media do you use the most?

WHAT KIND OF SOCIAL MEDIA STUDENTS USE THE MOST

Others; 3%
Wechat; 13%

Twitter; 17%

Whatsapp ; 50%

Facebook; 17%

Chart 2.0 : The percentage of type of social media that has been used most by
POLISASS students.
From this chart, it is clearly shown that half of the respondents chose Whatsapp
as their main social media. Just under a fifth which is 17% of the respondents
chose Facebook and Twitter as their main social media.
More than one in ten chose Wechat as their most used social media and less
than one in twenty which makes it to 3% answered others such as Telegram,
Messanger and LINE.

MULTIPLE CHOICE QUESTION NUMBER 2

Who introduced you to start using social media?

WHO INTRODUCE STUDENTS TO START USING SOCIAL MEDIA

Parents; 17%

Relatives; 8%

Teacher; 8%
Friends; 67%

Chart 2.1 : The percentage of who introduced social media to the students in
POLISAS.
A significant proportion which is about 65% answered that it is their friend who
introduced them to start using social media followed by a minority that makes it
to 17% chose that the one who introduced them to start using social media is
their parents.
A very small number which is about 8% from the total of 60 respondents chose
that it was their relatives and teachers who introduced them to the social media.

MULTIPLE CHOICE QUESTION NUMBER 3

WHICH TIME SLOT OF THE DAY THAT STUDENTS USE THEIR SOCIAL MEDIA THE MOST
Morning; 8%

Night; 50%

Afternoon; 33%

Evening; 8%

Which time slot of the day do you use your social media the most?
Chart 2.2 : The percentage of time slot that the students use their social media
the most
From the chart, it is shown that half of the students often used their social media
at the Night slot followed by almost a third of them used their social media at the
afternoon slot.
A very small number which is 8% of the respondents which are POLISASS
students answered that they used their social media the most at Morning and
Evening slot of the day.

MULTIPLE CHOICE QUESTION NUMBER 4

WHAT IS YOUR MAIN PURPOSE OF USING SOCIAL MEDIA

Spread awareness; 3%
Educational purpose; 17%

Gain information/news; 17%

Make friends; 63%

What
is your main purpose of using social media?
Chart 2.3 : The percentage of the students main purpose of using social media
From the chart, it is shown that a significant proportion chose that their main
purpose of using social media is to make friends with others. Followed by an
equal percentage of 17% that gaining information or news and educational
purpose are their main purpose of using social media.

Lastly, a very small number chose to spread awareness as their main purpose of
using social media.

50
45
40
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0

Stronglg Agree
Disagree

Agree
Strongly Disagree

Neutral

AGREEMENT SCALE
Chart 2.4 : The agreement scale results based on the questionnaire distributed to
respondents
STATEMENT 1

Social media helps you to connect with people

A total of 45 and 5 students which makes it to 50 out of the total of 60 students
answered that they are agree that social media helps them to connect with
people and 10 out of 60 students chose to answer Neutral.
STATEMENT 2
Overuse of social media will bring harm to students
From the bar chart, it is clearly shown that the total of students who answered
Neutral is higher compared to the number of students who agreed and
disagreed. Total number of students who agreed that overuse of social media will
bring harm to students is 18 and the total number of students who disagreed is
5.

STATEMENT 3
Students find that a lot of time is wasted on social media
More than half of the students answered agreed which makes the number of
student who disagree went down to 10 and the number of student who is
between agree and disagree is 10.
STATEMENT 4
Social media is a platform for students to voice out their opinion
More than two-fifths of the students is strongly agree that social media is a
platform for them to voice out their opinion while a same amount of students
answered agree and neutral which makes the number of disagree drop to 5
students.
STATEMENT 5
Social media helps students with their work
A high amount of students answered neutral that social media helps students
with their work. A total of 5 students agreed while the rest answered disagree.

RATING SCALE

35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
Students experience on using their prefered social media.
Excellent

Very Good

Good

Not Good

Bad

How likely are you recommend your preferred social media to your friends.
Unlikely; 8%

Strongly Recommend; 17%

Neutral; 17%

Recommend; 58%

Chart 2.5 : Rating scale result based on the questionnaire distributed to

respondents

STATEMENT 1
Students experience on using their preferred social media
From above chart, it is shown that 50r respondents out of 60 chose from good to
excellent about their experience on using their preferred social media. A small
number of respondents which is 10 respondents chose the other way round that
their experience on using their preferred social media was bad and not good.
STATEMENT 2
Students rate the features of their social media
Almost all of the students chose to rate the features of their social media from
good to excellent and a minority chose to rate the features of their social media
from bad to not good.
STATEMENT 3
How likely are you to recommend your preferred social media to your friends?

A very large majority which is about 75% of respondents chose to recommend

their preferred social media to their friends and a small minority chose to unlikely
recommend their preferred social media to their friends. Lastly, 17% of the
respondents chose to answered neutral since some maybe wanted to
recommend but at the same time they did not want to.

DISCUSSION
Based on the MCQ questions it is shown that the most used social media by the
students is WhatsApp and the majority of respondents have chosen that the one
who started to introduce them to start using social media is their own friends. A
significant proportion chose making friends as their main purpose of using social
media. Lastly, the students use social media the most at night time slot which is
around 6-12am.
Based on the agreement scale, a high number of students agreed that social
media helps them to connect with people and they also agreed that social media
is a useful platform to voice out their opinion. A very large majority of students
chose neutral on the harmful effects of overusing social media. The same result
is obtained with the option of social media helps students with their homework.
The number of respondents who agrees with a lot of time is wasted on social
media is higher than the number of those who disagree.
Based on the rating scale, the number of students who rated their experience on
their preferred social media from good to excellent is higher than students who
rated from not good to bad.

RECOMMENDATIONS
In light of the findings, the emphasizing of social media in classes is highly
recommended. The platform as mentioned in the introduction, varies in different
kinds of applications so educators could make full use of them as a part of
learning.
We believe that students would be more invested in the use of social media for
education rather than flipping through physical copies of textbooks. Social media
can help students develop better reading and critical thinking skills by using
blogs and chat rooms.
Educators should enforce the concept of uploading students work and
assignments online through social media more often since the vast majority of
them use it on a daily basis.

CONCLUSION
To sum this up, it is crystal clear that social media plays a central and growing
role in providing information and communication among users especially
students. However, we must be aware of the vulnerabilities of the platform in
regards to disclosing private information. With the results, we believe that more
people should allow the use of social media in class for educational purposes.
This could mean that the educators can teach students through the platform
rather than just letting them use it for unnecessary chats that may result as a
waste of time.