Sixth International Conference on Communication & Media Studies

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to examine social media use among the American University of Sharjah students and how they appropriate social media in their daily lives. Conceptually, the study relies on Castells’ (1996) “theory of network society”, Kirby’s (2009) “digimodernism”, Bourdieu’s (1986) “cultural capital”, as well as Chomsky’s and Schiller’s Marxist perspectives. Arab college students who participated in a nonrandom sample (N=391), completed a questionnaire that assessed various aspects of their social media use including communication with family and friends, issues of distraction and invasion of privacy, and effects on their daily activities. Results indicated that 91% of the respondents used social media to communicate with family and friends; 75% used social media to share videos and photos, and 74% used social media for entertainment. Moreover, 70% stated that social media distracted them from their studies, and 78% of the respondents stated that social media use led them to the exposure of privacy. Some of these findings corroborate previous research findings (Jasmine Knight-McCord et al., 2013; Mastrodicasa & Metellus, 2013; Rowe, 2014; Greenwood, Pew Research, 2015; Perrin & Duggan, 2016; Lau, 2017; and Yang & Lee, 2018). These findings provide implications for future research on the importance of social media use among young people; in UAE, GCC, and the Middle East.