Survey of Social Media Use in Salerno

Survey of Social Media Use Group: Julie Mannion, Katy McCall, Aine McGee, Sarah McHugh, Anna Mooney, Alisha Mullarkey, Sarah Nation, Eleanor Noone & Charlotte O’Regan with IT Teachers Mr.Fogarty and Miss Waterstone, Joanne Sweeney Burke & Jillian O’Toole of Digital Training Institute. Photo by John McDonnell.

Introduction

Our job was to find out how the students in Salerno use social media: is it popular? Are there new social networks replacing Facebook for students?

• We decided to survey the 1st years and the Leaving Certs. We chose these years because we thought that the difference between them would be very

interesting: a new secondary school student, versus a student just finishing up with secondary school.

Our Aims

So, what were our aims in this project? Our aims in this project were simple. We wanted:

1.To find out what social networks are currently popular with students.

2.To find out how safe students are with their privacy online.

3.To compare the social media use of an average 1st year to that of an average Leaving Cert.

Conducting the Survey

Now we had to decide who to survey, and devise a plan on how we would go about carrying the survey out.1. We made a list of potential questions and then

narrowed it down to 14.2. We typed up the surveys and printed off 50 for

each of the two years.3. We conducted the surveys and then analysed

the findings.

The Results

What Social Networks do you use?

Most used Social Network?

We asked the students which Social Network they use the most. Here are the results:

1st years: Leaving Certs:

How much time do students spent on Social Networks?

What information do Students share on Facebook?

Other Interesting Findings

• Only two girls, both Leaving Certificate students don’t have an account on any Social Network.

• 14% of 1st years we surveyed have a friend on Facebook whom they have never met.

• 46% of Leaving Certificate students we surveyed have a friend on Facebook they have never met.

• 88% of Leaving Certificate students find Social Media distracts them when they are trying to study.

Conclusion

• Leaving Certificate students are more open on Social Media than 1st years.

• Facebook remains the most popular Social Network among Leaving Certificate students, while Snapchat has become the most popular network for 1st years.

• Social Media platforms are a modern way of communicating, and show no signs of stopping anytime soon.