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Uses of Social Networking Sites and Satisfactions Achieved by Emirati Youth: A Field Study on a Sample of Sharjah University Students




Author(s)

Fawzia Abd Allah Al-Ali

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DOI:10.17265/2160-6579/2017.03.001

Sharjah University, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates

The study, throughout the usage of Emirati youth for the social networking sites and satisfactions achieved, illustrated that the nature of those networks is considered a rapidly developing method of communication, which is accompanied by attempts to impose a number of short abbreviated vocabulary to be used among the youth. Since social networking sites represent one of the most significant tremendous development aspects of information technology, which reached its peak during the last decade, the researcher considered the importance of conducting this study in order to know the impact of social networking sites on the youth through Internet, blogs and chat rooms, as well as attempting to confront them and making them aware of their importance in their daily lives. Accordingly, the study has focused on a random category of youth, whose ages are ranging between 17-21 years old of university students, as being the highest category of usage. Results revealed the following: A high percentage of Emirati youth 77.5% mentioned that they “always” use those sites; the percentage of males, who “always” use social media reached 38.5% while the percentage of females reached 61, since the meaningful value reached 0.05>0.044, which indicated that WhatsApp, YouTube, Twitter and Facebook are the most commonly used social media by the study individuals. Most of the study individuals use the social networking sites daily 84%, and there are statistically significant differences between males and females in terms of the times of using social media. A high percentage of the Emirati youth uses Internet for more than three hours daily; especially in the evenings, and there are not statistically significant differences between males and females in terms of the most common periods in which social media are used, and the most common age groups of using social media from one year and more range between 17-20. “Home” is the most favorite place of using social media (85.40% mentioned that). Most of the study individuals can make a balance between spending time on Internet and spending time with people outside the world of Internet. The percentage of those, who mentioned that social networking sites affected them positively, was higher than the percentage of the ones, who mentioned that the social media affected them negatively. Among the most prominent usages of social media by the Emirati youth are: staying informed about news and current events, while most of them focused on chatting, followed by sharing photos and images. Most of the sample of study mentioned that the youth are just readers, who comment on what is shared and posted on the social media. The most prominent motives of the Emirati youth for using social media are represented in obtaining information, and communicating with others, which came on top of the motives relevant to the usage of social media, followed by entertainment, education, followed by various motives, including routine etc. Some of the most significant satisfactions achieved through using the social networking sites by the Emirati youth are entertainment and spending leisure time with others.

satisfaction, youth, social network