By:Joe Sousa

Gabriela VieiraEize Vieira

Amy WilliamsAdam SpencerJames Jepsen

Background Information of the Organization under Study

Franklin Pierce University is a small, private, regionally accredited liberal arts university that focuses on personal student attention and high-quality instruction.

The university campus in Rindge has 1,394 undergraduate students and its 391 employees.

Definition of Social Media

Social Media is “forms of electronic communication through which users create online communities to share information, ideas, personal messages, and other content” as defined by Webster’s Dictionary. (1)

Problem Statement

Research is necessary to determine social media usage by Franklin Pierce Community.

Research Objectives

1)Assess the current literature available regarding social media.

2)Determine what social media sites are popular.

3)Determine why popular sites are utilized. 4)Determine how much time users spend

on each site daily.5) Determine the top reasons why Franklin

Pierce Community use social media.

Literature ReviewHistory of Social Media

◦In 1978 The Bulletin Board Systems or (BBS) was created. Messages could be posted and seen by other members online.3

◦AOL changed the social media game with Instant messaging, and real time communication among users in 2003.1

◦Social media was entered into the Webster’s dictionary in 2004.2

Literature review (Cont`d)Social Media Usage

◦A study conducted by the Pew in 2013 found that 70% of all males and 74% of all females that use the Internet, use social media.6

◦The same study also found that 89% of people ages 18-29 use social media while on the Internet.6

◦The study found that 78% of internet users age 30-49 use social media, and 60% of internet users 50 to 64 use social media.6

Literature Review Cont.Social Media Usage

◦A 2012 study conducted by the Pew research group found that 15% of online adults say they use Pinterest,13% of online adults say they use Instagram, 67% of online adults say they use Facebook, 20% of online adults say they use LinkedIn.6

Literature Review Cont.College Students Usage

◦The Pew research study also found that 72% of all college students have a social media profile with 45% of college students using a social media site at least once a day.6

◦Students spent approximately 30 minutes a day socializing, more than 50% of college students go on a social networking site several times a day.6

Literature Review (Cont`d)College Usage

◦A study done by UNH business students found that 96% of UNH students use social media every day.7

◦The same study also found that 96% of students use Facebook, 84% use Youtube, and only 10% use Linkedin.7

◦The study also found that 89% of users use social media for entertainment, 26% for educational use, 16% for professional use, and 5% use it for other means.7

Methodology Problem Identification

◦ We identified the problem when we realized how often both students and faculty use social media

◦We wanted to know the difference in social media usage between the students and faculty.

◦We also wanted to know what students use social media sites for.

Methodology (Cont`d)Development of the survey

◦The survey consists of a variety of 22 questions including, interval scale, open ended, nominal and demographic questions.

◦The questions were revised three times,

1) Our classmates, 2) Professor Jason Little,3) By the Internal Review Board

Methodology (Cont`d)Definition of Population

◦The Community of Franklin Pierce University in Rindge, NH. has about 1737 students’ undergraduate and 111 faculty members.

Sample Size◦Total of 140 both faculty and

students. 70 students (35 Male, 35 Female) 70 Faculty/Staff (35 male, Female)

Methodology (Cont`d)Data Collection Method

◦We used the the non-probability convenience sampling method

◦We also used the Self- administered survey and drop- off survey

◦We collected data during the week of November 4th through the 9th.

Methodology (Cont`d)Assumptions

◦The researchers of this study operated under the assumption that all questionnaire respondents answered all of the questions honestly and accurately.

Limitations◦Time constraints◦Prevented use of probability sampling

method◦Some respondents refused to give their

age, or were not specific.

Social Media SurveyWe are a group of Franklin Pierce University marketing research students conducting research to determine social media usage by the Franklin Pierce community. All responses will be kept confidential and all the data taken from the survey will be reported as aggregate data only. Thank you for helping us with our research. Social media is a term used to describe a variety of Web-based platforms, applications and technologies that enable people to socially interact with one another online. Social media users create online communities to share information, ideas, personal messages, and other content (such as videos).

•1 Which of the following social media sites do you use? (Check all that apply)

__ Facebook (0,1) __ Twitter (0,1) __ Intsagram (0,1) __YouTube (0,1)

__ Vine (0,1) __ LinkedIn (0,1)__ Pinterest (0,1) Other

Never

(1)

Almost Never

(2)

Sometimes

(3)

Almost Always

(4)

Always

(5)

(A)Check News

(B) Catch-up with Friends/Family

(C) Follow Celebrities

(D) Catch-up on Sports

(E) Play Games

(F) Watch Videos/View Photos

(G) Meet New People

(H) Post info. About Yourself

(I) Professional Networking

•2 Please rate how often you complete the following social media tasks:

3 Do you access social media sites on your smart phone?

__Yes (1) __No (2)

4 How often do you use social media sites per week?__ 0 hrs [I do not use social media] (1)

__ Less than 2 hrs (2)__ 2-4 hrs (3)__ 4-6 hrs (4)__ 6-8 hrs (5)__ 8+ hrs (6)

•5 What is your gender? __ Female (1) __ Male (2)

•6 What is your age? __________

•7 I am a: __ Student (1) __ Staff/Faculty Member (2)

Which of the following social media sites do you use?

90% 10%

Facebook?

YesNo

Which of the following social media sites do you use?

51%

49%Twitter?

YesNo

40%

60%

Instagram?

YesNo

Which of the following social media sites do you use?

Which of the following social media sites do you use

74%

26%

Do You Use Youtube?

YesNo

Which of the following social media sites do you use?

23%

77%

Vine?

YesNo

Which of the following social media sites do you use?

32%

68% Linkedln?

YesNo

Which of the following social media sites do you use?

27%

73%

Pinterest?

YesNo

How Often Do You Use Social Media Sites To Check The News?

7% 10%

52%19%

12%

NeverAlmost NeverSometimesAlmost AlwaysAlways

How Often Do You Use Social Media Sites To Catch-up With Friends/ Family?

8%4%

31%

36%

21%NeverAlmost NeverSometimesAlmost AlwaysAlways

How Often Do You Use Social Media Sites To Follow Celebrities?

37%

29%

24%7%

2% NeverAlmost NeverSometimesAlmost AlwaysAlways

How Often Do You Use Social Media Sites To Catch-up On Sports?

26%20%30%

14%

9%NeverAlmost NeverSometimesAlmost AlwaysAlways

How Often Do You Use Social Media Sites To Play Games?

34%

24%24%

13%5%

NeverAlmost NeverSometimesAlmost AlwaysAlways

How Often Do you use Social media Sites To Watch Videos/View Photos?

9%9%

37%29%

16%

NeverAlmost NeverSometimesAlmost AlwaysAlways

How Often Do You Use Social Media Sites To Meet New People?

31%

26%32%

7%4%

NeverAlmost NeverSometimesAlmost AlwaysAlways

How Often Do You Use Social Media Sites To Post About Yourself?

16%

25%44%

12%3%

NeverAlmost NeverSometimesAlmost AlwaysAlways

How Often Do You Use Social media Sites To Do Professional Networking?

26%

21%40%

6% 6%

NeverAlmost NeverSometimesAlmost AlwaysAlways

Do You Access Social Media on Your Smart Phone ?

64%

36%YesNo

How Often Do you Use Social Media Sites per Week?

4% 15%

19%28%

17%

17%0hrs or I do not useLess than 2hrs2-4 hrs4-6hrs6-8 hrs8+ hrs

What Is Your Age?

18 20 22 24 26 28 31 33 38 41 47 50 52 54 58 60 64 690

5

10

15

20

25

Frequency

Cross tabulation

I am A: Student or Faculty/Staff Member? * How Often Do You Use Social Media Sites Per Week? Cross tabulation

CountHow Often Do You Use Social Media Sites Per Week? Total

0 hrs [I do not use

social media]

Less Than 2 hrs

2-4 hrs

4-6 hrs 6-8 hrs 8+ hrs

I am A: Student or Faculty/Staff Member?

Student 0 4 11 26 13 16 70

Staff/Faculty Member 5 17 16 13 11 8 70

Total 5 21 27 39 24 24 140

What Is Your Gender? * How Often Do You Use Social Media Sites Per Week? Cross tabulation

CountHow Often Do You Use Social Media Sites Per

Week?Total

0 hrs [I do not

use social media]

Less Than 2

hrs

2-4 hrs

4-6 hrs

6-8 hrs

8+ hrs

What Is Your Gender?

Female 5 8 11 19 11 14 68

Male 0 13 16 20 13 10 72

Total 5 21 27 39 24 24 140

Discussion• All students surveyed

responded that they used social media at least once a week.

• 7% of Faculty said that they do not use social media at least once a week.

• 24% of Faculty said that they use social media for less than 2 hours a week.

• 37% of Students said that they use social media 4 to 6 hours a week.

Discussion Cont.When we compared our results to the

results of a 2012 survey at UNH, the results were similar.

The UNH Survey found that 96% of students used Facebook, 84% used YouTube, 20% went on Blog Sites, 14% used Twitter, 12% used MySpace, and 10% used LinkedIn.

We found that the Franklin Pierce community used Facebook the most (90%), then Youtube (74%), Twitter (51%), Instagram (40%), LinkedIn (32%), Pinterest (27%), and Vine (23%).

Conclusion Our first research objective focused on

assessing how effective the current literature related to the Franklin Pierce community in terms of usage of social media.

The information we found in our Literature review, including previous studies on college use of social media, was incredibly similar to the information we gathered in our survey.

Conclusion Con’tOur second research objective was

focused on determining, which social media site(s) are popular in the Franklin Pierce community.

We found that the Franklin Pierce community used Facebook the most (90%), then Youtube (74%), Twitter (51%), Instagram (40%), LinkedIn (32%), Pinterest (27%), and Vine (23%).

Conclusion Con’t Our third research objective was aimed at determining

what factors make these popular social media sites be utilized by the Franklin Pierce community.

Through our research we were able to conclude that the Franklin Pierce community uses their favorite social media site too

Check news (52% Always) Catch up with Friends/ Family (36% almost never) Follow celebrates (37% Never) Catch up on Sports (30% sometimes) Play games (34% never) Watch videos/ view photos (37% sometimes) Meet new People (32% sometimes) Post about themselves (44% sometimes) Professional Networking (40% sometimes)

Conclusion Con’tOur fourth research objective of

assessing how much time the Franklin Pierce community spends on each popular social media site daily.

Through our research we were able to conclude that the Franklin Pierce community spends most of their time on social media at 4-6 hours (28%), with 2-4 hours (19%), 6-8 hours (17%), 8 plus hours (17%), less than 2 hours (15%), and other or non use only (4%).

Conclusion Con’tOur last research objective focused on the

top reasons the Franklin Pierce community used these social media sites.

Our conclusion after doing research was that the three most common reasons the Franklin Pierce community used social media sites were to check the news (52% always), catch up with friends and family (21% always and 36% almost always), and watch videos/view photos (16% always).

Recommendations• We recommend that if

teachers are trying to get in touch with students they should consider using Facebook.

• If Franklin Pierce wants to get campus news or to spread word about an event we recommend they use Facebook or Twitter.

References• 1.Cao, Y., Ajjan, H., & Hong, P. (2013). Using

social media applications for educational outcomes in college teaching: A structural equation analysis. British Journal Of Educational Technology, 44(4), 581-593. doi:10.1111/bjet.12066

• 2. Gray, R., Vitak, J., Easton, E. W., & Ellison, N. B. (2013). Examining social adjustment to college in the age of social media: Factors influencing successful transitions and persistence. Computers & Education, 67193-207. doi:10.1016/j.compedu.2013.02.021

• 3. Greenwood, G. (2012). Examining the Presence of Social Media on University Web Sites. Journal Of College Admission, (216), 24-28.

References Cont.4. Sponcil, M., & Gitimu, P. (2013). Use of

social media by college students: Relationship to communication and self-concept. Journal Of Technology Research, 41-13.

5. Wohn, D., Ellison, N. B., Khan, M., Fewins-Bliss, R., & Gray, R. (2013). The role of social media in shaping first-generation high school students' college aspirations: A social capital lens. Computers & Education, 63424-436. doi:10.1016j.compedu.2013.01.004

References Cont.(6) Brenner, J., et al (2012) The

Pew Research Study Social Media Full Report, Pew Research Group

(7) Annese, J., et al. (2012)Social Networking Usage and Grades among College Students, UNH Whittemore School of Business