EXPERIENCES IN FACEBOOK USAGE AMONG NURSING STUDENTS OF LICEO DE CAGAYAN UNIVERSITY

A Thesis Presented to

The Faculty of the College of Nursing Liceo de Cagayan University

In Partial Fulfillment Of the Requirements for the Degree College of Nursing

By

Bontilao, Shane Janry Rosales Dejarme, Dave Marinay Gante, Nelly Anne Birol Gines, Rjane Ann Mercado Jimenez, Krista Rikka Labide Romarate, Ken Michael Cortez

September 2011

Introduction Facebook has more than 750 million active users. 50% of the active users log on to Facebook in any given day. Average user has 130 friends. People spend over 700 billion minutes per month on Facebook. There are over 900 million objects that people interact with (pages, groups, events and community pages). Average user is connected to 80 community pages, groups and events. Average user creates 90 pieces of content each month. More than 30 billion pieces of content (web links, news stories, blog posts, notes, photo albums, etc.) shared each month. (http://www.facebook.com/press/info.php? statistics) Facebook is a social networking website. It is an online communitya place where people can meet and interact; swap photos, videos, and other information; and generally connect with friends, family, coworkers, fellow students, fellow hobbyists and enthusiasts, and numerous others in their social network. Facebook connects people within cities or regions, work or school, home or abroad, and so on. Built on architecture of profile pages that allow individual users to share information about themselves and communicate with others, Facebook seeks to create an environment in which members log in regularly to keep track of what friends and colleagues are doing, share their own activities, interact about interests and hobbies, send messages, and join groups and networks. Facebook is a social networking website that is operated and privately owned by Facebook, Inc. Users can join networks organized by city, workplace, school, and region. People can also add friends and send them messages, and update their personal profiles to notify friends about themselves. (http://www.indometric.com/introduction-to-facebook/) At its heart, Facebook is all about connecting people with people. Facebook users do a variety of things with the site: track news about friends far and wide; make new friends centered around common interests; share photos, music, links, and videos; organize and invite people to events; play games; spread the word about charities and causes; buy and sell stuff; market products; and much, much more. As a website, Facebook is accessible to all Internet users, where permitted. In addition to connecting people, third-party developers are creating a wide variety of applicationsprograms that run within the Facebook

frameworkto entertain and inform. Applications range from the silly to the serious, and new ones are added each day. What makes Facebook such a huge hit is its features and tools, and the willingness of its users to network with each other in their communities locally and globally.

(http://www.indometric.com/introduction-to-facebook/) Facebook has many popular features. No wonder many students really take their time to surf the net, log-in to their facebook account and enjoy themselves socializing with their online facebook friends. Users are able to search for friends and acquaintances by e-mail address, school, university, or just by typing in a name or location for search. They can also chat with their online friends and do things with ease. A popular feature on Facebook is the ability to share photographs uploaded from a phone, camera, or hard drive. Users of Facebook can share news stories, video, and other files with friends. Founded in February 2004, Facebook is a social utility that helps people communicate more efficiently with their friends, family and coworkers. The company develops technologies that facilitate the sharing of information through the social graph, the digital mapping of people's real-world social connections. Anyone can sign up for Facebook and interact with the people they know in a trusted environment. The study was conducted by the researchers because of the fact that facebook now has 7.5 million registered users worldwide and is seventh among the more accessed sites in the U.S. Furthermore, facebook is now one of the most popular social networking sites for todays students (Cuesta, 2006). Furthermore, this social network is also being utilized by some students in the campus. This study aims to conduct a survey on experiences of facebook usage among student nurses from Level 1 to Level 4 enrolled in summer 2010 at Liceo de Cagayan University, College of Nursing.

Conceptual Framework The study is anchored on several theories related to media and social networking. Jeff Korhans Social Networking Theory states that the social networks are shaping our offline behavior. We have been conditioned to take advantage of every opportunity to learn more about each other. And best of all, we are more willing to accept and even embrace diversity in all of its forms and this leads to greater levels of discovery, which of course leads to more exploration and even more connections. Facebook aims to make new connections and to sustain those relationships they already have. Libertarian Theory is just in contrast to the authoritarian approach to media. Here media enjoys an absolute freedom of expression. Its prominent features go like this:

Competitive exposure of alternative viewpoints. It is accountable to the law for any consequences of its activities that infringe other individuals rights or the legitimate claims of the society. The protection of dignity, reputation, property, privacy, moral development of individuals, groups, minorities, evens the security of the state no infringement accepted from media. Such an extensive freedom is also a problem as all people have the right to speak and receive information freely, but no one takes responsibility of the wrong doings. The ethics in multicultural or pluralistic societies vary from place to place; hence there is always complaint against the media of each others society.

Research Flow

PROFILE IN TERMS OF: - number of hours of usage - frequency of usage - purposes/ reasons of using - activities in Facebook

EXPERIENCES OF FACEBOOK USAGE

GAPS AND CHALLENGES

Figure 1: The schematic diagram showing the research flow of our study

Objectives of the Study

The study specifically aimed to: 1. To determine the profile of the users in terms of number of hours of usage, frequency of usage, purposes or reasons of using and activities in facebook. 2. To describe the experiences of using Facebook in terms of physical, mental, emotional, social, and spiritual. 3. To identify gaps and challenges of the study.

Literature Review According to research conducted by Indian researchers, students who are logged on to Facebook while studying get significantly lower grades than those who do not, according to psychologists. A study has found that the exam results of those who used the social networking site while working, even if it was on in the background, were 20 per cent lower than non-users. It was observed that the Facebook users had a typical grade point average - a score from zero up to four - of 3.06. Non-users had an average GPA of 3.82. Those who did not use the site also said they devoted more time to studying, spending an average of 88 per cent longer working outside class. (http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com) A new study conducted by The University of New Hampshire shows that spending time on Social Media sites does not affect the academic performance of students. Despite the ongoing concern of Facebook addiction, it doesnt appear to have a negative impact on school performance. These findings contradict previous studies which suggested the exact opposite. The results showed that 63% of heavy users got A and B grades, as compared to the 65% light users who got A and B grades. Similarly 37% of heavy users received lower than B grades, as compared to the 35% of light users who got low grades. Perhaps this was the only surprising finding of the study. The result of top destination for students had no surprises and revealed that Facebook and Youtube were most visited sites, with 96% of the students using Facebook and 84% using Youtube. Another important finding of the study is that students primarily use social media sites for social or entertainment purposes, as compared to educational or professional

reasons. 89% of the students said that they use the sites for social interactions, where as 79% visit the sites for entertainment. This is in sharp contrast with the 29% who use these sites for educational purposes and 16% who use it for professional interactions. (www.allfacebook.com/facebook-addictiongrades-2010-02) Researchers found that students who use the popular networking site spend less time studying and have lower grade point averages compared to those not on Facebook. When it came to academic achievement, Facebook users surveyed had GPAs between 3.0 and 3.5, a B, compared to non-users with GPAs between 3.5 and 4.0, an A, said Ms. Karpinski. What's more, researchers found those on Facebook spent one-to-five hours a week studying compared to their non-Facebook-using counterparts who devoted between 11 and 15 hours weekly to hitting the books. When asked whether Facebook had an impact on their academic performance, 79 per cent of Facebook users said it didn't. Students also said it was not having an impact on their grades because they weren't using it frequently enough even though nearly 65 per cent said they use their account daily or multiple times daily, Ms. Karpinski said. While not drawing a direct causal link between Facebook and academic achievement, researchers found the disconnect between qualitative and quantitative findings are "cause for concern."

(www.globecampus.ca/.../facebook-may-affect-grades-study-suggests) Facebook users have lower overall grades than non-users, according to a survey of college students who also ironically said the social networking site does not interfere with studying. That disconnect between perception and reality does not necessarily mean that Facebook leads to less studying and worse grades -- the grades association could be caused by something else. However, it does raise more questions about how students spend their time outside class on activities such as Facebook, parttime jobs and extracurricular activities. Her study found that Facebook user GPAs were in the 3.0 to 3.5 range on average, compared to 3.5 to 4.0 for non-users. Facebook users also studied anywhere from one to five hours per week, compared to non-users who studied 11 to 15 or more hours per week. However, Karpinski emphasized that correlation does not equal causation, meaning Facebook use might not be the culprit behind lower GPAs or less study time. For instance, students who spend more time enjoying

themselves rather than studying might tend to latch onto the nearest distraction, such as Facebook. Or students who use the social networking site might also spend more time on other non-studying activities such as sports or music. The study did show that students who work more hours at jobs spend less time on Facebook, while students involved in more extracurricular activities were also more likely to use Facebook. (http://www.livescience.com/3495-facebook-users-worse-grades-college.html) Another study conducted by the researchers from University of Colombo stated that Seventy nine percent of university students are using Facebook with an average usage of one to two hours per day. It had been found out that the use of Facebook had a strong association to maintaining or solidifying existing offline relationships, as opposed to meeting new people through the network. (Steinfield et al., 2008). The types of people who are involved in online relationships via Facebook tend to be those who are willing to communicate in real life rather than the opposite. These individuals also have more Facebook friends. This is an interesting finding; it suggests that reasons for Facebook use may be more similar to reasons for face-to-face communication rather than for mediated communication. (Pavica Sheldon, 2008). Freshers at university rapidly get involved in Social networking sites. This may help them to relieve loneliness, where they are moving away from home and into the university. (Steinfield et al, 2008). This indicates that there is a tendency to get addicted when something new introduced but with time users return to normal although some may not who anyway having addiction as an internal problem Internet use may become addictive (Kandell,J.J, 1998 and Young, 1998). The commonest purposes of Facebook usage are, to learn about events, to share information about their selves, for academic purposes, to post or view pictures, for marketing purposes, to keep in touch with old friends, to keep in touch with current friends, to locate old friends, to build up romantic relationships, to make new friends, for chatting. Among these, Facebook is mostly used to keep in touch with old friends and current friends. Building up romantic relationships and marketing purposes were less common comparing to others.

Significance of the Study This study is significant to the following populations: DEAN and ACADEMIC CHAIRMEN. The results of this study will guide them on planning the educational needs of nursing students and to improve academic performance and hopefully increase their passing chances in the nursing subjects and eventually, the board examinations. LDCU ADMINISTRATORS. The findings of the study will provide insights to the administrators in formulating policies on facebook usage in the campus. STUDENTS. The findings of this study will identify the advantages and disadvantages of using facebook and other social networking sites. PARENTS. The study will provide information to the parents about the different implications of facebook usage to their children. FACULTY. The result of this study will be the baseline for crafting guidelines in the utilization and enhancement of the social networking sites for better relationship and communication among faculty and students. FUTURE RESEARCHERS. This study will serve as the basis for future study using other variables.

Scope and Limitation of the study This study is focused on determining the number of hours, frequency, activities and purposes of facebook usage among selected nursing students of Liceo de Cagayan University. Furthermore, the study also described the experiences of using Facebook in terms of physical, mental, emotional, social, and spiritual well-being. The researchers utilized a self-made questionnaire in order to gather data using convenient sampling. It involved 157 selected nursing students (which is 10% of the total population.) of Liceo de Cagayan University regardless of their year levels which includes 27 respondents from Level 1, 40 respondents from Level 2, 56 respondents from Level 3, and 34 respondents from Level 4.

Methodology Research Design This study utilized the descriptive type of research to determine the duration of facebook usage among selected nursing students of Liceo de Cagayan University. This design was appropriate in the study because the purpose of the study is to describe, observe and document aspects as it naturally occurs through utilization of a survey form questionnaire. Research Setting The Liceo de Cagayan University is a non-sectarian university in Cagayan de Oro City. Currently it has 11 colleges and 5 departments. The main campus of Liceo de Cagayan University is situated near the Cagayan de Oro River and La Castilla in Barangay Kauswagan. It is composed of 7 Buildings namely: North Academic Cluster, South Academic Cluster, Heritage Building, Liceo Civic Center, Arts and Science Building, Rodelsa Hall, Elsa P. Pelaez Memorial Library.

(http://www.liceo.edu.ph/index.php/about-ldcu.html) Today, Liceo de Cagayan University is complete with three (3) curricular levels and offers various fields of studies, one which is Bachelor of Science in Nursing, the most populated Department where the respondents of this study is focused. (Gaerlan, et al, 2005). This study was conducted in the North Academic Cluster (NAC) building where the College of Nursing is located since the respondents of this study are selected students from the said department.

Respondents and sampling procedure From a universe of nursing students at Liceo de Cagayan University, the researchers selected a significant number of students to be considered as the target population for this study. These students were used to as the respondents of the said research paper. This study used accidental or convenient sampling wherein the researchers used the most readily available or the most convenient group of people as study respondents, selecting a total of 157 (10% of the total population) nursing students of LDCU as respondents for the said research regardless of their year levels. Research Ethics For respondents rights to be safeguarded and utmost cooperation to be gained, an informed consent was secured. It contained an explanation of what the study was all about, its objectives, and most especially, it included an assurance that all information the respondents were writing on the questionnaires were treated with confidentiality. Data gathering procedure The researchers first secured the Dean's approval for the study to be conducted. A letter of request was sent to the office of the Dean. Upon approval, data was gathered using a self-made survey tool to be given to the respondents. The instrument was composed of questions where in respondents were going to select their answers from the given options. There was also a part in the questionnaire where in the respondents described their selves in the human aspects being asked. The data collection was done during break time in the classroom, cafeteria, lobby, main library and places where some nursing students usually took their chatting section. The data collected were interpreted and results were drawn after analysis.

Results and Discussion Table 1 shows the profile of nursing students of Liceo de Cagayan University from Level 1 to Level 4. Most of the respondents are coming from the 3rd year level which is 35.67% of the total respondents. It is followed by the Level 2 which is 25.48% of the total respondents, then followed by Level 4 which has the percentage of 21.66%. Level 1 has the least number of respondents which is 17.19% of the total facebook users.
Table 1. Profile of Respondents INDICATORS LEVEL 1 LEVEL 2 LEVEL 3 LEVEL 4 TOTAL FREQUENCY 27 40 56 34 157 PERCENTAGE (%) 17.19% 25.48% 35.67% 21.66% 100%

Table 1.1 shows the number of hours of facebook usage of the respondents. It shows that 4 (2.54%) of the respondents uses facebook for less than an hour; a total of 79 (50.32%) of the respondents spends 1-2 hours for using facebook; 46 (29.30%) of the respondents uses facebook at about 3-4 hours; 25 (15.92%) of the respondents spends 5-6 hours using facebook; 1 (0.66%) respondent uses facebook for about 8-10hours; and 2 (1.26%) respondents uses facebook 24 hours. Average facebook usage of a student per day is 1 to 2 hours. (http://www.functioninghuman.info/component/content/article/1-articles/22-facebook-usage-amonguniversity-students-and-its-association-to-their-psychological-and-social-well). Table 1.2 presents the frequency the respondents use facebook. It shows that 71 (45.22%) of the respondents has a facebook usage frequency of 2x/week; 39 (24.84%) of the respondents uses facebook

4x/week; 24 (15.29%) of the respondents uses facebook 7x/week; and 23 (14.65%) of the respondents says that they use facebook on an irregular basis.
Table 1.1 Number of Hours of Facebook Usage INDICATORS Less than an hour 1-2 hours 3-4 hours 5-6 hours 8-10 hours 24 hours TOTAL FREQUENCY 4 79 46 25 1 2 157 PERCENTAGE (%) 2.54% 50.32% 29.30% 15.92% 0.66% 1.26% 100%

Table 1.3 presents the purposes or reasons why the respondents use facebook. 130 (42.35%) of the respondents say that their purpose of facebook usage is for communication and 128 (41.69%) of the respondents say they use facebook for socialization. The next one is shockingly for Stalking purposes coming from 27 (8.79%) respondents. Next is for dating with a total of 16 (5.22%) of the respondents. And for other purposes such as entertainment, business, etc, they have 6 (1.95%) respondents.
Table1.2 Frequency of Facebook Usage INDICATORS 2 times/ week 4 times/ week 7 times/ week Others TOTAL FREQUENCY 71 39 24 23 157 PERCENTAGE (%) 45.22% 24.84% 15.29% 14.65% 100%

The commonest purposes of Facebook usage are, to learn about events, to share information about their selves, for academic purposes, to post or view pictures, for marketing purposes, to keep in touch with old friends, to keep in touch with current friends, to locate old friends, to build up romantic relationships, to make new friends, for chatting. Among these, Facebook is mostly used to keep in touch with old friends and current friends. Building up romantic relationships and marketing purposes were less common comparing to others (http://www.functioninghuman.info/component/content/article/1-

articles/22-facebook-usage-among-university-students-and-its-association-to-their-psychological-andsocial-well).
Table 1.3 Purposes of Using Facebook INDICATORS Socialization Communication Dating Stalking Others Entertainment Business Online shopping FREQUENCY 128 130 16 27 6 4 1 1 PERCENTAGE (%) 41.69% 42.35% 5.22% 8.79% 1.95% RANK 2nd 1st 4th 3rd 5th

TOTAL

307

100%

Table 1.4 is a tabular presentation of the results for Activities done in Facebook. Whats usually done is chatting that includes sending/receiving messages, files, and documents from 144 (35.73%) respondents. The second is with uploading pictures having 128 (31.76%) respondents. Next activity commonly done is playing games in facebook with a frequency of 73 (18.11%) respondents. Uploading videos is next with 55 (13.65%) respondents and other activities like for business purposes etc, have a frequency of 3 (0.75%) respondents.

Table 1.4 Activities done in Facebook INDICATORS Playing games Chatting/ sending messages Uploading pictures Uploading videos Others Business Viewing notifications FREQUENCY 73 144 128 55 3 2 1 PERCENTAGE (%) 18.11% 35.73% 31.76% 13.65% 0.75% RANK 3rd 1st 2nd 4th 5th

TOTAL

403

100%

Table 2 is a presentation of the findings for Experiences of using facebook in terms of physical, mental, emotional, social, and spiritual. For the physical aspect, those who experienced effects whether bad or good were 63 (8.03%) and there were 94 (11.97%) who said there was no effect. For the mental aspect, 60 (7.64%) said they experienced mental effects from facebook usage. Some said they are addicted to facebook because of its popular features. No wonder many students really take their time to surf the net, log-in to their facebook account and enjoy themselves socializing with their online facebook friends. Users are able to search for friends and acquaintances by e-mail address, school, university, or just by typing in a name or location for search. They can also chat with their online friends and do things with ease. A popular feature on Facebook is the ability to share photographs uploaded from a phone, camera, or hard drive. Users of Facebook can share news stories, video, and other files with friends. Internet use may become addictive (Kandell,J.J, 1998 and Young, 1998) or users may have the tendency to get addicted when something new introduced but with time users return to normal although some may not who anyway having addiction as an internal problem. On the other hand, 97 (12.36%) said there was
Table 2. Effects of facebook to the respondents in terms of physical, mental, emotional, social, and spiritual

FREQUENCY PHYSICAL With effect No effect MENTAL With effect No effect EMOTIONAL With effect No effect SOCIAL With effect No effect SPIRITUAL With effect No effect TOTAL: 25 132 785 94 63 51 106 60 97 63 94

PERCENTAGE (%)

8.03% 11.97%

7.64% 12.36%

6.50% 13.50%

11.97% 8.03%

3.18% 16.82% 100%

no mental effect of facebook. There were about 51 (6.50%) who had effects on the emotional aspect such as becoming emotionally secured. This finding is supported by the study that states Freshers at university rapidly get involved in Social networking sites. This may help them to relieve loneliness, where they are moving away from home and into the university. (Steinfield et al, 2008), 106 (13.50%) had none. As for social effects, 94 (11.97%) said they were affected socially by helping them to keep in touch with old friends, to keep in touch with current friends, to locate old friends, to build up romantic relationships, to make new friends, for chatting. Among these, Facebook is mostly used to keep in touch with old friends and current friends, and 63 (8.03%) had none. The types of people who are involved in online relationships via Facebook tend to be those who are willing to communicate in real life rather than the opposite. These individuals also have more Facebook friends. This is an interesting finding; it suggests

that reasons for Facebook use may be more similar to reasons for face-to-face communication rather than for mediated communication. (Pavica Sheldon, 2008). And for the spiritual aspect, 25 (3.18%) said there was an effect and a total of 132 (16.82%) had none. There were a total of 157 respondents who took up the survey. This study has identified the gaps and challenges experienced by the respondents. Many facebook users stated that internet connection can affect their mood while having facebook. If the internet connection is low, they are irritable and bad-tempered because according to them, it can impede their concentration in doing the activities in this social network. Many also said that using facebook can cause them some physical problems or symptoms like headache, pain on both eyes, tiredness, drowsiness and dizziness especially when they are doing facebook longer than the average number of hours it should be done or longer than their body can tolerate the radiation coming from the computer. They sometimes skipped their meals and became very hungry because they forgot to take their meal due to too much time they spend on facebook. Most of the respondents mentioned the effect of money on the frequency of their facebook usage. The more money they have, the more time and frequent they can spend in using Facebook. Some of the respondents also cited the effects of facebook in their study habits. Because of frequent facebook usage, they had less time spent in studying which led to reduction of their grades in a certain subject they were enrolled. This sustains the study conducted by some researchers that students who use the popular networking site spend less time studying compared to those not on Facebook. This also supports the study conducted by Indian researchers that states students who are logged on to Facebook while studying get significantly lower grades than those who do not. This finding contradicts the study conducted by the University of New Hampshire which shows that spending time on Social Media sites does not affect the academic performance of students. Despite the ongoing concern of Facebook addiction, it doesnt appear to have a negative impact on school performance.

CONCLUSION In the light of the above findings, the following conclusions are drawn:

1. That most of the nursing students spends 1-2 hours using facebook twice per week mainly for socialization and communication through chatting. 2. That most of the respondents say that facebook has a social effect to their lives. 3. Gaps and challenges identified are as follows: . Many facebook users stated that internet connection can affect their mood while having facebook. . Many also said that using facebook can cause them some physical problems or symptoms like headache, pain on both eyes, tiredness, drowsiness and dizziness. . They sometimes skipped their meals and became very hungry because they forgot to take their meal due to too much time they spend on facebook . Most of the respondents mentioned the effect of money on the frequency of their facebook usage. . Because of frequent facebook usage, they had less time spent in studying which led to reduction of their grades in a certain subject they were enrolled. Recommendations Based on the significant findings and conclusions of the study, the following recommendations are offered for consideration: 1. That the college, faculty, staff and students can utilize facebook for announcement and communication purposes. 2. That students should control and limit their time in using facebook. 3. That this study be a basis for further studies to include more specific ideas about the effects of facebook in the biopsychosocial aspect of the individual.

Bibliography

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/ http://www.indometric.com/introduction-to-facebook/ www.allfacebook.com/facebook-addiction-grades-2010-02 www.globecampus.ca/.../facebook-may-affect-grades-study-suggests http://www.livescience.com/3495-facebook-users-worse-grades-college.html http://www.liceo.edu.ph/index.php/about-ldcu.html http://www.facebook.com/press/info.php?statistics http://www.hgb-leipzig.de/ARTNINE/huber/writings/internete.html http://www.functioninghuman.info/component/content/article/1-articles/22-facebook-usage-amonguniversity-students-and-its-association-to-their-psychological-and-social-well The New Oxford American Dictionary; 2nd Ed.; M ckean, Erin; Oxford University Press; 2008; pp.1269

American Psychological Association Dictionary of Psychology; VandenBos. Gary R.; 1st Ed; P.5 Collins Concise Dictionary; The Bank of English Harper Collins Publisher; 4th Ed.; 1999; p.835 Gaerlan, Jessica Mae A. et al (2005). Factors Affecting the Academic Performance of Selected Nursing Students of Liceo de Cagayan University.

SURVEY TOOL

EXPERIENCES IN FACEBOOK USAGE AMONG NURSING STUDENTS OF LICEO DE CAGAYAN UNIVERSITY S.Y: Level [ ] 1 [ ]2

[]3 []4

1. What is the purpose of using Facebook [ ] socialization [ ] communication [ ] Dating [ ] stalking [ ] others, pls. specify: ______________________________________________________________ 2. Activities in Facebook: [ ] playing games [ ] chatting [ ] Uploading pictures [ ] uploading videos [ ] others, pls. specify: _______________________________________________________________ 3. How much time do you spent using Facebook? [ ] 1-2 hours 2 times a week [ ] 3-4 hours 4 times a week [ ] 5-6 hours 7 times a week [ ] Others, please specify; ________________ 4) How did Facebook affect your life in these following aspects: Physical: ___________________________________________________________ Mental:_____________________________________________________________ Emotional:__________________________________________________________ Social:______________________________________________________________ Spiritual:____________________________________________________________