Social Media Tools for the Development of Pre-Service Health Sciences Researchers during COVID-19 in Pakistan

The development of health sciences researchers has immense significance during a pandemic to control, manage, and prevent future outbreaks of the disease. This study focused on the use of social media tools (SMT) among pre-service health sciences researchers to complement their research competencies (RCT) and research completion levels (RC) during COVID-19. This study used the Vitae research development framework (RDF) to measure research competencies as a mediator between the use of social media tools and research completion levels among post-graduate health sciences students. A cross-section survey research approach was adopted to collect data from the post-graduate students (n = 410) enrolled in health sciences departments at universities in Pakistan. The SmartPLS 3.3.8 software was used to analyze data through Partial least square structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM). The results revealed that different social media tools such as communication, information management, and multimedia have a direct influence on the research competencies of the pre-service researchers and have an indirect effect on the research completion levels. Health sciences institutions may devise social-media-based instructional strategies to develop post-graduate students’ research competencies, such as personal effectiveness, research governance, and research engagement, to help them compile their research and complete their degree program in time during an emergency.

Breaking Physical Barriers With Mobile Technologies

Considering the growing popularity of mobile technologies and therefore social media tools, the idea of this study is not to promote or romanticise a social media tool but to explore the potential of social media for educational use by presenting a specific example. The study also aims to bring a deeper understanding of how mobile applications could be used to foster language education and consider their possible potential in education. Unlike the common trend investigating English vocabulary in the field, this study does not expose students to word lists but attempts to support the curriculum that students have to follow in their formal education. In this context, this chapter suggests an example of going beyond the physical constraint of language classroom by providing learners informal opportunities to practise English outside school in various contexts by using one of the most popular tools, namely WhatsApp.

E-Participation in Developing Countries

This chapter on e-participation in developing countries uses Cameroon as a case study to demonstrate the realities of practicing Web 2.0 and social media tools to drive collaborative initiatives between government agencies and citizens in developing countries. The case study was guided by the incentives for e-participation using social media technologies, the tools used by a government to drive such initiatives, the level of participation from citizens, and the challenges and risks faced in implementing these technologies. A study of Cameroon's National Social Insurance Fund (NSIF) confirmed the main incentives of e-participation initiatives in developing countries and the major challenges they face in implementing them.

Social Media Use and Expectations in the Teaching and Learning Process: The Opinions of the Faculty Members

Nowadays, social media tools used in all fields such as politics, health, economy, transportation, public services are also used in the learning and teaching process. The main aim of this research is to investigate academic administrators’ and faculty members’ perceptions concerning the reasons and the expectations of social media usage in the teaching and learning process. With this purpose, semi-structured interviews were carried out with 20 academic teaching faculty members from different academic units, titles, and positions at Aksaray University in Turkey. According to the findings of this research, the use of social media in the teaching and learning process was similar in terms of faculty that use or not use. In this study, both the benefits and challenges of using social media for teaching and learning purposes were identified. It has been determined that the faculty members who use social media prefer YouTube most and even the ones against find YouTube useful and use them effectively in their courses. The motives stated by the faculty that use social media were; student-centered reasons such as students’ preference to use these environments, contributing to students’ perceptions and learning, fast and effective communication with students, as well as accessibility and equal opportunities in education. Those who do not prefer to use social media claimed the students’ unethical behavior in these platforms, the difficulty of creating a traditional classroom environment, and maintaining the relationship between the learner and the teacher. As a result, in order to integrate social media tools with the teaching and learning process, it is necessary to raise awareness of faculty members and students and to use social media tools that have a code of ethics, appropriate and can be integrated into the learning environments.

Choice, Purchase Decision and Post-Purchase Dissonance: The Social Media Perspective

Social media tools have emerged as an imperative source of information for customers. However, the relationship between information volume on social media and consumer choice quality remains blurred in literature. The study sought to examine the relationship between choice overload on social media and product choice quality, and how choice quality influences post-purchase dissonance. The study employed a positivist research paradigm and an explanatory design to examine the relationship between the various constructs. Using a purposive sampling method, Responses from 249 respondents were quantitatively analyzed. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was utilized. The outcome revealed a direct significant effect of choice overload on poor choice quality and a strong positive association between choice quality and post-purchase dissonance using social media tools. The distinctiveness of the study adds to the existing literature by extending the current understanding of post-purchase dissonance and consumer behavior in general.

Digital librarianship practice and open access technology use for sustainable development in Nigeria

Purpose The continuous advancement in technology has disrupted practices in many sectors, including education. Thus, this study aims to examine digital librarianship practice and open access technology use for sustainable development in Nigeria. Design/methodology/approach The survey type of descriptive research design was adopted in this study while the population of the study comprised librarians in universities in Delta State. A total of 38 randomly selected librarians from four universities in Delta State were used for this study, and the data collected were analysed using descriptive statistics. Findings This study revealed that the level of digital librarianship practice in university libraries in Delta State for sustainable development is low; just as social media tools, open source integrated library systems and Google Cloud Platforms are the most commonly used open access technologies in the libraries. Furthermore, this study showed that perennial factors such as poor funding of education, inadequate quality educational infrastructure, mismanagement of education fund among others are hindrance to sustainable development in the country’s educational sector. Research limitations/implications This study is limited in its use of only one state (out of 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja) in Nigeria for this research. Also, social desirability bias on the part of the respondents could have influenced the pattern in which the respondents reacted to items in section D. Practical implications This study has practical implications for the sensitization and training of librarians towards leveraging on the various open access technologies in delivering effective library and information services required in the Fourth Industrial revolution. Originality/value This study seeks to pioneer a new area of focus by examining digital librarianship practice and open access technology use as enablers of sustainable development.

EFFECTS OF SOCIAL MEDIA TOOLS ON STUDENT BEHAVIOR

The aim of the survey is to express the effects of social media tools on student‟s behavior.The research is a qualitative one designed with phenomenology method.The working group of the research consists of 25 branch teachers working in secondary schools in Bursa, Yıldırım district in the 2018-2019 academic year.Participants were selected by purposeful sampling method. A semi-structured interview form consisting of five questions prepared by the researchers was used to collect data in the study.In this context, teachers were asked what their opinions were on the effects of social media on student attitudes and behaviors, the effect of social media on students 'acquisition of bad habits, the effect of social media on students' expressing their thoughts freely, the effect of social media use on students 'academic achievement, and the effect of social media use on students' socialization. When the results of the research are investigated, 19 of the teachers participating in the research expressed that social media has a minus effect on student attitudes and behaviors, 5 have both positive and negative effects, also 1 have an assertive effect;24 of them stated that social media is effective in students' adopting poor habits, 1 of them has no effect;21 of them denoted that social media had an effect on students' expressing their thoughts freely, 4 of them had no effect;11 of them stated that the use of social media has a positive effect on the academic success of the student, 11 of them have a negative effect on academic success, 3 of them can have both positive and negative effects;11 of them stated that the use of social media has no effect on socialization of students, 8 of them stated that it has an effect, and 6 of them are undecided about this issue. Keywords: Social Media, Social Media Tools, Teacher, Student.

Social Media Use among University Students in Malaysia during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Social media tools for communication, such as Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, or YouTube, have become important with the development of information and communication technology. In the field of higher education, university students are increasingly using social media to study and live. Consequently, university students and social media use have become a research topic of practical significance. Scholars in Malaysia have investigated this issue, and the results abound. However, few scholars have reviewed the research results of social media use among university students in Malaysia. By using the literature research method, this study reviews the latest research findings on social media use among students, especially during the COVID-19 outbreak. This study summarizes the collected literature into three themes: first, the relationship between social media use and academic performance of university students; second, the social media addiction of university students; and third, the relationship between social media use and mental health of university students. Simultaneously, this study presents the ways of thinking and contributions of scholars to address the aforementioned issues. Finally, this study critically examines the research limitations and blind spots, as they need further exploration by scholars and can serve as innovative points of this topic.

Vaccine hesitancy and behavior change theory-based social media interventions: a systematic review

It is widely acknowledged that vaccine hesitancy is a multifaceted problem that cannot be addressed by a single strategy. Behavior change theories and social media tools may together help to guide the design of interventions aimed at improving vaccination uptake. This systematic review aims to identify the breadth and effectiveness of such theories and tools. The systematic review search was performed in PubMed, Scopus, ACM, Cochrane Library, ProQuest, and Web of Science databases for studies between January 2011 and January 2021 that applied social media tools to increase vaccine confidence or improve vaccination uptake. The literature search yielded a total of 3,065 publications. Twenty articles met the eligibility criteria, 12 of which were theory-based interventions. The result shows that the Health Belief Model was the most frequently deployed theory, and the most common social media tool was educational posts, followed by dialogue-based groups, interactive websites, and personal reminders. Theory-based interventions were generally more measurable and comparable and had more evidence to trigger the positive behavior change. Fifteen studies reported the effectiveness in knowledge gain, intention increase, or behavior change. Educational messages were proved to be effective in increasing knowledge but less helpful in triggering behavior change. Dialogue-based social media intervention performed well in improving people’s intention to vaccinate. Interventions informed by behavior change theory and delivered via social media platforms offer an important opportunity for addressing vaccine hesitancy. This review highlights the need to use a multitheory framework and tailoring social media interventions to the specific circumstances and needs of the target audience in future interventions. The results and insights gained from this review will be of assistance to future studies.

The Vlaams Belang: A Mass Party of the 21st Century

Throughout its 40-year history, the Vlaams Belang (VB, Flemish Interest) has established itself as an important player within the Belgian party system, albeit with significant electoral fluctuations. In 2019, it became the second largest party in Flanders. The party developed and maintained a mass-party organisation by investing significantly in local party branches and in a rigid vertically articulated structure. It relies heavily on social media, particularly Facebook, to communicate to supporters beyond the more limited group of party members. Using both modern and traditional tools, VB representatives aim to create communities of supporters bonded to the party, facilitating dissemination of the party’s messages. Despite this investment in a grassroots organisation, the VB’s decision-making remains highly centralised. Social media and local branches allow informal consideration of members’ views, but the party has not created significant mechanisms for internal democracy. While it is often claimed that political parties have moved away from the “mass-party” model, this article demonstrates that the VB still maintains characteristics of the mass party, albeit with a modern twist. New social media tools facilitate attempts to foster communities and disseminate party messages among a wider group of supporters, both formal members and more informal sympathisers.