Active user or lurker? A phenomenological investigation of graduate students in social media spaces

Abstract

This phenomenological study describes instructional design (ID) graduate students' perceptions of their programs' social media spaces. Ten graduate students were recruited for participation in this investigation. Data sources included individual interviews. The researcher conducted a phenomenological data analysis seeking to grasp and elucidate the meaning, structure, and essence of the graduate students' participation in the social media spaces. In summary, the results of this investigation show that graduate students access resources from each other, feel as part of a community, enjoy reading others' views and perspectives about the field, and experience moments of informal learning while participating in the social media spaces of their graduate programs. However, graduate students also have concerns regarding these social media spaces' impact on privacy, time management, and distraction.