Media Proficiency Research Articles

FROM SOCIAL MEDIA TO THE DEFENSE FIELD: AN EXPLORATION OF GEN Z'S ROLE IN NATIONAL SECURITY

ABSTRACT This research explores the role of Generation Z (Gen Z) in enhancing national security, focusing on their integration into cybersecurity and intelligence roles. As digital natives, Gen Z possesses unique competencies that are crucial for modern security operations. The aim of this study is to analyze these digital skills, including social media proficiency, cybersecurity awareness, and data analysis capabilities, and their application in national defense. Utilizing qualitative research methods with secondary data, such as social media analyses and existing government reports, this study identifies key areas where Gen Z can significantly contribute. Key findings include the critical digital competencies of Gen Z that enhance national security operations, strategies for effectively integrating them into cybersecurity and intelligence roles, and the ethical and practical challenges of their integration. Addressing privacy concerns, misinformation, and the need for ethical guidelines are essential for leveraging Gen Z’s skills while maintaining operational integrity. This research underscores the importance of aligning Gen Z’s capabilities with national security needs and provides recommendations for overcoming integration challenges. Keywords: cybersecurity, digital competencies, Generation Z, intelligence roles, national security

Social media proficiency, digital information accessibility and information sharing behaviors among library and information science students

Background of the study: Students proficiency in using academic resources is a topic of interest, particularly in social media utilisation, digital information literacy, and online information sharing practices. Purpose: The study investigated the social media proficiency, digital information accessibility and information sharing behaviours among library and information science students, university of Maiduguri, Borno State Method: The study was guided by 3 research objectives and 2 hypotheses. The study consisted 742 undergraduate students, out of which 649 responded to the questionnaire dispersed through online survey. Mean scores and standard deviations were used for descriptive analysis and inferences were made with regression analysis. Findings: Students demonstrated moderate digital literacy skills for academic activities, with average competencies in locating and evaluating quality online sources and leveraging digital tools, (x̅w = 3.01, Std. 1.489); and that social media usage among the students is moderately frequent (x̅w= 2.97, Std.= 1.48); while collaborative digital learning behaviours are moderately high among the LIS students (x̅w = 3.68, Std. = 1.435). Conclusion: Individual student engaged in online collaboration and communication via social media for educational purposes, but still have deficiencies in certain abilities such as evaluating online authenticity, and effectively managing distractions.

Digital infrastructure, ultra-fast broadband, and citizenship in the Gigatown competition in the South Island, Aotearoa New Zealand

ABSTRACT Gigatown (2013–2014) was a joint initiative between the telecommunications company Chorus and the New Zealand government to award a town ‘The fastest internet in the Southern Hemisphere’ through a social media competition. Gigatown involved the production, by participating towns, of social media content that demonstrated the economic and other benefits of ultra-fast broadband and gigabit connectivity. This paper argues that the competition’s logics are biopolitical in the valorization of citizenship as tied to social media and information and communications technologies (ICT) proficiency. Focusing on the South Island city of Dunedin, and drawing on the conceptual framework of somatechnics for understanding the embodied relationship between governance and technology, I show how the competition somatechnically positions residents as consumer-citizens whose social media proficiency and digital labour facilitate their participation in policy planning and development. In order to meet infrastructural planning priorities for the penetration of ultra-fast broadband into business and consumer domains, the competition incited and relied on residents’ civic love and volunteer labour for their city’s future. Such labour is ‘spaced-off’ as de-materialized and de-territorialized, construed as something done for fun in spare time, which left some participants experiencing burnout in their somatechnical embodiment of active digital citizenship.

Experimental Research on Gifted Students and Social Media Communication Competence Program

The aim of this research was to develop a program to increase the social media communication competence levels of gifted students and to examine the effectiveness of the program. A 4- session program was developed within the scope of the research. The developed program was named SOMCOPGIS (Social Media Communication Competence Program for Gifted Students). A total of 32 experimental and control groups were formed using a random assignment method. The groups consisted of adolescent volunteers between the ages of 13 and 18 who all had low social media proficiency levels. In the data analysis non-parametric Friedman, Mann Whitney U tests, Social Media Competence Scale and analysis methods were used. Differences were found between the gifted students who participated in the SOMCOPGIS program and those who did not. It was observed that there was no significant difference in the social media competence scale scores of the adolescents in the control group obtained with the pre-test, post-test and follow-up test scales. This shows that SOMCOPGIS increased the social media communication proficiency level of the adolescents in the experimental group. This increase was found to be permanent with the follow-up test.

Applying Social Media to Scaffold University Students’ Inquiry Group Project Work – Theoretical and Practical Implications

Aim/Purpose: This study serves a constructive purpose on the effective use of social media as a technical tool in formal learning at higher education. It outlines practical suggestions for institutions to leverage the participatory design method and refine social media pedagogies. Background: Social media gains widespread usage from the majority of university students worldwide. Educators examine the potential of social media’s affordances in teaching and learning. While the use of social media in formal learning has garnered much interest among educators, the implementation of such pedagogies remains individually motivated rather than institution-wide. Methodology: This research empirically examined university students who took part in inquiry group project work in two courses (undergraduate and postgraduate) under implementation of participatory design approach. It adopted a mixed-method approach by collecting both quantitative and qualitative data to examine their expectations and preferences on social media tools. Contribution: Despite the technology’s potential for facilitating teaching and learning, the effective use of social media in higher education has been a recurring problem for many educators and institutions. This study addresses the deficit and proposes a theoretical framework that consists of student’s own experience and teacher-initiated scaffolding students’ adequate use of social media in formal learning using participatory design approach. Findings: Results indicate that students wanted to use social media to gain knowledge, collaborate, communicate with each other and embraced the implementation of the participatory design approach, which offered them a greater sense of participation and ownership. Furthermore, our research has revealed that despite generally being familiar with social media use in everyday life, students relied at least partially on their lecturer’s guidance in adopting social media in the specific domain of formal learning. Recommendations for Practitioners: To incorporate social media in education, the ultimate goal is to enhance students’ use of social media tools for better and more effective learning. Our study recommends initiating organizational change in universities to the adoption of new pedagogies which allows students’ autonomy and lecturer’s scaffolding support to demonstrate the pedagogy’s positive influence by social media in teaching and learning. Recommendation for Researchers: Researchers could examine and compare the effects by implementing the theoretical framework suggested in this research in different education levels, e.g., secondary school education. The researchers could consider cognitive, psychological, and social factors on incorporating social media into formal learning. Impact on Society: Social media has gained its recognition in everyday lives and academic field; however, the feasibility of social media-assisted pedagogies depends on individual educator solely. The current article provides a new pedagogy that educators can refine by students’ levels of social media proficiency and their learning expectations for institutions from around the world to make the best use of social media as part of formal university education. Future Research: With the rapid development of social media, further studies are worthy to examine the longitudinal impact of the current and the latest social media pedagogy with participatory design in scaffolding university students’ inquiry group project work on potential for use in formal learning and extent to co-create collaboration with lecturers.

Public relations and customer service: Employer perspectives of social media proficiency

Social media has enhanced integration between marketing and public relations. As such, public relations professionals have had to adapt and grow their knowledge and skillsets to stay relevant and current throughout the evolution of the digital landscape (Gesualdi, 2019). One of the growing areas of focus for public relations professionals has been customer service skills online. This specialization, often referred to as social care or social customer service, has been promoted and discussed heavily in industry circles and publications, but not in academic research. This study focuses on the survey results from 396 employers exploring the social media skills they most prefer university graduates to possess when entering the workforce. The results indicate that public relations and customer service are the social media skills most sought after by employers of university graduates ahead of proficiency in areas such as social media content production, strategy development and analytics. The potential implications of these findings to the public relations profession are examined and future research is also discussed.

Guiding Young Children\u2019s Digital Media Use: SES-Differences in Mediation Concerns and Competence

Previous research about parents’ mediation of their young children’s (digital) media use has predominantly focused on the different types, determinants, and effectiveness of parental mediation strategies. Although research on parents’ perceived mediation concerns and competences is scarce, it is known that, compared to mothers and high-educated parents, fathers and low-educated parents experience greater insecurity (i.e., higher concern and lower competence) when applying media mediation. Based on Bourdieu’s theory of social capital it may be expected that—in addition to educational level—marital status and family income predict parents’ perceived mediation concerns and competences: Family demographics may predict parents’ media proficiency and adoption of new media technologies and these media ecological factors may, in turn, affect perceived concerns and competences. To test this assumption, survey data were collected among 1029 parents of children between the ages of 1 to 9 years. We found that parents’ basic media proficiency was lower in low income, low educated, and single-parent families, whereas parents’ advanced media proficiency was only lower in low educated and single-parent families. As expected, parents’ ease of active co-use was positively associated with parents’ basic proficiency, ease of restrictive mediation by basic and advanced proficiency, and ease of imposing technical restrictions by advanced media proficiency. Parents’ perceived mediation concerns were, however, unrelated to parents’ media proficiency. Also, as expected, low educated parents were less inclined to adopt new media technologies. Adoption of new media was negatively related to perceived mediation concerns, yet did not predict parents’ perceived competence.

Bonding and spreading

PurposeAlthough social media proficiency and use are key business and marketing practices in today’s digital environment, research has failed to offer sufficient insights into what drives small firms to use social media and how they vitalise co-creative social media environments with consumers. In response, the purpose of this paper is to examine how small firms utilise social media to interact and build bonds with consumers. These bonds become an important tool in the development of successful, profitable businesses and marketing practices in the digital age.Design/methodology/approachTo examine how small firms use social media to engage with consumers and vice versa, the authors utilised a case-study approach and collected qualitative data by conducting semi-structured interviews.FindingsThe results showed that the small firms in this research seek to establish relationships and facilitate interactions with their core consumers in order to co-create value. In particular, the data demonstrate that producers engage in two distinctive practices: bonding (i.e. cultivating emotional ties with music fans) and spreading (i.e. encouraging expressive circulation by fans). Altogether, the findings indicate that the representative firms in this research use social media to develop synergistic relationships with consumers and to tap into the collective energy of consumers in their business environments.Originality/valueThe authors show that small companies use social media to establish relationships and interact with fans in order to co-create value and vitalise collective consumption, engagement, and participation. The case blurs the traditional distinction between production and consumption and suggests that the value of goods is a social creation, not merely a manufactured product.

Undergraduate perceptions of social media proficiency and graduate employability

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to explore undergraduate student attitudes towards the inclusion of social media training within higher education pedagogy, student perceptions of social media proficiency as professional expertise and its impact on graduate employability.Design/methodology/approachIn all, 81 undergraduate students studying medicine, law, science and arts volunteered to complete an online survey. Questions examined student attitudes towards the delivery of social media pedagogy at university and the perceived benefits of social media proficiency.FindingsParticipants stated that social media skills should be taught in optional classes (85 per cent) covering generic competencies (56 per cent). The majority (91 per cent) of respondents reported that social media skills and training were valuable for employability.Research limitations/implicationsThis was a pilot study and was therefore limited by the self-selection of participants, sample size and geographic location.Practical implicationsThis study identifies that undergraduates across a range of disciplines are receptive to developing professionally relevant social media skills within higher education pedagogy and identify a link between social media proficiency and graduate employability.Originality/valueDespite the increasing necessity for social media skills in professional environments, few studies have examined the teaching of social media skills as a core competency in higher education. Instead, social media is largely examined in relation to curriculum delivery and student engagement. This study explores attitudes towards the delivery of social media pedagogy at university and the perceived benefits of social media proficiency exclusively from the viewpoint of undergraduate students, to provide an alternative insight rarely explored in the literature.

Clean India! Symbols, Policies and Tensions

This essay assesses the Swachh Bharat! or Clean India! campaign of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government. The essay identifies the immense scope of the task—to create a ‘clean India’ by 2019—the pressures that make improved public sanitation urgent and the prime minister's experience in the state of Gujarat that may encourage him to believe that achievements are possible. The essay gauges the political risks and benefits for a prime minister noted for his media proficiency and keen sense of symbolism.

In Search of Predictors: A Case Study of an Independent Mode of Instruction in Acquiring Media Proficiency

This case study examined the differential effect that an independent study mode of instruction has upon attitudes, cognitive style, and personological variables as measured by a semantic differential scale, Mehrabian Achievement Scale, the Rotter Locus of Control, a cognitive style mini-map, and Bender Visual Motor Gestalt Test. These variables were also studied as predictors of media equipment proficiency, GPA, and absences. The subjects were eighty undergraduate and graduate students in a large urban university. The data were analyzed using the t-test for correlated means, t-test for independent means, one way analysis of variance, and multiple linear regression analysis. The results indicated 1) attitude toward course content and structure was more favorable; 2) anxiety levels were decreased; and 3) cognitive style variables were major predictors of media proficiency and GPA, while personological and attitudinal variables were the best predictors of the number of absences. Implications of these findings were discussed.