Mobile Social Media Applications Research Articles

Advertisement Blindness in Mobile Social Media Apps

Advertisement blindness is a general term that refers to people’s tendency to automatically and unconsciously ignore advertisements. The phenomenon was originally identified in banner ads, then later in text and native ads on websites. Today, social media is an effective tool for advertisers, yet research investigating users’ interaction habits with social media ads in mobile applications is unexplored. This study expands the ad blindness concept to mobile social media apps, examining its presence and whether target position has an influence. To test these questions, we used a search task where participants browsed a mock scrollable Facebook news feed and identified posts that fit certain semantic categories. The study found that participants had higher accuracy in content posts than in ad posts, also ad avoidance was prevalent in the last third of the news feed. Overall, these results revealed the first evidence of ad blindness on social media mobile applications.

Real Time Video Streaming Over Homogeneous Systems

Streaming videos from one device to another become more important due to the spread of mobile devices and social media applications. The process of sending video from one device to another have a set of challenges. The video must be delivered in time, otherwise the service quality will decrease. Packet drop and lip synchronization is another challenge that streaming video will encounter. Real Time Protocol (RTP) is a simple, lightweight protocol that used to perform video streaming with low burden. RTP uses User Datagram Protocol (UDP) in video transferring. This paper use streaming video through RTP over homogeneous systems and measure the Packet Loss Rate, Jitter, Out-of-Order Packets, Datagram Size, Packet Delivery Ratio, latency, and throughput. Four experiments were performed with (15, 30, 45, 60) seconds to check the effect on the previous measures. The results show that video jitter increases as streaming time increases, it also shows that latency and throughput doesn’t depend on the streaming period.

TikTok and teen mental health: an analysis of user-generated content and engagement.

TikTok is a social media mobile application that is widely used by adolescents, and has the potential to serve as a revolutionary platform for public and mental health discourse, education, and intervention. Our study aimed to describe the content and engagement metrics of the hashtag #teenmentalhealth on TikTok. In this study, we: (a) conducted a directed content analysis of the Top 100 TikTok videos tagged with #teenmentalhealth, and (b) collected data on video engagements (views, likes, saves, and shares) and computed view-based engagement rates. The videos collectively garnered 144,320,591 views; 28,289,655 likes; 219,780 comments; 1,971,492 saves; and 478,696 shares. Most of the generated content were from teens and therapists. Engagement metrics revealed strong user engagement rates across user types. The most prevalent content categories represented across videos were personal experience, coping techniques or treatment, humor, interpersonal relationships, and health campaign. The content categories with the highest engagement rates were relatable media representation, health campaign, social isolation, and humor. Only a single video incorporated evidence-based treatment content. TikTok facilitates communication and information dissemination on teen mental health. Future research should focus on improving the quality and credibility of digital content while maintaining engagement through creativity, self-expression, and relatability. Use of popular social media platforms and community-engaged research to disseminate evidence-based content may help bridge the translational research gap.

UTILISATION OF HEALTH INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY AMONG DIETITIANS IN THE WORKPLACE: A QUALITATIVE STUDY

Dietitians play an important role in advocating lifestyle changes, such as dietary modifications and physical activity, to effectively prevent chronic diseases and avoid complications. The use of information technologies (IT) helps dietitians to engage with their patients. This paper explores the use health information technology among dietitians in the workplace. Four focus group sessions involving fifteen dietitians from hospitals and universities were conducted using an online platform. Participants were recruited using purposive and snowball sampling. A semi-structured questionnaire was used to facilitate the interview to understand better dietitians' health IT practices. Interviews were videotaped, verbatim transcribed, and emerging themes and subthemes were thematically analysed. Inductive and deductive content analysis were used. Four themes emerged from the data: 1. utility of health IT tools, 2. factors that influence the use of health IT, 3. frequency of use, and 4. perceived barriers to adoption of health IT. Participants used health IT through health-related mobile applications, web-based platforms, and social media applications. Participants cited self-motivation, advertisement, training, peers, patients, content, ease of use, developers, quality, and functionality as factors in their use of health IT. Some barriers to utilising health IT included not disease-specific tools, inappropriate for all age groups, inaccurate information, inconvenient, required a paid version, and being overloaded with information. This study demonstrates how dietitians make use of health information technology in their practice. Support is required to overcome information technology barriers to be applied successfully in practice. It is important for dietitians to stay current with technological advancements. Dietitians will be able to stay relevant and continue to support evidence-based practice if they do so now and in the future.

Scripted Gender Practices: Young Adults’ Social Media App Uses in Portugal

This research focuses on social media mobile applications as mediated interfaces of identity performances and interrogates to what extent everyday young adults’ uses are remaking gender scripts. We analyze young adults’ self-reported experiences on preferred social media apps and discourses of rejection of others, the technologies themselves, and how they favor certain behaviors. Theoretically, we resorted to feminist media studies and critical app research, focusing on users’ perceptions of their engagement with mobile technology. Empirically, we turned to semi-structured interviews with female and male young adults aged between 18 and 30 years. Results show limited agency to reshape normative gender scripts embedded in apps’ technological affordances and broad hegemonic discourses. We discuss these results and how they mirror normative gender expectations, recalling the impacts of contingent social formations in reproducing inequality.

Effectiveness of a mobile-based HIV prevention intervention for the rural and low-income population, with incentive policies for doctors in Liangshan, China: a randomized controlled trial protocol

BackgroundThe HIV/AIDS epidemic is a concerning problem in many parts of the world, especially in rural and poor areas. Due to health service inequality and public stigma towards the disease, it is difficult to conduct face-to-face interventions. The widespread use of mobile phones and social media applications thus provide a feasible and acceptable approach for HIV prevention and education delivery in this population. The study aims to develop a generalizable, effective, acceptable, and convenient mobile-based information intervention model to improve HIV-related knowledge, attitudes, practices, and health outcomes in poverty-stricken areas in China and measure the impact of incentive policies on the work of village doctors in Liangshan, China.MethodsA randomized controlled trial design is used to evaluate the effectiveness of an 18-month mobile-based HIV prevention intervention, collaborating with local village doctors and consisting of group-based knowledge dissemination and individualized communication on WeChat and the Chinese Version of TikTok in Liangshan, China. Each village is defined as a cluster managed by a village doctor with 20 adults possessing mobile phones randomly selected from different families as participants, totaling 200 villages. Clusters are randomized (1:1:1) to the Control without mobile-based knowledge dissemination, Intervention A with standardized compensation to the village doctors, or Intervention B with performance-based compensation to the village doctors. The intervention groups will receive biweekly messages containing HIV-related educational modules. Data will be collected at baseline and 6-, 12-, and 18-month periods for outcome measurements. The primary outcomes of the study are HIV-related knowledge improvement and the effectiveness of village doctor targeted incentive policies. The secondary outcomes include secondary knowledge transmission, behavioral changes, health outcomes, social factors, and study design’s acceptability and reproducibility. These outcomes will be explored via various qualitative and quantitative means.DiscussionThe findings will provide insights into the effectiveness, generalizability, and challenges of the mobile-based HIV prevention intervention for the population living in rural communities with low education levels and will guide the development of similar models in other low-income and culturally isolated regions.Trial registrationClinicalTrial.gov: NCT05015062; Registered on June 6, 2022.

Alleviating Pregastroscopy Anxiety Using Mobile Social Media Application.

AimThe research aimed to study the effect of using WeChat (a mobile social media application) on pregastroscopy anxiety and the cooperation of patients with different coping styles.MethodsIn order to decrease patients' pregastroscopy anxiety and improve the tolerance of unsedated gastroscopy, WeChat, a widely used mobile social media application, was applied to provide information prior to their endoscopic procedure. Two hundred and thirty patients who underwent initial unsedated gastroscopy in a large teaching hospital in China were classified into two groups based on their coping style: information seekers or information avoiders, using the Information Subscale of the Krantz Health Opinion Survey (KHOS-I). Each of the two groups was prospectively randomly assigned to either receiving the brochure information or conjunctive interactive WeChat-delivered information of gastroscopy. To measure the level of state anxiety, the State Anxiety Scale of Spielberg's State-Trait Anxiety Inventory questionnaire was used. State anxiety, blood pressure and heart rate were measured at enrollment, upon arrival, and before gastroscopy.ResultsInformation seekers and avoiders who received information from the brochure and the WeChat platform experienced significantly less state anxiety upon arrival and before gastroscopy. Furthermore, information seekers who received information from the conjunctive WeChat platform had lower frequency of retching, lower scores of nausea and bloating, and better tolerance. Information avoiders who received information from the conjunctive WeChat platform had lower frequency of retching, lower scores of discomfort while swallowing the scope and nausea, and better tolerance. However, we found the percentage of information seekers who preferred no WeChat-delivered pregastroscopy information is greater than WeChat-delivered information at the initial questionnaire. No significant difference was found in blood pressure or heart rate upon arrival and before gastroscopy.ConclusionsAlthough people preferred no WeChat-delivered pregastroscopy information, the provision of gastroscopy information through a mobile social media application, such as WeChat, could significantly reduce patients' pregastroscopy anxiety, lower the frequency of retching, reduce the scores of nausea and bloating, and improve tolerance for information seekers. In addition, it could lower the frequency of retching, reduce the scores of discomfort while swallowing the scope and its concurrent nausea, and improve tolerance for information avoiders.

Mundane citizenship on the move: A counter-public response to inbound shopping tourism via mobile social media applications use

Using digital ethnography to examine the daily mobile (micro)blogging (moblogging) practices of local residents as they confronted a wave of inbound shopping tourists in pre-Covid-19 pandemic Hong Kong, this article explores how the latest mode of mundane citizenship emerges from the communicative mobility of urban dwellers equipped with mobile phones and social media applications (apps). Recent research on the role of mobile devices and social media apps in citizen participation has focused on more visible forms of civic–political events, such as protests and voting, and tended to neglect the effects of mobile communication performed during banal travel and quotidian activities. This article offers an alternative reading of the relevance of mobile social media (MSM) in contemporary public lives by examining how they open up new temporalities and spatialities for counter-public engagement in the contexts of mundane urban mobility. The findings demonstrate various moblogging practices that entail modalities of counter-public engagement that traverse the personal, proto-political, and communal, and reveal how local residents used these modalities to articulate alternative public agendas, connect acts of consumer activism, and perform communal belonging vis-à-vis inbound shopping tourism amid their daily routines and modest journeys. Focusing on mobile socialities enabled by smartphones and networking apps, this article explicates how contemporary moblogging can, on the one hand, extend people's capacity to engage in citizen talk and connective action, while on the other hand, allow them to flexibly connect and contribute personal photobiographies and narratives to counter-public communities. By unpacking the novel pathways to citizen participation, it offers insights into new ways in which everyday mobile communication can be transformed into public involvement, albeit often in agonistic and emotional forms, and the role of MSM in this process.

Charting sustained usage toward mobile social media application: the criticality of expected benefits and emotional motivations

PurposeZalo is a Vietnam social media platform attracting over 100 m users worldwide. The work aims to ascertain how to boost users' satisfaction, habit and continuance intention toward Zalo based on the expectation confirmation theory (ECT) and its extension through the impacts of expected benefits and emotional motivations.Design/methodology/approachData are collected via an online survey on a convenience sample of 356 Zalo users. Statistical analysis is performed using Statistical Product and Service Solutions (SPSS) and Analysis of Moment Structures (AMOS) to test proposed hypotheses.FindingsResults indicate that confirmation positively influences expected benefits (i.e. pervasiveness, socialization, and self-discovery) and satisfaction. Moreover, satisfaction and habit are jointly stimulated by expected benefits and emotional motivations. Outcomes also reveal that satisfaction is a motivator of habit, which in turn surmises evidently to continuance intention.Practical implicationsFindings assist practitioners to develop their business trajectories by improving beneficial services of Zalo and positive emotions. This fulfills user satisfaction and habit, and promotes continuance behavior accordingly.Originality/valueConfirmation and expected benefits are acknowledged as the drivers of satisfaction, but existing literature remains inconclusive about dimensions of expected benefits influencing satisfaction and habit in social media. Furthermore, this study, by an extended ECT, explores emotional motivations for satisfaction and habit. Ultimately, habit is uncovered to foster prolonged usage.

Utilization of technology among older Indian patients with cancer: A cross-sectional study

Background: Technology has advanced tremendously and can address the gaps in the care of older adults with cancer. Studies from high-income countries reveal that the use of technology among older adults is on the rise, but there are no published data regarding the use of technology by health-seeking older adults from India.Objectives: We aimed to assess the use of mobile phones, Internet, and social media applications among older adults with cancer attending a geriatric oncology clinic. We also aimed to study their association with various intrinsic factors.Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted in the geriatric oncology clinic at the Tata Memorial Hospital, a tertiary care center in Mumbai, India, between April 2021 and October 2021. Participants were patients with cancer aged 60 years and over, who were referred to the geriatric oncology clinic. Clinicodemographic details were recorded, and a multi-dimensional geriatric assessment was performed. Patients were asked whether they owned and used mobile phones, Internet, E-mail, and social media applications such as WhatsApp and Facebook. The same questions regarding technology use were asked to their accompanying caregivers. Categorical variables were compared using the Fisher's exact and Pearson's Chi-squared test.Results: A total of 309 participants were included. The median age was 68 (interquartile range, 64–72) years; 262 (85%) participants were aged <75 years. There were 234 (76%) men in the cohort. A total of 25 (33%) women and 25 (11%) men were uneducated; 225 (81%) participants had mobile phones; and 24 (9%) had mobile phones and landlines. Female patients (59% vs. 77%, P = 0.001) and those with poor vision (67% vs. 80%, P = 0.036), no education (50% vs. 74%, P < 0.001), and impaired cognition (49% vs. 84%, P < 0.001) were less likely to own a mobile phone. A total of 70 (25%) participants reported that they accessed the Internet, but only 16 (6%) used Internet, E-mail, and social media on their own phones. Use of the Internet and social media was less likely among people with no education ([4% vs. 22%, P < 0.001] and [6% vs. 21%, P < 0.01], respectively) and impaired cognition ([5% vs. 26%, P = 0.013] and [8% vs. 28%, P = 0.022], respectively). Among accompanying caregivers, 297 (99%) reported that they used mobile phones, while 223 (75%) used E-mail and social media applications.Conclusion: Over 80% of older Indian adults with cancer use mobile phones, but only 25% use Internet and social media. Women and those with no education, poor vision, and impaired cognition are less likely to own a mobile phone. People with no education and impaired cognition are also less likely to use Internet and social media. Further studies are required to understand the acceptance rate and feasibility of technology use in our setting and to gather more evidence for the effectiveness of these interventions.

Extracting Keywords from Texts based on Word Frequency and Association Features

With the development of information technology such as mobile Internet and social media applications, network information is growing rapidly and leads to the problem of information overload. Keywords help to filter and find interesting information for users from massive text. Automatic extraction of keywords from text as tags of text help to improve recommendation and keyword-based information retrieval. This paper proposes a novel keyword extraction approach from text that combines features such as word frequency and association. Experiment results show that the precision rate, recall rate and F-measure are all better than those of TextRank and TF-IDF.

Examining artifacts generated by setting Facebook Messenger as a default SMS application on Android: Implication for personal data privacy

AbstractThe use of mobile devices and social media applications in organized crime is increasingly increasing. Facebook Messenger is the most popular social media applications used globally. Unprecedented time is spent by many interacting globally with known and unknown individuals using Facebook. During their interaction, personal information is uploaded. Thus, crafting a myriad of privacy trepidation to users. While there are researches performed on the forensic artifacts' extraction from Facebook, no research is conducted on setting Facebook Messenger applications as a default messaging application on Android. Two Android mobile devices were used for data generation and Facebook Messenger account was created. Disc imaging and data partition were examined and accessed to identify changes in the orca database of the application package using DB browser. The data were then generated using unique words which were used for conducting key searches. The research discovered that mqtt_log_event0.txt of the Com.Facebook.orca/Cache directory stores chat when messenger is set as a default messaging app. The research finding shows that chats are recorded under messages tab together with SMS of data/data/com.facebook.orca/databases/smstakeover_db and data/data/com.facebook.orca/databases/threads_db. This indicates that only smstakeover_db stores SMS messaging information when using messenger application. It is observed that once the user deletes a sent SMS message, the phone number and the deleted time stamp remained in the data/data/com.facebook.orca/databases/smstakeover_db database in the address_table are recoverable. The results suggest that anonymization of data is essential if Facebook chats are to be shared for further research into social media content.

Use of Social Media Apps by Nurses for Professional Purposes in Catalonia: Cross-Sectional Study.

Over the last few years, the use of social media mobile applications or apps (SMAs) has increased exponentially. The potential advantages of using these technologies by health professionals in clinical settings have been discussed many times. Considering that the nursing profession is the largest segment of the healthcare workforce in the majority of countries in the world, the impact of using these apps by these professionals is very relevant. The objectives of this study were, firstly, to determine if nurses were using SMAs professionally and the most frequent SMAs used and secondly, to find out if, among nurses, there is a need for training in the use of these mobile applications for professional purposes. The study is a descriptive cross-sectional study based on an Internet survey of 1,293 nurses in Catalonia (Spain). The average age of the respondents who had these apps installed on their mobile phones or tablets, was 43.12 (SD ± 11.32) years old. WhatsApp was the most frequent SMAs used by nurses for professional purposes, and 79.2 % of nurses mentioned they used it several times a day. WhatsApp was the preferred SMAs for communicating with colleagues (31.2% of nurses) followed by Facebook (18.4%) and Twitter (11.3%). In contrast, the use of the SMAs was much less frequent as a means of communication with patients (7.2% in the case of WhatsApp). Nurses expressed their need for specific training in the use of these apps for professional purposes, indicating the interest and potential impact of the introduction of these technologies in clinical environments. The use of SMAs is quite common among nurses at the moment of the survey, and WhatsApp was the most popular one to support their professional activity. Based on the results of the survey, the Nursing Association of Barcelona (COIB) will consider the design of specific training activities in the use of SMAs in clinical settings.

Detection Of Spam Comments On Instagram Using Complementary Naïve Bayes

Instagram (IG) is a web-based and mobile social media application where users can share photos or videos with available features. Upload photos or videos with captions that contain an explanation of the photo or video that can reap spam comments. Comments on spam containing comments that are not relevant to the caption and photos. The problem that arises when identifying spam is non-spam comments are more dominant than spam comments so that it leads to the problem of the imbalanced dataset. A balanced dataset can influence the performance of a classification method. This is the focus of research related to the implementation of the CNB method in dealing with imbalance datasets for the detection of Instagram spam comments. The study used TF-IDF weighting with Support Vector Machine (SVM) as a comparison classification. Based on the test results with 2500 training data and 100 test data on the imbalanced dataset (25% spam and 75% non-spam), the CNB accuracy was 92%, precision 86% and f-measure 93%. Whereas SVM produces 87% accuracy, 79% precision, 88% f-measure. In conclusion, the CNB method is more suitable for detecting spam comments in cases of imbalanced datasets.

Mindfulness, Compulsive Mobile Social Media Use, and Derived Stress: The Mediating Roles of Self-Esteem and Social Anxiety.

There is growing concern over the emergence of damaging compulsive use patterns among some users of social networking sites (SNSs), in particular of mobile social media. Although previous studies argue that mindfulness has a protective effect on compulsive behaviors, to date, no study has analyzed the underlying mechanisms by which mindfulness reduces compulsive SNS usage. This study addresses this gap by examining the relationship between mindfulness, self-esteem, social anxiety, compulsive mobile SNS usage, and derived stress in the context of the use of the mobile social media application, WhatsApp™. Mediation analysis supported the roles of self-esteem and social anxiety as mediators of the beneficial (lowering) effect of mindfulness on compulsive mobile SNS usage. Moreover, the results confirmed that compulsive mobile SNS use induces stress and that mindfulness has also lowering effects on stress derived from such compulsive behavior, mediated by the former variables. This research, therefore, provides a process explanation for the beneficial effect of mindfulness on stress derived from mobile social media use. Further theoretical and practical implications, as well as future research avenues, are discussed.

Mobile phones and a million chatter: performed inclusivity and silenced voices in Zimbabwean talk radio

ABSTRACT African radio is seen as a powerful instrument capable of integrating ordinary voices in democratisation debates. Mobile phones and social media applications such as Facebook and WhatsApp are seen as widening access to public debates, and this has recently been celebrated as inculcating ‘participatory cultures’ in Africa’s public spheres. This paper provides new evidence on the dynamics structuring talk radio in Zimbabwe within the context of the ongoing incorporation of digital media technologies in newsrooms aiming to facilitate seamless connectivity with audiences. Interview data and ethnographic studio observations showed that journalists sometimes struggle to cope with high levels of audience interaction on hybrid digital platforms, forcing them to selectively attend to, and conveniently exclude a huge chunk of audiences. Radio in Africa faces challenges integrating the multiple digital voices entering newsrooms. While digital media technologies continue to increase options for integrating more voices in public dialogue, there is no guarantee that inclusivity will be actualised. The central challenge that remains is how to create more egalitarian platforms where diverse groups can mobilise their concerns and, through dialogue, speak up in a bottom-up fashion to power elites on issues of governance.

A Study of EFL Saudi Students' Use of Mobile Social Media Applications for Learning

This research addresses the gaps in the literature on m-learning approaches in Saudi Arabia, with a focus on English as a Foreign Language (EFL) students studying at university level. The research aimed to explore university students’ use of social media applications and their role in language learning, with a focus on how mobile devices can best be utilised. It analysed the attitudes of 102 learners towards the use of social media to improve language learning both inside and outside the classroom setting. Students of both genders completed a questionnaire, and five students engaged in semi-structured interviews. The aim was to discover whether the students are currently using social media applications to enhance their language skills, and what the students’ attitudes are towards the use of social media via mobile devices inside and outside the classroom. Prior to designing the research instruments, the literature was reviewed, including examining the attitudes of learners in different countries towards mobile technologies, and to decide on the best approach to take in examining attitudes towards new forms of learning. Based on the findings from the literature, appropriate questions were devised, and these reveal an overall positive response towards from the student participants towards using social media and mobile technologies to facilitate learning English. The results of this research are positive, and it is important that Saudi Arabia keeps up to date with advancements in technology to ensure the best learning experience for learners and maximise their potential.

Antecedents of SMMA continuance intention in two culturally diverse countries: An empirical examination

ABSTRACTThe use of social media mobile applications (SMMA) in Asian countries has increased remarkably in the last decade, which demands a better understanding of differences in the adoption of SMMA across cultures, beyond the west. Against this backdrop, the present study developed a research model that incorporates Schwartz’s individual-level values, individual contextual factors, perceived risk and perceived value, and applied it to settings China and Pakistan to better understand continuance intention regarding SMMA in Asian countries. This study specifically examines the role of individual-level values and individual contextual factors in explaining users’ risk perception; the effects of risk perception on perceived value; and, finally, the impact of perceived value on continuance intention regarding SMMA. Our research model holds true for both China and Pakistan. The majority of the proposed relationships were supported by our findings, and we also observed some noteworthy differences during model comparison between both samples. The findings offer suggestions to information system (IS) practitioners and social media marketers considering cross-cultural differences through SMMA use. The authors acknowledge limitations and suggest further research directions to IS scholars.

A Study of EFL Saudi Students' Use of Mobile Social Media Applications for Learning

This research addresses the gaps in the literature on m-learning approaches in Saudi Arabia, with a focus on English as a Foreign Language (EFL) students studying at university level. The research aimed to explore university students’ use of social media applications and their role in language learning, with a focus on how mobile devices can best be utilised. It analysed the attitudes of 102 learners towards the use of social media to improve language learning both inside and outside the classroom setting. Students of both genders completed a questionnaire, and five students engaged in semi-structured interviews. The aim was to discover whether the students are currently using social media applications to enhance their language skills, and what the students’ attitudes are towards the use of social media via mobile devices inside and outside the classroom. Prior to designing the research instruments, the literature was reviewed, including examining the attitudes of learners in different countries towards mobile technologies, and to decide on the best approach to take in examining attitudes towards new forms of learning. Based on the findings from the literature, appropriate questions were devised, and these reveal an overall positive response towards from the student participants towards using social media and mobile technologies to facilitate learning English. The results of this research are positive, and it is important that Saudi Arabia keeps up to date with advancements in technology to ensure the best learning experience for learners and maximise their potential.

Using mobile learning and social media to enhance learner feedback

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to investigate an area of growing importance that is widely recognised in the literature relating to the issue of how to improve ways that assessments and feedback are provided to students within higher education. This paper reports on a study that aimed to explore the views of both educators (n=70) and students (n=540) on feedback and feed-forward at a UK university. The study also investigated their experience and attitudes to social media applications as a means of enhancing access to feedback within the context of mobile learning.Design/methodology/approachThe research approach adopted in this study predominately conforms to a quantitative research design though embeds elements of qualitative research via a “mixed methods” approach. The overall methodology of the paper adheres to an exploratory case study in a higher education environment to identify various issues and approaches that could be addressed or enhanced to aid ways that assessments and feedback are disseminated to students within higher education.FindingsParticipants’ views were sought in relation to students receiving learning materials, as well as feedback from tutors directly to their smartphones and mobile devices. In addition, the study explored possible reasons for students not wanting to use social media and mobile devices for their learning and feedback. Overall, the results indicated a positive attitude on the part of educators and students to using mobile devices and social media applications for teaching and learning purposes.Research limitations/implicationsThe case study presented in this paper draws on findings from one higher educational institution. Further research is required to determine the generalisability of the findings to allow comparison of the findings to be undertaken within other higher education institutions.Originality/valueThe originality of the paper is that it provides detailed empirical evidence and findings that provide several important implications in relation to enhancing the student learning experience and providing considerable improvements to the way that feedback is provided that make it more likely that students will take more notice to feedback and act upon it. This in turn enables educators to better plan and manage their teaching and student experience online and through students’ mobile devices. The value of this study is that it explores views of both educators and students, whereas many other previous studies tend to focus on the views of either educators or students.