Social Networks Use Patterns among University Youth: The Validity and Reliability of an Updated Measurement Instrument

Melchor Gómez-García, Luis Matosas-López and Julio Ruiz-Palmero
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Melchor Gómez-García: Department of Pedagogy, Autonomous University of Madrid, 28049 Madrid, Spain
Luis Matosas-López: Department of Financial Economics, Accounting and Modern Language, Rey Juan Carlos University, 28032 Madrid, Spain
Julio Ruiz-Palmero: Department of Didactics and School Organization, University of Málaga, 29071 Málaga, Spain

Sustainability, 2020, vol. 12, issue 9, 1-14

Abstract: This article addresses the design and validation of an updated questionnaire that makes it possible to understand the use patterns and attitudes of university youth on social networks. The authors utilized a panel of 20 judges who were social media experts and a sample of 640 university students. The exploratory factor analysis (EFA) explained 66.523% of the total variance. The confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), carried out to verify the dimensional structure of the instrument, reflected the appropriate parameters. The reliability study showed a Cronbach’s alpha of 0.864. These data corroborated the development of a robust and reliable questionnaire. The resulting instrument did not contain items alluding to specific social networks (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or LinkedIn), but rather students’ usage patterns of them. The exclusion of items that referred to particular social networks during the research demonstrated a convergence in behavior on social media regardless of the nuances of each platform. This fact suggested that the platform was of secondary importance in the context of a new paradigm in which the type of use (viewing, posting, participating, or interacting) took precedence over the name of the network itself.

Keywords: social networks; Facebook; Twitter; Instagram; LinkedIn; structural equation modeling; validity; reliability; university (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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