Abstract

Author(s): Manjunatha J, Varalakshmi M, Guruprasada G. M

The present study is an attempt to examine the perception and use of Social Networking Sites (SNSs) by the postgraduate students of the University of Mysore. The Prime objective of the study is to assess the use of most popular SNSs, purpose of use of SNSs, most employed tool for accessing SNSs, awareness level regarding security concerns and problems faced by the respondents while accessing the SNSs. The questionnaire method was used for data collection. A total of 110 questionnaires distributed to the postgraduate students of 21 departments and 102 filled-in questionnaires were received back with the overall response rate of 92.72%. The findings of the study shows that the majority of respondents 64(62.75%) are Female. The ‘Google+’, ‘YouTube’ and Facebook are most preferred SNSs by the highest number of respondents representing mean value 3.21, 3.08 and 2.93 respectively. About 69.61% the respondents use the SNS for the purposes of the ‘academic’. 88.24% respondents use Mobile as prime tool for using SNSs. 30 (29.41%) respondents have more than 3 years of experience in using the SNSs and 37(36.27%) spend 1 to 3 hours per day for using SNSs. Friends searching or adding’ is the most useful function of the SNSs. The highest number of respondents has personal friends on SNSs and permits their friends to view their profile information. 77(75.49%) respondents were engaged in other activities like internet browsing and searching while accessing the SNSs. The majority of respondents secure their accounts by avoiding friend requests from unfamiliar persons. 73(71.57%) respondents accepted that the use of SNSs effectively helping in studies and learning and lack of time is major hurdle for accessing the SNSs.