scholarly journals Social media use and physical activity participation in college students: An exploratory analysis

CommonHealth ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (3) ◽  
pp. 102-111
Author(s):  
Amanda Folk ◽  
Sara Kovacs

Social media has become a part of a college student’s environment, highlighting the importance of investigating the role that social media may play in PA participation and other health behaviors. Purpose: To describe social media use and physical activity (PA) participation in a sample of college students and explore relationships between social media and PA, including health and fitness social media. Methods: College students (age 18-29 years) enrolled at a four-year university completed an online questionnaire regarding self-reported social media use and PA participation. Independent sample t-tests were used to compare PA outcomes between those that follow health and fitness accounts and those who do not. A multiple linear regression model was used to examine associations between social media use and PA. Results: Two hundred and ninety-two students completed the questionnaire (63.72% female, 63.61% white, BMI 24.14±4.25 kg/m2). There was no difference in PA participation between those that do and do not follow health and fitness social media in moderate (p=0.17) or vigorous intensity PA (p=1.0) when controlling for confounding variables. Spending 1-2 hours/day (p=0.02) or 3-4 hours/day (p=0.01) on social media compared to <1 hour/day and accessing social media in the evening (p=0.04) are associated with lower moderate PA. Conclusions: Following health and fitness social media may not have the intended impact on college student PA. Further research needs to be done to assess the most effective and impactful strategies for content delivery via social media to increase PA behavior.

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-10
Author(s):  
Robyn Vanherle ◽  
Sebastian Kurten ◽  
Robin Achterhof ◽  
Inez Myin-Germeys ◽  
Kathleen Beullens

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mezna A. AlMarzooqi

Background: Social media became an integral part of the lives of people because it encourages social relations and shares interests, activities, and real-life connections. As quarantine and lockdown orders are prolonged, many people, as well as those physically active individuals, typically responded to this stressful condition by using social media platforms.Objective: This study aimed to examine the level of physical activity of physically active individuals and their attitudes toward social media use during the COVID-19 pandemic.Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional survey was conducted among physically active individuals in Saudi Arabia between June 2020 and July 2020. An online survey was employed among eligible participants who completed a self-administered questionnaire that covered reasons for physical activity and attitudes toward social media platforms during the COVID-19 pandemic.Results: Of these 323 participants, 29.1% were in the age group of 18–24 years, 66.6% were women, and 67.8% were single. The proportion of participants whose metabolic equivalent of tasks-min/week from vigorous activity &lt;1,680 was 31.9%, and all of the participants follow people or pages in social media related to sports teams and fitness models. The average number of hours spent on social media per day was 2.95 ± 0.90 h. The majority of the participants showed positive attitudes toward social media used for exercise and physical activity. Of the eight variables, age, level of physical activity, and the average of hours spent on social media emerged as significant predictors of attitudes toward the use of social media (P &lt; 0.05).Conclusions: The present survey results indicate adverse consequences of home quarantine as reflected by a small proportion of participants who had differences in levels of vigorous activities during the COVID-19 pandemic in Saudi Arabia. Social media appears to be a key avenue to promote and disseminate health interventions to promote physical activity during this COVID-19 pandemic.


2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexandros Koulouris ◽  
Eftichia Vraimaki ◽  
Maria Koloniari

Purpose The study aims to explore Greek libraries’ social media presence and library operation and social media use during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) lockdown. Design/methodology/approach Primary data were collected via an online questionnaire that was distributed to the Greek libraries. The final sample comprised 189 libraries of all types with the exception of school libraries. Findings Results indicated that Facebook is the most widely used platform, while social media are mainly used for sharing announcements about library operations and for the promotion of events. During the COVID-19 lockdown, libraries responded quickly to the new circumstances by taking many of their services online. However, they did not fully use social media for service provision but rather used social media as a static communication channel. Only a few of the libraries grasped the opportunity to highlight their role in the promotion of public health by providing timely and reliable information. Practical implications Library leaders who are looking to harness the power of social media for service promotion and outreach should build a strategy that takes platform popularity, current social media trends, patron preferences and the specific promotional objectives of their library into consideration. Originality/value To the best of the authors’ knowledge, the current research is the first which attempts to explore the social media presence of Greek libraries of all types and changes made to library operations and social media use in response to the COVID-19 lockdown.


2016 ◽  
Vol 20 (2) ◽  
pp. 475-494 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anatoliy Gruzd ◽  
Caroline Haythornthwaite ◽  
Drew Paulin ◽  
Sarah Gilbert ◽  
Marc Esteve del Valle

This research was motivated by an interest in understanding how social media are applied in teaching in higher education. Data were collected using an online questionnaire, completed by 333 instructors in higher education, that asked about general social media use and specific use in teaching. Education and learning theories suggest three potential reasons for instructors to use social media in their teaching: (1) exposing students to practices, (2) extending the range of the learning environment, and (3) promoting learning through social interaction and collaboration. Answers to open-ended questions about how social media were used in teaching, and results of a factor analysis of coded results, revealed six distinct factors that align with these reasons for use: (1) facilitating student engagement, (2) instructor’s organization for teaching, (3) engagement with outside resources, (4) enhancing student attention to content, (5) building communities of practice, and (6) resource discovery. These factors accord with a Uses and Gratifications perspective that depicts adopters as active media users choosing and shaping media use to meet their own needs. Results provide a more comprehensive picture of social media use than found in previous work, encompassing not only the array of media used but also the range of purposes associated with use of social media in contemporary teaching initiatives.


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