Supporting higher education with social networks: trust and privacy vs perceived effectiveness
ISSN: 1468-4527
Article publication date: 28 October 2020
Issue publication date: 27 January 2021
Abstract
Purpose
Social networks provide convenient communication and connection among people, and they have become essential in college students' lives. However, problems also come along with increasing concern about trust and privacy issues. This research attempts to investigate the trust and privacy perceptions of university students when using social networks for learning purposes.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper investigated the differences in trust and privacy perceptions between undergraduate (UG) and postgraduate (PG) students through an online survey with 96 subjects in Hong Kong. The authors used the Mann–Whitney U test to compare the differences between the responses provided by UG and PG subjects.
Findings
The authors found that both PG and UG students were generally satisfied with the use of social networking sites (SNSs) for learning. However, PG subjects used SNSs more for learning and were more willing to exchange with classmates than UG and PG perceived higher value of SNSs than UG students. The authors also found a relative lack of privacy awareness of UG students.
Practical implications
Based on the study’s findings, the authors made some recommendations about the application of SNSs for learning purposes. The authors also suggest universities provide more guidance and training to students on the privacy issues of SNSs.
Originality/value
Even though some previous studies have focused on studying privacy and trust issues on SNSs, studies that aim at university students in the context of Asia–Pacific are rather limited, especially university students' own trust and privacy perceptions on using SNSs for learning purposes.
Peer review
The peer review history for this article is available at: https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/OIR-02-2020-0042
Keywords
Acknowledgements
Erratum: It has come to the attention of the publisher that the article, “Supporting higher education with social networks: trust and privacy vs perceived effectiveness” by Wenyang Wang, Ernest Tak Hei Lam, Mavis Man-wai Lung and Dickson K.W. Chiu published in Online Information Review, provided an incorrect list of authors and affiliations. The corrrect list of authors is: Wenyang Wang, Ernest Tak Hei Lam, Dickson K.W. Chiu, Mavis Man-wai Lung and Kevin K.W. Ho. The correct affiliation for Dickson K.W. Chiu is “Faculty of Education, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China”. This error was introduced in the editorial process and has now been corrected in the online version. When citing the article, please use: Wang, W., Lam, E.T.H., Chiu, D.K.W., Lung, M.M.-w. and Ho, K.K.W. (2020), “Supporting higher education with social networks: trust and privacy vs perceived effectiveness”, Online Information Review, https://doi.org/10.1108/OIR-02-2020-0042. The publisher sincerely apologises for this error and for any inconvenience caused.This research is supported by the Faculty Research Fund, Faculty of Education, The University of Hong Kong.
Citation
Wang, W., Lam, E.T.H., Chiu, D.K.W., Lung, M.M.-w. and Ho, K.K.W. (2021), "Supporting higher education with social networks: trust and privacy vs perceived effectiveness", Online Information Review, Vol. 45 No. 1, pp. 207-219. https://doi.org/10.1108/OIR-02-2020-0042
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2020, Emerald Publishing Limited