Limits of the influence of social networking sites on developing communication skills with others

Abstract

The research aims to reveal the extent of the impact of social media on developing communication skills with others, and to clarify the levels of correlation between the preference for communication skills and the preference for exposure to social media, as well as gender and a set of variables, namely: preferred journalistic arts, preference for topics related to developing communication skills with others, and preference for exposure to social media.

        The research used a survey methodology and a questionnaire tool with a scale composed of three axes, including 27 items related to cognitive, emotional, and behavioral domains to measure communication skills among a purposive sample of students from the Faculty of Arts. The research revealed several results, the most prominent of which are:

- Social media has a high impact on developing communication skills in cognitive, emotional, and behavioral domains with others.

-There are statistically significant differences at the (0.05) level between most of the actual means of respondents' answers and the hypothetical mean of the measures regarding the role of social media in the cognitive, emotional, and behavioral domains in developing communication skills with others.

-There are statistically significant differences at the (0.05) level between respondents' answers on the items of the scale regarding the role of social media in developing communication skills in the cognitive, emotional, and behavioral domains with others.

-There is a moderate correlation between the preference for exposure to social media and the preference for topics related to developing communication skills with others, as well as between gender and preferred journalistic arts, while there is a weak correlation between gender and the preference for topics related to talking with others, and between gender and the preference for social media regarding exposure to topics related to developing communication skills with others.

-The research revealed several data in its analysis of the causal relationship between social media and communication skills, including:

-There is a desire among social media users to acquire communication skills due to their significant role in shaping their digital identity and expressing themselves.

-Social media users are divided between those seeking information easily through their preferences for journalistic arts and those who want in-depth and comprehensive information. There is a tendency among most users to prefer visual texts supported by multimedia over written texts.

-The majority of social media users are influenced by the communication skills possessed by others in the virtual world, as well as by topics related to developing communication skills, due to their desire to enhance their knowledge and experiences and to utilize them in their communicative interactions on social media.

- Social media users vary in their interests, culture, inclinations, digital identities, and communicative moods; therefore, different levels of relationships have emerged between gender, preferred journalistic arts, topics for talking with others, social media, and the type of journalistic art.