A STUDY ON THE USAGE OF SOCIAL MEDIA AMONG MIZORAM UNIVERSITY STUDENTS WHO VISIT THE CENTRAL LIBRARY B. Lalhlimpuii Assistant Librarian Mizoram University Aizawl, Mizoram

Introduction Technology transforms traditional ways of teaching and learning. This makes students go beyond the traditional text books and requires them to develop and acquire their skills using computer technology, critical thinking and information seeking strategies. Use of social media applications is common. Social media has negative & positive impact. Is social media a useful teaching-learning aid or is it simply a distraction for the students? This paper presents the study and findings of social media usage among the students of Mizoram University who visit the Central Library.

Objectives: To find out the purpose for which social media is being used by the students. To identify the problems faced by the students while accessing social media. To find out how much time is spent by the students for accessing social media. To find out if usage of social media has limited the frequency of library visits among the students. Methodology: Random sampling method was used to acquire samples. Structured questionnaire was developed to collect the primary data. A total of 125 questionnaires were distributed among the students of Mizoram University who visited the Central Library, and 110 (88%) questionnaires were received.

Social media applications RESULTS Table 1: Use of social media applications. Table 2: Purpose of using social media. Social media applications No. of students (%) Facebook 79 (72.0) WhatsApp 101 (92.0) Twitter 12 (11.0) Skype 9 (8.2) Instagram 55 (50.0) Myspace 1 (0.9) Others 4 (3.7) Purpose No. of students (%) Academic 64 (58.1) Entertainment 61 (55.4) Communication 74 (67.2) Job searching 18 (16.3) General 25 (23.0) Others 8 (7.2)

Table 3: Problems faced while accessing social media. No. Of students (%) Lack of time 15 (13.7) Poor connectivity 70 (63.6) High cost 22 (20.0) Others 3 (2.7) Total 110 (100.0)

Table 6: Helpfulness for academic purpose Table 4: Time of accessing social media. Table 5: Place of using social media. Time No. of students (%) Morning 9 (8.2) Daytime 7 (6.4) Evening 24 (21.8) Night 70 (63.6) Total 110 (100.0) Place No. of students (%) Home 50 (45.4) Department 12 (11.0) Library 14 (12.7) Hostel 29 (26.3) Others 5 (4.6) Total 110 (100.0) Table 6: Helpfulness for academic purpose Variables Helpfulness Distraction No. of students (%) Yes 97 (88.2) 27 (25.0) No 13 (11.8) 83 (75.0) Total 110 (100.0)

Figure 2: Days on which social media are usually accessed.

The study samples use social media for communication, academic, entertainment, job searching and general purposes. Poor connectivity is the most common problem faced by the study subjects while accessing social media followed by ‘high cost of using Internet’ & ‘lack of time’. Majority of the students access social media 2 to 3 hrs a day mostly during night from home and hostels, and spend more time accessing social media on weekends than during weekdays. This clearly shows that accessing social media does not distract them from their daily academic activities and does not limit their frequency of visiting the Library. However, the daily library visit rate by the students is low and their main purpose of visiting the library is to borrow books.

Conclusions Libraries have certain roles to play to attract students by procuring good quality reading materials, using web-based services and providing innovative practices so that the students will relish reading and accessing the library services. To survive in this advancing technological world, students must know and learn how to access the Internet and social media in a meaningful way. For this, it is highly recommended that the University should arrange proper training programs to orientate students to the hidden potential of this technology.