SOCIAL MEDIA IMPACT ON STUDENTS' SOCIAL BEHAVIOR: A FACULTY PERCEPTION COMPARISON BETWEEN GENDERS

Social media has impacted our society as an instrument for social communication. This study investigates gender differences and similarities of King Abdulaziz University (KAU) instructors' perceptions of social media impact on social behavior of students. The sample size was 507 male and female instructors of different ages. Research outcome indicates that instructors are familiar with and are immersed in social media use with female instructors being the heavier users of social media. Findings support the advantages of social media use on students' social behavior and do not indicate any obvious disadvantages. The findings include identification of dominant gender-based and common perceptions. Common positive factors include ability to share ideas and knowledge with a wider and more varied audience, collaborate with others to achieve goals, improve ability to contribute to society, improve connectedness to communities and understand community issues in a better way. Common concerns relate to physical inactivity, being less productive and distracted from everyday life activities, social introversion, exposure to bullying and domination attitudes; and mental dullness. These findings can help identify possible strategies to mitigate concerns relating to the use of social media.