The role of social media as a source of academic information for students

Background of the study: Social media has a huge impact on students' lives. Social media as a means to view and obtain information. This makes social networking sites very interesting sites and allows for a place to share and also a source of information

Purpose: Analyze the role of social media as a means of disseminating academic information for students at the IAIN Kerinci.

Method: This research is a type of qualitative research with a case study approach. Data management and data analysis include analyzing and investigating data, grouping data, selecting and classifying what will be processed, searching for and finding patterns.

Findings: The impact of social media on users includes building social relationships, increasing interest in economic activities, providing a relaxing effect through entertainment functions, as a means of self-actualization. The role of social media is also very significant for IAIN Kerinci students, apart from being a source of academic information as well as a forum for academic support, learning and as a means of academic communication.

Conclusion: The use of social media has become a large source of academic information for IAIN Kerinci students, but it has not yet been utilized significantly for the development of academic quality.

Introduction

Social media has a big influence on human life because with this media people can interact socially such as sharing opinions, thoughts and knowledge on a global scale without being limited by time and place. Social media is also an Internet-based channel where users can interact opportunistically and present themselves selectively, either in real-time or asynchronously, with a wide and expansive reach. a narrow audience that derives value from user-generated content and perceived interactions with others(Carr & Hayes, 2015). In his study(O'Keeffe & Clarke-Pearson, 2011)claim that this can make it easier for students to learn outside the classroom for the purpose of collaborating, sharing ideas and being able to access other sources of information. It refers to internet-based services such as some social networking sites, wikis, communication tools, and so onpeoplesonomi that emphasizes collaborationonline and share information between users. Therefore it can be said that social media has a big influence on human life.

Global internet use increased from 413 million users in 2000 to 3.4 billion users in 2016(Roser et al., 2015). The use of search sites such as Google has carried out 12.38 billion searches, this shows the large use of the internet for searching for information(Clement, 2021). Generational groups are considered important because they are able to see and understand differences in formative experiences regarding world development with the life cycle and the process of increasing age to shape people's views of the world(Dimock, 2019). From the findings above, it can be concluded that most internet users in Indonesia are from the group or category of teenagers, especially those born in the 1990s when the internet began to develop rapidly in society.

Some previous research as follows, found that more than half of Indonesia's population actively uses social media such as Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, YouTube and Twitter. Meanwhile(Madden & Zickuhr, 2011)found that 83% of internet users aged between 18 and 29 years used social media to communicate with colleagues. Other researchers found that 74% of Malaysian students believe that social media encourages positive things when learning English(M.K & Ahmad, 2010). However, a new survey of 456 full-time schools in the US found that 100% of students use social media for e-learning and socializing with peers, with 98% primarily using Facebook and 84% using social media for e-learning and socializing with peers. We found that they primarily use Twitter(Barnes & Lescault, 2011). Students' use of the platform was found to correlate with the quality of their interactions with other students and their professional success(Rutherford, 2010). A study of 233 students at an American higher education institution found that more introverted students interacted more on social media, which helped them learn together and increased their self-confidence(Voorn & Kommers, 2013). There is a difference in this research from that discussed in previous research, that is in this research want to see the role of social media such as instagram, youtube, whatsaapp facebook in its use as an academic source.

Based on the researcher's initial observations, students at the Ushuluddin Adab and Da'wah Faculty of IAIN Kerinci use the internet and social media as a means of accessing and communicating information, and they even prefer internet information sources compared to coming to the library. The large number of social media users in Ushuluddin Adab and Dakwah certainly creates opportunities and is an interesting study to research, namely studies between students and the Faculty of Social Media phenomenon to optimize the role of social media. social media as a medium and source of educational information accompanied by the question how is social media used as a source of information for IAIN Kerinci students?

Method

Research Design

This research uses a qualitative research design with a case study type of research. type of case study research using empirical evidence to prove that the theory about the phenomenon of social media use can be implemented as a source of information for IAIN Kerinci students. The data collection format or data source in this research is a combination of interviews, articles and literature studies(Sugiyono, 2019).

Research Location

The selection of research locations will be carried out at IAIN Kerinci. Based on the results of initial observations, this is interesting to research with the informants selected as samples being students aged 18-34 who actively use social media. Informant in this research were IAIN Kerinci students, using a sample selection technique, namely using purposive sampling selection is based on certain criteria(Sugiyono, 2018).

Data collection

Qualitative research with an interpretive approach emphasizes the perceptions of researchers and informants in responding to a problem(Sarosa, 2012). Researchers are directly involved in data collection. The case study data collection format consists of a combination of interviews, papers, and literature(Creswell, 2014). Data collection techniques in this research used interview and literature study data sources.

Data analysis

Data analysis include analyzing and investigating data, grouping data, selecting and classifying what will be processed, searching for and finding patterns. Data validity (data reliability) is an important part of research(Ibrahim, 2015). Researchers take steps to achieve reliability, communicability, and reliability as a path to data validity.

Result and Discussion

The role of social media as a source of academic information for IAIN Kerinci students:

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