Social Media Platform Preferences

Group 1 EDT 180A

Isabelle Milligan, Renea Smith, Robin Allen

Lewallen

4/20/18
Group 1 EDT180A; Social Media Platform Preferences

Introduction

We decided to research the social media platform preferences of Arizona State University

students. Social media is incredibly influential in this day and age, and we wanted to see what

the students are using these platforms for, and how useful they can be. The seven social media

platforms that we focused on were: Snapchat, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, YouTube

and Reddit. Within this research we wanted to find out which of these platforms are used most

often, which ones are most useful for discussions, or academic situations, which ones are better

suited for making/communicating with friends, and which one has the most influence on society

at the moment. The tool that was used to collect the data from students was a Google Doc Form,

that our group created with questions related to our research topic. This was a simple way to be

able to survey students on their preferences, along with getting a little background information

on the students We received as many as 145 responses from our survey.

Discussion

When looking at the platform preferences in general by gender, there is an apparent

difference between male and female preferences for each platform. This is most likely because

there were 116 female respondents and only 27 male respondents. Instagram is overall the most

preferred, and Reddit is overall the least preferred.

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Group 1 EDT180A; Social Media Platform Preferences

Platform Preferences by Gender

140
120
Number of Students

100
80
60
40
20
0
Instagram Twitter Snapchat Facebook Tumblr Reddit Youtube
Platforms

Male Female Prefer Not to Answer Other Overall Preference

When looking at the platform preferences in general by residence, Instagram, Twitter,

Snapchat, Facebook, and YouTube were preferred by on campus students, while Tumblr and

Reddit were preferred by students who live at home. In almost all cases, students who are on

campus with a permanent residence elsewhere were the least number of respondents. This is

most likely because there were only 12 respondents that fit into this category.

Platform Preferences by Residence

50

40

30
Number of Students

20

10

0
Instagram Twitter Snapchat Facebook Tumblr Reddit Youtube
Platforms

On Campus At Home In Off-Campus Housing On Campus; permanent residence is elsewhere

3
Group 1 EDT180A; Social Media Platform Preferences

When looking at platform preferences between each class, it was concluded that

freshmen were the ones who responded most, which correlates as there were 89 freshmen

respondents. There were no Post-Bacc respondents, so while Post-Bacc is shown as an option on

the graph, there is no bar for any of the platforms. Graduates had the fewest preferences, as there

were only two graduate respondents.

Platform Preferences by Class

80
Number of Students

70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
Instagram Twitter Snapchat Facebook Tumblr Reddit Youtube
Platforms

Freshmen Sophomore Junior Senior Graduate Post-Bacc

When looking at the preferences for discussions, comparing gender, Facebook was the

most preferred overall, between all the platforms and each gender. Once again, there were more

female respondents than the others. Overall, Tumblr was the least preferred platform for having

discussions, with YouTube being a close second.

4
Group 1 EDT180A; Social Media Platform Preferences

Platform Preferences for Discussions by Gender

80
Number of Students

60

40

20

0
Instagram Twitter Snapchat Facebook Tumblr Reddit Youtube
Platforms

Male Female Other Prefer not to answer Overall Preference

When looking at the preferences for discussions comparing residences, on campus

students and at home students were close, and in YouTube’s case, were equal. At home students

preferred Instagram, and Facebook. On campus students preferred Twitter, Snapchat, Tumblr,

and Reddit. In all cases, on campus with residence elsewhere students had the fewest responses,

once again most likely because of the small number of respondents that fit this category.

Platform Preferences for Discussions by Residence

30
Number of Students

25
20
15
10
5
0
Instagram Twitter Snapchat Facebook Tumblr Reddit Youtube
Platforms

On Campus At Home In Off-Campus Housing On Campus; permanent residence is elsewhere

5
Group 1 EDT180A; Social Media Platform Preferences

When looking at platform preferences for discussions comparing classes, once again

freshmen were the most responses for all platforms. YouTube and Tumblr had the fewest picks

overall.

Platform Preferences for Discussions by Class

45
Number of Students

40
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
Instagram Twitter Snapchat Facebook Tumblr Reddit Youtube
Platforms

Freshmen Sophomore Junior Senior Graduate Post-Bacc

When looking at the preferences for social networking and making friends, comparing

gender, Instagram had the most picks overall and Reddit had the fewest. Once again, there were

more female respondents than male respondents. Although, the numbers for Tumblr, Reddit, and

YouTube are closer together than they have been for other topics.

6
Group 1 EDT180A; Social Media Platform Preferences

Platform Preferences for Social Networking/Making Friends by

Gender
100
Number of Students

80
60
40
20
0
Instagram Twitter Snapchat Facebook Tumblr Reddit Youtube
Platforms

Male Female Prefer not to answer Other Overall Preferences

When looking at the preferences for social interaction, comparing residences, on campus

students preferred Instagram and Twitter. At home students preferred Snapchat and Reddit. At

home students and on campus students were equal in their preference of Facebook, and were

equal, along with off campus housing students in their preference of Tumblr. No on campus

students preferred Reddit or YouTube.

Platform Preferences for Social Networking/Making Friends by

Residence
35
Number of Students

30
25
20
15
10
5
0
Instagram Twitter Snapchat Facebook Tumblr Reddit Youtube
Platforms

On Campus At Home In Off-Campus Housing On Campus; permanent residence is elsewhere

7
Group 1 EDT180A; Social Media Platform Preferences

When looking at preferences for social interaction, comparing classes, once again

freshmen were the majority respondents. The majority of all the classes preferred Instagram,

Twitter, Snapchat, and Facebook. The preference almost exponentially decreases after each

successive platform. Tumblr, Reddit, and YouTube have the fewest picks.

Platform Preferences for Social Networking/Making Friends by

Class
60
Number of Students

50
40
30
20
10
0
Instagram Twitter Snapchat Facebook Tumblr Reddit Youtube
Platforms

Freshmen Sophomore Junior Senior Graduate Post-Bacc

When looking at preferences for academic situations, comparing gender, YouTube was

the most preferred overall. This graph is significantly different to the ones before it. As you look

from left to right, the preferences seem to increase overall, rather than decrease as previously

seen. YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter are the most preferred for dealing with academics. Once

again, there were more female respondents; however, the number of male respondents are very

close to the number of female respondents.

8
Group 1 EDT180A; Social Media Platform Preferences

Platform Preferences for Academics by Gender

120
Number of Students

100
80
60
40
20
0
Instagram Twitter Snapchat Facebook Tumblr Reddit Youtube
Platforms

Male Female Prefer not to answer Other Overall Preference

When looking at the preferences for academics, comparing residences, once again

YouTube was the most preferred by all the categories. At home students preferred YouTube the

most, Facebook, and Twitter. On campus students also preferred YouTube, Facebook, and

Twitter the most. On campus students with a different permanent residence also preferred

YouTube the most. Tumblr, Snapchat, and Instagram were the least preferred platforms.

Platform Preferences for Academics by Residence

40
Number of Students

35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
Instagram Twitter Snapchat Facebook Tumblr Reddit Youtube
Platforms

On Campus At Home In Off-Campus Housing On Campus; permanent residence is elsewhere

9
Group 1 EDT180A; Social Media Platform Preferences

When looking at preferences for academics, comparing classes, once again, YouTube

was the most preferred overall. Freshmen were the most respondents, and also preferred

Facebook and Twitter, much like the graph showing how the residences compared. Tumblr,

Instagram, and Snapchat again were the least preferred platforms.

Platform Preferences for Academics by Class

70
Number of Students

60
50
40
30
20
10
0
Instagram Twitter Snapchat Facebook Tumblr Reddit Youtube
Platforms

Freshmen Sophomore Junior Senior Graduate Post-Bacc

When looking at which platform each gender thought was the most influential, Twitter

was chosen the most overall, with Instagram being second. Reddit had no votes, and Tumblr had

very few. Once again most of the respondents were female.

Most Influencial Socail Media Platforms by Gender

60
Number of Students

40

20

0
Instagram Twitter Snapchat Facebook Tumblr Reddit Youtube
Platforms

Male Female Prefer not to answer Other Overall Preference

10
Group 1 EDT180A; Social Media Platform Preferences

When looking at which platform each residence thought was the most influential, once again

Twitter was chosen, with Instagram being a close second. And once again, Reddit was not

chosen at all, with Tumblr being a close second. More at home students chose Twitter than on

campus students, while more on campus students chose Instagram than at home students.

Most Influencial Social Media Platforms by Residence

25
Number of Students

20
15
10
5
0
Instagram Twitter Snapchat Facebook Tumblr Reddit Youtube
Platforms

On Campus At Home In Off-Campus Housing On Campus; permanent residence is elsewhere

When looking at which platform each class thought was the most influential, once again Twitter

was chosen over the others, and Instagram was second. Freshmen make up most of the

respondents. Reddit again has zero respondents, with Tumblr being very close to zero as well.

Most Influencial Social Media Platforms by Class

40
Number of Students

35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
Instagram Twitter Snapchat Facebook Tumblr Reddit Youtube
Platforms

Freshmen Sophomore Junior Senior Graduate Post-Bacc

11
Group 1 EDT180A; Social Media Platform Preferences

Analysis

In most cases overall, Tumblr and Reddit were at the bottom of the preferences list.

Instagram, Twitter, and Snapchat were usually at the top. This shows that the mainstream social

media platforms are more preferred for everyday scrolling. However, in specific cases, such as

the preferences for academic situations, YouTube was the most preferred, and for the rest it

usually wasn’t. This shows that some social media platforms have specific uses that students

have found for them that make those platforms more useful than others. This illustrates that

while social media is extremely prevalent today, there are uses for each platform, which make

them unique and beneficial.

Now that the preferences students have are known, another question is: how do these

social media platforms affect your daily life? It was illustrated that there are some cases where

social media can be very beneficial to a student’s life, be it in helping them learn, or helping

them unwind; but how much social media is too much? Does social media sometimes take over

other responsibilities and duties that should be handled first?

If we were to do this again, we would probably lessen the number of questions. While all

the information we gathered is interesting to decipher and explore, there’s a lot of it, and

sometimes certain details get muddled in the shear amount of all the data. We could narrow our

focus to a more specific aspect of social media usage.

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