Digital Literacy in Social Media: a Case Study

Rafaela Andreou & Iolie Nicolaidou

Department of Communication and Internet Studies, Faculty of Applied Arts and Communication, Cyprus
University of Technology, Limassol, Cyprus
rafaela.andreou@opiumworks.com
Iolie.nicolaidou@cut.ac.cy

Abstract: Digital literacy skills with respect to the safe use of social media are of prominent importance for adults
today, given social media’s high frequency of use and given statistics showing rising percentages of “digital
immigrants” who, at the present time, use social media.
Previous research was based on people’ self-reports, focused on specific professional groups or students, and did
not systematically measure social media literacy. The present case-study attempted to address this gap and
answer three research questions: 1) To what extent are citizens literate with respect to social media use? 2) How
does people’s perceived competence with social media relate to their social media literacy? 3) What are some
factors associated with social media literacy?
The main data sources were a demographics questionnaire and a 20-question online-test measuring people’s
social media literacy. The emphasis of the test was on the safe use of social media. It included questions relevant
to adjusting privacy settings, recognizing and rejecting potentially harmful posts, recognizing the permanency of
posts, etc. The instruments were completed by 178 Greek-speaking social media users in the Republic of Cyprus
with an average age of 28 years old (SD=8.61, min=19, max=61). Findings suggested that participants’ average
social media literacy performance was 83 out of 100 (M=83.34, SD=9.67), therefore relatively high. Factors that
related to people’s social media literacy included age, which was negatively correlated with social media literacy
(Pearson’s r=-0.27, p<0.01), experience with social media (measured in years), (r=0.18, p<0.05) and frequency of
use of social media (measured in hours per day) (r=0.26, p<0.01), which were both positively correlated with social
media literacy. People’s perceived competence with social media did not correlate with their performance on the
social media literacy test, which provides an indication that people may underestimate or overestimate their
competence. Provided that people who overestimate their competence will most probably not actively seek
training on staying safe when using social media and provided that the older a person is the lower her level of
social media literacy, this case study argues in favor of designing e-learning training addressed to digital
immigrants on the safe use of social media. Findings are of value to e-learning designers and e-learning trainers for
adults.

Keywords: social media, digital literacy, digital immigrants, safe use of social media, e-learning.

1. Introduction
Many social media platforms, such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Youtube, have now penetrated deeply into
our lives and have transformed the way in which we communicate and engage with society (Murphy, Loeb, Basto,
Challacombe, Trinh & Leveridge, 2014). Social media partly satisfy the psychological need of young people to
belong. According to a recent study of Kim, Wang, and Oh (2016), students’ need to belong positively related with
their use of social media and smartphones, which in turn facilitated their engagement in social activities.

The concept of social media is top of the agenda for many businesses today, and decision makers, as well as
consultants, try to identify ways in which companies can make profitable use of social media applications (Kaplan
& Haenlein, 2010). This is particularly important in the present time given the rise of Social Media Influencers
(Khamis, Ang & Welling, 2017), who are aptly used to publicize product information and latest promotions to
online followers (Lim, Cheah & Wong, 2017), typically millennials (Chatzigeorgiou, 2017).
Digital literacy skills are of prominent importance for adults today. One dimension of digital literacy, which is highly
pertinent to social media, refers to communication (Hague & Payton, 2011). According to Hague and Payton
(2011):
“the internet and web 2.0 technologies have greatly extended the choice of communication media
available to young people and adults, in forms such as email, instant messaging, social networking sites,
forums, blogs and wikis. People therefore need to be able to judge when to use these tools and when to
select more traditional communication media for any given task” (p.1)

People’s choice of media should be done based on the nature of the task rather than their interest in specific
technologies. They also need to be supported to understand how their choice of media affects their ability to
communicate (Hague & Payton, 2011).

Another important dimension of digital literacy, according to Hague and Payton (2011) is e-safety, which is
pertinent to the safe use of social media. These skills are particularly important, especially given social media’s
high frequency of use and given statistics showing rising percentages of “digital immigrants” who, at the present
time, use social media (Fietkiewicz, 2017).

2. Measuring social media literacy

There haven’t been many attempts to measure digital literacy particularly with respect to social media use. Some
of previous attempts have focused on the digital literacy skills of specific professional groups, such as health
professionals (Murphy, Loeb, Basto, Challacombe, Trinh, Leveridge, ... & Bultitude 2014), librarians
(Vanwynsberghe, Vanderlinde, Georges & Verdegem, 2015) or undergraduate students (Bridges, 2012) and
university graduates (Yiannakopoulou & Mpatziou, 2012). Previous research was based on people’ self-reports and
did not systematically measure either digital literacy in general or social media literacy, in particular. For example,
Yiannakopoulou and Mpatziou (2012) attempted to measure the digital literacy level of 100 adults who were
university graduates but their instrument was based on how familiar participants felt that they were with respect
to the use of specific tools. They found that some factors that affect digital literacy in adults include gender, age,
experience and frequency of use of computers. They also found the participants aged between 18 and 40 who are
experienced with respect to the use of computers and who use computers for more than 20 hours per week are
the ones who have higher familiarity with specific tools.

However, self-reported instruments pose a risk of misreporting by respondents (Hagittai, 2009), therefore it is
important to use standardized tests, to the extent that this is possible, to measure digital literacy in research
studies. The present study attempted to address this gap by using an online instrument to measure social media
literacy, based on the social media instrument developed by the Northstar Digital Literacy Assessment
(https://www.digitalliteracyassessment.org/), as part of a case study focusing on a specific country, Cyprus. The
online test was administered in an attempt to measure people’s social media literacy in a more objective and
systematic way as opposed to relying on self-reports. It is important to note that to the best of the authors’
knowledge, no published study was found that attempted to measure Cypriot citizens’ social media literacy skills.
Therefore, the present study attempted to answer the question “To what extent are Cypriot citizens literate with
respect to social media use?” Within the frame of this question, the study also attempted to test a hypothesis,
which was based on the literature, which differentiates the social media literacy of undergraduate students as
opposed to the social media literacy of older individuals. More specifically, there have been claims in the literature
that “even though most students use social media regularly, many do not know how to use it professionally”
(Callens, 2014), a claim that was also made previously by Bridges (2012). The hypothesis that was made in the
present study, which is opposing to the claims made in the literature, was that undergraduate students and young
people in general, being digital natives (Prensky, 2001), will know how to use social media safely and responsibly,
by acting in a professional way that moreover doesn’t compromise the safety of their personal data.

The present study also attempted to identify factors that relate to social media literacy and answer the question:
What are some factors associated with social media literacy? Within the frame of this question, the second
hypothesis that was made was that people who use social media more frequently will have higher levels of social
media literacy. This was based on the findings of the research of Vanwynsberghe, Vanderlinde, Georges &
Verdegem (2015), which focused on librarians, and found that frequency of use of social media and therefore
higher self-efficacy in performing social media related activities was correlated to more advanced practical and
cognitive competencies in the use of social media. In other words, the study found that the social media literates
(with a high level of social media literacy) are librarians who frequently use social media at home and at work.
Lastly, the present study also attempted to compare people’s perceived competence with social media to their
actual social media literacy.

3. Methodology

3.1. Research questions

The present case-study attempted to answer three research questions:

1) To what extent are Cypriot citizens literate with respect to social media use?
2) How does people’s perceived competence with social media relate to their social media literacy?
3) What are some factors associated with social media literacy?

The study also attempted to test two hypotheses:

H1: Undergraduate students and young people in general will know how to use social media responsibly and safely.
H2: People who use social media more frequently will have higher levels of social media literacy

3.2. Data sources

The main data sources of this case-study were: a) a demographics questionnaire and b) a 20-question multiple
choice test measuring people’s social media literacy, which was based on the Northstar Digital Literacy
Assessment.

The demographics questionnaire included closed questions such as: gender, age, educational level (ordinal
variable), experience with the internet and social media (measured as a scale variable using numbers of years of
internet and social media use), frequency of use of internet and social media (measured as a scale variable using
hours of use per day), and predicted score on social media literacy test before this was administered, to measure
people’s perceived competence with social media.

The emphasis of the test measuring people’s social media literacy was on the safe and responsible use of social
media. The test was based on the standards set by Northstar Digital Literacy Assessment, a program of the
Minnesota Literacy Council, which defines basic skills needed to perform tasks on computers and online. According
to the standards for using technology in daily life as set by Northstar Digital Literacy Assessment:

“Users of social media should be able to:

1. Identify different types of social media and their primary functions (especially Facebook, LinkedIn,
Instagram, Twitter).
2. Create a new account on a social media network and log in.
3. Recognize information posted on social media networks that may present a risk to the user as
consumer of information.
4. Demonstrate knowledge of managing “friends” on Facebook: adding friends, accepting/declining
“friend” requests, and the difference between that and “following” someone.
5. Understand and change privacy settings.
6. Demonstrate an understanding of the consequences of “liking” or commenting on something.
7. Share and delete content, including photos, videos, and links.
 8. Identify information that is unwise to post and/or upload on social media (too much personal sharing,
inappropriate photos/comments).
9. Distinguish between public and private “spaces” on social media sites (e.g., Facebook messages vs.
Facebook timeline).
10. Post, share, like, or comment on content.
11. Demonstrate knowledge of the permanence of anything posted on the internet” (Northstar Digital
Literacy Assessment, n.d.).

The test therefore included questions relevant to adjusting privacy settings, recognizing and rejecting potentially
harmful posts, recognizing the permanency of posts, etc. The questions of the test were written in Greek to
accommodate the needs of native speakers on the island of Cyprus. Eleven out of 20 questions focused on
Facebook, one focused on Twitter, three focused on Instagram and one focused on LinkedIn. Four questions were
based on a combination of these social media platforms. The passing score of the Northstar test was 85 out of 100.
The same passing score was used as a standard for the instrument of the present study as well.

To test the validity of the scoring rubric of the social media literacy test, as part of a small pilot study, 15
participants took both the Northstar social media literacy test, which is provided for free for individual use, and the
social media literacy test that was used in this study. Despite the small sample size, a Pearson’s correlation
coefficient was calculated between the scores of these individuals in the Northstar social media test (M=87.12,
SD=7.87) and their scores in the social media test of the present study (M=85.33, SD=6.14). A statistically
significant, positive, moderate relationship (Pearson’s r=0.53, n=15, p<0.05) between the two scores is a
preliminary indication of the test’s validity, which needs to be further examined in future, large scale studies. The
reliability of the scoring rubric has not been tested.

3.3. Data collection

The demographics data questionnaire and the online test on social media literacy were available for completion
online for approximately two weeks, between the 28th of March 2018 and April 15th 2018.

3.3. Participants

A hundred and seventy-eight (n=178) social media users; 60 men (33.7%) and 118 women (66.3%), with an average
age of 28 years old (M=27.9, SD=8.61, min=19, max=61) participated in the study by completing both instruments:
the demographics questionnaire and the online social media literacy test. All participants were Greek speaking and
lived in Cyprus.

With respect to their educational level, 41% of the sample were students (n=73/178), 21.3% were university
graduates (n=41/178), 23% had a Master’s (n=41/178) and 7.9% (n=14/178) had a PhD.
Participants were internet users for an average of 12 years (M=11.92, SD=4.5, min=2, max=25) and the vast
majority (97.8%) used the internet on a daily basis, for an average of 7 hours (M=6.99, SD=4.22) per day.
Participants were social media users for an average of 8.5 years (M=8.46, SD=2.74, min=2, max=20). They used
social media for an average of 5.5 hours per day (M=5.52, SD=4.12).

3.4. Data analysis

The social media literacy test was manually scored and all data was input in a statistical package for analysis (IBM
SPSS Statistics 24). The first research question was answered using descriptive statistics and population parameter
estimates. The second and third research questions were answered by conducting correlation analyses using the
Pearson’s r coefficient, which is appropriate for testing the relationship between scale variables. The alpha level
was set a priori to 0.05 for all statistical analyses.
4. Results

4.1. To what extent are Cypriot citizens literate with respect to social media use?

Findings suggested that participants’ average social media literacy performance was 83 out of 100 (M=83.34,
SD=9.67), therefore relatively high (Table 1). However, the average performance was below the passing score of
the test (which was 85 out of 100).

The population parameters were calculated using interval estimates, based on a 95% confidence interval with
unknown SD. The population's mean score on social media literacy is expected to lie between 81.91 and 84.77
(95%CI [81.91 - 84.77]).

Table 1: Social media literacy (systematic measurement and perceived level)

M SD min max
Social media literacy 83.34 9.67 37 100

Perceived social media 79.56 14.88 7 100

literacy

To examine the first hypothesis of the study, the average score of social media literacy of participants who
reported that they were students, who also tend to be relatively young in age (M=22.04, SD=3.46, n=73) was also
calculated. This was found to be 84 out of 100 (M=84.44, SD=9.6, n=73), slightly higher than the average score of
the rest of participants (M=82.58, SD=9.69, n=105). This indicates that students and in general young people can
be considered social media literate to some extent and confirms the first hypothesis of the study.

4.2. How does people’s perceived competence with social media relate to their social media literacy?

As can be seen from Table 1, the average scores between people’s perceived social media literacy (M=79.56,
SD=14.88), as this was predicted before taking the test, and actual social media literacy score (M=83.34, SD=9.67),
as this was systematically measured from the online test are relatively close. A Pearson correlation coefficient was
computed to assess the relationship between perceived social media literacy and social media literacy score. A
Pearson’s correlation between these two scale variables indicated a very weak relationship and did not yield a
statistically significant result (Pearson’s r=0.08, n=176, p=0.25). The fact that people’s perceived competence with
social media did not correlate with their performance on the social media literacy test provides an indication that
people either underestimate or overestimate their competence in the use of social media.

4.3. Factors that relate to people’s social media literacy

Several factors which could affect people’s social media literacy were examined in this study. These included age,
gender, experience with internet and social media, frequency of use of internet and social media, and educational
level. No statistically significant relationships were found between the level of people’s social media literacy and
their experience with using the internet (measured in years), the frequency of using the internet or their
educational level (Table 2). To examine whether there are differences between the level of social media literacy
between men and women, a chi-square was conducted with two nominal variables (gender: male/female and
passing score in test: yes/no) to compare the percentage of men and women who passed the test but, again this
did not yield any statistically significant results.

As shown in Table 2, three factors related to people’s social media literacy at a statistically significant level. The
first one was age. A Pearson correlation coefficient was computed to assess the relationship between age (M=
27.9, SD=8.61) and social media literacy (M=83.34, SD=9.67). Age was negatively correlated with social media
literacy (Pearson’s r=-0.27, n=179, p<0.01). This means that the younger a person is the higher his/her social media
literacy.

Table 2: Correlations between social media literacy and other factors

Age Experience with Hours of use Experience Frequency of Educational
social media of social with the internet use level
media internet
Social media -0.27 ** 0.18* r=0.26** r=-0.026 r=0.108 r=0.007
literacy
* p < .05, **p < .01

The second factor that relates to social media literacy was experience with social media. A Pearson correlation
coefficient was computed to assess the relationship between experience with social media measured in years
(M=8.46, SD=2.74) and social media literacy (M=83.34, SD=9.67). A statistically significant, positive moderate
relationship was found between experience with social media and social media literacy (r=0.18, n=177, p<0.05).
This means that the more years people use social media the higher their social media literacy (Table 2).

The third factor that relates to social media literacy was frequency of use of social media. A Pearson correlation
coefficient was computed to assess the relationship between frequency of use of social media (measured in hours
per day) (M=5.52, SD=4.12) and social media literacy (M=83.34, SD=9.67). A statistically significant, positive
moderate relationship was found between frequency of use of social media and social media literacy (r=0.26,
n=156, p<0.01). This means that the more hours people use social media the more social media literate they are
(Table 2) and confirms the second hypothesis of the study.

5. Discussion

This study attempted to measure Cypriot citizens’ social media literacy based on a sample of 178 participants. Even
though the sample that was used was small and it was not random, therefore limiting the generalizability of
results, the study provided preliminary data suggesting that Cypriot citizens’ social media literacy is at an adequate
level, as the average score of participants in the sample was 83 out of 100, so slightly below the passing score of
the test (85 out of 100).

The first hypothesis of the study, that undergraduate students and in general young students will know how to use
social media responsibly and professionally, was confirmed, as the study indicated that their level of social media
literacy is relatively high (M=84.44, SD=9.6, n=73), and at the same time, slightly higher than the average score of
the rest of participants (M=82.58, SD=9.69, n=105). Moreover, with respect to age, a statistically significant
negative correlation between age and social media literacy indicates that young adults tend to have higher social
media literacy skills than older people. This finding comes in opposition to claims made in the literature that
students do not know how to use social media professionally (Callens, 2014; Bridges, 2012).

The second hypothesis, which was confirmed in this study, was that people who use social media more frequently
will have higher levels of social media literacy, a finding that is in accordance with what was reflected by the
research of Vanwynsberghe, Vanderlinde, Georges and Verdegem (2015).

The power of social networking is such that the number of worldwide users is expected to reach some 3.02 billion
monthly active social media users by 2021, around a third of Earth’s entire population (eMarketer, 2017).
Therefore more and more people, of various ages, are expected to be social media users in the future. With
respect to the second research question of the study, examining the relation between people’s perceived
competence with social media and actual social media literacy, this study indicated that in general people either
underestimate or overestimate their social media literacy skills. People who overestimate their competence will
most probably not actively seek training on staying safe when using social media. Provided that the older a person
is the lower her level of social media literacy, this case study argues in favor of designing e-learning training
addressed to digital immigrants on the safe use of social media. However, the same type of training can easily be
customized to address the needs of digital natives. The results of the online test measuring social media literacy
may be used by e-learning designers and e-learning trainers for adults as part of a needs assessment to identify
people’s individual weaknesses on specific tasks and therefore offer personalized training sessions focusing on the
skills that need to be developed.

It is important to acknowledge that the study had additional limitations, beyond the small sample size (n=178) and
the fact that participants were self-selected, as there was no use of random sampling procedures. Specifically, the
validity of the social media literacy test that was used was examined using a very small size of 15 participants and
the reliability of the social media literacy test was not calculated.

In conclusion, this case study provided preliminary empirical data indicating that Cypriot citizens are social media
literate at an adequate level, with the population’s mean score expected to lie between 81.91 and 84.77 (95%CI
[81.91 - 84.77]), but either underestimate or overestimate their competence with respect to safely using social
media. Finally, factors that were positively associated with social media literacy were people’s experience with
social media and people’s frequency of use of social media, while a factor that was negatively associated with
social media literacy was people’s age, indicating that older people tend to have a lower level of social media
literacy.

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