CHAPTER III
PRESENTATION OF FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION
This section presents the findings gathered through one-on-one structured
interviews with the participants and provides details of the discussion.
Figure 1
Commonly used socia
Overall, the findings highlighted the common use of diverse social media platforms
among STEM students for accessing reproductive health information.
Nearly all of the participants mentioned that…
“Google, TikTok, Facebook ”
-Participant 2
"Google, YouTube and sometimes Facebook "
-Participant 4
"Facebook, Google and TikTok "
-Participant 5
Several participants stated that…
“I can say that my overall experience is great because it gives factual
information about my concern.”
-Participant 4
My experiences with using digital health services for sexual and reproductive
health education have been positive overall. They offer convenient access to information,
privacy, and sometimes even interactive tools for learning."
-Participants 10
Most of the participants explanations…
“The one's that are misleading or have inf-actuality in it's content rather than be
helpful and knowledge for searches it could become the reason for people to
become stressed about it or will cause spread fake news.”
-Participant 3
Remarkably, this finding shows the widespread use of various social media platforms
among STEM students for accessing reproductive health information. This underlines just how
important it is for health education initiatives to use these platforms effectively. Additionally, it
offers compelling evidence for the need to ensure that the information provided through these
channels is accurate and reliable to prevent the spread of misinformation.
In previous research, investigations into the utilization of Google, TikTok, YouTube, and
Facebook for accessing reproductive health information have furnished valuable insights. For
instance, a study by Shaheen et al. (2020) examined the accuracy and readability of online health
data for pancreatic cancer patients on Google, unveiling varying levels of quality and accuracy,
spotlighting inconsistencies in reliability. Similarly, Vraga et al. (2021) conducted an analysis of
TikTok videos concerning HPV vaccination, finding a mixture of accurate and inaccurate
information, often prioritizing engagement over precision. As for YouTube, scrutiny of
infertility-related content was conducted by Hswen et al. (2019), disclosing significant variability
in quality and reliability, presenting hurdles for patient education. Lastly, an assessment of health
information circulated on Facebook during the COVID-19 pandemic was conducted by Kouzy et
al. (2020), emphasizing the prevalence of inaccurate or misleading content, stressing the
imperative for critical appraisal of shared material on social media platforms.
Contradiction with earlier findings In previous research by Alber and Williams (2020) and
Smith and Johnson (2019) expressed worries about how social media, including platforms like
TikTok, YouTube, Facebook, and Google, impacts adolescent understanding of reproductive
health. They found that while adolescents often turn to these platforms for information, the
content's reliability varies, leading to potential misinformation and confusion, highlighting the
necessity for reliable online resources and comprehensive sex education.
