Abstract

The objective of this study was to investigate the effect of both gender difference and geographic location on social media literacy levels among undergraduate students in public universities in Egypt. Four aspects related to social media literacy were considered in the Likert-scale survey, including basic technical skills, digital interactions, information evaluation, and privacy and security practices. A total of 520 students participated in this exploratory research, of which 265 males and 255 females enrolled at four public universities in different geographic locations. Cairo University and Ain Shams University represent the urban areas. The other two universities are located in center-periphery areas with Mansoura University representing the Nile Delta and Minia University representing Upper Egypt. Cross tabulation was used to analyze the subjects’ responses using the MS Excel and SPSS softwares. The findings showed that male students are more proficient in basic technical skills on social networking sites than their female counterparts. Moreover, it has been found that there is a slight higher awareness in favor of male students with regards to digital interactions and privacy practices. Concerning digital information evaluation, it appeared that male and female students share the same level of competence in verifying online content and being receptive to disparate opinions. The second part of the study analysis strongly indicated that urban students are more conversant with the four measured competences related to social media literacy than their center-periphery peers.

School

School of Global Affairs and Public Policy

Department

Journalism & Mass Communication Department

Degree Name

MA in Journalism & Mass Communication

Graduation Date

Winter 1-31-2023

Submission Date

1-23-2023

First Advisor

Sarah El-Richani

Committee Member 1

Rasha Allam

Committee Member 2

Marwa Al-Mutafy

Extent

96 p.

Document Type

Master's Thesis

Institutional Review Board (IRB) Approval

Approval has been obtained for this item

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