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Social Networking and Education pp 69–82Cite as

Age and Gender Differences in Social Networking: Effects on South Korean Students in Higher Education

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Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Social Networks ((LNSN))

Abstract

Social networking sites (SNS) are popular communication technologies in the world. Many Koreans have been using SNS to network and communicate with their acquaintances. The growing popularity of SNS usage affects teaching and learning in higher education. However, there are unknown territories of positive and negative effects of using SNS in higher education. The purpose of this study is to investigate both positive and negative impacts of using SNS and to examine the effects of gender and age differences in those impacts. Participants (n = 236) at five Korean universities were surveyed on their SNS usage. Factor analyses identified three positive effects of social networking: (1) information acquisition and communication, (2) efficiency in work, and (3) relationship building. The negative factors of using SNS were identified as (1) security, (2) completion of study/work, (3) emotion, (4) cognitive development, (5) social development, and (6) physical development. Independent t-tests and Mann-Whitney U-tests revealed there are age and gender differences in both positive and negative effects of SNS usage.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Samsung SDS, West Campus, 125 Songpa-Gu, Samsung SDS Tower, Seoul, South Korea

    Sooyoung Kim & Sun Joo Yoo

Authors
  1. Sooyoung Kim
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  2. Sun Joo Yoo
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Correspondence to Sun Joo Yoo .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Curtin University, Perth, West Australia, Australia

    Tomayess Issa

  2. Universidade Aberta, Lisbon, Portugal

    Pedro Isaias

  3. Dept. of Media, Communication & Org., University of Twente, Enschede, The Netherlands

    Piet Kommers

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Kim, S., Yoo, S.J. (2016). Age and Gender Differences in Social Networking: Effects on South Korean Students in Higher Education. In: Issa, T., Isaias, P., Kommers, P. (eds) Social Networking and Education. Lecture Notes in Social Networks. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-17716-8_5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-17716-8_5

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-17715-1

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-17716-8

  • eBook Packages: EducationEducation (R0)

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