International Journal of Information and Communication Sciences

| Peer-Reviewed |

Social Media as a Communication Tool to Support University Student - Services: Affordances, Limitations and Opportunities for Innovations

Received: 19 June 2017    Accepted: 03 July 2017    Published: 24 October 2017
Views:       Downloads:

Share This Article

Abstract

This study titled Social Media as a Communication Tool to Support University Student-Services: Affordances, Limitations and Opportunities for Innovations sought to determine the affordances of social media as a communication tool to support student services as perceived by the administrators, faculty, and students; the identified limitations and glitches of social media as a communication tool to support student services as experienced by the respondents and ways to address these limitations and glitches; and the opportunities to enhance usage of social media for university student services. Department academic chairs, faculty coordinators and faculty members (8 respondents), and students (123 respondents) from seven academic departments participated in the study. A qualitative approach through open-ended survey was employed. The Theory of Affordances by James J. Gibson served as the theoretical underpinning of the study. The respondents declared that the use of social media has significantly aided them in their enrollment concerns, academic department-student collaboration and academic department-student communications in general. Opportunities for continuous interactions to discuss student concerns that should be attended to by their respective academic departments were found to be favorable. Blocking of social media in the university premises is the major glitch identified. Faculty and students depended on their Internet connections in their respective houses or outside of the university to coordinate with each other online. Security/privacy, language, content and behavioral issues were other concerns that could be addressed in a social media use guideline.

DOI 10.11648/j.ijics.20170205.14
Published in International Journal of Information and Communication Sciences (Volume 2, Issue 5, October 2017)
Page(s) 75-85
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Social Media Affordances, Social Media as a Communication Tool, Social Media and Student Services

References
[1] Kuo, Y. K. & Ye, K. D. (2009). The Causal Relationship Between Service Quality, Corporate Image and Adults’ Learning Satisfaction and Loyalty: A Study of Professional Training Programmes in a Taiwanese Vocational Institute. Total Quality Management & Business Excellence, 20 (7), 749-72.
[2] Zolkepli, Izzal Asnira and Yusniza Kamarulzaman (2015). Social media adoption: The role of media needs and innovation characteristics. Computers in Human Behavior. Volume 43, pages 189-209.
[3] Mount, Matthew and Marian Garcia Martinez (2014). Social Media: A Tool for Open Innovation. California Management Review. Volume 56, No. 4, pages 124- 143.
[4] Newman, Bruce (2014). Service in social media can boost a company’s reputation. Westchester Country Business Journal. Volume 50, Issue 27, p. 26.
[5] Nikolić, Predrag K. (2014). Engagement Factors in Social Media Experience. Singidunum Journal of Applied Sciences. DOI: 10.15308. pages 209-212. SInteZa.
[6] Talpau, Alexandra (2014). Social Media- A New Way of Communication. Bulletin of Transilvania University of Brasov Series V: Economic Sciences. Volume 7 (56). No. 2, pages 45-52.
[7] Treem, J. W. & Leonardi, P. M. (2012). Social Media Use in Organizations: Exploring the Affordances of Visibility, Editability, Persistence, and Association. Communication Yearbook, 36, 143-189.
[8] Macnamara, J., & Zerfass, A. (2012). Social media communication in organizations: The challenges of balancing openness, strategy and management. International Journal of Strategic Communication, 6 (4), 287–308. DOI: 10.1080/1553118 X.2012.711402.
[9] Lindsay, Bruce (2011). Social Media and Disasters: Current Uses, Future Options, and Policy Considerations. Retrieved, April 13, 2016 from https://www/fas/org/sgp/crs/homesec/ R41987.pdf.
[10] Gibson, James (n. d.). The Theory of Affordances from The Ecological Approach to Visual Perception. Retrieved, April 16, 2016 from cs.brown.edu/courses/cs/137/readings/Gibson-AFF.pdf.
[11] Mishna, Faye, Michael Saini and Steven Solomon (2009). Ongoing and Online: Children and Youth’s Perception of Cyberbullying. Children and Youth Services Review. Elsevier Ltd. pp. 1222-1228.
Author Information
  • Department of Communications, Linguistics and Literature University of San Carlos, Cebu City, Philippines

Cite This Article
  • APA Style

    Charity Tecson-Turano. (2017). Social Media as a Communication Tool to Support University Student - Services: Affordances, Limitations and Opportunities for Innovations. International Journal of Information and Communication Sciences, 2(5), 75-85. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijics.20170205.14

    Copy | Download

    ACS Style

    Charity Tecson-Turano. Social Media as a Communication Tool to Support University Student - Services: Affordances, Limitations and Opportunities for Innovations. Int. J. Inf. Commun. Sci. 2017, 2(5), 75-85. doi: 10.11648/j.ijics.20170205.14

    Copy | Download

    AMA Style

    Charity Tecson-Turano. Social Media as a Communication Tool to Support University Student - Services: Affordances, Limitations and Opportunities for Innovations. Int J Inf Commun Sci. 2017;2(5):75-85. doi: 10.11648/j.ijics.20170205.14

    Copy | Download

  • @article{10.11648/j.ijics.20170205.14,
      author = {Charity Tecson-Turano},
      title = {Social Media as a Communication Tool to Support University Student - Services: Affordances, Limitations and Opportunities for Innovations},
      journal = {International Journal of Information and Communication Sciences},
      volume = {2},
      number = {5},
      pages = {75-85},
      doi = {10.11648/j.ijics.20170205.14},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijics.20170205.14},
      eprint = {https://download.sciencepg.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ijics.20170205.14},
      abstract = {This study titled Social Media as a Communication Tool to Support University Student-Services: Affordances, Limitations and Opportunities for Innovations sought to determine the affordances of social media as a communication tool to support student services as perceived by the administrators, faculty, and students; the identified limitations and glitches of social media as a communication tool to support student services as experienced by the respondents and ways to address these limitations and glitches; and the opportunities to enhance usage of social media for university student services. Department academic chairs, faculty coordinators and faculty members (8 respondents), and students (123 respondents) from seven academic departments participated in the study. A qualitative approach through open-ended survey was employed. The Theory of Affordances by James J. Gibson served as the theoretical underpinning of the study. The respondents declared that the use of social media has significantly aided them in their enrollment concerns, academic department-student collaboration and academic department-student communications in general. Opportunities for continuous interactions to discuss student concerns that should be attended to by their respective academic departments were found to be favorable. Blocking of social media in the university premises is the major glitch identified. Faculty and students depended on their Internet connections in their respective houses or outside of the university to coordinate with each other online. Security/privacy, language, content and behavioral issues were other concerns that could be addressed in a social media use guideline.},
     year = {2017}
    }
    

    Copy | Download

  • TY  - JOUR
    T1  - Social Media as a Communication Tool to Support University Student - Services: Affordances, Limitations and Opportunities for Innovations
    AU  - Charity Tecson-Turano
    Y1  - 2017/10/24
    PY  - 2017
    N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijics.20170205.14
    DO  - 10.11648/j.ijics.20170205.14
    T2  - International Journal of Information and Communication Sciences
    JF  - International Journal of Information and Communication Sciences
    JO  - International Journal of Information and Communication Sciences
    SP  - 75
    EP  - 85
    PB  - Science Publishing Group
    SN  - 2575-1719
    UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijics.20170205.14
    AB  - This study titled Social Media as a Communication Tool to Support University Student-Services: Affordances, Limitations and Opportunities for Innovations sought to determine the affordances of social media as a communication tool to support student services as perceived by the administrators, faculty, and students; the identified limitations and glitches of social media as a communication tool to support student services as experienced by the respondents and ways to address these limitations and glitches; and the opportunities to enhance usage of social media for university student services. Department academic chairs, faculty coordinators and faculty members (8 respondents), and students (123 respondents) from seven academic departments participated in the study. A qualitative approach through open-ended survey was employed. The Theory of Affordances by James J. Gibson served as the theoretical underpinning of the study. The respondents declared that the use of social media has significantly aided them in their enrollment concerns, academic department-student collaboration and academic department-student communications in general. Opportunities for continuous interactions to discuss student concerns that should be attended to by their respective academic departments were found to be favorable. Blocking of social media in the university premises is the major glitch identified. Faculty and students depended on their Internet connections in their respective houses or outside of the university to coordinate with each other online. Security/privacy, language, content and behavioral issues were other concerns that could be addressed in a social media use guideline.
    VL  - 2
    IS  - 5
    ER  - 

    Copy | Download

  • Sections