Global Advanced Research Journal of Educational Research and Review (GARJERR) ISSN: 2315-5132
September 2016, Vol. 5(5) pp. 071-073
Copyright © 2016 Global Advanced Research Journals

Full Length Research Paper

Gender differences in terms of the experiences that Saudi Students have with social media technologies

Hanan Ahmad Aifan

The University of Kansas

E-mail: hananaifan@hotmail.com

Accepted 27 September, 2016

Abstract

This paper is a report on the findings of a study investigating gender differences between Saudi male and female students in terms of the level of the experience they have with six tools of social media. Descriptive statistics were used to examine whether there is a difference between the two groups in the experience they have with social media tools. Findings of the study showed that there is a statistically significant difference between the two groups in their experience with Facebook, with t(508)= -4.49, p<.05; with YouTube, with t(508)=-1.99, p<.05; and with WhatsApp, with t(508)= 2.25, p<.05. Male appeared to have more experiences with Facebook (M=3.71) and YouTube (M=4.10), while female have more experience with WhatsApp (M=4.66) than male students do. In contrast, the findings revealed that there is no significant difference between the two groups in their experience with Twitter, Wikipedia, or Skype. As few studies have been conducted to study gender differences in the usage of social media technologies, especially in a conservative society such as Saudi Arabia, more investigations are needed in order to help the instructors understand these differences to effectively enable students use these tools to support their learning.

Keywords: Social media, gender differences, experiences, Saudi students, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, WhatsApp, Wikipedia.