Social Media: The New Note Home

Does Age Effect Responsiveness and acceptance to Social Media?

By: David Yarbrough EDTC 5130

Hypothesis

I hypothesized that there will be a trend demonstrating an increase in preference for digital parent and student communication from schools through the use of social media.

I also speculate that parents age 25 to 45 will be more likely to accept and use social media’s like Facebook, and Twitter more often that parents age range 45 – 65 in my community.

Methodology

To test my hypothesis, I developed a survey consisting of five questions to define my participants position on social media. I presented this survey at my monthly FFA meeting.

The Survey Please indicate the degree to which each statement applies to you by marking whether you:

(1) Strongly disagree, (2) disagree, (3) are neutral, (4) agree, (5) strongly agree.

Social networks are growing rapidly in popularity. How likely are you to join a social networking website like Facebook, or Twitter?

1 – Strongly 2 – Disagree 3 – Neutral 4 – Agree 5 – Strongly 2. Social networking is more important than face-to-face interaction or traditional

communication methods. 1 – Strongly 2 – Disagree 3 – Neutral 4 – Agree 5 – Strongly 3. How often do you use a computer or networking device like a cell phone on a scale of 1

to 5, with 5 being the most often 1 being the least? 1 – Strongly 2 – Disagree 3 – Neutral 4 – Agree 5 – Strongly 4. Social media is a better method to commutate with you than traditional methods. 1 – Strongly 2 – Disagree 3 – Neutral 4 – Agree 5 – Strongly 5. I would prefer communicating with social media over a traditional method of calling or

meeting face-to-face. 1 – Strongly 2 – Disagree 3 – Neutral 4 – Agree 5 – Strongly

Participants

I had a total of 44 participants respond 23 Parents = 53%

◦7 Male ◦16 Female

21 Students = 47% ◦14 Male ◦7 Female

16%

36%32%

16%

Participant Distri-bution

Male Parent Female Parent

Male Student Female Student

Results

12-18. 25-30 31-40 41-50 51-650

0.5

1

1.5

2

2.5

3

3.5

4

4.5

5 Approval Rate of Social Media

Age Group

Avera

ge A

pro

val R

ate

As you can see the results from question 4, which asked if, social media is a better method to commutate with you than traditional methods assures that my first hypothesis is correct for the 25 -40 age group.

Results

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

Comparison of Average Score by Age

12-18.25-3031-4041-5051-65

As you can see my second hypothesis was correct. Parents in the age range of 25-40 were all receptive to social media as compared to the 41 – 65 age range which all responded lower to the questions in the survey.

Conclusion In conclusion it appears that there is a

preference to communicate by social media in my community and parents in the age range 25 – 45 are more accepting of social media as a means of communicating.