The Study of Digital Literacy and Social Media Behavior of Undergraduate Students, King Mongkut’s Institute of Technology Ladkrabang

Abstract

This research is a survey research. The objectives were to explore digital literacy and social media usage behavior. To investigate differences in digital literacy and social media behavior and to examine the relationship between digital literacy and social media usage behavior among first-year students pursuing a bachelor’s degree at King Mongkut’s Institute of Technology Ladkrabang.

The research population consisted of 150 first-year undergraduate students enrolled in the Digital Intelligence Quotient course during the first semester of the academic year 2021 at King Mongkut’s Institute of Technology Ladkrabang in Bangkok Cosmopolis.

The research instrument utilized for data collection was a questionnaire focused on digital literacy and social media usage behavior, administered through Google Forms. Data analysis employed statistical methods including independent t-tests, one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA), and Simple Regression Analysis.

The findings revealed that among the five areas of digital literacy assessed, privacy management exhibited the highest level of proficiency among the participants, followed by competence in communication and ethics in the online environment, management of cyberbullying incidents, media literacy, and the use of digital devices, in descending order. Notably, digital literacy positively influenced the social media behavior of first-year students in the Faculty of Liberal Arts, with their social media usage behaviors scoring higher on average compared to students in the Faculty of Computer Science. Additionally, gender-based differences were observed in digital literacy, particularly in the context of the use of digital devices.