Book part:
Information Literacy Levels of Facebook Users

Abstract

How information literate are Facebook users? An online survey (N = 742) was conducted to examine how Facebook allows users to develop skills and abilities concerning the correct use of information (e.g., knowing how to find information, correctly dealing with information on Facebook, and adhering to privacy, as well as legislation governing Internet policies). One approach, based on the Association of College and Research Libraries standards and the derived research model, provides the framework for our study design and data interpretation. We investigate users’ self-assessments of their perceptions of information literacy on Facebook. Concerning evaluation, adherence to laws/ethics, and privacy, our participants performed well. In terms of representation, making use of, and creating information, however, they felt less sure of themselves. Taking all building blocks into account, users appear to rate themselves, on average, at a medium level of information literacy (1.71 on a scale between 0 and 3). In addition, the differences between our women and men are statistically very significant. Men estimated their information literacy levels to be higher than women did. Comparing general Facebook use with Facebook groups’ behavior indicates that general Facebook functions develop more information literacy abilities than do operations in Facebook group functions. Thus, users’ general information behavior strongly influences their information literacy levels on Facebook.


Download icon

Published in:

Preferred Citation
BibTex
Ciftci, Tuba; Knautz, Kathrin: Information Literacy Levels of Facebook Users. In: Knautz, Kathrin;Baran, Katsiaryna S.: Facets of Facebook: Use and Users. Berlin: de Gruyter 2016, S. 115-145. DOI: 10.25969/mediarep/11950.
@INCOLLECTION{Ciftci2016,
 author = {Ciftci, Tuba and Knautz, Kathrin},
 title = {Information Literacy Levels of Facebook Users},
 year = 2016,
 doi = {10.25969/mediarep/11950},
 editor = {Knautz, Kathrin and Baran, Katsiaryna S.},
 address = {Berlin},
 booktitle = {Facets of Facebook: Use and Users},
 pages = {115--145},
 publisher = {de Gruyter},
}
license icon

As long as there is no further specification, the item is under the following license: Creative Commons - Namensnennung - Nicht kommerziell - Keine Bearbeitungen