Social media as a source of information and coping with the extensive amount of information related to the Covid-19 pandemic : Differences between digital immigrants and digital natives
Virtanen, Eeva (2021)
Virtanen, Eeva
2021
All rights reserved. This publication is copyrighted. You may download, display and print it for Your own personal use. Commercial use is prohibited.
Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi-fe2021051730175
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi-fe2021051730175
Tiivistelmä
The Covid-19 pandemic changed the whole world in 2020. The amount of information about Covid-19 increased explosively in the spring of 2020, affecting people's information behaviour. The increased use of social media has changed information behaviour as well, and this study focuses on social media use and information behaviour during the Covid-19 pandemic.
This master's thesis studies if people seek information about the Covid-19 pandemic from social media and how they cope with the large amount of information. The aspect of information overload and information avoiding is also studied.
The data for this master's thesis were gathered in the spring of 2020 from March to May, and the survey was conducted by the subject of information studies at Åbo Akademi University. This study is conducted using a mixed study method, as it includes both quantitative and qualitative aspects. Furthermore, two different age groups are studied: people born in the 1960s and before that representing digital immigrants and people born in the 1980s and after that representing digital natives.
The theoretical framework for this master's thesis is based on three main themes: the theory of digital immigrants and digital natives, the theory of information overload and the theory of monitoring and blunting. First, the theory about digital immigrants and digital natives is used to compare two different age groups. Second, the theory about information overload gives insight into how people cope with such a large amount of information. Third, the theory about monitoring and blunting offers insights regarding how people react to information during the crisis situation.
The results of this thesis indicated that almost half of the survey participants use social media as a source of information, and over half of the participants experience information overload. Significant differences between digital natives and digital immigrants could not be found, even though digital natives used social media slightly more than digital immigrants and digital immigrants experienced information overload somewhat more than digital natives.
This master's thesis studies if people seek information about the Covid-19 pandemic from social media and how they cope with the large amount of information. The aspect of information overload and information avoiding is also studied.
The data for this master's thesis were gathered in the spring of 2020 from March to May, and the survey was conducted by the subject of information studies at Åbo Akademi University. This study is conducted using a mixed study method, as it includes both quantitative and qualitative aspects. Furthermore, two different age groups are studied: people born in the 1960s and before that representing digital immigrants and people born in the 1980s and after that representing digital natives.
The theoretical framework for this master's thesis is based on three main themes: the theory of digital immigrants and digital natives, the theory of information overload and the theory of monitoring and blunting. First, the theory about digital immigrants and digital natives is used to compare two different age groups. Second, the theory about information overload gives insight into how people cope with such a large amount of information. Third, the theory about monitoring and blunting offers insights regarding how people react to information during the crisis situation.
The results of this thesis indicated that almost half of the survey participants use social media as a source of information, and over half of the participants experience information overload. Significant differences between digital natives and digital immigrants could not be found, even though digital natives used social media slightly more than digital immigrants and digital immigrants experienced information overload somewhat more than digital natives.
Kokoelmat
- 512 Liiketaloustiede [433]