Student Behaviors and Opinions Regarding the Use of Social Media, Mobile Technologies, and Library Research

Abstract

Daily we see students walking across campus tapping on the screens of their mobile devices or sitting in the library with their laptops in front of them, several windows open on their computer screens, earphones attached while texting on their smartphones or cell phones. Statistics for the use of mobile devices and social media abound. As of October 2011, Facebook statistics indicate that there are over 800 million users; and, of those, more than a third use their mobile devices to access Facebook. According to Pew Demographics (May 2011), 95 percent of users in the United States between the ages of eighteen to twenty-nine use the Internet, and 89–94 percent of all Internet users have some college or have attained a college education.