Use of Social Networking Sites among Greek Deaf People: Communication Accessibility or Preferences?

Abstract:While societies have become increasingly dependent on both internet- and information technology-based knowledge retrieval and applications and as social media has become an inextricable aspect of most people's daily lives, a keen interest has emerged regarding the impact that these technologies have on Deaf people's lives. This article describes an original preliminary investigation of how these technologies affect Greek Deaf people's lives—we intended to collect preliminary data on which future studies can be based. The collected data can be considered an early indication of the Greek Deaf community's generic attitude toward social media. The data also indicate that the use of social networking sites (SNSs) is altering the concept of the Greek Deaf community. It investigates—for the first time—the utilization frequency of most known SNSs (such as Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, Google+, and LinkedIn) by Greek Deaf adults, the daily amount of hours they spend surfing these sites, and their hardware technology preferences. Additionally, this research records the views of Greek Deaf adults regarding the purpose of social media utilization. The researchers compare their responses with those of hearing people, and they then conclude whether the results coincide or not. A questionnaire was filled out electronically by 49 Deaf people (24 males/25 females) and 229 hearing people (30 males/199 females) from across Greece via the Google.docs application. The gestural, visual–spatial modality of Greek Sign Language, as well as the Greek Deaf community's adjustment to the technology era, is mirrored in the responses of both Deaf and hearing participants. Hearing people use both Facebook (p = .021) and YouTube (p = .000) at a greater rate, while Deaf people significantly prefer Instagram (p = .006). Additionally, Deaf participants preferred to use desktop computers (p = .004), indicating introversion, while hearing participants preferred laptop computers (p = .002) for surfing social media. Lastly, the Deaf participants significantly used SNSs for gathering information, communicating, being entertained, and socializing.