Young Students of Universidad Veracruzana Interacting in a Network: Differences per Gender?

Abstract

In this article, the progress of an on-going exploratory-descriptive research is presented. It has the purpose to identify and analyze the use given to social media by young university students. The following are the results obtained from the implementation of a questionnaire to 594 bachelor students from the Universidad Veracruzana, Campus Xalapa. The progress shows, first, some coincidences with previous studies about the topic conducted in the past years, for example, the growing popularity of social media as means of communication and interaction amongst students. It is noticed that, in spite of coming from different social contexts, students share certain interests, attitudes and types of networks used, regardless of the bachelor they are enrolled to. Likewise, it is evidenced how social media are gaining ground as essential tools to support the performance of their academic activities. Additionally, the data shows that the behavior between women and men is similar. Nonetheless, slight differences were identified related to the use given to social media and the topics preferred by female and male university students. This study is considered to provide different analysis elements, setting a marker for the moment in which we are, to keep researching about the use given to by female and male students to social media in both academic and social environments.