The Role of Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube Frequency of Use in University Students’ Digital Skills Components

Abstract

The literature provides rich evidence on students’ levels of digital skills as well as on theirfrequency of Internet and social media use. Several studies have examined the relationships betweensocial media use and academic achievement. However, there are not any studies investigating therelationships between social media use and digital skills of higher education students. To fill thisresearch gap, this study examines the links between the frequency of social media use and students’digital skills. The survey was conducted with 155 university students in Greece. The instrumenton six digital skills components was evaluated in terms of reliability and consistency. The researchfindings reveal a strong positive association between the use of YouTube and students’ digital skillson content evaluation and protection. Age and educational level differences were noted in severaldigital skills components, whereas age and gender were related to the frequency of Instagram use.The main conclusion is that the generic use of Facebook and Instagram does not affect students’digital skills. However, combined literature evidence implies that when social media are used foreducational purposes, they might influence students’ perceived levels of digital skills. Implicationsand limitations are discussed in the study.