Social Media Use in Developing Countries (Week 11, Blog 1)

 One can vaguely imagine the lack of social media use in developing countries and how it could be due to the lack of infrastructure. When I jumped into the school library to search terms with the keywords "social media" and "developing countries," I found many articles written during the time of COVID-19, which especially hit those countries hard. I found this article by Haque et al. (2023), a comparatively recent publication, which elaborates on examining not only the use of social media in Bangladesh, an emerging country but also closely looking at some mediating effects that may be related to the culture. 

 Haque et al. (2023) explore how factors like social value, communication, trust, and perceived benefits of sharing knowledge through social media enhance the academic development of university students. They also examine how families and technology support have mediating effects. Here are some quotes I want to share from the paper:

"Bangladesh’s internet and digital technology use have grown rapidly in recent years. ... Bangladesh’s socioeconomic growth depends on education. To meet development goals, the government is expanding and improving education. Studying growth in academia, especially in relation to social media and technology, can help enhance educational outcomes and the nation’s overall development....  Bangladeshis value family. Parents often influence their children’s educational and employment choices." (Haque et al., 2023, p.3)

"From observation, it was found that the direct and positive influence of communication and collaboration in social media for academic development are significantly related to family and technological support. The findings from the study endorsed the positive relationship of communication and collaboration factors, and there was a mediation of family and technological support between them. ... Thus, family and technological support play a significant role in a student’s academic performance at the university level." (Haque et al., 2023, p.19)

I think this finding has much to imply to other developing countries, and even some developed countries, but with the high digital divide or educational gap. Especially in countries where the internet itself is expanding and influencing to a great extent, social media can play a crucial role in students achieving networked knowledge and knowledge sharing. Also, support from families and technology could be crucial in students achieving performance to the extent that they make the best out of social media.

References

Haque, M. A., Zhang, X., Akanda, A. E. A., Hasan, M. N., Islam, M. M., Saha, A., ... & Rahman, Z. (2023). Knowledge Sharing among students in social media: the mediating role of family and technology supports in the academic development nexus in an emerging country. Sustainability, 15(13), 9983.