Use of Mobile Devices to interact on social media: University of Oslo vs. University of Malawi. Lamisi Gurah Blackman Tiwonge Davis Manda

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Use of Mobile Devices to interact

on social media: University of Oslo

vs. University of Malawi

Lamisi Gurah Blackman

Tiwonge Davis Manda

Social Mobile INF5261: Spring 2011

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Study Focus

•

use of social media by university students

–

social media solutions in use

–

device choices

–

market contexts

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Study Context

•

Norway

–

Mature mobile telephony market

–

Developed economy

–

Population: 4.8 million people

•

Malawi

–

Emerging mobile telephony market

–

Developing economy

–

Population: 13.1 million people

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Study Context

•

University of Oslo

–

founded in 1811

–

Norway’s largest university.

•

University of Malawi

–

Founded in 1964

–

Malawi’s largest university

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ICT Trends

Trends in fixed-line and mobile cellular subscriptions and

Internet use in Malawi (Data source -(ITU 2011)) Trends in fixed-line and mobile cellular subscriptions and _{Internet use in Norway (Data source -(ITU 2011))}

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Methodology

•

Questionnaire with closed & open ended

questions

–

Collected quantitative and qualitative data

•

Literature review

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Limitations

•

Lower number of respondents:

–

Reduced scope of generalization

•

Quite hard to initially reach out to

respondents in Malawi

–

Two main university campuses were shut down

just before we started collecting data

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Theoretical Framework of Interest

An Integrated framework for the use and adoption of mobile

handheld devices (Source:(Sarker and Wells 2003))

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Social Media

“a group of Internet-based applications that

build on the ideological and technological

foundations of Web 2.0, and that allow the

creation and exchange of User Generated

Content” (Kaplan and Haenlein 2010: pp 61).

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Social Media Solutions in Use

–

the following social media solutions are being used:

•

Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, YouTube, among others

–

Most respondents use more than 1 solution

–

Facebook is the most popular solution

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Frequency of Access

•

Patterns of Access

–

21 people (81% ) - “everyday, several times a day”

–

2 people (8%) - “everyday, once a day”

–

1 person (4%) - “2-3 times per week”

–

1 person (4%) - “once a week”

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Duration of Daily Access

•

Quite varied

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Market Context

•

Most respondents use pre-paid subscriptions

•

Devices Acquisition Plans:

–

Norway: Contract & Cash

–

Malawi: Cash

•

Most Norwegian respondents have higher end

phones compared to the Malawian respondents

–

We feel device acquisition prices influence this

•

Norwegian respondents mostly content with

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Mobile Devices Vs. Desktops

•

Varied experiences

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Paradoxes of Mobile device use

•

They (Dis)Connect people:

–

Bridge time and space to allow increased

collaboration, negatively impact relations with

people who are physically present

–

Increased mobility, but somewhat reduced

interactivity due to small screen sizes

–

Allow use of context sensitive services, but the

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User Experiences

•

“using mobile devices makes people ant

-social for example see most people or friends

using these sites (facebook, twitter and mixt)

for example while physically(charting, parting

etc) on a group of friends i feel it is stealing

much of the quality time that people need to

have when in a conversation or doing things

together. -

A Respondent from Norway

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User Experiences

•

“mobile devices are so easy to use no need for

training can also be used when one is walking

or charting with friends but the screen size can

lead to eye problem. Laptops & PC are so cool

to use, the screen size its wow but its not a

benefit to some one who doesn’t know a

computer.” -

Respondent from Malawi

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User Experiences

•

“Its convenient, u can access the internet

anywhere as long as there’s a network..one

challenge is charging the battery frequently” –

Respondent from Malawi

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User Experiences

•

"Benefits : Easy access, Always updated, ...

Challenges : Small screen, lack of a full

keyboard(touch keyboards are not the best),

mass of information flowing to the brain, ..." –

Respondent from Norway

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References

•

Sarker, S. and J. D. Wells (2003). "Understanding mobile handheld device

use and adoption." Commun. ACM

46(12): 35-40

.

•

ITU (2011). World Telecommunication/ICT Indicators Database: Key

2000-2009 Country Data International Telecommunications Union

.

•

Kaplan, A. M. and M. Haenlein (2010). "Users of the world, unite! The

challenges and opportunities of Social Media." Business Horizons 53(1):

59-68.

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The End