Influence of Utilization of Social Networking Sites (SNS) on Study Habits Among Saudi Nursing Students in Ha’il University

Background: Few studies have looked into the effects of SNS to nursing education in Saudi Arabia dedicated to study habits of nursing students in the digital age. Hence, this study was conducted mainly to determine the relationship between utilization of SNS according to type, frequency, hours per week and influence of others, and study habits with regard to time management, concentration and motivation. Methods: A correlational research design was used in this study. The study framework is grounded in Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) to guide the systematic inquiry on the behavior of Saudi nursing students. TAM was also applied to generate the items in the researcher-made tool. One hundred eighty nursing student respondents are recruited by convenience sampling, (n= 100; 55.6%) with age less than 21 years old (n= 57; 31.7%). Results: Whatsapp is the most utilized social media followed by Twitter and Snapchat. Friends is the most influencing factor (n= 111; 61.7%) in SNS, duration is >10 hours/week (n= 75; 41.7%), and frequency is >6 times/week (n= 151; 83.9%). Utilization of SNS is significant as predictor of study habits (R2= 0.231, p<0.05) but moderately significant and positive in relationship (r= +0.480, p<0.05). Gender is not statistically significant with the use of SNS (t=1.518, p>0.05) and study habits (t=1.305, p>0.05). Results confirmed the findings reported in the related studies. Conclusion: Positive use of social media may improve study habits of nursing students however, faculty members should be able to guide students on the use of social media and include SNS in the nursing curriculum to optimize communication and learning. Additional study is needed to examine other outcomes such as impact of SNS on students’ academic performance. TAM as a research framework in nursing may be studied using structural equation modeling and system dynamics simulation to analyze the constructs applied in the setting and to predict students’ behaviors in multiple dimensions and conditions. Keywords: Influence, social networking sites; study habits; nursing students; Saudi Arabi