Social Media Use, Social Media Behavior, Cognitive Biases, and Political Awareness among Student Voters

Abstract

Nowadays, it is very evident that social media has become part of our lives. Our country shifted from analogue to digital that created a wide space and open more resources for people to receive, gather, and acquire information whether it is politically related or for entertainment purposes. The abundance of online content and the new forms of distribution have enabled the quick propagation of both verified and unverified information, especially in social media. The study on social media use, social media behavior, cognitive biases, and political awareness among the one hundred student voters of Laguna State Polytechnic University, San Pablo City campus utilized a descriptive-correlational research design. The data were gathered through a survey using researcher-made questionnaires. The results implied that the participants perceived social media use, social media behavior, and cognitive biases in different ways, such as never-rarely-often while having a positive political awareness. In conclusion, there is a significant relationship between social media use of (social media networking sites and microblogging and social networking service), social media behavior, confirmation bias, and political awareness among student voters.