اعتماد أساتذة الجامعات اليمنية على وسائل التواصل الاجتماعي كمصدر للمعلومات عن وباء كورونا " دراسة مسحية د/ فاروق محمد بدر(1) أ/ جمال محمد سيلان(2)

Abstract

      The purpose of this study is to know the degree of dependence of faculty members in Yemeni universities on social networking sites as a source of news and information about the Corona epidemic, as well as to explore the motives for this dependence, and the effects resulting from it. The study relied on the survey method, and was applied to intentional sample of (150) respondents. the study achieved a set of results, the most important are :                           

- Social networking sites ranked fourth among the list of sources that respondents rely on for exposure to news about the Corona epidemic.                                                                                           .

- The most important reason that motivated the respondents to rely on social networking sites as a source of news and information about the Corona epidemic, is (improving the respondents’ knowledge of the causes of the epidemic), which achieved a rate of 23.8%.

- The most achieved cognitive effect of the respondents as a result of their reliance on social networking sites to obtain news and information about the Corona epidemic was knowledge of the causes and symptoms of infection with coronavirus. The most achieved emotional effect for the respondents was feeling of panic and anxiety about the number of people infected with the Coronavirus. Finally with regard to the behavioral effects, the most achieved effect was the respondents’ commitment to protection procedures to avoid infection with the Coronavirus.                     

Keywords: Media Dependency Theory, social networking sites, faculty members in Yemeni universities