Social Media Usage and Writing Skills Competence Among College Students

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Author(s): Alfred Okoth Akwala (Technical University of Kenya, Kenya)and Joel Ngetich (University of Kabianga, Kenya)
Copyright: 2026
Pages: 26
Source title: Digital Space in the Wake of Shrinking Traditional Media
Source Author(s)/Editor(s): Alfred Okoth Akwala (Technical University of Kenya, Kenya), Denish Ouko Otieno (Kenya Institute of Mass Communication, Kenya)and Amos Moraro Marube (Technical University of Kenya, Kenya)
DOI: 10.4018/978-1-6684-9356-4.ch004

Keywords: Digital Media / Information Science Reference / Media & Communications / Social Networking

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Abstract

The study was driven by the need to investigate the use of social media and its influence on how college students engage with each other; and their writing activities and projects. Writing is a key component of communication competence whether in interpersonal, workplace or audience engagement in media productions. Communication engagements are shaped by the medium and this is evident in a society centered around digital mediums that are continually changing and advancing in their features. The exponential growth of social media and the high rate of mobile phone penetration has led to platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, TikTok and WhatsApp being a key part in youths' daily communication; yet these social media platforms require users to express themselves using limited words complemented by memes and acronyms. This paper adopted a qualitative. Findings indicate that social media shapes the way students write as illustrated by the inconsistencies in their formal writing which is influenced by the informal writing, slang, emojis and acronyms used on social media.

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Social Media Usage and Writing Skills Competence Among College Students

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