Pattern of Social Networking Sites Usage among Students of Birjand University of Medical Sciences

Nowadays, social networking sites (SNSs) are one of the most importing means to communicate in societies and worldwide. Iranian students have shown an increasing interest for using the networks recently. Whether and how precisely Iranian students use these social networking sites is unclear. Therefore in the present study, we have studied and determined the rate of using the social networking sites among the students in Birjand University of Medical Sciences during 2011-2012. In this descriptive analytic study, 400 students of Birjand University of Medical Sciences were randomly participated. The content validity and reliability of questionnaire was confirmed. The information was analyzed using SPSS software Number 11.0, for Windows (SPSS Inc. Chicago, IL, USA). 401 questioners were included. The mean age of participants was 20.71 ±1.87 years and two third of them (66.6%) were female. While more than half of the participants (57.5%) were knowledgeable about SNS, the participants who had a membership at least in one of the sites accounts for 37.8% (153 out of 401). Moreover, 147 of the members (36.6%) were indicated that they regularly check their accounts with an average usage of 49.0 ± 27.1 minutes per day. Most use of the virtual social networks was interact with old friends. The present study demonstrated that a considerable percentage of the participants were the member of social networking sites. In this context, it is highly recommended to enhance the educational and cultural quality of these sites in order to appropriate and optimal application.