Abstract

Given study “Facebook as a News Source: An Analysis” examines the role of Facebook as a source of information and news for new generation as most of the consumers are relying on social media for getting news. Keeping in view the above topic, the researcher explored in depth use of social media, especially Facebook as a source of news and how it shapes the opinion by providing easy access to the masses. The purpose of the study was to examine Facebook as a news source, and to investigate what users do to evaluate the trustworthiness of the information provided by Facebook. The research method used in the study is survey method, and the questionnaire comprised of close ended questions. The universe of the present research is users of facebook. Sample size was 100 and the respondents’ data was further examined with the help of SPSS and the results were generated in tables and pie charts

Key Words:

Facebook, News, Social Media, Internet

Introduction

Social media is the latest contribution to the technological era and a revolutionary tool to bring real information to the world by using interface that offer a hand full of freedom of speech and expression and directly address and analyze the opinion of masses. Social media or electronic based news system has replaced the traditional news media and has taken a large share form it which has set a trend that was expected to exponentially grow when introduced and rightly so as it has almost covered all the major functions of old traditional news media and ceased print editions of media outlets by forcing them to shift electronic editions by all reasons. A survey conducted by the public enterprise says that the users of internet in the world are shifting to online news sources massively and the numbers are expected to grow rapidly in coming future. 

With the advances in technology, a lot of information becomes obtainable to the general public through a large range of channels. Users can access information not solely through the normal, written sources, however additionally sources in numerous formats via the web. Analysis shows that users, particularly youth, off times rely on open resources available on the web. Recently, social media whose content is contributed by end-users (e.g., Facebook, Twitter, Wikipedia, blogs, YouTube) has become progressively standard as information sources, whereas the trustiness of data from such sources is commonly questionable and tough to assess.

Today, users can access info through a large vary of channels and sources. Analysis shows that some social media platforms, like Wikipedia and YouTube, have emerged as vital info sources. It’s additionally been found that more than 50 % of on-line teens, and more than 80 % of school students, for educational purposes in addition as their everyday life information seeking functions. Facebook (2010) 

Unlike past info sources, the knowledge obtainable through social media is formed and shared by interested users. As a result of undergoes very little scrutiny; the standard of the knowledge gained from social media varies wide. The rife use of social media, despite quality considerations, has triggered a discussion over whether or not the essential analysis of social media sources ought to type a vital a part of information attainment. As social media are getting progressively standard info sources, it's vital to grasp that social media platforms square measure being employed to satisfy numerous varieties of info required, and to grasp what actions stern measure being taken to judge the knowledge from such sources. This study has examines what undergrad students do once making an attempt to seek out info through social media.

Social media, as presently used on the web, has the advantage of being transient, targeted, and fast. Whereas it's gained in quality worldwide, social media isn't new. With the widespread adoption of non-public computers within the mid-1990s, services like chat rooms, newsgroups, and instant electronic communication were among the first attractions for users of the globe Wide internet. what's new, however, is that the attention that has been given to increasing styles of social media – YouTube, Facebook, and particularly Twitter – as a method of not solely making virtual communities, however as some way of instantly communication and moving to action members of those communities. Previously, messages on these sites had been thought-about trivial, providing a method of either promoting to targeted teams or posting statements describing standard personal activities.

The number of Facebook users in the world has already surpassed. According to a Google official, news was the most frequent Google search category for internet users in 2010, followed by images, music, and audio clips. A survey conducted by the National Endowment Fund in 2010 the number of online news readers in the developing countries is 54% against 36% offline readers and the number is growing day by day.  (Goode, L. (2009))

Media and communication exist in our society since primitive era. With the passage of time advancement occurred in the field of media, sophisticated technology replaced the traditional one. The print media had great monopoly for so many centuries until Radio came to the scene in 1895. Radio was considered a main source of information for almost one and a half century. Radio was followed by television which for the first time in human history transferred news along with moving pictures. Now social media have emerged where people share their ideas, opinions on numerous topics including prominent in news and get news from pages created by the mainstream media organizations, other sources like cub-journalists, freelancers and other unprofessional people as well. For some people social media especially facebook is a mere source of information.

New developments in the technological world have made the Internet an innovative way for individuals and families to communicate. Social media networks have created a phenomenon on internet that has gained popularity over the last decade. People use social media In this “Information Age”, social media sites seem to be growing in popularity rapidly, especially among young adults. (Yampinij, 2012) The role of Facebook can hardly be ignored in bringing revolution in gulf countries in the shape of “Arab Spring”, where people used to upload images and news stories to make the people informed about cutting-edges of the country. It was Facebook which assembled the people for protests against cruel rulers and instigated them to stand firm on their stances and thus the world witnessed how Facebook became the central force behind “Arab Spring” toppling the governments of so called wicked rulers and tyrants. 

Pakistani users of the social networking site Facebook crossed 10 million, according to Facebook Ads manager. The ads manager cites that the number of Pakistani users on Facebook is between 10.6 to 11.8 million of which 7.4 to 8.2 million are men and 3.0 to 3.4 million are women. Of these users, 2.3 to 2.5 million are single and out of this 1.7 to 1.8 million are men and 0.7 to 0.78 million are women. There is at least 1.0 to 1.2 million facebook users who are either married, engaged or in a relationship. Half of the users are between the ages of 18 to 24. This indicates that the social networking site is mostly used by the youth. Additionally, 2.9 to 3.2 million local Facebook users are university graduates, of which 2.1 to 2.3 million are men and 0.78 to 0.86 million are women. As the statistics show majority of Facebook users in Pakistan is the young generation which enhances the need of confirming the flow of journalistic information through facebook. 

The social media has become one of the most important communication means in recent times. However, social networking exist so as to provide communication among people regardless of the distance, making it open to people easily share information, files and pictures and videos, create blogs and send messages, and conduct real-time conversations. It also strengthens the ties between people of those systems. Facebook is among the favorite in the realm of internet site and referred as a fast growing Social Networking Site (SNS). Facebook is a way of communication directly with other people socially and in media. Nowadays, facebook is used by almost every internet user in the world and most of the information is shared via facebook by using its friendly interface and services. Keeping in view the above cited notion, the researcher explored in depth use of social media, especially facebook as a source of news and how it shapes the opinion by providing easy access to the masses.  

Problem Statement

The purpose of the study is to examine Facebook as a news source, and to investigate what users do to evaluate the trustworthiness of the information provided by Facebook. To considerate what kinds of social media are frequently used as source of information by internet consumers and and also how users assess the quality of information from such sources is vital as it will help identifying challenges that users encounter when selecting non-traditional sources of information i.e. facebook. This study aimed for clarifying about how Facebook has developed as a wellspring of journalistic data for its clients. Facebook pages made by writers, standard media associations and other amateurish nationals containing news and other current affairs projects to be analyzed keeping in mind the end goal to highlight the role they play in sharing news items to the users. Some conspicuous 'news pages' accessible on Facebook will be taken as a contextual investigation talked about, dissected and translated about how these pages serve as a wellspring of data for the general population/clients of Facebook.  

Study Objectives

Social media phenomenon is continuing to grow at a fast pace, it is important to understand that how many users get journalistic information and from which sources on facebook. Some objectives of this research are listed below:

1. To analyze how people use facebook as a source of news.

2. To what extent information conveyed through facebook is credible and authentic.

3. To what extent facebook has reduced users’ consultation to mainstream media.

4. To check the pattern of news discriminate on facebook

5. To gauge the perception of internet users accordance with information they receive on facebook 

Significance of the Study 

This study will help mending to understand the current pattern of using social media as information sources. It will also provide suggestions and recommendations for consumers of social media and direct users so that they could better user it for seeking information and for education.  The study will also suggest to information professionals and educators to acknowledge the appeal and value of social media to users as alternative information sources, and that how to evaluate and use information from social media. This study will also contribute the information for professionals to play a proactive role in improving the information quality of social media. 

Research Questions

RQ1 How facebook is reshaping the news  

RQ2 How facebook leads the pathway of the news on social media

RQ3 What proportion of users rely on facebook to get news items 

RQ4 How do facebook users impact the discussion of news content. 

RQ5 How facebook is more engaging social media network site then other online sources

Literature Review

Using facebook as source of news is common practice now among mass audience as it is the emerging, spring up and deplorably dissipated and degraded medium that is easy to access for users around the globe. Now the world relies on prompt information and immediate feedback that has change the discourse of traditional schematic media to new social media. To understand the topic in detail one should construe the nature of the medium and its consumption and impingement as provided by the research scholars.     

The online networking has ended up a standout amongst the most essential correspondence implies lately. On the other hand, person to person communication exist in order to give correspondence among individuals paying little mind to the separation, making it open to individuals effortlessly share data, records and pictures and features, make sites and send messages, and lead continuous discussions. These frameworks are advert to as social, essentially on the grounds that they permit correspondence with amigos and colleagues so effortlessly and viably. It likewise reinforces the ties between individuals of those frameworks. The most loved in the domain of web locales are Facebook, Twitter and others. These sites and social discussions are method for correspondence straightforwardly with other individuals socially and in media. They are playing a vast and compelling part choice making in the events from the worldwide world monetarily, politically, socially and instructively. 

Prior concentrates, for example, (Kennedy, 2009) analyzed the general ease of use of online networking among youthful understudies in more elevated amount of instruction. Likewise, (Hemmi, 2009 & Jones, M. C., & Twidale, M. B. 2005) inspected the utilization of online networking and look after that, the allotment of social advancements is not a simple and direct process. Various prior studies have indicated confirmation that endeavors are needed so as to begin utilizing online networking as a part of request to impact instructive exercises. Nonetheless, the entire procedure of embracing a specific online networking has not got sufficient consideration from analysts. (Hamid, S., Waycott, J., Chang, S. & Kurnia, S. (2011) 

Past writing perceived the difficulties that are joined with utilizing online networking as a part of advanced education. (Jones, N., Blackey, H., Fitzgibbon, K., & Chew, E. 2010) completed an observational investigation of person to person communication convenience among University understudies in the United Kingdom. The study included 76 members for the poll and 14 conceded meetings. The study found that, there are 5 noteworthy difficulties of interpersonal interaction and its connection to adapting, for example, examining innovation and copyright issues sentiment data limitation. Instructors at times are not a la mode and couldn't see how to coordinate and exploit social programming into their classes. The study's discoveries affirmed the before issues lay out by (Kennedy 2008) as per their cutting edge research in three Australian Universities. 

As per Kennedy,Judd, Churchward, Gray, & Krause (2008) specified six issues encompassing teaching method as far as innovation combination. These issues include: understudy learning assorted qualities, value and utilization of innovation educational programs and evaluation scholarly trustworthiness staff advancement and limit building, lastly, ICT base. Notwithstanding the advantages and difficulties perceived, the concentrate further uncovered that educators that don't have a place with the new era are doubtful to informal organization combination in class. Educators are urged to be cognizant in their allocation and utilize of person to person communication with respect to concentrate on the distinctive understudies' learning inclination. 

Also, the researchers ought to pick we have the innovation that meets their profession. The thought of examining understanding and agreeable learning through the person to person communication like Facebook, Talking, E-mail and Website or any sorts of learning resources that let the understudies in comprehension and experience talking about between your understudies, mentor, specialists, authorities or even the business proprietor can help the researchers in attaching the lesson learned towards the connection in substantial presence of working. The noteworthiness of people all reasons pointed out, the examiner has motivation to make a calculated system of Social systems administration to help Collaborative Learning (SSCL) for enhancing comprehension development. (Yampinij et al. 2012) 

For over 10 years, specialists have given careful consideration to changes in data sources and their utilization in the advanced period. A Pew study reports that online networking are getting more famous among all eras of clients, including students (Lenhart, Purcell, Smith & Zikuhr, 2010; Hampton, Goulet, Rainie, & Purcell, 2011; Smith, 2011). 

More than 70% of teenagers and youthful grown-ups who go online utilization no less than one interpersonal interaction website, for example, Facebook, MySpace and LinkedIn. Twitter utilization has expanded from 8% in 2009 to 13% in 2010, though blog use among youthful grown-ups has declined (Lenhart, et al. 2010; Smith, 2011). 

While more studies are being done on online networking, the majority of the surviving examination concentrates on the general pattern of social networking utilization or the utilization of a specific kind of online networking (e.g., Wikipedia (Lim, 2009; Head & Eisenberg, 2010); person to person communication locales (Hargittai, 2007; Counts & Fisher, 2010); websites (Hollenbaugh, 2011); online Q&A group (Rosenbaum & Schchaf, 2010)). As online networking are aining prominence, and some of them appear to be assuming an imperative part as a data source, it is essential to comprehend what sorts of social networking are utilized for what reason, and on the off chance that they are utilized as data sources, what clients do to assess the nature of data gave by such "non-conventional" data sources. In spite of the fact that the utilization and assessment of sources when all is said in done (Agarwal, Xu, & Poo, 2011; Kim & Sin, 2011; Zimmer, Henry, and Butler, 2008) and the source validity has been inquired about, little consideration has been paid to the assessment of online networking: how different sorts of online networking are utilized and assessed as data sources. It will be vital to see how students, specifically, assess and utilize non-library sources, for example, online networking since scientists reliably report that these students lean toward electronic assets, particularly open Web assets notwithstanding for their scholarly assignments; and that they have a tendency to apply criteria other than quality (e.g., availability) when selecting data sources. The flow study will serve as a venturing stone for more extensive and orderly research on the assessment of such recently developed, social sources. 

Since the first experimental endeavors to investigate the potential impact of new media on old media in the 1940s, there have been two principle ways to deal with the issue: one is fixated on the medium and its properties and backings a dislodging and substitution (outright removal) theory; the other is centered around clients' requirements and frequently brings about proposing a corresponding impact of the new on the old (Lee & Leung 2004). 

The most maintained medium-focused approach so far is Maxwell McCombs' Principle of Relative Constancy. This standard was roused by media proprietor Charles Scripps, who battled that mass correspondence items have ended up staples of utilization in our general public (much like sustenance, apparel and haven) and subsequently, 'despite the expanding intricacy of mass interchanges with the approach of new media, the example of monetary backing has been moderately steady and more firmly identified with the general economy than to the different changes and patterns occurring inside of the broad communications field itself' (cited in McCombs 1972: 5). At the end of the day, as staples, mass correspondence gets a consistent offer of the financial pie, or a generally altered extent of all uses. Utilizing total information of customers' and publicists' spending on mass correspondence in the USA from 1929 through 1968, 

McCombs discovered solid backing for this speculation: in spite of some transient irregularities, the proportion of media spending to aggregate shopper spending remained moderately settled (around 3%) amid the four decades (McCombs 1972). This media-spending offer consistency theory, which was compelling to the point that McCombs raised it to the status of a rule, was affirmed in a subsequent study for the 1968-1977 decade (McCombs & Eyal 1980). 

The Principle of Relative Constancy has sensational ramifications for the destiny of conventional media in a scene stamped by a fast increment in the quantity of new media. At the point when another medium is presented, cash spent on it either originates from new cash in the economy or must be occupied from existing media and non-media spending. Amid the 1948-1959 periods, when TV quickly entered American family units, McCombs tried these three conceivable sources to figure out which represented TV income. He found that the Principle of Relative Constancy likewise held for this shorter time of TV infiltration, which implies TV did not achieve any noteworthy increment altogether media spending (that is, it didn't redirect from non-media spending). In other words, despite economic growth, the intrusion of television took place during this decade at the expense of older media, especially those with a functional equivalence to television, such as movies. For example, five years after the introduction of television in the American market, the value of motion picture admissions plunged from $1.5 billion to $1.17 billion, a loss of $330 million. In short, the Principle of Relative Constancy could be understood as a zero-sum game, in which value is neither created nor destroyed and, therefore, in the long run, new media would gradually displace and eventually replace old media with similar functions. (McCombs 1972)

According to the European Commission, while the percentage of its citizens using the Internet for news and information about the EU grew from 6% in 1999 to 14% in 2002, the proportion using television and newspapers for the same purpose was down from 69% to 65% and 46% to 44% respectively during the same period (cited in Nguyen 2003). More recently, 56% of European respondents in a recent survey by the UK-based research firm Strategy Analytics reported cutting down their television watching time since adopting broadband (Broadband 2004). In Norway, less time reading newspapers was recorded with a growth in Internet usage from 2003 to 2004 (Statistics Norway 2005). In Hong Kong, Lee and Leung (2004) reported reduced newspaper reading, radio listening and television watching by respectively 35%, 40% and 53% of Internet users in their sample. All of these studies suggest that as the Internet is displacing traditional media usage, the possibility for an absolute displacement that is, replacement in the long run is high. In a book, Philip Meyer (2004), on the basis of the downward circulation trend in the past three decades, declared that the last newspaper to appear will be in April 2040.

Communication history, however, reveals a totally different picture. Predictions of the demise of old media are indeed as old as the media themselves. During the early days of the telegraph, for example, publisher James Gordon Bennett was so overwhelmed by its immediacy that he declared: 'The telegraph may not affect magazine literature but the mere newspapers must submit to destiny and go out of existence'. (Standage 1998: 149)

More recently, in 1982, journalist Steve Piacente bluntly told his colleagues that, 'the newspaper is doomed' (Patten 1986: 4). As late as 2005, these prophecies of doom have turned out to be exaggerated: newspapers have adapted well in their competition with radio and television to remain a very important part of daily life, just as music recording survived radio and radio survived television. This suggests that old and new media might compete but do not kill each other: they coexist and complement each other. Social Networking Sites follow the content communities in the review of social media types.Twitter is a free social network and micro blogging service that allows people to read and exchange text based posts that are up to 140 characters. These posts are known by common as tweets. (Kaplan, 2009)

In context of the above give literature, the researcher is keen to explore the usage of social media especially facebook as source of news. Little attention paid in past by the researchers of social sciences to the issue as it is the emerging media outlet that has captured the major chunk of the audience and now a day’s most of the users are getting informed knowledge and education with information and entertainment from social media notably from facebook. Further the research is targeted to gauge the reliability of audience and quality of news info on social media that is changing the minds of users around the world.  

Theoretical Framework

The purpose of probing a theoretical framework for research work is to unearth a place where a researcher can put his work. Since social science deals with human society and studies social relationships, it is at times not very easy to find a specific theoretical framework for a research study under taken in other society.

Given study “Facebook as a News Source: An Analysis” examines the role of Facebook as a source of information and news for new generation as most of the users are being done on social media that focuses on the general trend of social media use or the use of a particular type of social media but little attention has been paid towards the modern era fact that social media is now the reliable and trustworthy source of information for users especially youth.  The research also wanted to probe what users do to evaluate the trustworthiness of the information provided by social media. 

To support these arguments and to link this study with the theories presented by the social sciences philosophers, researcher has selected the following theory.

Users and Gratification Theory 

Users have received an extensive variety of advanced innovations into their correspondence collection. It stays misty why they embrace various types of correspondence as opposed to substituting one medium for another. It likewise brings up the issue: What kind of need does each of these media satisfy. 

As indicated by sociology logicians, the Internet will be transformative, prompting significant changes in media clients' close to home and social propensities and parts. They are perfectly fine social connection with companions, family, and expert contacts has changed itself from the disconnected from the net domain into an online substance because of the expanding notoriety of long range informal communication locales like Facebook, MySpace, YouTube, Twitter, LinkedIn, Whatsapp and different blogging destinations. As per scientists, informal organization destinations are "virtual spots that oblige a particular populace," in this manner making a group numerous are not able to discover outside of a web setting. According to researchers, social network sites are “virtual places that cater to a specific population,” thus creating a community many are unable to find outside of an online setting. 

Katz, Blurnler, and Gurevitch (1974), has generally taken a need-satisfaction approach. Basically, uses and satisfactions analysts trust that individuals have certain needs that they wish to delight. Individuals may satisfy these needs by the utilization of different replacement channels, mass and interpersonal. This point of view accept that crowd individuals are both dynamic and objective arranged when settling on what shape and sort of broad communications programming they will utilize.

Uses and gratifications approach emphasizes motives and the self-perceived needs of audience members. Blumler and Katz (1974) concluded that different people can use the same communication message for very different purposes. There is not only one way that people uses media. Contrarily, there are many reasons for using the media as there are media users (Blumler & Katz, 1974). 

The researcher utilized Uses and Gratification hypothesis to analyze that how users are presenting themselves to online networking and to what extent it is reciprocally satisfying.

Research Methodology

The core aim of this research is to find out relationship between facebook as source of news and direct users as receiver of information. The aim is to find out how users use facebook as source of information and what are the impacts of information the user attain from facebook.  Hence the focus of the research is to examine how facebook is used for news events and what is the handling of user to evaluate the truthfulness of the information provided by facebook.  

The research method used in the present study is survey method, and the questionnaire comprised of close ended questions used tool for collection of data from selected sample. The universe of the present research is users of facebook as collection of data from the selected population is easy for the researcher. The research has selected 100 respondents from who are direct users of facebook. To keep the respondents privacy only gander, age, qualification and occupation were asked to analyze and interpret the data.

Method of Research

Research is a unique way of exploration of physical or social phenomena, which mostly all researcher go thorough and analyze their data and interpret it. Physical science and social science are some way different in their methods. As social phenomena is compound and varying nature, most of the time researchers use different methods for data gathering like, interview, case study and survey method.

In this research the survey technique is used, in which researcher distributed 100 questionnaires among internet consumers who are the direct users of social media and facebook. With the aim to gather the data that how social media is used as source of information.

Population

The population of the study is the users of facebook as it was easy for the researcher to access and receive quick response from the desired population. 

Sampling Method

Even a modest sized survey typically requires considerable time, material, money and assistance. Thus the researcher has applied sampling technique to collect the data considering the definition of Wimmer and Dominick (1993) “a sample is the subset of the population that is taken to be the representative of the entire population”.

The researcher has selected direct users of facebook as the field of study because it was easy to access and to reach and collect the data from the identified population.

The researcher was interested in collecting the data through questionnaire from large population but due to time and financial constraints, a total of 100 direct users of facebook were interviewed and were selected as a sample of the study.

Hypothesis  

The hypothesis designed for this study is 

H1:  Using facebook as source of news becoming more popular practice among social media users than traditional media.    

H0: Using facebook as source of news is not popular practice among social media users than traditional media.

Variables of the Study 

There are independent and dependent variables in this study

Independent Variable

Using facebook is independent variable of the study. It means that the more the user use facebook the more he will be updated and informed.  

Dependent Variable

Source of news for users is the dependent variable of the study. As more they use their information will be increase more and vise versa.   

Conceptualization of Key Terms

Terms used in this study are defined as:

Facebook

Facebook is a free social networking working site (SNS) used by millions of users around the world to share media including photos and videos and news and information of number of topics of interest of the users. It is a user interface site that provides prompt response to any activity. 

Source of News

News or information is facts provided or learned about something or someone. What is conveyed or represented by a particular arrangement or sequence of things. Here, by information the researcher mean all type of data that could contribute the adding into the knowledge of the direct user of social media and News is the worthy event that is shared with the users by journalists and media outlets.   

Social Media Users

Social media user is a person of any age and gender and sect that has an internet connection and is using any type of social networking site to share his views and provide direct feedback to other users. Here by social media users the researcher meant to person who has an account on social media site facebook and using it frequently to share his views and get information and news from other online sources via his official facebook account.    

Data Collection 

The researcher with the guidance of supervisor has carefully prepared a questionnaire that includes questions related to information about demography and variables used for testing of hypothesis. Questionnaire is used as a tool for data collection. All respondent are literate and can read so the language of questionnaire was selected by the researcher as English.

Data Processing            

The researcher has used the Statistical Package for the Social Science (SPSS) for analyzing the data. Besides, MS Word was used for composing the thesis script. For data entry and analysis, the researcher had taken short training course, particularly to learn SPSS. The researcher by experience felt that without the knowledge of computer in general and understanding the SPSS in particular, this research study might have not been successfully accomplished.

Data Analysis

This study was investigative in nature with the core objectives to examine how facebook is used for news source, and to investigate what users do to evaluate the trustworthiness of the information provided by facebook. To considerate what kinds of social media are frequently used as source of information by users and why and how users assess the quality of information from such sources is vital as it will help identifying challenges that users encounter when selecting non-traditional sources of information like facebook. 

In this study a questionnaire comprise of close ended questions each indicating different variable was used as a tool for data collection and distribute among users of facebook. A total of 100 questionnaires were distributed among facebook users. The proposed sample size was 100, where questionnaires were distributed and response was gathered from selected audience. 

The respondents’ data was further examined with the help of SPSS and the results were generated by comparing frequency, means and percentage of variables and presented here in the form of frequency table and pie chart where each slice of pie chart painted in different color to clarify the margin between the responses.

Given is the detail of data gathered by interviewing the targeted individuals who are using social media in general and facebook in common for news and information.  

Table 1. Frequency Tables and Pie Charts.

Qualification
	Frequency	Percent	Valid Percent	Cumulative Percent
Graduate	49	49.0	49.0	49.0
Masters	41	41.0	41.0	90.0
Above Masters	10	10.0	10.0	100.0
Total	100	100.0	100.0




From a total of 100 respondents 49% were graduates, 41% were Masters and 10% were above masters who have participated in this research study and provided their opinion by filling the questionnaire according to their preferences.



Table 2.

Age
	Frequency	Percent	Valid Percent	Cumulative Percent
18-22 23-26 Above 26 Total	22	22.0	22.0	22.0
	65	65.0	65.0	87.0
	13	13.0	13.0	100.0
	100	100.0	100.0

 




22% respondents were of age 18-22, 65% belongs to age group of 23-26 where 13% were above 26 from the selected population randomly chosen for this study.  



Table 3. How Frequently you Use Facebook.

	Frequency	Percent	Valid Percent	Cumulative Percent
Often	77	77.0	77.0	77.0
Rarely	23	23.0	23.0	100.0
Total	100	100.0	100.0

 

77% student from the selected population use facebook more often where 23% recoded their responses as are rarely using facebook



Table 4. Which Social Media Platform you Used to Acquire Information.

	Frequency	Percent	Valid Percent	Cumulative Percent
Facebook	47	47.0	47.0	47.0
Twitter	19	19.0	19.0	66.0
LinkedIn	12	12.0	12.0	78.0
Video Sites (Youtube, Vimeo etc)	9	9.0	9.0	87.0
Blogs	8	8.0	8.0	95.0
Wikis (Yahoo, Wikipedia etc)	5	5.0	5.0	100.0
Total	100	100.0	100.0




 




The result showed that out of 100 respondents 47% use Facebook for information, 19% use twitter, 12% use LinkedIn where the remaining 9%, 8% and 5% use Video Sites, Blogs and Wikis respectively to retrieve information.



Table 5. Why you use Facebook.

	Frequency	Percent	Valid Percent	Cumulative Percent
Information	37	37.0	37.0	37.0
Education	41	41.0	41.0	78.0
Entertainment	17	17.0	17.0	95.0
Other Purpose	5	5.0	5.0	100.0
Total	100	100.0	100.0

 




37% users use facebook for information, 41% for education and 17% for entertainment and fun hunting where 5% were among those who use facebook platform for other purposes.  



Table 6. Main Reason to Use the Facebook as a Source of Information.

	Frequency	Percent	Valid Percent	Cumulative Percent
To get updates and news	23	23.0	23.0	23.0
To check factual information	30	30.0	30.0	53.0
To be aware of popular trends	11	11.0	11.0	64.0
To get information about new topics	14	14.0	14.0	78.0
To obtain other users perspective/opinion/comments	7	7.0	7.0	85.0
To find solution to a problem	6	6.0	6.0	91.0
To get a quick overview	5	5.0	5.0	96.0
To keep in touch with others	4	4.0	4.0	100.0
Total	100	100.0	100.0




 




Interestingly 53% respondents said that they use facebook for news and check factual information, 11% for to be aware of popular trends 14% to obtain info about what is new, 7% for obtaining comments and views, 6% to find troubleshooting, 5% for prompt overviews and 4% to keep in touch with others.



Table 7. Facebook is a Unique Package for all info at One Place. ?

	Frequency	Percent	Valid Percent	Cumulative Percent
Strongly Agree	47	47.0	47.0	47.0
Agree	32	32.0	32.0	79.0
Neutral	13	13.0	13.0	92.0
Disagree	6	6.0	6.0	98.0
Strongly Disagree	2	2.0	2.0	100.0
Total	100	100.0	100.0




 

79% students agreed that facebook is a unique package for information at one place, only 8% disagreed the statement where 13% remain neutral



Table 8. I Rely Most on Facebook for Information and News.

	Frequency	Percent	Valid Percent	Cumulative Percent
Strongly Agree	28	28.0	28.0	28.0
Agree	47	47.0	47.0	75.0
Neutral	16	16.0	16.0	91.0
Disagree	8	8.0	8.0	99.0
Strongly Disagree	1	1.0	1.0	100.0
Total	100	100.0	100.0

 

28% respondent strongly agreed that information they rely on facebook 47% agreed, 16% remain neutral and only 9% disagreed the opinion



Table 9. I prefer Facebook on Traditional Media for News and Information.

	Frequency	Percent	Valid Percent	Cumulative Percent
Strongly Agree	20	20.0	20.0	20.0
Agree	51	51.0	51.0	71.0
Neutral	17	17.0	17.0	88.0
Disagree	9	9.0	9.0	97.0
Strongly Disagree	3	3.0	3.0	100.0
Total	100	100.0	100.0




 




71% students agreed that they prefer facebook upon traditional media for news and information where 17% remain neutral and 12% disagreed from the point



Table 10. Facebook is Replacing all the other Sources of Information.

	Frequency	Percent	Valid Percent	Cumulative Percent
Strongly Agree	20	20.0	20.0	20.0
Agree	45	45.0	45.0	65.0
Neutral	20	20.0	20.0	85.0
Disagree	12	12.0	12.0	97.0
Strongly Disagree	3	3.0	3.0	100.0
Total	100	100.0	100.0




 

65% agree 20% neutral and 15% disagree that facebook will replace other media as a source of information



Table 11. Facebook is Authentic and Valid Source to Obtain Needed Information.

	Frequency	Percent	Valid Percent	Cumulative Percent
Strongly Agree	24	24.0	24.0	24.0
Agree	39	39.0	39.0	63.0
Neutral	18	18.0	18.0	81.0
Disagree	10	10.0	10.0	91.0
Strongly Disagree	9	9.0	9.0	100.0
Total	100	100.0	100.0

 

63% respondents think that the facebook is a authentic and valid source for information where 19% disagree the opinion and 18% remain natural.



Table 12. I am Satisfied with the Speedy and Accurate Information I got from Facebook as I am no more Dependent on old Traditional Media.

	Frequency	Percent	Valid Percent	Cumulative Percent
Strongly Agree	19	19.0	19.0	19.0
Agree	37	37.0	37.0	56.0
Neutral	28	28.0	28.0	84.0
Disagree	10	10.0	10.0	94.0
Strongly Disagree	6	6.0	6.0	100.0
Total	100	100.0	100.0




 

56% students are agreed that facebook provides quick and accurate information than traditional media, 28% neutral and 16% disagreed the opinion



Table 13. Using Facebook is Satisfactory Medium to Seek Information.

	Frequency	Percent	Valid Percent	Cumulative Percent
Strongly Agree	19	19.0	19.0	19.0
Agree	38	38.0	38.0	57.0
Neutral	26	26.0	26.0	83.0
Disagree	8	8.0	8.0	91.0
Strongly Disagree	9	9.0	9.0	100.0
Total	100	100.0	100.0

 

 

57% agreed that facebook is satisfactory medium for information seeking purpose where 26% did not disclose their opinion and 17% are disagreeing.



Table 14. I Prefer the Speed, Accuracy and Authenticity of Social Media over Traditional Media.

	Frequency	Percent	Valid Percent	Cumulative Percent
Strongly Agree	16	16.0	16.0	16.0
Agree	44	44.0	44.0	60.0
Neutral	22	22.0	22.0	82.0
Disagree	11	11.0	11.0	93.0
Strongly Disagree	7	7.0	7.0	100.0
Total	100	100.0	100.0




 

A total of 60% is agreed that facebook provides quick access to the information better than other medium where 22% remain neutral and 18% disagreed with the statement



Table 15. The Quality and Accuracy of Information is much Better on Facebook than other Media.

	Frequency	Percent	Valid Percent	Cumulative Percent
Strongly Agree	16	16.0	16.0	16.0
Agree	45	45.0	45.0	61.0
Neutral	23	23.0	23.0	84.0
Disagree	11	11.0	11.0	95.0
Strongly Disagree	5	5.0	5.0	100.0
Total	100	100.0	100.0




 

61% agreed that quality of information they have on facebook is much better than other media where 23% remain neutral and 16% disagreed.



Table 16. I Never Refer to traditional Media after Receiving the Information through Facebook to Cross Check its Validity.

		Frequency	Percent	Valid Percent	Cumulative Percent
Valid	Strongly Agree	25	25.0	25.0	25.0
	Agree	27	27.0	27.0	52.0
	Neutral	27	27.0	27.0	79.0
	Disagree	13	13.0	13.0	92.0
	Strongly Disagree	8	8.0	8.0	100.0
	Total	100	100.0	100.0

 


Out of 100 educated respondent 52% are not willing to shift back to other mediums to seek information and knowledge in the presence of e-learning where 27% have mix and match opinion and 21% think they should not only rely on facebook for information in presence of other mediums.



Findings of the Study

The research targeting facebook as a source of news comprise on the individual interviewed who are the direct users of facebook, from a total of 100 respondents 49% were graduates, 41% were Masters and 10% were above masters who have participated in this research study and provided their opinion by filling the questionnaire according to their preferences. 22% respondents were of age 18-22, 65% belongs to age group of 23-26 where 13% were above 26 from the selected population randomly chosen for this study. 

77% student from the selected population use facebook more often where 23% recoded their responses as are rarely using facebook. The result showed that out of 100 respondents 47% use Facebook for information, 19% use twitter, 12% use LinkedIn where the remaining 9%, 8% and 5% use Video Sites, Blogs and Wikis respectively to retrieve information. 37% users use facebook for information, 41% for education and 17% for entertainment and fun hunting where 5% were among those who use facebook platform for other purposes. Interestingly 53% respondents said that they use facebook for news and check factual information, 11% for to be aware of popular trends 14% to obtain info about what is new, 7% for obtaining comments and views, 6% to find troubleshooting, 5% for prompt overviews and 4% to keep in touch with others. 

79% students agreed that facebook is a unique 

package for information at one place, only 8% disagreed the statement where 13% remain neutral. 28% respondent strongly agreed that information they rely on facebook 47% agreed, 16% remain neutral and only 9% disagreed the opinion. 71% students agreed that they prefer facebook upon traditional media for news and information where 17% remain neutral and 12% disagreed from the point. 65% agree 20% neutral and 15% disagree that facebook will replace other media as a source of information. 

63% respondents think that the facebook is a authentic and valid source for information where 19% disagree the opinion and 18% remain natural. 56% students are agreed that facebook provides quick and accurate information than traditional media, 28% neutral and 16% disagreed the opinion. 

57% agreed that facebook is satisfactory medium for information seeking purpose where 26% did not disclose their opinion and 17% are disagreeing. A total of 60% is agreed that facebook provides quick access to the information better than other medium where 22% remain neutral and 18% disagreed with the statement. 

61% agreed that quality of information they have on facebook is much better than other media where 23% remain neutral and 16% disagreed.  Out of 100 educated respondent 52% are not willing to shift back to other mediums to seek information and knowledge in the presence of e-learning where 27% have mix and match opinion and 21% think they should not only rely on facebook for information in presence of other mediums.

Hypothesis Testing 

The hypothesis designed for this study was 

H1:  Using facebook as source of news becoming more popular practice among social media users than traditional media.    

H0: Using facebook as source of news is not popular practice among social media users than traditional media.

Table 17. Chi-Square Test.

Test Statistics
	Facebook is a unique package for all info at one place	I never refer to traditional media after receiving the information through facebook to cross check  its validity
Chi-Square	72.100a	15.800a
df	4	4
Asymp. Sig.	.000	.003
a. 0 cells (.0%) have expected frequencies less than 5. The minimum expected cell frequency is 20.0.

 




After the statistical treatment of the gathered data the following results have been obtained.

By computing the Chi Square value for the said hypothesis the relation between variables “Facebook ” as “Source of News” is positively associated that is why the hypothesis H1 is accepted with the degree of freedom =4 and value of Chi square 72.100a as shown in above tables

Table 18.

Descriptive Statistics
	N	Minimum	Maximum	Mean	Std. Deviation	Skewness
	Statistic	Statistic	Statistic	Statistic	Statistic	Statistic	Std. Error
facebook is a unique package for all info at one place	100	1	5	1.84	1.002	1.189	.241
I never refer to traditional media after receiving the information through facebook to cross check  its validity	100	1	5	2.52	1.227	.422	.241
Valid N (list-wise)	100




 


On the basis of above given results hence it is proved that users of facebook from the age 23-26 are more dependent on facebook for news than age less than 23 and more than 26. The statistical treatment also proved that users are not reluctant to use traditional media and relying on facebook these days to seek information and learn new trends including updating their knowledge and current affairs understandings

Uses and Gratification Theory Implications

The uses and gratification methodology spots power in the hands of the group of onlookers and is a useful point of view when attempting to comprehend media use, introduction, and impacts. Then again, while the uses and gratification methodology has been connected routinely to conventional media, examination clarifying why individuals utilize new online networking systems and additionally the satisfactions they acquire from them is rare, best case scenario. This exploration gives an extensive diagram of the uses and gratification approach and additionally the present writing about online networking systems. A contention is constructed inside of the postulation to concentrate on facebook as one online networking system through the uses and satisfactions hypothetical lens. Exploration inquiries are given and a review of 100 direct clients of facebook was led. Results demonstrate that individuals utilize an assortment of facebook capacities, that the gratification looked for from facebook are not the satisfactions got from facebook, and that individuals are watchful about the sorts of data they share on the online networking system. Moreover, results recommend that facebook clients acquire more gratification from the inactive elements of facebook rather the dynamic capacities as far as social upkeep and amusement.

Recommendations and Suggestions

The given study was based on survey by using well designed questionnaire as a standard of measurement and unit of analysis to estimate how much people special the targeted group selected for this study are depending on social media for news particularly Facebook. The core objective of the study was to examine Facebook as a news source, and to investigate what users do to evaluate the trustworthiness of the information provided by Facebook. To understanding what kinds of social media are frequently used as source of information by internet consumers and also how users assess the quality of information from such sources is vital as it would help identifying challenges that users encounter when selecting non-traditional sources of information i.e. Facebook. 

Recommendations and Suggestions  

Based on collection and then analysis of the gathered data to draw evidence based conclusion in this study following are some key recommendations: 

A. The age group belonging to 23-26 is more dependent on facebook for seeking information and news. This fence may recommend that the specific group of audiences are the seeker of news item on facebook that may vary from region to region so there should be a mechanism of moderation in place to educate the users of specific group who are trusting Facebook as news source. 

B. The outcome of the study that the practice of using facebook for newsworthy information is getting more popular among masses than traditional media rectify that exponential growth in technology specially trends of social media has more capability to attract users through  its interactive interface and ease in access as well as direct feedback. There would me a proper way of regularization of social media so that the trust of users could be secured and authenticity of news could be ensured.            

C. The study suggest that majority if users are convinced that facebook is satisfactory medium for information seeking purpose which might be the reason most of the news organization as well as media practitioners are using social media as an additional source to reach mass audience. Media is a trend setter and policy maker so there is a stern need to avoid ambiguous opinions while interacting through Facebook to maintain the prominence and proximity of news worthy events. 

D. 60 percent respondent in the study agreed that facebook provides quick access to the information better than other medium. This shows that public is more dependent on social media than traditional media so they should be given proper, rightly directed and accurate information through these sources to minimize the effects of deceptive information that may damage their moral values.    

E. Social media has the ability to engage users reciprocally than traditional media. This advantage of social media has given a hand full opportunity to traditional media to guide there consumers in right direction by providing authentic and accurate information to them. This will not only build the trust of audience on media but also provide them a chance to reach maximum number of people promptly.      

Based on the findings and considering that most of the youth is more inclined toward Facebook, the researcher suggest that information professionals and educators acknowledge the appeal and value of social media to users as alternative information sources, and that how to evaluate and use information from social media should be included in information literacy education programs. With the increasing popularity of social media, it might also be helpful that information professionals play a proactive role in improving the information quality of social media. They can consider contributing quality information to social media, providing additional resources that can be consulted and compared with, adding expert opinions, and so on. Further research is called for in order to better understand specific criteria that are, and can be, used for evaluating each type of social media, and ultimately to suggest key criteria for the evaluation.

As social media resources have features and characteristics different from those of traditional information sources, a thorough evaluation of the information gained from social media requires new approaches and strategies. Therefore, this might be a good time for educators to redesign current education programs in a way that should be encouraged to cover strategies for the effective evaluation and use of social media as information sources. For this to happen, a set of evaluation criteria as well as a roster of evaluative actions related to the unique characteristics of the various social media platforms will need to be developed. Students should be encouraged to remain vigilant of the shortcomings of social media information. Problems such as the possibility of fake reviews and the speed and breadth with which misinformation that can spread should be discussed and addressed properly and well on time so that the educational concepts should remain same. The study also recommends that students should be provided with the proper training of using social media and its impacts if not used in the right direction. Due to lack of resource and time the researcher has included a short sample size of 100 respondents that can be expand for better results.     

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