Social media usage for informal learning in Malaysia: academic researcher perspective

Abstract

Social media (SM) has gained a huge acceptance from all and sundry. A huge potential exists for academic researchers in the use of SM for intellectual exercise. Informal learning (IL) has redefined the entire learning process, creating a new dawn from the formal learning rigid structures. However, there is lack of research on why some researchers fail to accept SM for IL. Therefore, the aim of this paper is to explore the use of SM for IL, barriers, benefits, and effect of individual factors. For this reason, a thorough literature review was conducted, and items were extracted from prior studies. Using a survey, a total of 170 responses were received from academic researchers using paper-based questionnaire. The authors discovered from the survey that lack of encouragement, lack of quality information, threat to research material are the barriers affecting SM use. Furthermore, they found that the benefits of using SM by academic researchers are to communicate with peers, share knowledge, and enhance collaboration. Thus, these findings will help stakeholders in encouraging the use of SM for IL.