Social studies students’ perspectives on the use of Facebook in commemorating historical events
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.48017/dj.v10iSpecial_3.3637Keywords:
Social media, commemoration, social studies education, historical eventsAbstract
In this information and digitalization age, social media has eventually become mainstream media in education. As the biggest social networking site globally, Facebook has evolved from a mere communication platform to an educational tool that facilitates academic discourse, content sharing, and effortless information dissemination, including those with historical significance. Thus, this qualitative descriptive study seeks to describe the perspectives of social studies students about the use of Facebook, its role, its pros and cons compared to the conventional method, and its responsible utilization in commemorating historical events. Respondents were chosen purposively and conveniently. An unstructured interview based on a researcher-made interview guide was conducted to gather the necessary data. Following the content and contextual analysis of the data, results reveal that social studies students have ambivalent perspectives on Facebook use, generally viewing it as a promising yet flawed platform, especially for sharing information and commemorating historical events. For them, Facebook is unarguably convenient and accessible; yet, they are doubtful of the platform's reliability and accuracy in dealing with historical content, highlighting further the need to fact-check with the help of other sources like printed materials and verbal narratives. Accordingly, future studies may study the platform's economic, socio-cultural, educational, and political implications and repercussions.
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