The Role of Social Media in Promoting Reading Attitudes among Undergraduate Students in UCSI University

In recent years, technological advancements in social media such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube have raised concern to how reading and reading attitude is perceived and acted on among students in institutions of higher education. This study was conducted to investigate the relationship between time spent on social media and reading attitude among undergraduate students in UCSI University. The study also intended to find out which social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube affected students' reading attitude the most. To answer these questions, the present study adopted the correlational research design to identify the relationship and degree of association between social media use and reading attitude. Using simple random sampling technique, 614 undergraduate students participated in this study. An online survey was administered to the students to determine their reading attitude. The Pearson's correlation coefficient and multiple linear regression was done to identify the relationship between variables established in the research objectives. The results indicated there was a positive correlation between time spent on social media and reading attitude. This indicates that more time spent on social media reading is associated with a more positive reading attitude. Furthermore, the results also revealed that Instagram influenced reading attitude the most, followed by YouTube, Facebook and Twitter. The discussion of the study indicates that social media positively influences and inspires reading attitude. Keywords: Social Media, Reading, Reading Attitude, Correlation, Undergraduate, UCSI University, Pearson