College Students' Credibility Judgments on Healthy Diet Information on Social Media

Kolaric A., Juric M., Pavlovic N. P.

7th European Conference on Information Literacy (ECIL), ELECTR NETWORK, 20 - 23 September 2021, pp.62-74 identifier identifier

  • Publication Type: Conference Paper / Full Text
  • Doi Number: 10.1007/978-3-030-99885-1_6
  • Country: ELECTR NETWORK
  • Page Numbers: pp.62-74
  • Hacettepe University Affiliated: No

Abstract

The main objective of this study was to investigate how college students judge the credibility of healthy diet information on social media. This mixed-method two-phase sequential study used a survey and individual interview methods to explore how college students judge the credibility of the acquired information, and how their healthy diet behaviour and nutrition literacy are related to the credibility judgment criteria they use. Results show that students value expertise of authors on social media higher than friendliness, but the importance of motivating and friendly interaction is more indicative of students' information use behaviour. Students who exhibit healthy diet behaviour give more value to authors' expertise. Students who have problems in understanding nutrition information rely more on the friendliness and popularity of authors on social media as credibility indicators.