Impact of Social Media Platforms on Creative Writing in English: A Critical Study

INTRODUCTION

Social media has significantly impacted our lives and is ubiquitous. It has changed the way people communicate, share information, and exchange knowledge. According to the latest data from com Score, there are 4.48 billion people who are actively using social media in 2021. This is an increase of 13.13% from the previous year and an overall increase of 115.59% in six years. With the increasing number of internet users in India, the country's total social media users reached approximately 518 million in 2020, which is more than double the size of its population in 2020. In 2020, India had 749 million internet users. By 2040, the number of internet users is expected to reach 1.5 billion. Of the total internet users in India, a majority of them use their mobile phones to access the web. Through the Digital India initiative, the country's digital population has reached 624 million as of February 2021. The rise of internet penetration has been largely attributed to the increasing number of mobile internet users. The following figure shows that 94.4% of Indian population uses mobile phones and at least 96.3% of the population uses smart phone. The significance of this date is that it shows that there is an increasing penetration of the internet enabled devices in our lives. The increase in the usage of these devices has enabled people to explore the various allied applications of these devices. A smart phone can be used for a multitude of other functions other than connecting with people. The integrated applications on the smart phone have found a compulsive utility value. The functions such as camera, notepad, and calendar found importance in routine activities in various professions. Mobile phones entered India in 1990‘s owing to the then government‘s Globalization and Liberalization policies. India is rallying fast on the track to digitization. Government‘s initiatives such Digital Revolution has fundamentally altered the way in which cultural goods are produced, distributed and accessed. Education sector is also strongly positioned on the digital map bringing convenience, accessibility, transparency and e-governance to the grassroots. The Digital India envisions a) availability of basic infrastructure such as high speed broadband to all cities and grampanchayats b) Governance and services on online and Mobile platforms for easy processes, cloud data storage for easy access c) Digitally empowering citizens by promoting universal digital literacy, multilingual availability of services and resources. One of the key factors to the digitization is Digital literacy. The levels of comfort in using digital technology will define the success of digital India endeavor. The Digital Saksharta Abhiyan (DISHA) or National Digital Literacy Mission (NDLM) Scheme has been designed to impart IT training to 52.5 lakh persons, including Anganwadi and ASHA workers and authorized ration dealers in all the States/UTs across the country so that the non-IT literate citizens are trained to become IT literate so as to enable them to actively and effectively participate in the democratic and developmental process and also enhance their livelihood. (NDLM overview, ndlm.in). The mission explains an IT literate as ―he/ she can operate digital devices, like mobile phones, tablets, etc., send and receive emails and can browse Internet for information, etc‖. Innovative ways, in order to reduce the burden of school bag, many private schools in India have introduced Tablets. A tablet is a wireless device, handy and convenient personal computer with a touch screen interface. A tablet is usually smaller than a notebook computer, but larger than a smart phone. One of the leading newspaper reports that the schools shall distribute the preloaded tablets to their students. As a part of adopting and implementing digitization, digital curriculum has been employed by many schools in Maharashtra and other metro. In this context, it is important to note that the first government subsidized notepad has also been provided to the college and school students.

January 2020 and January 2021. The number of mobile connections in India in January 2021 was equivalent to 79.0% of the total population. The rapid evolution of technology facilitates the genesis of rapidly growing social media tools that are increasingly being used by students in social and academic settings. Social media is a digital platform for students to express themselves because it encourages uniqueness. The following figure

The evolving communication devices and their integration with social media have empowered students and their academic enrichment. These technology enhancements can be used for the allocation of information, as communication platforms and as a vital use in education. It helps students to enhance their confidence level by uploading status, voicing out opinions, connecting with counterparts from across the globe. In academia, social media are considered valuable in language learning as they are community-centered and encourage the dissemination of authentic language, meaningful interactions and exchanges beyond the classrooms.

The objectives of this study are 1. To examine whether students engage on social media to develop their English Language skills. 2. To investigate the relationship between social media and creative skills of students. 3. To investigate whether social media affects students‘ creative writing skills in English

Bozkurt, (2019) most colleges and pupils choose eLearning, m-learning and distant learning with government funding. E-learning has a distinct meaning, but it usually apprises through means of electronic technology, particularly online curriculum access. Students can use a web-enabled computer to view the curriculum while on class or remotely. On the other hand, M-learning is an e-learning subset that enables students to access the curriculum via their mobile devices such as tablets and Smartphone‘s. Distance learning is another kind of electronic learning including the provision of material from faraway locations via electronic methods. Slim & Hafedh, (2019) Learning theories generally argue that learning takes place in a setting where skills or information are exposed. Both social media theories in which learners or users are exposed to skills and information in the platforms. Moreover, users may acquire certain skills via posts from other people in the same group, such as WhatsApp, Facebook and blogs. In terms of English skills, social media groups contain various members with varied English learning experiences and requirements. Some teachers and teachers have knowledge of the same language in the same group. The professors' instructions, English writings, e.g. essays and comments by other students or users make them aware of the subject and English abilities that they study. Social media groups also reinforce critical and good remarks by other users that motivate and correct people to continue to improve their work. Social media is consequently like an interdisciplinary class where students and professors talk and practise English abilities, and learning takes place via cognition and strengthening. Al-Jarrah, Talafhah, and Al-Jarrah, (2019), Students' opinions of the usage of social media in teaching English at a higher college in Indonesia were explored in their study. Research has shown that most students have shown a favourable stance towards the social media in their written classroom and their readiness to use it. However, the use of social media in the classroom may be hindered by variables such as big classes, a lack of training in Internet use and the absence of infrastructure. Wilson, (2018) studied "The Effect of Social media on the Spelling Ability of Students" and observed that The evolution of the internet technology created a suitable, easiest, cost efficient and fast medium of communication, whereby majority of the world‘s population two-third statistically participate fully in blogging as well as social media activities in order to satisfy their thirst for information, and entertainment, hence such platforms serve as tools for connection and creation of mutual understanding. Over the years, the online environment created by social media has enabled it users share thoughts, common business, language, one flag and common values rule has become a reality as a result of the interconnectivity of several interactive platforms that unite and allow people to communicate from diverse ends, social background, and culture. Countless benefits have been tremendously realized via distant communication expedited by social media usage. Taskiran et al., (2018): The students examined the way Twitter is viewed and applied in extracurricular activities as a tool for language acquisition. Researchers used a hybrid technique using Twitter surveys and tests. Research shows that Twitter has been favourable in use for students, resulting in an improvement of their language learning experience. Talaue et al. (2018), Sorting in a different study, the social media influenced academic achievement of university students. The survey design and questionnaires were used as data collecting instruments as a descriptive approach. Results show that both positive and negative impacts of social media on academic achievement. Researchers believe that educational institutions may and should take advantage of the favourable influence on learning of the social media. Stoytcheva, (2018) Social media is a platform online and so offers pupils the opportunity to create new methods of thinking in line with OCL theory. Social media participants realise how the group has arrived at a shared conclusion and alter its approach to share one conclusion. In an English conversation, social media students benefit from acquiring English speaking and leaning rules. Following the OCL model, which is based on a social constructivist, leaners build cognitive capacity utilising social media to identify laws which specifically relate to the notion of language. In this example, the rules are a notion that pupils utilise for language or writing sentences. Social media has the potential, therefore, to increase abilities in English speaking and writing by developing norms that guide speaking or writing.

The study involves descriptive research, which is often called statistical research. This helps to answer questions such as who, what, where, when and how. Thus considering the requirements of this study, this particular research design was more appropriate for the current study. For this particular study descriptive research was used to obtain a picture of students‘ use of social media and its impact on their creative writing skills. time dimension of the research project, this study involves a cross-sectional study which measures sample units from the population at only one point in time. This cross-sectional study is representative of a population and hence it can also be named a sample survey. The study included a statistical approach to process and analyzes the quantitative datasets to either reject or not to reject the hypothesis.

In the current research study, the population is finite and comprises only of undergraduate and postgraduate universities of Pune. This study took place in the Pune region of Maharashtra, where the population consists of various universities located in Pune.

The sample element in the current study is tertiary level students of universities in Pune including undergraduate programmes from whom the information is sought.

The Unit of Analysis in the present study is the Universities in the Pune region which contains the sample element (i.e. students). In the current research study, the sample is from Pune which is education hub.

The sample size was determined using sample size determination through the mean method. The mean method was used because variables in the study were measured using a 5-point measurement scale. The formula for the same is given below: N= (z2*s2) /e2 Where, Z= is the standard score associated with confidence level (95% in the current case). Hence standard scores equal to 1.96(borrowed from normal table) S=is the variability in the data set, computed as a ratio of range/6.Range is equal to 5-1=4(the difference between minimum and maximum value in the 5 point scale). 6 refer to ±3 standard deviation values on the X axis of the standard normal curve, which takes in all the data set in study. Hence range=4/6=0.66 Hence n=169 So as a buffer we have considered sample size to be 200.

The sampling criteria included the following • The university must be located in Pune city • The student must be studying in undergraduate • The students should be using social media

The probability sampling technique involved in this study is a stratified sampling method. Thus the method is employed to select respondents in a random fashion according to the following steps: first we consider the whole population of students and then we made the strata of only university in Pune. And then using simple random sampling the samples are chosen from these universities.

The study will be conducted in the Pune city of the state of Maharashtra keeping in mind the time and cost involved in collecting data. Therefore, the sampling frame was developed from one source:

The time taken to complete the interview process of all the required sample elements (i.e. respondents) took 3 months.

A quantitative design was the appropriate design for this current study because it helps to explain the phenomenon by collecting numerical data which will be analyzed using mathematical methods in particular (statistics).The appropriateness of the design is based following factors: • Research should demand a quantitative answer. • Numerical change can accurately be studied only using quantitative methods. • Wanting to find out about a state where we often want to explain some phenomena.

The study involves independent variables and dependent variables. These are measures of student attitude towards Social Media and student attitude towards developing writing skill. As noted the purpose of the study is to examine whether students use social media and whether their usage is associated with their language skills. The study also examines how independent variables influence the dependent variables. The approach in this study helps out in understanding and determining how dependent variables behave with respect to the independent variables. Therefore the quantitative research design was an appropriate design for this research.

Ethical issues are of prime importance in social science research. Important ethical considerations in social science research. Include issues such as Participating Voluntarily, Respecting Participants Integrity, Anonymity and Confidentiality, Avoiding Deception and Fair Reporting. A brief discussion on these ethical factors in the current research study is presented below.

The major issue in social science research is that participation of respondents in the research should be voluntary and no one should be forced to participate in the research. As the respondents participating in the survey had to fill a long questionnaire, they were briefed on the objectives of the research and assured of confidentiality of data to motivate them to participate voluntarily. The data was been collected by making personal visits to the respondents and those respondents who are not willing to participate are not included in the study.

No personal questions were asked to the respondents. The study was focused on organization-specific questions rather than those involving respondent‘s personal matters. Research instrument had no questions that lead to embarrassment/harm to the participants.

In the current study the respondents were assured of confidentiality of the data provided by them. However, since the data has to be collected through personal interview by visiting their organization and not through some other means of survey, identity of the respondent was revealed to the researcher, hence the anonymity was not ensured. The respondents were assured that the data would only be used for generalization of the observation and no specific

When visiting the students the researcher has provided the identity and affiliations of the concerned university and school of study to reveal the purpose of the visit. In this case the university is Ajeenkya DY Patil University. The data was collected only after briefing the respondents about what data is required for the study and how it will be used.

The research technique chosen for the current study is surveys, as they involve the collection of information from sample elements through their responses to questions. Survey data can be collected from many respondents at relatively low cost without substantially increasing the time. Survey methods lend themselves to probability sampling from large population. Thus the survey research technique is a very attractive option when sample generalizability is a core research objective. In fact, the survey research technique is the only option to develop the bigger picture of attitudes and characteristics of a larger population.

An in-person interview method was adopted for the current research study, as it involves face-to-face social interaction between the respondent and the researcher. This method has given the best response rate; the reason is the researcher has complete awareness of the respondent‘s situation. This allows the researcher to have more control on interview process. The good part of this method is the researcher can monitor the physical and social circumstances; and the respondent‘s answers can be probed and clarified if needed.

A survey research questionnaire was used in the current research study to collect the data. While preparing the questionnaire for the survey it has been kept in mind that the focus of the questionnaire be the research problem under investigation. Thus it becomes the primary basis for selecting which questions should be included in the research questionnaire and which should be excluded. The questionnaire has been designed using precisely and neatly written close ended questions, which gives an opportunity to process and analyze them statistically. For writing the responses of close ended questions a likert rating scale (5 points) has been used which generally asks respondents to indicate

To analyze the collected data from respondents, the researcher has used various statistical tests which are explained below. 1. Descriptive Statistics: The purpose of the descriptive statistical analysis in this current research study is to describe the data we have. To make sense of our large data we have chosen graphical descriptions and numerical descriptions. In terms of graphical description we have chosen pie charts and histograms. Pie charts are standard when the numbers of categories are small, as is the case in our research study. In pie charts the pie represents the entire population and slices represents the categories with the size of each slice being proportional to the relative frequency of the corresponding category. Histograms were used to describe numerical continuous variables with class intervals in our study. These tell us what will happen to a value that falls exactly on the boundary between the two class intervals. A numerical description of data can be explored using numerical summaries of descriptive statistics test such as mean, std. deviation, frequency, skewness and kurtosis. 2. Spearman Rank Order Correlation: Spearman rank correlation is used when we have two ranked variables, and we want to see whether the two variables covary; whether, as one variable increases, the other variable tends to increase or decrease. Thus it is a test for a rank order relationship between two quantitative variables when one or both variables is ordinal (rather than interval) and/or not normally distributed or when the sample size is small. 3. One-Way ANOVA: The One-Way ANOVA ("analysis of variance") compares the means of two or more independent groups in order to determine whether there is statistical evidence that the associated population means are significantly different. One-Way ANOVA is a parametric test. 4. Multiple Regression: The general purpose of multiple regression (the term was first used by Pearson, 1908) is to learn more about the relationship between several independent or predictor variables and a dependent or criterion variable. 5. Paired t-Test: The paired sample t-test, sometimes called the dependent sample t-test, is a statistical procedure used to measured twice, resulting in pairs of observations. Common applications of the paired sample t-test include case-control studies or repeated-measures designs. Suppose you are interested in evaluating the effectiveness of a company training program. One approach you might consider would be to measure the performance of a sample of employees before and after completing the program, and analyze the differences using a paired sample t-test. 6. Measurement Instrument Reliability: The instrument has been tested and validated though the reliability is important consideration while conducting any survey. In current research study the reliability for students and teachers instrument is given below:

The instrument has high reliability and can be served the purpose for testing and conducting the survey.

The objective of this chapter is to analyze each variable involved in the study and also test the hypothetical statements. The findings of the study will help to lead to conclusion and complete the study in effective manner.

The above table & histogram provides descriptive statistics for the variable SR-1, where mean is 4.45 and Std. deviation is .721. Since Std. deviation is less than the one third of the mean, mean is a representative value. Conclusion: We can conclude that students strongly agreed to the fact that they use social media regularly.

Social media has become an integral part of our lives. It is a platform that enables people to connect and share their experiences. It is also widely used by students to keep up with their learning activities. Social media can be boon to teach students creative writing and also encourage students‘ self- learning. As the most significant 21st century skill, digital media literacy is imminent for the success of our students. Similarly, creative writing skill an offshoot of creative thinking will be one of the most sought after skills in the future. While every aspect of the material world can be mechanised, man‘s thinking power and creativity cannot be mechanised. As teachers, it is our prime responsibility to promote creativity in thought and actions of our students. Social media provides plethora of information on its numerous platforms and freedom of expression. Students at universities and colleges should have the knowledge to consume the internet content prudentially and judicially. This study doesn‘t cover the teacher attitude towards social media as pedagogical tool .How university teachers can facilitate creative language development can be studied in future researches. grammar instruction on low proficiency COLLEGE college students‘ achievement. Asian COLLEGE Journal, 7(4), pp. 166-190. [2] Badri, M., Al Nuaimi, A., Guang, Y., & Al Rashedi, A. (2017). School performance, social networking effects, and learning of schoolchildren: Evidence of reciprocal relationships in Abu Dhabi. Telematics and Informatics, 34(8), pp. 1433-1444. [3] Balakrishnan, V. & Lay, G. (2016). Student‘s learning style and their effects on the use of social media technology for learning. Telematics and Informatics, 33, 808-821. DOI:10.1016/j.tele.2015.12.004 [4] Al-Jarrah, J. M., Talafhah, R. H., & Al-Jarrah, T. M. (2019). Social networking sites and English language learning: Jordanian COLLEGE learners ‗practices and experiences. European Journal of English Language Teaching. [5] Allaith, Z.A. & Joshi, R.M. (2011). ‗Spelling performance of English consonants among students whose first language is Arabic‘, Reading and Writing 24(9), pp. 1089–1110. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11145-010-9294-3 [6] Allen, J.P.B. & Corder, S.P. (1974). Techniques in applied linguistics: Language and learning, Oxford University Press, New York. [7] Almarwaey, A. (2017). Using Social-Networking Sites in Learning English Language and Students‟ Self-Efficacy. US-China Education Review A. 7(5), pp. 246-254. [8] Alqasham, F. H. A. (2018). Virtual Social Network-Mediated English language Learning in a Saudi Tertiary EFL context: Innovation and Agency. Doctoral Dissertation, Massey University, Palmerstone North, New Zealand. Retrieved, June 20, 2019, from https://mro.massey.ac.nz/handle/10179/13406. [9] Al-Qomoul, M. (2011) Effectiveness of Using English SMS on the Development of the Tertiary Students‟ Spoken and Written Communication, European Journal of Social Science, 22 (3) pp. 342-351 [10] Alsubaie, A., &Madini, A. A. (2018). The effect of using blogs to enhance the writing [11] Alzouebi, K., & El Salhat, S. (2016). Digital and Social Learning: Transforming Education for the Next Generation. European Journal of Open, Distance, and E-learning, 19(2), pp. 1-17. [12] Anderson, T. (2008). The theory and practice of online learning (2nd ed.). Edmonton, Canada: AU Press

Research Scholar, Department of English, Kalinga University, Raipur, Chhattisgarh