“We wanted to create an interactive and fun way to connect people to their social media – and show how it can cause some introspective reflection,” remarked Taylor Nelson, one of the designers of the project. “It was a short, simple, and sweet way to interact with people on campus. And the quiz took less than a minute to complete – a definite plus for the busy-bodies around Queens!”
Students in the digital literacy seminar at Queens University of Charlotte designed an interactive experience for their peers on campus as a class project. The student-designed project was simple in concept: create a quiz that offered twelve outcomes to define a person’s “ideal” social media use.
The rationale for designing a quiz was to demonstrate to users how they interacted with the technological world (i.e. varying forms of social media) and how that could affect their time spent. Ultimately, the quiz encouraged reflection about personal connections to the digital world. According to Renee Hobbs, reflection is one of the five key components of digital and media literacy. Hobbs’ white paper, Digital and Media Literacy: A Plan of Action was one of the key readings in the digital literacy seminar, led by Dr. John A. McArthur, an associate professor in the Knight School of Communication.
The quiz was created using the online tool inklewriter which allows writers to design “create-your-own-adventure” type experiences incorporating text and image. The quiz is still available online here.
The team, made up of students Nick Alito, Hannah Fraser, Greg Jaudon, Taylor Nelson, Douglas Sewell, and Katelyn Smith set up a table near the university cafeteria, with varying devices on which passers-by could take the quiz (iPads, cell phones, QR Codes, laptops and links). Candies and funky stickers proclaiming results from the quiz served a approachable rewards for participation.
“We hope that through our project others can become aware of their interactions on social media. We want them to be able to use social media effectively and enjoy the results of it.” Student Hannah Fraser continues, “Our project gave people a social media identity that best suited their interests. Whether people were most interested in current events, keeping up with friends via text or through photos or creating their own videos there is a place for everyone in the social media world. Discovering what you want to get out of it is how you decide which site to invest your time in.”
The twelve results used in the quiz were derived from six mainstream social media outlets and represented two extremes for the use of each outlet:
- Facebook Creeper
- FacebookChatter
- Instacatcher
- Instascroller
- YouTube Sharer
- YouTube Director
- Pinterest Dreamer
- Pinterest Hoarder
- Job Seeker (LinkedIn)
- Job Connector (LinkedIn)
- Tweet-a-holic
- Hashtag (#) Horror
Below are some images of happy quiz-takers proudly displaying their results:
The digital literacy seminar at Queens University of Charlotte is part of the university’s interdisciplinary exploration seminar initiative intended to enhance faculty-student interaction on campus. Read about other projects and initiatives created by this seminar in past semesters.
Dr. John A. McArthur is an associate professor of communication and Director of Undergraduate Programs in the James L. Knight School of Communication at Queens University of Charlotte. This article and the accompanying photographs were produced by students in the digital literacy seminar, spring term 2013.
John A. McArthur, Ph.D. 
The title of this post made me instantly excited to read it. I certainly was not disappointed. I find social media beyond interesting (specifically our choices and how we go about presenting ourselves online in a social environment). This is one of the first times I have heard of students going to these lengths in order to better understand people’s choices regarding this matter.
I think my favorite part of the survey isn’t necessarily the end results. I love the options that they give you in order to figure out who you may be. Create / Consume, Publish / Awareness, these are amazing characterizations of the people who contribute online via social media.
Thank you so much for this blog post. I look forward to reading even more!
J.T., Thanks for your comments about the good work these students are doing. The quiz was the result of their semester-long study of digital literacies, and I’m glad you picked up on their thinking about contribution online.
I wish that I could have done this project in my undergraduate program! Although, even though I graduated from CNU with my undergraduate degree in 2010, social media still wasn’t as pervasive and provocative as it is today.
Reblogged this on theconsciouswriter and commented:
What a wonderfully written review of a student project performed in college. Take some time to read this and then complete the survey. It’s not simply labeling. The survey and project reviewed in this blog really makes you think about how you utilize social media.
While scrolling through the various articles, the title of this one really caught my eye. I am very active in the social media world, and was interested to see what social media outlet fits me the best. I took the quiz, and it said I was a “Tweet-a-holic”…so true about me!! I am always on Twitter and might even need to cut back! But after reading this post, it made me realize how there is a social media outlet for just about anybody, and are based off of what interests they have. From just reading the article, I can tell that the students put a lot of time and effort into this project.
[…] “Which Social Media Fits You?” – John A. McArthur, Ph.D. https://jamcarthur.com/2013/04/23/which-social-media-fits-you/#comment-1245 […]
I really loved this post, and find this project so interesting. I am trying to become savvier in using social media, so I am someone who believes this research needs to be done. I think I heightened awareness about what kind of social media I relate best with would help me in really sticking to one or two. The pictures from the event where great and gave me an “inside look” to the queens students. The only thing I thought at the end of this post was wow; I wish I could take this quiz! Is there any way to access the quiz or did you have to be on campus that day?
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[…] Which Social Media Fits You?” – John A. McArthur, Ph.D. https://jamcarthur.com/2013/04/23/which-social-media-fits-you/#comment-1245 […] REPLY […]
Sticking to the topic of social media sites I enjoyed reading your post regarding which social media site fits each person and thought it was quite interesting to take the quiz and find out which one fits me. After reading the results of the participants who took the quiz I would have thought I was more of a Linkedin person but I was not surprised to be categorized as a “YouTube Sharer” because I do enjoy viewing and sharing online videos with family, friends, and colleagues right when they are available to the public before they go viral. Your article, and the “YouTube Sharer results from my quiz which I didn’t really consider a social media site for some reason ,made me think about exactly how many social media and social networking sites there are and how hard it is to keep up with one or two. I can’t imagine being active and establishing and maintaining an up-to-date profile on them all, is there not someway to combine them all into one feed so you get everything without having to do each one individually?
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