CONCLUSION

The surveys and interviews have been administered and the results are in! Good job to both Paige and Stacy for reaching out to collect data from more than 80 students on-campus. As Paige said we ended up surveying 78 students through Facebook, and Stacy took care of interviewing a total of five students. After Paige's and Stacy's detailed analyses of the data collected from both their interviews and online surveys, it's time to finally conclude our study and sum up the data to see what it says about how and why college students get their news.

One of the first reasons for our survey was to see how students receive their news on-campus, which we defined as by what mediums they received their news by. Based purely on percentages, 31% of students nominated Facebook/Twitter as their primary source of news, which was the largest percentage that any one of the news mediums received. In second came print and/or online newspaper sources, with 25% of students receiving them. Following them came television, with 19% of students, other online sites with 13% of students, magazines at 6%, radio at 5%, and a disregard for news at 1% (it is important to note that students were given the option to choose more than one outlet of news on the survey). Of the interview results all five students interviewed nominated Internet sites, three of them citing Yahoo News, two of the five stating E-mail, one of the five The Daily Texan, one other citing television, and one other Twitter. What the majority of our data indicates is that most students are receiving their news from online sites such as Facebook and Twitter, which are social media sites that present news that users can customize as to relevancy. The secondary role of more traditional news sources like newspapers and especially television and radio among college students is also interesting to note.
So what does this say about college students? The fact that social media sites like Facebook and Twitter are the most visited by students exhibits a strong increase in the social capital that these students posses, that is, the resources that can be accessed through social networks. Social media news can be a resource activated instantly by students wishing to receive news, and is thus both fast, efficient, and customized. The more friends or the more people one follows on these sites increases their chances in being able receive a larger amount of news that is personalized to their tastes. On these sites, students can choose to follow a particular newspaper, blogger, or other organization and thus can select the types of news they receive based on personal preference, because who wouldn't want to receive more relevant and interesting news? The enabler of this selectivity in their news is the social capital that these students wield through their social networks. In addition the decline of more traditional news sources may attributed to less efficient modes of transmitting information; television segments, radio, and even newspapers may in the eyes of students take more time to receive. Most importantly, these modes are not customized and may present more news that students may be less interested in. The prevalence of social media as the major source of student news can be related to a larger overall trend in our society which shows a greater personalization of information and a larger focus on the individual and their preferences and capacity of choices. In addition our data suggests that as whole, our society is adopting more technological mediums through which to receive its news by, and as a result is relying more heavily on social networks and capital to receive more relevant data. Based on our data, it seems that how students receives their news is becoming a product of the extent of their social capital.

Our second point of data was how often students receive their news. Based on our data, an overwhelming 61% of students surveyed answered that they received their news at least once a day. Twenty percent of students answered they received news two to four times per week, and 19% said they received the news fewer than once a week. All five of the students interviewed said they receive their news at least once daily as well.
So what does this say about college students? 
The high frequency in which students reported that they receive their news surprised us, as we expected a lower frequency of two to four times a week to be the norm. The fact that almost half of students surveyed checked daily for news leads to two general conclusions which may complement each other: first that the means through which students access news are making it easier to do so, and second that students are developing a greater interest in the world around them and taking more initiative to obtain information. The first conclusion complements the conclusion of the most popular way students receive news through social media like Facebook and Twitter, as both enable easier and faster access to information for students, whose busy academic and social lives may allow for only small windows of time. The second conclusion is interesting, and suggests that students are realizing the importance of staying informed about their world, either for personal reasons or for academic reasons. The large percentage of students who receive daily news may indicate a growing awareness of students for the world around them, which social media sites with a larger global perspective may help foster. As our world becomes more connected through technology, students are realizing the larger effect of global events on their own lives, in itself a result of using the sociological imagination, and are adapting by checking the news with increasing frequency. Our study suggests that almost half of students check the news at least daily, which could be a result of increasing awareness from globalization.

For our last point of data we surveyed and interviewed students as to why they sought news, when they searched for news, and if they thought that receiving news was related to social status. Thirty-four percent of students in the survey stated that they received news to be personally informed, 25% said for entertainment, 14% for discussion with others, 11% for school or a class, 15% for all of the above, and only 1% for never receiving news. In the interviews, four out of the five students said that they received news because they wanted to stay personally informed. Three out of those four students mentioned staying informed about the world, one mentioned because of major issues, and said for events around the University. When asked when they sought news, 29% of students said at their convenience, 24% answered when they were bored, another 24% during coverage of particular events like the Olympics, 21% only after they had heard about an event, and 2% said they never seek news. When interviewed, four out of five students answered that being well-informed about the news was not related to social status, with one student commenting that "now it's so easy to access news and talked about so much I feel like everyone is somewhat informed" (Rickard 2012).
So what does this say about college students?The fact that about one-third of college students surveyed as well as four out of five students interviewed answered that they received news to stay informed is telling. This data seems to reflect the growing sense of awareness for the world that we identified above as being the reason that most students sought their news daily. As our world globalizes, it appears that students are adapting by recognizing a need to stay informed about events both local and global; in a way this need to stay informed is an example of the sociological imagination, and that a large percentage of students surveyed and interviewed are at least practicing its concepts. The fact that one-fourth of students surveyed nominated news as a source of entertainment as well could be due to an interest in outside events or people that may signal the changing role of news as entertainment to students, and not just informing information. The high rate of entertainment may also be due to the fact that students can customize their news on social media sites and thus receive news about topics they enjoy such as sports, celebrities, movies, and the arts. It is also interesting to note that only 14% of students answered that they received news in order to discuss it with peers, which may explain why only one of the students interviewed answered that being well-informed of news is a mark of a higher social status. It seems that, at least to students, receiving news is not at all related to one's social status because "it's so easy to access news and talked about so much" (Rickard 2012). Due to ease of access, it appears that students view the news as something that is a given activity in which they participate in , and thus reveals little as to one's cultural capital and consequently social status. It also would appear that only about one in every six students uses the news as a topic for discussion, but even then the idea of news being a tool of impression management seems to lack much support as most students view receiving the news as a normal and generally regular activity. It is also interesting to see that 29% of students sought news at their own convenience, thus enforcing the idea of easy-to-access social media sites as primary mediums of news. It also seems that about 45% of students receive news conditionally, that is they choose to receive news based on if they know whether certain events are going on already. This may enforce the idea that students, and in general youth in modern times are more self-focused and thus tailor their reception of news to their personal convenience or based on personal perception of the world around them. Based on our data, it appears that students now are increasingly exercising their capacity to have options on the news that they receive and thus may have greater expectations for choices in their lives.

In conclusion, our data refutes the idea that students receive news to in order to demonstrate their social status, cultural capital, and utilize impression management with other students. Based on our data, it seems that the average on-campus college student receives their news primarily through Facebook/Twitter, then through other online news sites. He or she checks these sites at least once a day whenever is convenient for them, but especially if they know that a particular news event has happened or is happening; any other time they check for news is because they are bored. This student will answer that they receive news primarily to stay informed about their campus and the world around them.
This student is an example of the growing importance that students are placing on staying informed in the rapidly globalizing world around them, while simultaneously exercising a large amount of personal choice in how and when they receive their news. To college students, news is a result of wanting to be informed and a medium through which they may project their personal preferences through choices.