Marina Galioto
Francesca Pedone
Apostolos Vantarakis
Alessandra La Marca1
Antonino Bianco
95% of researchers rate our articles as excellent or good
Learn more about the work of our research integrity team to safeguard the quality of each article we publish.
Find out more
- 1Department of Psychology, Educational Sciences and Human Movement, University of Palermo, Palermo, Italy
- 2Department of Public Health, University of Patras, Patras, Greece
Background
Since educational institutions have reported higher performances in terms of both students and organizational wellbeing, contemporary academic life has been increasingly boosting communication in multiple ways (Leonardi et al., 2013; Alshuaibi et al., 2018; Zhang et al., 2024). Moreover, the interplay between higher educational context and student engagement seems to promote the connection with positive attitudes, which are required to facilitate the learning process and critical thinking development (Alalwan, 2022; Galindo-Domínguez et al., 2024; Zhang et al., 2023).
Following the comprehensive view painted in a recent study conducted by Pawar (2024), who addressed the most relevant areas for marketing in higher education using social media, we want to chiefly draw attention to the crucial role of organizational management in student engagement through the implementation of digital methodologies. While academics are committed to customizing a consensus about a set of values, practices, and ideas to enhance the organization's identity and the university branding to spread their accountability worldwide (Chowdhury et al., 2023; Pawar, 2024), researchers should invest in communication studies for promoting student evolvement and sense of belonging in learning environments (Alalwan, 2022; Dhanesh et al., 2022; Fabris et al., 2023).
This means to dare, experimenting with new strategies for didactics implementation in the perspective of a stable and effective set of innovative technologies, digital tools, and social media networks, integrated into institutional practices, to foster user engagement and encourage the general audience empowerment with greater interaction in virtual scenarios and digital spaces (Guillory and Sundar, 2014; Taylor and Kent, 2014; Gopika and Rekha, 2023; Young et al., 2020; Capriotti et al., 2024).
The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted traditional methodologies, and digital communication has become strategic not only to keep alive a worthy public image but also to hold people involved in a community, seeking to provide feelings of safety and consideration: Despite distances and prohibitions, social media have ensured individuals to communicate with families, friends, and peers (Cho et al., 2023). Nowadays, more than half of the global population uses social media, and it happens not just to experience them: People tend to use networks to connect with others as a social need (Brandtzæg and Heim, 2009): Nevertheless, while institutions need to equip themselves properly with the ambition to produce impactful digital storytelling of “what they are” through “what we see,” educators and institutional managers have the responsibility to enhance new embedded canals to educate and train students, from schools to universities, exploiting the timeless power of social media platforms (Sanz-Labrador et al., 2021).
In addition to this functional aspect, suppose now the priority for social media platforms is to attract and keep their audience involved and entertained: following this view, institutions sharing content through social media have the same purpose to entertain and engage their communities as partners for building a shared public identity (Ihlen et al., 2011; Dhanesh et al., 2022).
The more people feel they are part of an institution, the more the management can count on them and have the chance to influence new trends. From this perspective, we want to focus on universities, leading the idea that digital community development, interactions between academics and staff through social media, and student engagement promotion are deeply linked and can significantly contribute to improving the sense of a collaborative community in learning contexts (Ansari and Khan, 2020; Lu et al., 2024).
Along with a general agreement on the beneficial effects brought on students by feelings related to a sense of community and inclusion (Allen et al., 2021) and their capacity to lessen disparities and ethnic matters among students during their academic experiences (Gopalan and Brady, 2020), researchers are still debating the most effective way to generate engagement among users and how to measure it (Smith and Gallicano, 2015).
As researchers detecting digital environments within universities, we cannot ignore the relevant key role raised by emotional wellbeing in academic performance and student living: educators have the responsibility to turn the impact of social media's use on everyday life into an innovative path to promote health among students, aiming at a sustainable educational evolution and exploring new tactics to succeed in human progress (Kent and Taylor, 2021; Li, 2022).
Innovating digital solutions for social inclusion
At Palermo University, one of the biggest universities in Italy, we are seeking to investigate students' feelings while managing an institutional official account on social networks: our research team has launched an investigation among students that includes heading, for a scheduled period, a meta business account (Facebook and Instagram) owned by the Department of Psychology, Educational Sciences, and Human Movement (SPPEFF). In line with an experimental approach to the organizational communication plan led by this department, the objective of our research is to measure the feeling of inclusion before and after a period of social network account management.
Organizing and sharing content from an institutional account (SPPEFF Department) of an important institution such as the University of Palermo can be challenging and exciting for students, even if perceived as a task of responsibility. We are committed to involving, within an experimental educational design, persons attending programs from this department, engaging them in the natural process of building the digital identity for our institution under a collaborative view: we understand this could reveal an explosive power in terms of concern and interest. Nevertheless, we are aware that this digital enterprise needs special attention on policy aspects related to privacy and informatics risks; moreover, this experimental editorial plan should be validated and supported by a team of experts based on well-structured rules, scientific rigor, timing, and scope.
The literature has reported some municipalities in Italy that have already experimented with citizen-based management activities for a while, in the framework of specific engagement objectives, and the results were encouraging (Ducci et al., 2019).
The SPPEFF department training offer is characterized by themes referring to psychology, pedagogy, and other person-centered specific educational courses related to the development of knowledge and skills to deal with people throughout the lifespan, from children to adults.
We are confident that digital innovation initiatives led by a research unit in a social media laboratory, where human relationships, care, and trust are considered strategic for developing a fruitful collaboration, will improve not only people's autonomy and academic self-efficacy in students attending the program but also an overall sense of community and inclusivity (Montgomery, 2018; Aldossari, 2023; Alshuaibi et al., 2018; Ansari and Khan, 2020).
Strengthening an innovative institutional communication approach that is student-based, fully immersed in the learning environment, and grounded in loyalty and reliability as the roots of a long-lasting social pact looks to be a sustainable way to progress in organizational communication, influencing an ideal cultural evolution (Whittaker and Montgomery, 2014).
Author contributions
MG: Conceptualization, Data curation, Formal analysis, Funding acquisition, Investigation, Methodology, Project administration, Resources, Software, Supervision, Validation, Visualization, Writing – original draft, Writing – review & editing. FP: Conceptualization, Project administration, Visualization, Writing – review & editing, Supervision. AV: Conceptualization, Visualization, Writing – review & editing. AL: Conceptualization, Supervision, Visualization, Writing – review & editing. AB: Conceptualization, Project administration, Supervision, Validation, Visualization, Writing – review & editing, Methodology.
Funding
The author(s) declare that no financial support was received for the research and/or publication of this article.
Conflict of interest
The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.
Generative AI statement
The author(s) declare that no Gen AI was used in the creation of this manuscript.
Publisher's note
All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article, or claim that may be made by its manufacturer, is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.
References
Alalwan, N. (2022). Actual use of social media for engagement to enhance students' learning. Educ. Inf. Technol. 27, 9767–9789. doi: 10.1007/s10639-022-11014-7
Aldossari, A. S. (2023). Sense of belonging: international students' experience of intercultural and cultural inclusion in Saudi universities. Lang. Interc. Commun. 25, 61–75. doi: 10.1080/14708477.2023.2257193
Allen, K. A., Kern, M. L., Rozek, C. S., McInerney, D. M., and Slavich, G. M. (2021). Belonging: a review of conceptual issues, an integrative framework, and directions for future research. Aust. J. Psychol. 73, 87–102. doi: 10.1080/00049530.2021.1883409
Alshuaibi, M. S. I., Alshuaibi, A. S. I., Shamsudin, F. M., and Arshad, D. A. (2018). Use of social media, student engagement, and academic performance of business students in Malaysia. Int. J. Educ. Manag. 32, 625–640. doi: 10.1108/IJEM-08-2016-0182
Ansari, J. A. N., and Khan, N. A. (2020). Exploring the role of social media in collaborative learning the new domain of learning. Smart Learn. Environ. 7:9. doi: 10.1186/s40561-020-00118-7
Brandtzæg, P. B., and Heim, J. (2009). Why people use social networking sites. Online Commun. Soc. Comput. Proc. 5621, 143–152. doi: 10.1007/978-3-642-02774-1_16
Capriotti, P., Carretón-Ballester, C., and Losada-Díaz, J. C. (2024). Analysing the influence of Universities' content strategy on the level of engagement on social media. Commun. Soci.-Spain 37, 41–60. doi: 10.15581/003.37.1.41-60
Cho, H. C., Li, P. X., Ngien, A., Tan, M. G., Chen, A. F., and Nekmat, E. (2023). The bright and dark sides of social media use during COVID-19 lockdown: Contrasting social media effects through social liability vs. social support. Comput. Human Behav. 146:107795. doi: 10.1016/j.chb.2023.107795
Chowdhury, M. S., Moniruzzaman, H. M., Lipy, N. S., and Kang, D. S. (2023). Modeling corporate social responsibility and organizational attractiveness: the underlying mechanism of organizational trust. South Asian J. Bus. Stud. 13, 545–562. doi: 10.1108/SAJBS-05-2021-0187
Dhanesh, G., Duthler, G., and Li, K. (2022). Social media engagement with organization-generated content: Role of visuals in enhancing public engagement with organizations on Facebook and Instagram. Public Relat. Rev. 48:102174. doi: 10.1016/j.pubrev.2022.102174
Ducci, G., Lovari, A., and D'Ambrosi, L. (2019). “Between screens and skirmishes”: the challenges of visual in institutional storytelling. H-Ermes-J. Commun. 15, 313–351. doi: 10.1285/i22840753n15p313
Fabris, M. A., Settanni, M., Longobardi, C., and Marengo, D. (2023). Sense of belonging at school and on social media in adolescence: associations with educational achievement and psychosocial maladjustment. Child Psychiat. Hum. Dev. 55, 620–1633. doi: 10.1007/s10578-023-01516-x
Galindo-Domínguez, H., Bezanilla, M. J., and Campo, L. (2024). Relationship between social media use and critical thinking in university students. Educ. Inf Technol. doi: 10.1007/s10639-024-12953-z
Gopalan, M., and Brady, S. T. (2020). College students' sense of belonging: a national perspective. Educ. Resear. 49, 134–137. doi: 10.3102/0013189X19897622
Gopika, J. S., and Rekha, R. V. (2023). Awareness and use of digital learning before and during COVID-19. Int. J. Educ. Reform. 8:10567879231173389. doi: 10.1177/10567879231173389
Guillory, J. E., and Sundar, S. S. (2014). How does web site interactivity affect our perceptions of an organization? J. Public Relat. Res. 26, 44–61. doi: 10.1080/1062726X.2013.795866
Ihlen, Ø., Bartlett, J., and May, S. (2011). The Handbook of Communication and Corporate Social Responsibility. New York: Wiley-Blackwell. doi: 10.1002/9781118083246
Kent, M. L., and Taylor, M. (2021). Fostering dialogic engagement: toward an architecture of social media for social change. Soc. Media Soc. 7:2056305120984462. doi: 10.1177/2056305120984462
Leonardi, P. M., Huysman, M., and Steinfield, C. (2013). Enterprise social media: definition, history, and prospects for the study of social technologies in organizations. J. Comput.-Mediat. Commun. 19, 1–19. doi: 10.1111/jcc4.12029
Li, B. (2022). Boosting EFL learners' commitment and enjoyment in language learning through social networking: a literature review. Front. Psychol. 13:999586. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.999586
Lu, H. J., Limniou, M., and Zhang, X. J. (2024). Exploring the metacognition of self-directed informal learning on social media platforms: taking time and social interactions into consideration. Educ. Inf. Technol. doi: 10.1007/s10639-024-13026-x
Montgomery, B. L. (2018). Building and sustaining diverse functioning networks using social media and digital platforms to improve diversity and inclusivity. Front. Dig. Human. 5:22. doi: 10.3389/fdigh.2018.00022
Pawar, S. K. (2024). Social media in higher education marketing: a systematic literature review and research agenda. Cogent Bus. Manag. 11:2423059. doi: 10.1080/23311975.2024.2423059
Sanz-Labrador, I., Cuerdo-Mir, M., and Doncel-Pedrera, L. M. (2021). The use of digital educational resources in times of COVID-19. Soc. Media Soc. 7:20563051211049246. doi: 10.1177/20563051211049246
Smith, B. G., and Gallicano, T. D. (2015). Terms of engagement: analyzing public engagement with organizations through social media. Comput. Human Behav. 53, 82–90. doi: 10.1016/j.chb.2015.05.060
Taylor, M., and Kent, M. L. (2014). Dialogic engagement: clarifying foundational concepts. J. Public Relat. Res. 26, 384–398. doi: 10.1080/1062726X.2014.956106
Whittaker, J. A., and Montgomery, B. L. (2014). Cultivating institutional transformation and sustainable STEM diversity in higher education through integrative faculty development. Innov. High. Educ. 39, 263–275. doi: 10.1007/s10755-013-9277-9
Young, G. W., Stehle, S., Walsh, B. Y., and Tiri, E. (2020). Exploring virtual reality in the higher education classroom: using VR to build knowledge and understanding. J. Univ. Comput. Sci. 26, 904–928. doi: 10.3897/jucs.2020.049
Zhang, J. Z., Yang, Y. K., Ge, J. H., Liang, X. Y., and An, Z. N. (2023). Stimulating creativity in the classroom: examining the impact of sense of place on students' creativity and the mediating effect of classmate relationships. BMC Psychol. 11:432. doi: 10.1186/s40359-023-01479-7
Zhang, X. Y., Abbas, J., Shahzad, M. F., Shankar, A., Ercisli, S., and Dobhal, D. C. (2024). Association between social media use and students' academic performance through family bonding and collective learning: the moderating role of mental well-being. Educ. Inf. Technol. 29, 14059–14089. doi: 10.1007/s10639-023-12407-y
Keywords: educational environment, social network, digital community, institutional communication, sense of inclusion, students' engagement
Citation: Galioto M, Pedone F, Vantarakis A, La Marca A and Bianco A (2025) University, social media, and student engagement: the challenge of “trust” in organizational communication. A voice from European university researchers to foster inclusion in higher education. Front. Commun. 10:1546333. doi: 10.3389/fcomm.2025.1546333
Received: 16 December 2024; Accepted: 14 February 2025;
Published: 18 March 2025.
Edited by:
Andrzej Klimczuk, Warsaw School of Economics, PolandReviewed by:
Gertrude Amoakohene, Ghana Technology University College, GhanaFarikah Farikah, Universitas Tidar, Indonesia
Nuan Luo, Beijing Information Science and Technology University, China
Copyright © 2025 Galioto, Pedone, Vantarakis, La Marca and Bianco. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
*Correspondence: Marina Galioto, bWFyaW5hLmdhbGlvdG9AdW5pcGEuaXQ=