Colegio de Calumpit, Inc.

Iba O’ Este, Calumpit, Bulacan

Submitted to:

Mrs. Rizaluz R. Pagdanganan

A Qualitative Research About the Effects of Social Media Bias Among Senior High School
Students in Colegio de Calumpit

Researchers:

Bayumbon, Alexie Fiona S.

De Mesa, Nicolla Yvonne A.

Dela Cruz, Sarah Mae P.

Hernandez, Justin Russel M.

Jose, Miguel Angelo B.

Sawal, Charles Darwin T.

Viray, Rosan U.

S.Y. 2020-2021

CHAPTER 1

BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

Over the years, social media and the Internet have increased substantially. Due to its

convenience, people use social media more than the traditional media. Social media became the

“go-to” place for almost everything, from socializing, entertainment, and even news (Turcotte et

al., 2015). The whole world is growing towards technology dependency. It is safe to say that

almost every human being owns a smartphone that can access the Internet. Because of this

growth, social media have affected a lot of things in the outside world; one of them is the news

industry.  Companies use social media as their tool to deliver news in a wider range of people in
just a click of a finger. Social media has become an extremely effective and costless way in

delivering news to a larger audience. 

This research paper focuses on the social media biases that are taking place in the

Philippines, and their impact on young people. As of 2020, there are 3.96 million active social

media users in the world, and 41.9% of the social media users in the Philippines are aged

between 13-24 years old (Statista, 2020). Everyday, teenagers use the social media for long

hours, at the same time, they do not see the risk of social media bias that is plaguing the Internet,

and are blindly believing the misleading information. It is difficult to correct misleading

information that has been spread throughout the Internet. Through a quick browse of news in

social media, it lacks the quality control and fact checking, resulting in a distorted truth of the

information (Jackson, 2017). 

According to users, they regularly see false and misleading content on social media. The

more people see the news, whether it’s false or not, they tend to believe in it because more

people are talking about it. In every country, younger and more educated people are more likely

to say social media are very important to them (Jiang et al., 2019).

Social Media has exploded as a category of online communication where people create

and share contents quickly, efficiently, and in real-time. Nowadays, students are experiencing an
exchange of ideas, resources, and information using social media to build a follow-up and

interact with the public. It offers citizens a communication space, where they can discuss issues.

In past years, social media have become common, giving young people a new way to interact

with each other and communicate with the world. Platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter,

and many others have provided students with free access to online communications. 

Social media users find that the information they receive on these platforms is more up-

to-date, informative, and focused on issues that are important to them than what they get from

other sources. The vast majority of social media users also report seeing articles and content that
introduces them to new ideas on a regular basis. At the same time, opinions are divided on the

reliability and bias of social media, where people can see content that appears to be false or

untrue, which makes them feel negative about groups that are different from them. Across almost

all of these measures, some say that social media is still a very important source of information.

It is against this background that this study is being conducted to identify and explore social

media in order to identify the potential impacts of bias on the social structure, the place where

citizens create images of significant political and social issues. The researchers aim to discover

the effects of social media bias on senior high school students at the Colegio de Calumpit. This

study will inform not only researchers but also readers of the impact of bias on young people's

perception, judgment, behavior, and belief in social media. This research also helps readers to

view biases in social media.

The researchers have chosen to deal with this study in order to know why students,

particularly the senior high school student of Colegio de Calumpit, have decreased their trust in

social media, and how biases affect this. The main purpose of this qualitative study is to explore,

discover, and understand the effect of social media bias on senior high school students.

Furthermore, this study will provide assurance that researchers will be able to identify the effects

of biases in social media that can surely benefit readers.

Statement of the Problem

of social media among young people today on a daily basis cannot be over highlighted. It is a

way to communicate with the world. In today's media system, it is inevitable that people will

encounter false and disinformation that leads society to no longer trusts the media stream.

Because of its popular use, economists, parents, and professors argue whether social media

biases affect the lives of students studying at Colegio de Calumpit, leading to a decreasing

patronage in social media. The study aims to find out the effects of social media bias among

senior high school students in Colegio de Calumpit. The specific problems (questions) of the
study were as follows:

• Does social media bias have any impact on the student's perception of life?

• How do false and misleading information circulating on social media influence students?

• How do social media biases affect students' trust in using different social media

platforms?

Significance of the Study

The beneficiaries of this study are students, teachers, parents, youth, and the nation. This

is beneficial because this research will serve as an eye-opener to become more aware of all the

news and information circulating in social media.

The Students. The benefit of the study is to emphasize the impact of social media bias on

students. It would help to raise the emotional and social aspects as well as to educate them about

the importance and limitations of social media. This could also take a glimpse of the negative

effects of social media on students, such as the reduction in real human contact and interaction

and, most of all, its effects on their mental health.

The Teachers. This study will be very beneficial to the teachers. Although social media expose

students to a new way of learning, this research would be an eye-opener to the use of social
media, and its effect would make them more aware not only of its good results but also of its

disadvantages in terms of its impact on student academic performance. This is going to be a great

help in really understanding the basics of social media, as it has become part of people's daily

lives. In some cases, it would also be beneficial for teachers and educators to be able to assess

the learning capabilities of students.

The Parents. The researchers benefit children's parents in guiding them through the use of social

media related to their social media responsibilities, and their impact on their academic work. The

amount of time spent on social media is astounding, which is why this study would be a better
platform for assessing this issue. While the majority believes that social media and technology

offer convenience and connectivity, it is necessary to be aware that social media have become a

threat to young people, as there is cyber bullying and cruelty in social media. As the researchers

view this study, parents will benefit greatly from setting limits on parental control over the use of

social media sites for their children.

The Youth. This research is very beneficial not only to students, but also to young people as a

whole. Social Media is now a powerful tool not only for communication, but also for a number

of other aspects. They have had a dramatic impact on how people interact with each other.

Stories and opinions can gain exposure at unprecedented speed, giving individuals around the

globe continuous access to near-real-time conversations on both important and trivial matters.

Unfortunately, there is a dark side to social media: Fake news. Misinformation can influence

users, manipulating them for political or economic reasons.

The Nation. The nation as a whole can also benefit from this study by enlightening themselves

in social media bias. Many journalists manifest misrepresentation of news, commentaries, non-

fiction articles, textbooks, documentaries, speech codes, and favor one side over the other.

Dictatorships and other authoritarian organizations that overpower the freedom of the press are

dishonored by their media bias, especially when a one-party government directly controls all

media.
Scope and Delimitations

The general intent of the study is to know how social media biases affect teenagers in the

Colegio de Calumpit with a focus on senior high school students. The selection of respondents is

limited to only 50 because there are a lot of students going to the Colegio de Calumpit.

The main focus of this study is on the different factors of social media bias that influence

someone's perceptions and views of life through misleading information circulating on social

media. The researchers aim to describe how fake news leads to a decreasing of trust in social

media among senior high school students at Colegio de Calumpit. Also, this study yearns to
identify how social media biases affect social media patronization and support in todays and in

the future.

This study will be conducted with a limited amount of financial resources and timeframe.

Definition of Terms

Media bias is said to have a major impact on society. The effects of social media

influence may be detrimental in terms of misinformation and new bias. To further more

understand about the contents of this research paper, here are some key words to help you out:

• Beneficiaries - The one who will gain or receive something.

• Content - Category of information, ideas, and resources that educate readers.

• Cyber Bullying - It is a threat that uses social media as the medium to abuse and shame

someone.

• Dictatorship - Hindrance that overpowered/overshadowed and control the freedom.

• Distorted Truth - Misleading information, which lacks quality control, and fact checking

that has been spread throughout the Internet.

• Patronization - Idolizing and giving support that gives privileges and trust.
 • Perception - A process which life is interpreted and understood. It is the outlook in life.

• Platforms - Key way to interact with each other, and communicate with the world

through applications such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Messenger, and many more.

• Reliability - A quality, consistent, and accurate number/data of the information that can

be used.

• Social Structures - Internal system relationships that are built up by people living within

a group.

• Technology Dependency - Reliance to Internet and any gadgets such as smartphone for

socializing, entertainment, and news.

• Unprecedented - Something that is not usually happening that is very surprising.

CHAPTER 2

REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE

This chapter presents the related literature and studies after a thorough and in-depth

investigation by the researchers. The literature and studies included in this chapter deal with the

different ideas, concepts, generalizations, conclusions, and also the different developments

related to the study from the past to the present. This will serve as a guide for researchers in the

development of the project. Moreover, those included in this chapter contribute to the

familiarization of information that is relevant and similar to the current study.

Related Literature

In a study titled "Media Bias Monitor: Quantifying Biases of Social News Outlets at

Large-Scale," Babaei et al. (2018) presented a novel, scalable methodology for accurate

inferences of thousands of news sources from social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter.

The key idea of the research is to use their advertiser interfaces, which provide detailed insights
into the demographics of news source audiences on the social media site. They demonstrated that

the extent to which liberals or conservatives are over-/under-represented in a news source's

audience could accurately predict its ideological (liberal or conservative) leaning. They also

discussed how biases in a news source's demographics, such as race, gender, age, national

identity, and income, can be used to infer more fine-grained biases, such as social vs. economic

vs. nationalist conservatism.

It has been shown that their approach to quantifying media bias could produce inferences

similar to four very different state-of-the-art methods. However, the key advantage of this
method over existing approaches is that it is highly scalable and can infer the ideological bias of

several thousands of news media outlets that exist today. As a showcase, they have built a system

called Media Bias Monitor, which makes the demographic biases of 20,448 Facebook news

outlets transparent to users. The number of news outlets covered was at least two orders of

magnitude more than any existing effort. They believe that such systems are not only useful for

social media users, but also for journalists, social media researchers, policy makers, and

government agencies, who want to understand the news generated by sources in the entire news

media ecosystem.

In relation to this, Chua (2020) investigated social media and television, which are the

primary sources of news widely accessed via smartphones. She reported that 95% of 2,019 adult

respondents in the Philippines indicated interest in information according to the 2020 Digital

News Survey, and 91% stated that independent journalism was important for societies to function

correctly. However, overall trust in news is low at 27 percent in the country, which ranks 35th out

of 40 media markets studied by the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism (RISJ) at

Oxford University. Social media confidence, in particular, is only 22%.

Approximately 68 percent of the sample found Filipinos to receive news from social

media and 66 percent from television. Only 22 percent of them get their news from print. 75

percent said they used smartphones to get news, while 39 percent said they used computers.
More than half (55 percent) said they would rather watch the news than read (36 percent) or

listen (7 percent) to it. Facebook is considered to be the top social media brands used by 73

percent of the news sample, which is the highest in the 40-market study and YouTube with 49

percent.

According to a study by Ciampaglia and Menczer (2018) entitled, "Biases Make People

Vulnerable to Misinformation Spread by Social Media," social media is one of the leading news

sources in the U.S. and around the world. They pointed out that users face content with

questionable precision, including theories of conspiracy, buggy, over-party content, pseudo-

rapidly and easily spread that people and algorithms are vulnerable to social media manipulation.

The study identified three types of distortions that expose the social media ecosystem to

intentional and unintentional misinformation. According to these researchers.

The first type is cognitive bias, which arises from how the brain processes information

that everyone encounters on a daily basis. To avoid feeling overwhelmed, the brain employs a

variety of strategies. These methods are usually effective, but they can also introduce bias when

used incorrectly. The other source of bias comes from society. When people connect with their

peers directly, they are influenced by the social biases that guided their choice of friends. Social

media are particularly effective in disseminating accurate information when it is closely linked

and disconnected from other parts of society when examining the structure of these partisan

communication networks. The third group of biases comes directly from the algorithm used to

determine online views. Both social media platforms and search engines utilize them. These

customization technologies are designed to select only the most attractive and relevant content

for each individual user. However, this could reinforce the cognitive and social preconditions of

users and make them more vulnerable to manipulation.

Furthermore, Gearhart et al. (2020) also published a study titled "Hostile Media Bias on

Social Media: Testing the Effects of User Comments on Perceptions of News Bias and
Credibility." Hostile media bias is also known as the hostile media effect. The study focused on

individuals who are highly involved in the issue and who are likely to have neutral media

coverage appears to be biased against their point of view, which lowers the trust in media. This

kind of individual explains the relationship between perceptions, attitudes, and public opinion.

People have been more inclined to feel hostile media bias in the opinions presented in the media,

especially when presentations have appeared in opposition media outlets and have held negative

beliefs and attitudes. Psychological processes for perception of opinion may contribute to hostile

media bias have traditionally incorporated concepts that are relevant to political attitudes, public
opinion, and media impacts on audiences. Comments posted at the end of news stories have been

found to influence the audience's perception. However, those online news consumers do not

perceive bias differently when they are exposed to either agreeable or disagreeable user

comments.

Moreover, Robert and Schink (2019) made a research paper titled, "The Influence of

Media Bias Perception On Space Publications." They reported that the science journals and blogs

were highly trusted by the survey population. In addition, it is claimed that the articles from the

Space publication did not significantly alter the reactions of mainstream media groups. This is

promising, as it reveals that while science blogs and journals are seen to be more reliable, there

seems to be no inherent harm in sharing space news with Mainstream Media. However, neither

of the groups they presented trusted each news source equally, and both groups believed that the

mainstream media had bias. Similarities between the two groups indicate that the sampling of the

Space Community has similar media views to those of the General Public. All articles were

scored between 4 and 6 for bias and informatics, regardless of what the participants were told.

The conservative and liberal groups appeared to deviate from the control group in their predicted

trend, but not significantly. That is, when people were told the article came from a liberal source,

they assumed it was more liberally skewed, and vice versa.

The results of the study showed that respondents trust both the Science Journals and the
Science Blogs more than any other news source and view the news viewed on Social Media or

YouTube as the least reliable. This is a promising result that suggests that the space community's

career field does not have major internal blind spots or political bias.

These related literatures, which the researchers found, were correlated with social media

biases circulating in social media. The existence of media bias in social media has been shown

here, giving people misleading information that affects their lives. The review of related

literature will serve as the foundation on which this study is based, and will help them carry out

the study they are conducting. This will further help the researchers to gain an understanding of
the existing study, and to ratify the knowledge in field.

CHAPTER 3

METHODOLOGY

The purpose of this chapter is to describe the methodological approach used to discover

an individual's personal experience with the effects of social media bias among senior high

school students at Colegio de Calumpit. This chapTter will describe the purpose of this study as

well as the methodology used. It will present the sample that was chosen, as well as the method

used for data collection and the data analysis process. Finally, it will go over any ethical concerns

and limitations associated with this research.

To ensure that the purpose of this study is met, the questionnaire was created based on the

research questions. The goal of this study is to look into the specific problems (questions) raised

by the researchers. There will be six (6) questions in total, two (2) for each research question.

Respondents were selected from Colegio de Calumpit's grade 11 and grade 12 students.

Research Approach

For this study, a qualitative approach was chosen as the research method. According to

Bhandari (2020), "Qualitative research involves collecting and analyzing non-numerical to

problem or generate new ideas for research." In qualitative research, a process known as

induction is used to collect data relating to a specific area of study, and from this data, the

researchers construct various concepts and theories. A qualitative approach was deemed more

appropriate for conducting this research because it allowed for greater depth and meaning to be

gained based on an individual's experiences of social media bias as well as their beliefs and

feelings, as opposed to a quantitative approach, which is more structured, broader in scale, and

numerically based.

The researchers believe that because the study's focus was on the effects of social media

biases, a case study method is the best way to learn whether it affects the lives of senior high

school students at Colegio de Calumpit, leading to a decrease in social media patronage. In this

case, according to Quirkos (2019), you use a set of methodologies to investigate the phenomenon

you want to study in its natural context (in vivo / in life) rather than in isolation (in vitro – in a

glass tube). Rather than simply finding individual research respondents who meet your inclusion

criteria for your study, you investigate a little more of the world they live in. It is frequently

applied to organizations such as a school, workplace, hospital, or support group.

A case study is an intensive study of a person, a group of people, or a unit with the goal of

generalizing across several units. It has also been defined as an intensive, systematic

investigation of a single individual, group, community, or other unit in which the researcher

examines detailed data pertaining to several variables.

Instrument of the Research

Going out and personally interviewing the participants is impossible due to the current

global pandemic. Online surveys are becoming increasingly popular among researchers as a

result of the increased use of digital media. It allows the surveyor to collect data from any

location on the planet. Despite having a lower response rate than physical surveys, online
surveys have several advantages. This enables researchers to collect responses that will aid in

understanding the respondents' opinions and beliefs about the study.

An essay-type questionnaire was used to provide and collect as much informative and

relative evaluation as possible. The essay-type questionnaire is an efficient method of gathering

data from a large sample in a short period of time. According to Madan (2014), an essay-type

questionnaire necessitates that participants plan their own response and explain it in their own

words. The participants have a great deal of leeway in selecting, organizing, and presenting their

ideas. Essay-type questionnaires may give students complete freedom to write any number of
pages, and the required response length may vary.

The researchers created an essay-type questionnaire using Google Forms as the study's

instrument, with the goal of identifying participants' emotions, feelings, and opinions about the

research subject. Google Forms is a free online survey platform that allows users to create

surveys and forms, collect responses, and analyze data. The researchers used this platform to

describe an example of converting a physical questionnaire to an online form. The draft

questionnaire was developed based on the researchers' reading, previous research, and relevant

published and unpublished thesis.

Researchers used an online strategy to collect data from essay-type questionnaires in a

more efficient manner. Participants' opinions or answers are accepted in order to accommodate a

free formatted view related to the study. As a result, the instrument is authorized to elicit valid

responses from the students. This type of instrument can vary depending on the length of time

spent conducting the study and the requirements for designing a good collection instrument that

were taken into account in its preparation. The questions are based on the purpose of the research

to ensure that researchers receive results that can be used to carry out the study. Furthermore, the

researchers' subject teacher validated the instrument before it was used in the study.

Sampling Method
 This study was conducted at Colegio de Calumpit, which is located in Iba O' Este,

Calumpit, Bulacan, from the third week of January to the last week of April 2021. During the

pandemic, it was demonstrated how important news is. People see it on various media, but they

frequently see it on social media, which is essential in everyone's life. Senior high school

students at Colegio de Calumpit play an important role in the validation of the researchers' study.

To collect study participants, purposive sampling, also known as judgmental, selective, or

subjective sampling, was used. Purposive sampling is widely used in qualitative research for the

identification and selection of information-rich cases related to the phenomenon of interest

participants, primarily students who enjoy using social media, were able to respond to the

questions.

Purposive sampling is a sampling technique in which members of the sample are chosen

based on the researchers' knowledge and judgment. This sampling entails the researchers

carefully selecting individuals to be included in the sample. This is most effective when there are

only a few people in a population who have characteristics that the researcher expects from the

target population; this is not chosen at random.

First and foremost, the researchers identify the target population from among the entire

population. The population of interest to the researchers is the target population; it is a group of

individuals or objects. The accessible population of the researchers is the portion of the

population to which they have reasonable access, which may be restricted to a region, state, or

institution.

The researchers hope to investigate the effects of social media biases on students in this

study. The researchers choose a specific year level in Colegio de Calumpit, senior high school

students who are exposed on social media, as the target and accessible population. Following the

determination of the accessible population, a sampling frame is created in order to draw a sample

from it. The researchers in this study obtained the sample through the use of purposive sampling.
The researchers used this sampling method primarily because of the situation they were in. Data

collection will be much easier with this method, without sacrificing quality.

The total number of respondents is fifty (50) senior high school students. It is divided into

two (2) groups: twenty-five (25) grade 11 respondents and twenty-five (25) grade 12

respondents. This is compromised in order to avoid bias and to obtain all of their opinions and

answers for every question that will soon be completed and from which the researchers will draw

conclusions.

Analysis of Responses

The data collected from the field were analyzed. The theoretical perspectives in analysis

were used to analyze the data. According to Crossman (2020), "A theoretical perspective method

is a set of assumptions about reality that inform the questions we ask and the kinds of answers

we arrive at as a result. ... Often, sociologists use multiple theoretical perspectives

simultaneously as they frame research questions, design and conduct research, and analyze their

results."

A theoretical perspective can be compared to a lens through which people view the world,

focusing or distorting what they see. It can also be thought of as a frame that serves to include

and exclude certain things from one's field of vision. Sociology is a theoretical perspective based

on the assumption that social systems such as society and the family exist, as well as culture,

social structure, statuses, and roles. A theoretical perspective is essential for research because it

aids in the organization and communication of people's thoughts and ideas to others.

Theory is fundamental to research, and research is fundamental to theory. Many research

questions are guided by theory, and research aids in the generation of new theories as well as

determining whether theories have support. Theories provide complex and comprehensive

conceptual understandings of things that cannot be quantified: how societies work, how

organizations function, and why people interact in certain ways. Theories provide researchers
with various "lenses" through which to view complex problems and social issues, focusing their

attention on various aspects of the data and providing a framework within which to conduct their

analysis.

This method was extremely beneficial in completing the study that the researchers have

conducted. The theoretical perspective aided the researchers in analyzing the responses to their

essay-type questionnaire questions. As a result of which it is easier to evaluate and explain

thoroughly. This helps the researchers prove that social media biases affect the lives of students

at Colegio de Calumpit, resulting in a decrease in social media patronage.

Data Collection

A letter of request to carry out the study was written. The researchers wrote a letter to

Mrs. Rizaluz R. Pagdanganan, requesting permission to conduct the study at Colegio de

Calumpit. The study was then carried out over the course of four (4) months, with the researchers

devoting significant time, effort, and cooperation to developing their essay-type questionnaire in

order to serve its intended respondents. The essay-type questionnaire was developed using

appropriate questions adapted from related research as well as individual questions developed by

the researchers. Six (6) questions were included in the essay-type questionnaire, all of which

were related to the topic of social media bias. Because of the benefits of this instrument, the

researchers conduct the research using an essay-type questionnaire.

Following the validation and approval of the questionnaire by the subject teacher, copies

were distributed to fifty (50) senior high school students, twenty-five (25) of whom were in

grade 11 and twenty-five (25) of whom were in grade 12. The researchers employ purposive

sampling, in which the researchers choose the sampling units subjectively. Because the

researchers goal in this study is to determine how social media biases affect the lives of senior

high school students studying at Colegio de Calumpit, leading to a decrease in social media

patronage, the researchers believe that this method is the most appropriate in selecting the
sample for the research.

Each student was given a survey containing an essay-type questionnaire to complete,

which was carried out by the researchers. The researchers explain to the respondents the

significance of their participation in the study. The researchers also clarify some terms to the

respondents so that they can answer the questionnaire fully aware of their responsibility as the

subject of the study, and they are requested to answer with all honesty. After giving participants

time to respond, the researchers collected the essay-type questionnaire after a few days.

The researchers collected the data for interpretation after the respondents completed the
questionnaire. The data collected from this research instrument were analyzed and interpreted

based on the responses of the participants. In addition to primary data, the researchers used

secondary resources in the form of published articles and literature to back up the survey results.

Based on the data, the researchers draw conclusions and make recommendations for this study.

CHAPTER 4

RESULTS, ANALYSIS, AND FINDINGS

Social media are important because they enable people to reach, nurture, and engage with

their target audience regardless of where they are. According to Henderson (2020), social media

has evolved into a significant virtual space that is an excellent way for an individual's brand and

products to be digitally advertised, not just for social networking purposes. The power of social

media is admirable because it allows people to reach a large number of people within seconds of

posting an ad, lowering costs, and ensuring that an individual's ads reach the target audience

through the use of social media advertisements.

The main purpose of social media is to create a brand and to increase the visibility of a

brand. The more popular a social platform, the more social media coverage a brand receives, and

the more people who see it, the more likely they are to be aware. Conversations, community,

connecting with the audience, and building relationships are all important aspects of social
network. They are more than just a broadcast channel or a tool for sales and marketing.

Authenticity, honesty, and an open dialogue are essential. Internet community not only allows

people to hear what others have to say about them, but it also allows them to respond.

The study employed the qualitative method as its research method, and it does not include

any statistical figures and the like. To understand how people perceive the world, a qualitative

approach was used. While there are numerous approaches to qualitative research, they all share

the flexibility of retaining rich meaning when interpreting data. This method will only analyze

and interpret the data collected. The researchers collected and gathered data using essay-type
questionnaires as their instrument. Based on the questionnaire results, data analysis and

interpretation are completed in a single phase.

This chapter presents the data collected by the researchers for the study, as well as the

analysis and interpretation based on the statement of the problems presented in Chapter 1. This

chapter consists of the answers to the following questions:

• Why do you use social media as your source of information?

• What is/are the social media platform/s that you trust most to get information? (One or

more answers)

• Why do you trust it/them?

• While using social media, do you encounter false and misleading information? How does

it change your outlook on life?

• Thinking about social media as a whole, do you think that social media bias exists? How

does it affect your trust in patronizing/supporting them?

• As a senior high school student at Colegio de Calumpit, how do the negative impacts of

social media, especially fake news and bias, affect your life?

The study's respondents are fifty (50) senior high school students from Colegio de
Calumpit. It is divided into two (2) groups: twenty-five (25) respondents in grade 11 and twenty-

five (25) respondents in grade 12. This is compromised in order to avoid bias and to obtain all of

their opinions and answers for every question.

The following are the specific problems that the study seeks to address:

1. Why do you use social media as your source of information?

Based on the analyses of the researchers, 96% (48 out of 50) of the respondents from

Colegio de Calumpit senior high school students said they used a social media platform as a
source of information because it is so diverse, open to everyone, easily accessible by any means

nowadays, and convenient to use. Most of them are convinced that social platforms have the

information they require because most people, especially nowadays, use them to share relevant

information. Some respondents also stated that because they do not have time to watch television

news, they frequently rely on news articles posted on social media. This is also due to the fact

that certain news and information can only be found on social media. Just like, news about the

weather and political issues in the Philippines. Despite the fact that the news on social media can

be difficult to believe at times, few participants claim that they use social websites to stay

informed only about what is going on around them.

However, 4% (2 out of 25) of the respondents from grade 11 stated that they do not rely

on social media as a source of information. They said that if they see something on the Internet

community, they first look it up on credible websites because social platforms are notorious for

containing a lot of false information. According to Babaei et al. (2018), as more Internet users

rely on social media sites like Facebook and Twitter to get their news, they are confronted with a

bewildering array of news media options. For example, thousands of Facebook pages are now

registered and classified as news media outlets. For media watchdog organizations that have

traditionally relied on content analysis, determining the bias (or slant) of these media pages

presents a difficult challenge.

honestly do not believe/trust everything that I have read in it, because not all the

information or something in social media are true/facts." Then she added, "Some users are

just posting the things that they see, but not the things that are true." That being said,

another respondent stated this, "It's only a matter of selecting which to believe in and which

to not." This just shows how students rely solely on social networking sites to obtain the

information they seek, despite the fact that some of them have a lack of beliefs.

2. What is/are the social media platform/s that you trust most to get information? (One or
more answers)

According to the researchers' analyses, the most trusted social media platform is Twitter,

which has been the most common answer based on responses from Colegio de Calumpit senior

high school students in grades 11 and 12. Facebook was ranked second based on the respondents'

answers and YouTube and Instagram were ranked third, which is only based on the answer given

by grade 11 students. That being said, as per the grade 12 respondents' responses, YouTube came

in third place, while Instagram came in fourth. Following this, Facebook Messenger and Reddit

were mentioned, and some respondents mentioned Pinterest, Telegram, and Tiktok in their

answers for the social media platform that they trust for information. According to Chua (2020),

the top social media brands are Facebook, which is used for news by 73% of the sample, the

highest in the 40-market study. YouTube followed this with 49%, Facebook Messenger with

33%, Twitter with 16%, Instagram with 12%, and LinkedIn with 6%.

However, 26% (13 out of 50) of the respondents from grades 11 and 12, which were

chosen by the researchers from Colegio de Calumpit senior high school students that said they do

not trust social media as a source of information. Google, Google Scholar, ResearchGate, E-

Journals, and other trustworthy websites are the platforms they prefer for information gathering

due to their dependability and credibility. One of the respondents said, "None really, I use the

social media I use not because I trust them but mainly for the content they offer,
entertainment wise." and another respondent stated, "I only trusted social media platform

that have external link that will redirect you to article that is proven with fact."

3. Why do you trust it/them?

As per analysis of the researchers, Colegio de Calumpit senior high school students trust

the Internet community because they have verified news accounts and a reliable and credible

source of information. 42% (21 out of 50) of the respondents answered Twitter, which they trust

because it shares information in everyday life, is more reliable as a source of information, and

can provide the most up-to-date and accurate news than other social media platforms. One of the
respondents said, "Most of the information on twitter are valid and the information spread

first on twitter before it goes to other social media." Grade 11 and grade 12 respondents also

answered Facebook (38%), YouTube (20%), Instagram (10%), Facebook Messenger (4%),

Reddit (4%), Pinterest (2%), Telegram (2%), and Tiktok (2%), mainly due to the fact that these

platforms provide valid and accurate information. Nonetheless, Twitter was voted the most

trusted social media platform by Colegio de Calumpit senior high school students.

However, few respondents (3 out of 50) stated that, while they trust these social

platforms, they do not fully trust them and do not believe everything they see on the Internet

community because it sometimes contains false and misleading information, which is commonly

referred to as fake news. According to Chua (2020), overall trust in news is low at 27 percent in

the country, which ranks 35th out of 40 media markets studied by the Reuters Institute for the

Study of Journalism (RISJ) at Oxford University. Social media confidence, in particular, is only

22%.

4. While using social media, do you encounter false and misleading information? How

does it change your outlook on life?

Based on the analyses of the researchers, 96% (48 out of 50) of Colegio de Calumpit

senior high school students in grades 11 and 12 answered "yes" and agreed that they encountered
false and misleading information on social media. Respondents stated that fake news and wrong

information alter their outlook on life by causing confusion, disappointment, and a decrease in

trust in the Internet community. Just like what one of the respondents said, "The Internet is full

of misinformation especially social media platforms, it changes my outlook in life by

making me distrustful and cautious when getting information from the Internet." Some

have stated that as a result of the trust issues that these social media platforms have created in

their lives, they have learned to dig deeper and search for information about a specific topic or

issue in order to avoid believing misinformation and biased news. One of the respondents stated,
"I saw numerous articles that contain fake news, to avoid from becoming a victim I always

read the whole article and doesn't depend only on its headline." According to Ciampaglia

and Menczer (2018), the ease with which low-credibility content spreads suggests that both

people and the algorithms that power social media platforms are susceptible to manipulation.

Even so, 8% (4 out of 50) of the respondents stated that even if they came across some

false or misleading information, it had no effect on their outlook on life. They stated that they do

not allow fake news to influence their lives. One of them had said this, "I do encounter false

information, but I don't really let it affect my life. I usually just move on from it and if not

then, I’ll probably comment on the post." and another one has said, "It doesn’t change

anything because I don’t pay attention to fake news."

5. Thinking about social media as a whole, do you think that social media bias exists?

How does it affect your trust in patronizing/supporting them?

According to the researchers' analyses, a large percentage of 92% (46 out of 50) of

Colegio de Calumpit senior high school students said "yes" to the existence of social media bias.

They claim that some articles on social websites take sides in order to cover more ground, and

that these articles prevent the audience from seeing both sides. These types of articles make them

question their credibility as information providers, and they wonder what lies beneath their

sugarcoated words for them to only show and present a biased statement. Furthermore, social
media biases contribute to the development of trust issues in the lives of grade 11 and grade 12

students, and these biases cause them to lose interest in patronizing and supporting information

and news on social networking sites. Just like what one of the respondents said, "As a youth,

this is something that we should never turn a blind eye. We deserve a media that really tells

the truth without the connections from the powerful people. Seriously speaking, all of these

happenings really giving me trust issues. Those media that I trust before made me think

twice now if I should still trust them. And now, I really don’t know whom to believe, what

to believe, and where should I believe. It seems like everything that I read on social media
are being sugarcoated or covered up."

Many respondents have also stated that when they come across such things, they tend to

search for more information about each side before deciding what to believe. Even so, the fact

that they have lost trust as a result of biases on social media does not change the fact that they

have lost trust. Gearhart et al. (2020) published a study titled Hostile Media Bias on Social

Media: Testing the Effects of User Comments on Perceptions of News Bias and Credibility.

Hostile media bias is also known as the hostile media effect. The study focused on individuals

who are highly involved in the issue and who are likely to have neutral media coverage appears

to be biased against their point of view, which lowers the trust in media.

Despite the fact that students in grades 11 and 12 see bias on social media, they continue

to use them for entertainment and communication. Four (4) of the fifty (50) respondents did not

respond to the question.

6. As a senior high school student at Colegio de Calumpit, how do the negative impacts

of social media, especially fake news and bias, affect your life?

As per analysis of the researchers, the majority of respondents in grades 11 and 12 (94%)

stated that as senior high school students at Colegio de Calumpit, they are concerned about the

negative effects of social media, particularly fake news and biases. They claimed that these had
had a significant impact on their lives by simply causing trust issues, which led to confusion and

a refusal to believe the information provided by social platforms. Some respondents also stated

that these influence how they interpret certain things and alter their perspective and perceptions

in life. Just like what one of the respondents said, "It affects my life in numerous ways. Like, it

affects my trust and the way I perceive things. Fake news and media bias leads me into

thinking and focusing on wrong side, instead of the wholeness. And with that, I get wrong

information resulting me being wrong with my stands, viewpoint, and mindset."

According to Chua (2020), in the Philippines, there is a high level of interest in news and
belief in the importance of independent journalism, but a low level of trust in news and a high

level of concern about misinformation accompany this. She also said, "Global concerns about

misinformation remain high with more than half of the global sample (56 percent) saying they

are concerned about what is true or false on the Internet when it comes to news. Domestic

politicians are the single most frequently named source of misinformation (40 percent), followed

by activists (14 percent), and the media (13 percent)."

Furthermore, 3 out of 50 (6%) of the respondents brought up the issue of cyber bullying.

They stated that when fake news and misinformation about them circulates on the Internet

community, it affects their life and mental health, as well as their academic performance in

school. However, a small number of respondents, 3 out of 50 (6%) have stated that they do not

let fake news and biases on social platforms affect their lives because they use them carefully

and cautiously based on the information they encounter. Even so, they claimed that the stigma of

being caught up in fake news still haunts them.

CHAPTER 5

SUMMARY, CONCLUSION, AND RECOMMENDATIONS

This chapter contains the researchers' findings based on the data collected in the previous

chapter (Chapter 4). In order to answer the research questions, the previous chapter presented
and analyzed the collected data. The summary includes the study's findings without going into

too much detail. Generalizations and other interferences would be seen on the conclusion, while

the researchers' recommendations to the study's beneficiaries can also be seen in this chapter,

which accounts for constructive effects on the specific problems (questions) identified in Chapter

1. In general, the purpose of this chapter is to conceal the study's conclusion.

The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of social media biases on senior

high school students at Colegio de Calumpit in Iba O' Este Calumpit, Bulacan, in relation to

gradually decreasing patronage in social platforms. The study was conducted on a group of 50
students chosen using the purposive sampling technique. It is divided into two (2) groups of

twenty-five (25) respondents in Grade 11 and twenty-five (25) respondents in Grade 12. In total,

35 females and 15 males completed the essay-style questionnaire.

The study's findings were as follows:

1. 96% (48 out of 50) of the respondents stated that they use social media as their source

of information, but 4% (2 out of 25) of the respondents do not rely on social platforms as a

source of information. 

2. Twitter received the most trust from respondents, followed by Facebook, YouTube,

Instagram, Facebook Messenger, Reddit, Pinterest, Telegram, and Tiktok. However, 26% (13 out

of 50) of respondents do not trust any of these social platforms because they prefer other

websites that provide all of the credible information they needed. 

3. Twitter received 42% of the votes from senior high school students in grades 11 and 12

because it is reliable and can provide the most up-to-date and accurate news containing all of the

credible information than other social media platforms. The respondents also answered Facebook

(38%), YouTube (20%), Instagram (10%), Facebook Messenger (4%), Reddit (4%), Pinterest

(2%), Telegram (2%), and Tiktok (2%).

4. 96% (48 out of 50) of the respondents stated that they encountered false and
misleading information on social media that causes them to feel disappointed and distrustful in

the Internet community, which alters their outlook on life through confusion, disappointment,

and trust issues. However, 8% (4 out of 50) of the respondents stated that even if they came

across some false or misleading information, it had no effect on their outlook on life.

5. 92% (46 out of 50) of the respondents agreed that social media bias exists, which

causes them to lose interest in patronizing and supporting information and news on social

networking sites. The remaining 8% (4 out of 50) of the respondents did not answer the question.

6. The majority of respondents (94%) claimed that the negative effects of social media on
their lives resulted in trust issues, confusion, uncertainty, and a refusal to accept information

generated by social networking sites. Furthermore, a small number of respondents stated that it

has an impact on their mental health as well as their academic performance at school. The

remaining 6% (3 out of 50) of respondents stated that they do not let negative effects on social

websites affect their lives.

Conclusion

Based on the study's findings, the following conclusions have been drawn:

1. The senior high school students at Colegio de Calumpit use social media as a source of

information because it is diverse, open to all, easily accessible by any means nowadays, and

convenient to use, even if it is difficult to believe at times.

2. Twitter is the most trusted social media platform among respondents. Following that

were Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, Facebook Messenger, Reddit, Pinterest, Telegram, and

Tiktok, which were ranked based on the answers provided by students in grades 11 and 12.

3. Students trust these social platforms because they provide reliable and accurate

information, but they do not completely trust them and do not believe everything they see on the

Internet community.
 4. The senior high school students at Colegio de Calumpit have encountered false and

misleading information on social media, which has changed their outlook on life by causing

confusion, disappointment, and a decrease in trust in the Internet community.

5. Social media biases do exist, which cause the respondents to lose interest in

patronizing and supporting information and news on social networking sites.

6. Fake news and biases on social media had a negative impact on the students' lives by

causing trust issues, which resulted in confusion and a refusal to believe the information

provided by social platforms. It also has an impact on their mental health as well as their
academic performance at school.

Limitation of the Study

Although the researchers' study understood its objectives and was meticulously planned

and organized, the researchers are aware of its limitations and deficiencies, which are as follows:

This study was performed and conducted solely at Colegio de Calumpit, and no other

schools were included.

The study focuses on the opinions of grades 11 and 12 senior high school students about

social media biases and does not cover other years, such as other grade levels.

The selection of respondents is limited to only 50 because there are a lot of students going

to the Colegio de Calumpit. It is divided into two (2) groups: twenty-five (25) respondents in

grade 11 and twenty-five (25) respondents in grade 12.

Recommendation

Following extensive analyzing of the data collected, the researchers were able to come up

with proposals for the study's auxiliary development and to help include additional concepts that

might be useful for future researchers conducting related research after carrying out a detailed

analysis of the data gathered. The recommendations are as follows:

scale, which they would not have been able to do without these platforms. Furthermore, student

entrepreneurs who want to get their start-ups on the global stage, reach a wider audience, and

improve their chances of success can do so by networking with the right people, and social

media sites like Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and others can make this social marketing a lot

easier. The content that a student engages in on social media, the network to which the student

belongs, and a variety of other factors will either increase or decrease a student's chances of

development over time.

For the Teachers. To avoid social media bias, educators must provide a well-defined

platform, and they must handle this issue with genuine efforts to ensure the safety of the

students. It would also be necessary to provide information through a well-defined presentation

of this issue. As people experience this type of social bias, studying this issue would be eye

opening. This study provided general information to ensure that the issue was clearly presented.

As a result, teachers were advised to use all available resources to become informed about this

issue.

For the Parents. Since young people are vulnerable to the negative effects of social media,

the findings of this study are important for parents. As the children's first mentor, they will be

able to gain prior knowledge about the platforms and social media sites that their children are

using, as well as teach them about sharing information responsibly, setting rules for how to use

social media, and ensuring that they understand the implications of their online behavior, which

will significantly influence their life.

For the Youth. The researchers advise young people to use social media with clear, healthy

boundaries, and the device used at home and/or at school should also set clear expectations for

online behavior, because not everyone is nice. Then, keep an open mind for the ongoing

conversation and learning. Furthermore, keep in mind the importance that social media has to

offer the youth, and lastly, educate yourself and your parents about what you are doing online.
 For the Nation. As a renowned resident of the Philippine Republic, the researchers propose

to voice out from dictators and oppressive institutions that use their power to regulate the media.

Be alert and attentive to what’s happening on social media and learn how to distinguish real from

fabricated news. Take part in the social media preference seminars and help other Filipinos to

understand the impact of social media prejudice.

For the Future Researchers. The researchers of this study encourage future researchers to

broaden and extend their studies by including members of the public and journalists as

participants in their research. As a result, the findings of the analysis would be credible to the
general public or readers of other nationalities.