(ECNS) - More than 90 percent of Chinese college students spend over two hours a day on the Internet while over half do not read newspapers on a daily basis, according to a survey.
Shanghai Jiaotong University's social research center conducted a study among 2,240 higher education institutions across 29 cities and provinces in China. Researchers issued 10,300 questionnaires and received 9781 qualified replies.
Some 12 percent of college students spend more than eight hours on the Internet everyday, far exceeding the percentages of students who spend the same amount of time reading newspapers (0.4 percent), listening to the radio (0.5 percent), watching TV (0.9 percent), or reading magazines (0.7 percent). In contrast, 1.1 percent of college students do not access the Internet on a daily basis.
Over half of college students do not read newspapers on a daily basis. Nearly 70 percent watch TV for more than half an hour.
Humanity and social science students use media to seek information, while medical students use it mostly for fun, and agricultural and forestry students, to kill time.
The top three social media platforms for college students are QQ, WeChat, and Weibo.
Household income is correlated to a student's use of social networks. Those who come from households that make 5,001 to 10,000 yuan (about $806 to $1611) per month seek entertainment; students from households that make 20,001 to 50,000 yuan prefer social interaction; and students from households that make more than 50,000 yuan per month prefer online shopping and information sharing.
The higher the education level, the less likely a college student would watch entertainment TV shows, it was added.
Right now China has nearly 30 million college students, ranking first in the world in terms of numbers, said Xie Yungeng from Shanghai Jiaotong University. Their behavior toward media could influence the social landscape across the country.
