The Use of Blogs Among Students: Shifts in Utilization, Pragmatism, and Critical Literacy

Abstract

This article presents the findings of a study on access to and utilization of information in blogs among university students, as well as how students can cultivate critical literacy towards content and information in blogs. Through interviews with 203 students in the cities of Surabaya and Malang, this study reveals that students' frequency of accessing blogs is consistently increasing, and there is a growing pragmatism that could potentially compromise scholarly integrity within the higher education domain. For students with digital literacy and a pragmatic approach, blogs are often perceived as highly beneficial, particularly when facing tight assignment deadlines. Accessing a blog and navigating the provided links is a practical and swift method for students to locate the required references. The students know that blogs should not be used as primary references for completing academic tasks at the university. However, with critical literacy skills they possess, many students attempt to use blog information by paraphrasing and editing. Blogs owned by respected intellectuals and blog entries supported by accurate literature are regarded by students as highly valuable and reliable sources for guidance in writing and finalizing academic assignments from their lecturers.

Keywords

• blogs
• university students
• digital literacy
• critical literacy