A Pilot Study of Social Media Literacy, Behavioural Intention and Sexting Prevention Competencies

This study aimed to explore the reliability and validity of social media literacy, behavioral intention, and sexting prevention competencies among social media users in Malaysia through a sample of university students. A quantitative method through a survey consists of 100 questions divided into 4 sections was created and adapted based on the existing literature. This paper aims to explore small sample data (n=31). A total of 31 participants completed a survey that included measures of independent variable, social media literacy which consists of technical usability and competency, privacy, content interpretation, content generation and anticipatory reflection; mediating variable, behavioural intention which consist of attitude, subjective norms, perceived behavioral control, and behavioral intention; dependent variable, sexting prevention competencies which consists of responsibility and etiquette. Therefore, validity, reliability and normality of the data instrument were examined by subject matter experts and through the data analysis in SPSS Software. The result indicated that the instruments are reliable and normal distributed. This preliminary research also showed that social media users perceived positively on social media literacy, behavioural intention, and sexting prevention competencies. Based on the result, positive results are anticipated in the actual study. However, further research is needed to confirm and extend these preliminary findings.


Introduction
According to a report released by Data Reportal (2023), in January 2023, 26.8 million or 78.5 percent of Malaysians were active social media users, which 24.8 million users aged 18. Social media such as WhatsApp, Instagram, Telegram, WeChat, SnapChat, Linkedin, Facebook, and many more is very useful and beneficial to various use. These platforms offer an opportunity for users to get involve with interaction (texting) with another users, whether friends, family, relatives, and colleagues. However, some users may use the social media without realizing that the account is controlling by human being who has many flaws. According to Bhat (2018), social media platforms are occasionally abused, which resulting in sexting. Sexting if not curbed can lead to other more serious risky behaviours such as sextortion, cyberbully, depression, mental problem and to the extent may lead to suicide. As indicated by Yeung et al (2014) in their study, the exposing of sexting among communities can result in social shame, humiliation, and harassment, and all of which have been linked to mental health problems. This risky behaviour can be avoided if social media users possess a sufficient level of social media competencies (Ahmad et al., 2016). In other words, sexting may occur as a result of lacking literacy in using social media. Therefore, this raises the question of what targeted competencies could be put in place to prevent sexting among social media users. Not only may these competencies assist users in overcoming the risks associated with social media, but also empower them to use the medium to prevent sexting. Citizens, educators, and policymakers should understand what social media literacy entails (content) as well as how to achieve the competencies (Cho et al., 2022). There have been considerable previous studies on social media literacy and research regarding to sexting prevention competencies also seldomly has been discussed in Malaysia context. According to Festl (2021), little empirical research exists on social media literacy. There were few studies has been paid to the topic of social media literacy together with behavioural intention towards sexting prevention competencies among social media users in Malaysia. Therefore, as preliminary research, the study aimed to explore the reliability and validity of social media literacy, behavioral intention, and sexting prevention competencies items instrument through a data analysis in SPSS. A pilot study is considered as preliminary research which conducted in a small-scale trial before the full-scale research (Hassan et al., 2018). Therefore, the study was conducted to achieve several objectives which are to test the reliability and validity of the instrument items and to gain insight about condition of the actual study. The instrument's reliability and validity are significant concern for a pilot study. According to Mohajan (2017), reliability and validity are the two most crucial and fundamental aspects to consider when evaluating any measurement instrument or tool used in scientific research. Thus, the researcher would be able to anticipate and adapt to potential issues that may arise during the full-scale research. The validity of a measuring instrument is the extent to which it measures a particular concept, whereas the reliability of a measure refers to how consistently the instrument taps the variable and across the various items on the scale (Sekaran & Bougie, 2013). This paper presents the results of a pilot study regarding to social media literacy, behavioural intention, and sexting prevention competencies among social media users in Malaysia.

Literature Review
This part has been done to discuss and elaborate the primary variables of Social Media Literacy which namely Technical Usability and Competency, Privacy, Content Interpretation, Content Generation and Anticipatory Reflection, Behavioural Intention which consists of Attitudes, Subjective Norms, Perceived Behavioural Control and Sexting Prevention Competencies which namely Responsibility and Etiquette.

Social Media
Social media technology has created the era of social connection through mobile application which allows people not only connect to Internet just for searching information needed but the most interesting part is they may communicate with others and share their ideas (Ramadani et al., 2014). With the introduction of social media, the way many people, communities, and/or organisations communicate and engage has shifted dramatically (Ngai et al., 2015). This technology provides applications that facilitate users in many functions such as allowing users to share information in a form of text, graphic, audio and video (Salleh & Ilham, 2017).
While social media provide new avenues for expression and social interaction, the impact of social media on young people is a source of substantial academic and public concern (Gabriel, 2014). Despite of the positives impacts of social media usage, some literature indicated that there are also some negative outcomes especially when wrong using of it (Bou-Hamad, 2020). If not used appropriately, social media can harm family peace and harmony and may be a threat to the family institution stability in this new technological era (Wok et al., 2016).

Social Media Literacy
Social media literacy is rooted from the term, media literacy. Social media literacy is an expansion and transformation of traditional media literacy, but in a dynamic new media environment, to be specific social media era. Since its inception, the term "media literacy" has been subject to a variety of definitions and interpretations (Daneels & Vanwynsberghe, 2017). Numerous studies have been conducted to determine the efficiency of media literacy. For example, it has been established that media literacy education can promote media literacy and critical thinking, decrease media reality, and mitigate the influence of favourable media portrayals of social actors (Shreurs & Vandenbosch, 2021;Vahedi et al., 2018). According to Daneels and Vanwynsberghe (2017), social media literacy can be defined as "the technical and cognitive competencies users need to use social media in an effective and efficient way for social interaction and communication on the web".

Sexting Prevention Competencies
There are several concerns and doubts around the competencies required to utilise social media applications appropriately. Meanwhile, being able to engage with social media critically and consciously is not a luxury, but a requirement for all social media users (Vanwynsberghe et al., n.d.). The requirement to use social media responsibly relates to social media literacy or able to handle contents in the platforms with competencies (Oducado et al., 2019). The competencies in using social media manages to prevent any risky behaviour such as sexting. Hence, in other words, individuals occupied with social media literacy will have tendency to have competencies in sexting prevention. Additionally, these competencies enable social media users to effectively utilise social media and overcoming the risks associated with social media, but they also empower users especially young to use the medium to prevent sexting.
The development of social media applications such as Snapchat, were reportedly enable private and convenient sharing of digital content which may have increased the accessibility and motivation for engaging in sexting (Cornelius et al., 2020). In fact, sexting has taken on mythological dimensions in society; it has come to symbolise the young's unnatural sexualized impulses, a sexual practise associated with risky activities, the hard competition for popularity in youth culture, and proof that youth are failing to manage digital media responsibly (de Ridder, 2019).
This risky behaviour can be avoided if social media users possess a sufficient level of social media competencies (Ahmad et al., 2016). Therefore, this raises the question of what targeted competencies could be put in place to prevent sexting among social media users. Not only may these competencies assist users in overcoming the risks associated with social media, but they also empower them to use the medium to prevent sexting. Citizens, educators, and policymakers should understand what social media literacy entails (content) as well as how to achieve the competencies (Cho et al., 2022). In other words, sexting may occur as a result of lacking literacy in using social media.

Measurement
Researchers used survey questionnaires and the purposive sampling method to collect data. A structured questionnaire consisting of closed-ended multiple choice-questions were employed for the study. The questionnaire survey comprised of 100 questions in 4 sections of which are Section Demography, Section Social Media Literacy, Section Behavioural Intention, Section Sexting Prevention Competencies. All sections except Section A, have 5-Likert-scaled items from strongly agree to strongly disagree measuring social media literacy, behavioural intention, and sexting prevention competencies. The scale is simple to administer and the results can be analysed using advanced statistical methods (Mcleod, 2023). According to Hassan et al. (2018), the range of scale between 5 and 7 is more reliable than other ranges and allows the researcher to make a more nuanced distinction between the attitudes of different individuals toward a particular object. Table 1 below indicates example of items and sources. (Abulibdeh, 2019)

Data Collection
The pilot study was carried out in Negeri Sembilan. 31 respondents were involved (30 Malays, 1 others). Self-administration was used to distribute the 31 survey copies. Each copy was returned. The response rate was 100 percent (31/31 respondents). The average time it took respondents to complete the questionnaire was 15-20 minutes.

Validity, Reliability and Normality Tests
Before conducting research, it is necessary to conduct a test to determine the validity of the data. The questionnaire must first undergo validity and reliability testing. A preliminary test should be conducted to determine the error rate of the questionnaire. According to Sekaran and Bougie (2013), the validity is a test to proves the accuracy of an instrument, in this case a questionnaire, techniques, and processes used in research, regardless of whether they are in accordance with a previously established concept. In this instance, to determine the validity of the instruments, the researcher will use SPSS software.
In contrast, reliability test is designed to evaluate the consistency and stability of a measuring instrument or tool (Sekaran and Bougie, 2013). According to Sekaran and Bougie (2013), the reliability of a measurement indicates the extent to which it is unbiased (error-free) and therefore ensures consistent measurement across time and across all items in the instrument. For the testing of reliability, the researcher employed Cronbach's Alpha, the most accurate method.

Content and Face Validity
Draft of the instrument was submitted to four experts (two of them are subject matter experts, another two are statistic expert and language expert) and to the typical respondents for content and face validity. The experts were selected based on their experiences, qualifications and position in the university or education field in order to qualify them in obtaining their feedbacks on the items instrument development. Afterwards, some refinements and improvements were made on the item's questionnaire based on the feedback received before the pilot test is conducted.

Reliability Test
The pilot study was conducted to determine the reliability of the questionnaire's items on social media literacy, behavioural intention, and sexting prevention competencies. The selection criteria comprised Malaysian who were 18 years old to 40 years old, having and using at least one social media account. The first group was required to complete the questionnaire by hand (self-administered) on a hard copy, whereas the second group completed the questionnaire online using a Google survey form. The data were analysed using SPSS version 27.  According to Hair et al (2015) suggested that Cronbach's alpha values from 0.6 to 0.7 were considered the lower limit of acceptability meanwhile values below 0.6 indicating lack of reliability. Furthermore, all the items are adapted and modified from previous study, hence it is not an issue. Even though the data was small, it shows that the scale can be used to test the study's hypotheses.

Normality test: Skewness and Kurtosis
In this study, skewness is calculated which measures the degree of symmetry of a probability distribution. If the value for skewness is greater than +1.0, then the distribution is rightskewed. The distribution remains left-skewed if the value is less than -1.0. If skewness value is between -1 and +1, then the sample is normal. If the value of kurtosis is greater than +1, the distribution is leptokurtik. The distribution is platykurtik if the value is less than -1.0. Therefore, either of these values for skewness or kurtosis is less than +1.0, then the skewness or kurtosis of the distribution falls within the range of normality, and the distribution can be considered normal (Mishra et al., 2019). Table 3 below shows the value of skewness and kurtosis is +1.0 and normality of skewness and kurtosis are assumed.

Data Analysis and Finding Demographic Information
This section begins with a discussion of the profile of the respondents, as displayed in the table below. Afterwards, the survey instrument's measures and the data collection procedure are specified. The demographic profile reveals female dominated with 54.8% and male 45.2% respectively; the target respondents' age groups were mainly distributed in three intervals: 18-25 years old (80.6%), 26-35 years old (9.7%), and 36-45 years old (9.7%). The ethnic groups are mostly Malay (96.8%), followed by others (3.2%). In term of status, 16.1% are married, and 83.9% are dominated by single. Meanwhile for the education levels showed that Diploma respondents are dominated with the highest 77.4%, bachelor's degree (16.1%), PMR/SPM and master's degree with 3.2% each. In addition, most of the respondents are student (80.6%), and followed by government sector (19.4%). The respondent's household income distributed in three intervals with the highest M40 (RM4,851-RM10,970) 51.6%, followed by B40(<RM4,850) (45.2%) and only 3.25 for T20 (>RM10,971). Table 5 indicated that all variables were above their respective midpoints (means more than 3.00). Regarding to the independent variable of the study which is social media literacy, the element of Technical Usability and Competency garnered the highest mean score of 4.3687. It indicates that respondents perceived the technical usability and competency as represents the social media literacy. Meanwhile, for the mediating variable of the study which is behavioural intention, the element of Attitude garnered the highest mean score of 4.5202. It shows that respondents perceived the attitude as represents the behavioural intention. As for the dependent variable which is sexting prevention competencies, the element of Etiquette garnered the highest mean score of 4.6308. It indicates that respondents perceived the etiquette as represents the sexting prevention competencies.

Conclusion
The importance of validity and reliability cannot be overstated when assessing the precision of items questionnaire. Quantitative methods require a substantial amount of preliminary evaluation, such as a pilot study, prior to conducting actual field subject evaluations. This procedure identifies the use of comprehensible and precise questionnaire structures when dealing with respondents from diverse backgrounds. A high value ensures the accuracy of the data collected during the production of quality research. The analysis of the data revealed that Cronbach's alpha values indicated an exceptional reliability measurement with all variables exceeding the 0.7 threshold. Normality test using skewness and kurtosis indicated that the data were normally distributed. All the variables in this study can be continued in actual questionnaire, and only a few refinements are needed on the structure of use, and the selection of each word to be approachable in conformity with respondents consisted of social media users. The descriptive findings are convincing because the mean values of all variables are greater than 3.00. Positive results are anticipated in the actual investigations based on survey data and the outcomes of the pilot test.
In conclusion, the items instrument tested in this pilot study was reliable and valid based on the results of a small sample of 31 respondents. The applicability of this research instrument for determining social media literacy and behavioural intention toward sexting prevention competencies among social media users in Malaysia will be determined after a large-scale study with a larger sample size is conducted. To achieve the objectives of this study, additional statistical analyses such as multiple regression analysis and structural equation model (SEM) will be employed. The significance of this study is that it validated the usability of the research instrument (questionnaire) and provided preliminary findings that could be referred to by administrators, as well as guiding the future researchers.