Not All Digital Innovation Is Equal: Instructional Alignment Differentiates Motivation and Instructional Expectations in Undergraduate Nursing Education

Social media environments and meme-based communication are increasingly incorporated into nursing education, yet it remains unclear whether students respond uniformly to digitally embedded instructional strategies. This study examined whether alignment between meme-based instruction and perceived social media learning utility differentiates motivation, perceived academic impact, and demand for educator presence among undergraduate nursing students. A cross-sectional study was conducted with 458 nursing students from Spanish universities who completed a structured questionnaire assessing perceptions of meme-based instruction, social media learning utility, motivation, perceived academic impact, and expectations of educator presence. Hierarchical regression models examined interaction effects, quadrant comparisons were analysed using Kruskal–Wallis tests, and a sequential mediation model evaluated indirect pathways. Students reported high endorsement of meme-based instruction (M = 4.44, SD = 0.80) and social media learning utility (M = 4.15, SD = 0.80). However, substantial divergence emerged across alignment profiles. Students showing high alignment between meme endorsement and perceived social media utility tended to report higher motivation and different expectations of educator presence, whereas perceived academic impact was primarily explained by additive effects. These findings suggest that digital instructional innovations may not generate entirely homogeneous responses across students and that alignment between instructional format and perceived learning utility is associated with differences in motivational activation and instructional expectations in undergraduate nursing education.