Association of Social Media Use With Ethical Sensitivity, Interaction, Attitudes, and Educational Use in Dental Students and Graduates

PURPOSE: This study aimed to examine, in a multidimensional manner, the associations between social media usage habits of dental students and graduates and self-reported ethical sensitivity, interaction, perceptions and attitudes, and perceived educational benefits. METHODS: An online survey was administered to preclinical and clinical dental students as well as young graduates in Türkiye, recruited from a single institution and its alumni network. The questionnaire comprised four subdimensions: (1) Clinical Data Sharing and Ethical Sensitivity, (2) Interaction, (3) Perceptions and Attitudes, and (4) Use of Social Media in Education. Group comparisons were performed according to social media usage duration, purpose of use, and demographic variables. Data analysis included descriptive statistics and parametric tests for group comparisons. Statistical significance was set at p < 0.05. RESULTS: Differences were observed across social media usage duration groups in the Clinical Data Sharing and Ethical Sensitivity subdimension. In this subscale, scores were higher in the low use (< 5 h) and high use (> 20 h) groups, whereas both the moderate to low (5-10 h) and moderate to high (11-20 h) use groups showed significantly lower scores (p < 0.05). This pattern may indicate a non-linear distribution across usage categories. In the Use of Social Media in Education and Perceptions and Attitudes subdimensions, moderate-high and high use groups demonstrated the highest levels (p < 0.05). Graduates showed significantly lower scores in the Clinical Data Sharing and Ethical Sensitivity subdimension compared with preclinical and clinical students (p < 0.05). Female participants had significantly higher scores than male participants in the Perceptions and Attitudes and Use of Social Media in Education subdimensions (p < 0.05). CONCLUSION: Graduates reported lower ethical sensitivity scores than students, whereas female participants demonstrated more positive perceptions and greater educational use of social media. More frequent social media use was generally associated with more positive perceptions and greater educational use.