Anyone Order a Pizza?

First Week Pizza Survey Results

For the tenth consecutive year the Mendik Library surveyed 1Ls during First Week about some of their digital inclinations.  You can see the survey questions and the full responses here.

In addition to telling us their favorite pizza topping (answer below), 260 members of the classes of 2020/21 responded to questions about:

  • their preferences in electronic communication;
  • their usage of Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Snapchat, Twitter, Blogs & Podcasts;
  • the digital devices they owned and used, including Smartphones, Tablets and E-Book Readers.

Just a few of the highlights:

  • Communication
    • Email as a preferred means of electronic communication took a precipitous drop—only 17% of the class listed it as their preferred form of electronic communication, down from last year’s 39%.
    • Text messaging is the vehicle of choice for 77% of the class.
  • Social Media
    • Although Facebook remains the dominant social networking platform for these students, at 41%, Instagram has gained ground, up to 27%.
    • The up and comer seems to be Snapchat, already the favorite of 15% of this year’s class, the first one surveyed about Snapchat.
  • Preferred Devices
    • Continuing a steady trend, the popularity of Mac laptops versus PC laptops increased to 68%.
    • Ownership of iPhones surged to 84% of the class.
  •  E-Books
    • More students are taking advantage of E-Books on a variety of devices.  Only 10% indicated they had not read or viewed any E-Books.
    • When asked if they had used an E-Textbook for any undergraduate or graduate classes, 58% responded yes.
      • Perhaps surprisingly, when those who had used an E-Textbook were asked if they preferred it to a print textbook, only 14% replied “yes,” while 80% said “no.”
  • Pizza
    • Pepperoni reigns as students’ favorite pizza topping, pulling in 22% of the vote but closely followed by Extra Cheese with 19%.  Mushrooms and Bacon were tied for third place at 10%