Digital Competences and the Use of Social Media by Polish Students – Comparative Analysis in 2018–2024

Digital competences and the use of social media are two key features that characterize modern society. The aim of this article is to demonstrate the relationship between the use of social media and the digital competences of Polish students. The article contains a presentation of the results of the authors’ research carried out in 2018 and 2024, respectively, aimed at identifying and discussing changes that occurred during this period in the use of social media and the perception of digital competences by students of technical and economic faculties. The main conclusion of the research is a higher assessment of digital competences of students using social media and a change in students’ preferences regarding the use of specific social networking sites. The results showed that students use Tik Tok, X (formerly Twitter) and Instagram more often and are more cautious in assessing their own digital competences.