Introduction

Hearing loss of varying degrees requires a higher ability to communicate, express one's thoughts, feelings and interact with one's surroundings (Rachdito – Hidayat, 2021). At the same time, the ability to receive information through various forms of communication that are appropriate and accessible to them is required. They are the spoken language, the written form of the language and sign language as an autonomous, verbal and non-vocal visual-motor language of the deaf community, which has its own lexicon and grammar.

In today's society, communication technologies are considered extremely important for online interaction, information exchange and self-identification. This is a modern trend in social life, which also affects the group of people with hearing impairment, including the deaf (ibid.). They use the various social media platforms available to connect with friends or groups of people. At the same time, persons with hearing impairment (cf. Hovorková – Rzymanová – Tarcsiová, 2018) acquire more information faster, which they usually do not receive as quickly as hearing persons listening to news from the radio or watching television. Communication devices such as television, telephone and radio, which depend on sound components, have come to the fore for personal interaction and transmission of current events, while deaf people have been isolated from mainstream society (Valentine - Skelton, 2009, in Boderman, 2012). In the period before the introduction of the Internet and the discovery of mobile phones and tablets, hearing-impaired people more often used other communication devices, namely fax machines, to receive and send messages.

Newer forms of social media have significantly crossed the barrier between deaf and hearing people, as well as the wider public society. One of the main milestones on the social media platform was the invention of the Internet, which brought a great expansion of knowledge and understanding (Johnston - Napier, 2010, in Boderman, 2012). The communication of the deaf is primarily based on the visual method of the communication channel, which is usually transmitted through sign language, written form of spoken language or reading text messages. Not all deaf people have the ability to lip-read (Boderman, 2012).

The communication methods used by people with hearing impairment depend not only on their communication skills, but also on the people they communicate with. The use of contemporary social media helps deaf people express their thoughts and feelings to others, communicate with family and friends, and build interpersonal relationships. Access to information and knowledge about the personal life of individuals and their communities through social media has increased the cohesion of the deaf community (cf. Rachdito – Hidayat, 2021).

Nowadays, deaf people have the opportunity to follow current information from home and the world, as well as to explore the amount of available information. The deaf community is enjoying the accessibility of digital communication - social media. It sees it as an alternative form of communication, as it has long been excluded from easy access to traditional media. They share their wonderful individual experiences in the given community. Deaf people communicate with each other and social media becomes a home for conversation and friendship. Individual or group experiences are expressed in texts, speeches and through communication channels are passed on to other deaf people and the wider community (cf. Rachdito – Hidayat, 2021). Several studies suggest that primary written communication on social networks helps to mask hearing loss in many cases, making hearing impaired people feel less stigmatized (Schäfer – Miles, 2023). Emoticons are also of great importance to deaf people because they reinforce meaning as a substitute for paralingual means, human voices or sounds they cannot hear (Rachdito – Hidayat, 2021). They are used to express feelings of joy, pain, sadness, disappointment, anger or happiness. On the other hand, videos that appear on social media are a recorded audiovisual work combining moving images and sound. Hearing impaired people may encounter sound barriers if subtitles are not added.

Social Media

Social media is online media where content is created and shared by users. V. Janouch (2010, in Gburová – Fedorko, 2019) divided social media as follows: social networks (e.g. Facebook, MySpace, LinkedIn), blogs (e.g. Open Diary, WordPress, Blogger – personal pages on which people publish posts on various topics), shared multimedia (e.g. YouTube, Picasa, SlideShare – platforms that allow sharing and downloading of videos and photos), wikis (e.g. Wikipedia, Google Knol – we characterize them as encyclopedias created by users), discussion forums, Q&A portals (e.g. Yahoo!, Answer, Askville – sites where people meet and discuss common topics), virtual worlds (e.g. Second Life, Active Worlds, The Sims Online – systems within which people can meet in a 3D virtual world), social bookmarking systems (e.g. Digg, Jagg, Google Reader – sites that allow searching, managing, sharing content from various sources). Slovak research agency Go4insight (2024) includes Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, Pinterest, Pokec, LinkedIn, X/Twitter, Snapchat, Twitch, Discord, Reddit, Threads, Tumblr among social networks.

Social media provide the following functions of use and gratification: instrumentality as the functional purpose of the tool (accomplishing tasks or running errands, arranging meetings), information (getting knowledge, news and information about events), sociability (keeping in touch with friends and family, chatting), social identity (being part of a group, such as a deaf organization or chat group), and entertainment (seeking fun or spending time playing games) (Power et al., 2006).

Social Media Research

The aim of the research is to examine the preferences, purposes and patterns of use of available social media among people with hearing impairment today. From an overview of foreign studies on social media used by deaf or hard of hearing people, we formulated eight research questions for Slovak respondents:

  1. Which social media platforms do the hearing impaired prefer?
  2. Through which technology devices do people with hearing loss use social media platforms?
  3. How often do people with hearing impairment use social media?
  4. Which form of communication do people with hearing impairment actively and passively prefer - visual or text?
  5. What are the purposes of using social media for hearing impaired people?
  6. How often do people with hearing impairment use emoticons and gifs to express emotions and feelings?
  7. For which groups of people do people with hearing impairment prefer personal or digital communication?
  8. What barriers to accessibility do hearing impaired people currently face on social media platforms?

Based on the formulated research questions, we aim to identify and analyze key aspects of the use of social media by people with hearing impairment. In this section, we present three hypotheses that emerge from our questions and hypothesize possible relationships between different aspects of social media use. We determined the following hypotheses: H1: There is a statistically significant difference in the average time spent on social networks between men and women with hearing impairment. H2: There is a statistically significant relationship between the rate of use of emoticons or gifs on social networks and education. H3: There is a statistically significant difference in the average time spent on social networks depending on the preferred form of communication in the household.

Research methodology

Structured questionnaires in the form format of the Google Drive software were filled in by up to 212 respondents between October 18 and November 25, 2024. First, the questionnaire was verified by two respondents to determine whether it was understandable and practical for them. The researcher added an introductory text with a video recording of the translation of the text into Slovak sign language and a link to the questionnaire on these seven Facebook pages, such as the personal profile of the researcher, the personal profile of the researcher's wife, Hearing-impaired Slovakia - non-signing: Help, advice, stimuli, Information for the Deaf, DEAF - OUR RIGHTS, ##deaf culture## and Entertainment for the deaf SR and CR. The last four Facebook pages are primarily intended for deaf signers, on which they can inform each other about various topics and challenges, while they can also give advice. The questionnaire contained 26 items, of which the first 22 items were closed questions, from which the respondents had to choose one or more answers according to the entry of individual items. Subsequently, 3 items contained open questions to which the respondents had the opportunity to answer voluntarily, and the last item contained a closed question.

Under each item, a video recording was created with the translation of the question and its answers into Slovak sign language, as some respondents with hearing impairment prefer Slovak sign language as a communication language, and at the same time to avoid misunderstanding of the questions and selected answers from the respondents. The first 8 items of the questionnaire focused on sociodemographic data. Subsequently, 3 items focused on communication form preferences in the home, with deaf friends and with hearing friends. Another 6 items dealt with questions about active and passive use of different types of social media and their frequency. These items were followed by 4 questions regarding the purpose of using social media, preference for face-to-face or digital communication with certain people, frequency of use of emoticons and gifs, and use of technical means. The next, 22nd item examined what barriers respondents encounter in social media. The respondents could fill in the last 4 items, except for one, voluntarily. They had the opportunity to express their subjective assessment, for example, what they like on social media, what observations or comments they had about the questionnaires, whether they want to be included in the draw for material donations. In the last item, it was an expression of whether it was difficult for them to fill out the questionnaires.

Descriptive statistics of the research sample

All research participants were persons with hearing impairment of varying degrees of hearing loss, divided into five categories. There were 3 respondents (1.4%) in the first category of mild hearing loss (26-40 dB), 3 respondents (1.4%) in the second category of moderate hearing loss (41-55 dB), 20 respondents (9.4%) in the third category of moderate hearing loss (56-70 dB), 45 respondents in the fourth category of severe hearing loss (71-90 dB). (21.3%) and in the fifth category of very severe hearing loss (91 dB and more) 141 respondents (66.5%). Of the 212 respondents, nine (4.3%) use cochlear implants, 98 respondents (46.2%) use hearing aids, and the remaining 105 respondents (49.5%) do not use any aid.

Respondents by gender were represented by 134 women (63.2%) and 78 men (36.8%). In connection with age, they were divided into four groups. There were 13 respondents (6.1%) in the 18-24 age group, 111 respondents (52.4%) in the 25-44 age group, 79 respondents (37.3%) in the 45-64 age group, and 9 respondents (4.2%) in the over 65 age group.

Distribution of the sample according to territorial representation: 59 respondents (27.8%) came from the Bratislava Region, 26 respondents (12.3%) from Trnava Region, 21 (9.9%) from Prešovského, 21 (9.9%) from Žilina Region, 19 each (2x 9.0%) from Banskobystrického and Nitrianskahoho, 16 (7.5%) from Trenčiahoho, 15 (7.1%) from the Košice region and the remaining 16 respondents (7.5%) were Slovaks living abroad.

In connection with the education achieved, most respondents, a total of 101 respondents (47.6%), had a high school education with a high school diploma. Subsequently, 71 respondents (33.5%) completed secondary education without a high school diploma, then 39 respondents (18.4%) received a university education, and the remaining 1 respondent (0.5%) had a basic education.

According to the type of primary school, 171 respondents (80.7%) attended a primary school for students with hearing impairments, 30 respondents (14.1%) attended a regular-type primary school, and 11 respondents (5.2%) attended a primary school for pupils with hearing impairments and a regular-type primary school. The same respondents also answered the question about the type of secondary school, with 154 respondents (72.6%) having attended a secondary school for students with hearing impairments, 54 respondents (25.5%) attending a regular-type secondary school, 3 respondents (1.4%) attending a secondary school for pupils with hearing impairments and a regular-type secondary school, and the remaining 1 respondent (0.5%) did not answer (apparently this is a student who has not yet attends high school).

Analysis of research results on social media use

Tab. 1: Preferring a certain form of communication with certain people (select one option)

Based on the results presented in Table 1, we found that two-thirds of respondents (66%) prefer sign language at home, while less than a third of respondents (29.7%) use spoken language at home. The overwhelming majority of respondents (94.3%) communicate with deaf friends using sign language. Only a small proportion of respondents (3.8% and 1.9%) use spoken language or a written form of spoken language when communicating with deaf friends. When communicating with hearing friends, spoken language prevails for almost two thirds of respondents (63.2%). Less than a third of respondents (29.2%) use the written form of spoken language when communicating with hearing friends. A small percentage of respondents (7.6%) use sign language when communicating with hearing friends.

Chart 1: Use of different types of social media by 212 respondents (multiple choice)

Based on the results shown in Chart 1, Facebook is the most popular social network among respondents with 92.9% of users (197). Messenger is used by 85.3% of respondents (181), which ranks it among the most frequently used communication platforms. With 84% of respondents (178), WhatsApp is close to Messenger in terms of popularity. Instagram is preferred for viewing visual content and is used by 77.8% of respondents (165). YouTube is watched by 46.2% of respondents (98) for watching videos. Telegram is used by 19.8% of respondents (42) to send messages. Applications such as TikTok, Snapchat, X (Twitter) and Viber are used by a minority of respondents. In the box, another two respondents indicated that they use Discord, while another five individually noted that they use email, film, Pinterest, SMS, and Tinder.

Tab. 2: Use of different types of social media by 212 respondents (select one option)

Based on the results shown in Table 2, the largest proportion of respondents (39.2%) prefer Facebook as a social media platform. Instagram is the second most preferred social media, used by 26.4% of respondents. 16% of respondents use WhatsApp for online communication. Messenger is the preferred platform for 14.6% of respondents. Only 2.4% of respondents use YouTube to watch videos. TikTok is preferred by the fewest respondents, only 0.9%. 0.5% of respondents use Telegram for communication.

Tab. 3: Use of technical means by 212 respondents (selection of multiple options)

Based on the results shown in Table 3, the most popular technical means for accessing social media is a smartphone, which is used by 90.1% of respondents. 35.4% of respondents use a laptop as a tool for social media. 22.2% of respondents use a computer to access social media. 15.1% of respondents use a tablet for social media. Only 0.5% of respondents use Internet TV. The data indicate a preference for mobile devices (smartphones, tablets) for accessing social media. Most respondents use more than one device to access social media, as multiple choice was allowed.

Tab. 4: Frequency of time use of social media by 212 respondents (select one option)

Table 4 shows the frequency of social media use by these respondents. The largest group of respondents, namely 39.2%, spends 1-2 hours a day on social media. A certain part of the respondents, i.e. 23.1%, devotes 3-4 hours a day to social media. 18.4% of respondents use social media less than 30 minutes a day. 11.3% of respondents follow social media only a few times a week. A small percentage of respondents, only 8%, use social media for more than 5 hours a day. The analysis is based on the answers of 212 respondents.

Chart 2: Preference of forms of passive surveillance by 212 respondents (selection of multiple options)

Bar graph 2 shows that 74.5% (158) of respondents prefer passively watching video recordings in Slovak Sign Language (SSL). 71.7% (152) of respondents prefer watching video recordings in the Slovak language (SJ) with provided subtitles. The same share, 71.7% (152), of respondents prefers reading written information, texts in the Slovak language (SJ). More than half (53.3%) of respondents (113) like to view videos in international panning (MP) and photos/images. 41.5% (88) of respondents watch videos in Czech Sign Language (ČZJ). 24.5% of respondents (52) watch video recordings only in the Slovak language (SJ). Only a small part of respondents (15.1% - 32 and 6.1% - 13) read written information in English or other foreign languages. A minority of respondents, namely 12.3% (26), watch video recordings without verbal or sign communication.

Tab. 5: Preference of forms of active expression by 212 respondents (selection of multiple options)

Table 5 shows in which forms the respondents actively express themselves on social media. The majority (64.2%) actively express themselves on social media in Slovak sign language. Almost two-thirds of respondents (62.3%) actively use the written form of the Slovak language to express themselves. Sharing photos and images is popular with 43.9% of respondents. 40.6% of respondents share videos in the Slovak language with subtitles. 27.8% of respondents actively participate in international shunting. Sharing of video recordings in the Slovak language is active among 18.9% of respondents. 17% of respondents actively express themselves in Czech sign language. Only a small percentage of respondents (11.6% and 3.8%) express themselves in writing in foreign languages. 10.8% of respondents actively share video recordings without verbal or sign communication.

Tab. 6: Preference of forms of active expression by 212 respondents (choice of one option)

Compared to table 5, which shows several options, table 6 with one option shows that more than a third of respondents (34.4%) prefer active expression in Slovak sign language. Almost a third of respondents (34%) like to actively express themselves by writing texts in Slovak. 13.2% of respondents prefer to insert video recordings with spoken speech and subtitles. 6.1% of respondents prefer to post photos and images on social media. A small number of respondents prefer to insert video recordings only with spoken speech in the Slovak language. An even smaller number of respondents use Czech sign language and international sign language for active expression. The use of text in English and foreign languages ​​other than English is preferred by only a minimal number of respondents.

Tab. 7: Purposes of using social media by 212 respondents (multiple choice)

Table 7 shows that most respondents (71.2%) use social media to communicate with friends or colleagues. Two thirds of respondents (67.5%) use social media to communicate with their family. More than a third of respondents (39.6%) use social media to obtain information on various topics. Many respondents (36.8%) use them to better understand the grammar of Slovak sign language. 35.8% of respondents use them to develop the vocabulary of the Slovak language. 35.4% of respondents use social media to obtain information on various topics. Almost 35% of respondents use social media to develop the sign repertoire of Slovak sign language. 31.6% of respondents for better understanding of the grammar of the Slovak language, 23.1% of respondents for improvement in expression through sign language, 21.7% of respondents for communication with strangers, 17.9% of respondents for improvement in expression in written form, 14.6% of respondents for development of foreign language vocabulary, 9.4% of respondents for improvement in expression in spoken language and only a small part of respondents (8 %) use social media to better understand the grammar of a foreign language.

Tab. 8: Frequency of use of emoticons, gifs on social media by 212 respondents (select one option)

Table 8 clearly shows that the use of emoticons and gifs varies across a wide range of frequencies. Almost half of respondents (47.2%) use emoticons and gifs occasionally. 22.6% of respondents rarely use them. 21.2% of respondents use emoticons and gifs very often. Only 7.6% of respondents always/always use them. Only 1.4% of respondents never use emoticons or gifs.

Chart 3: Preference of communication of 212 respondents with certain persons (choice of one option)

The findings on graph 3 point to different preferences in communication depending on the communication partner. Personal relationships play a key role in personal communication preferences. The majority of respondents (80.2%, 170 people) prefer personal communication with their family. Almost two-thirds of respondents (66%, 140 people) prefer digital communication with foreign deaf people. More than half (60.8%, 129 people) of respondents prefer personal communication with deaf friends. 59.4% of respondents (126) prefer digital communication with foreign hearing people. 55.7% of respondents (118) prefer personal communication with hearing friends.

Tab. 9: Barriers in social media according to 212 respondents (multiple choice)

Table 9 shows the importance of content accessibility in social media for people with communication difficulties. The majority of respondents (77.3%) cite information content as a barrier, specifically video recordings without subtitles. Two-thirds of respondents (67%) have difficulty understanding mouth expressions in video recordings. Approximately one fifth of respondents (18.9%) do not understand written texts in social media. A small part of respondents (7.5%) states that they do not understand sign language. One respondent pointed to inaccurate simultaneous transcription as an obstacle. Another respondent stated that it is difficult for him to understand technical words.

For the penultimate open question What do you like about social media? And what would you change? 63 respondents (29.7%) responded voluntarily. Of these, 24 respondents were of the same opinion that they would welcome the introduction of subtitles in the video recordings, 9 respondents would welcome the presence of an interpreter or a deaf moderator who would provide information in the video recordings, and 6 respondents would like to see repeated current video recordings of interesting things from Slovakia and the world. We present eight selected original statements of the respondents (the written speech of the deaf may show grammatical errors):

  • "In addition to the spoken language, the listeners also enjoyed the subtitling, top notch."
  • "I want to change and it is also my dream. It is possible to put a video in SPJ or immediately record a video live and then automatically translate it into SJ so that I don't have to spend a lot of time translating it into Slovak, since SJ is not my primary language."
  • "We want to improve the speech-to-text application."
  • "I really like that some hearing people are trying to make subtitles for all the hearing impaired, so that we have more information and gain vocabulary."
  • "Facilitating written communication with each other on social media."
  • "What I like most is that there are already some videos with subtitles on Instagram. For example, when two or more people are talking very quickly, I can't keep up, I don't understand. But, when there are already subtitles, it helps me a lot and I finally understand and know what's going on there. So I would change on social media if all the videos were with subtitles."
  • "It is beneficial for the deaf to communicate with people, since we deaf people cannot talk on the phone."
  • "I like how they can bring people from different worlds together and allow the sharing of ideas, cultures and experiences. It's great to see how they can inspire and support each other. But on the other hand, there are risks like spreading bad information and cyberbullying, etc."

For the last closed question, whether filling out the questionnaire was difficult, 145 respondents (68.4%) chose the option easy, 60 respondents (28.3%) chose the option moderately difficult, and 7 respondents (3.3%) chose the option difficult.

Interpretation of research results and discussion of social media use

Most of the respondents participated in this research, namely 67.4%, who have a very severe hearing loss, that is, they are deaf, and the other respondents are hard of hearing of varying degrees. The use of social media among people with hearing loss is influenced by the preferred form of communication in different social contexts. Most respondents use sign language in communication with deaf friends, while spoken language is preferred in communication with hearing friends. Almost a third of the respondents use the written form of the spoken language with them. The use of sign language also prevails within their household, but a significant part of the respondents also uses spoken language. It follows that several deaf signers can communicate with their hearing friends. Most of the respondents who took part in this research are bimodal-bilingual, that is, they use bilingualism with two different modalities: motor-visual, in which information is articulated by moving the hands and the upper part of the body, including the head, and received by sight, and oral-auditory, in which information is articulated by speakers and received by hearing.

Regarding the first research question Which social media platforms do people with hearing impairment prefer? – the most preferred social network among Slovakian people with hearing impairment is Facebook, which has already been tried by 92.9% of Internet users. This is followed by Instagram, which was viewed by 77.8% of respondents. The most requested application for sending text messages, video messages in Slovak sign language, images and emoticons and gifs is Messenger, which is used by 85.3% of respondents, closely followed by WhatsApp with 84% of respondents. Conversely, another study on hearing impaired people from Ghana (Marco - Phineas, 2023) indicated that all respondents preferred the WhatsApp application, followed by 89.1% of respondents using Facebook, followed by 76.1% of Telegram. These mentioned social media provide people with hearing impairment with possibilities of communication, socialization, support of individuals, cooperation and transfer of information. The most used social network in Slovakia has long been Facebook, which still leads the ranking (Go4insight, 2024). Hearing impaired people are in the minority and adapt to the majority in order to communicate. At the same time, Facebook offers better and more practical options, such as a) the possibility of embedding longer videos expressed in sign language, which Instagram does not allow, b) the possibility of embedding a link to YouTube videos, while clicking on the link is easier, while Instagram does not allow direct clicking on links. When it comes to choosing one option, the research analyzes the preferences of 212 respondents in the use of different social media platforms, pointing to the dominant position of Facebook with 39.2% preference, followed by Instagram with 26.4%. It further focuses on preference for communication apps such as WhatsApp and Messenger and minimal preference for video content platforms such as YouTube and TikTok.

Regarding the second research question Through which technological devices do people with hearing loss use social media platforms? - to access social media, people with hearing loss are increasingly using smartphones. Last year, 89.8% of them always or mostly preferred this technology. In addition to the smartphone, laptops, computers and tablets are also used, although to a lesser extent. We envision this as a practical and portable technology device that can be taken with you and used everywhere. The use of internet television by one respondent is interesting. Interesting research (Pew, 2018, in Sweet et al., 2019) shows that the majority of the American population owns some type of technological device, with 77% having a smartphone, just 73% a computer, and 53% a tablet.

Regarding the third research question How often do people with hearing impairment use social media? - from the frequency of social media use among 212 respondents, the research showed that the largest part of respondents (39.2%) spend an average of 1-2 hours a day on social media, while a larger percentage (23.1%) spend 3-4 hours a day. A smaller part (18.4%) spend less than 30 minutes a day on social media, and a small part of respondents (8%) use it more than 5 hours a day. A similar American study (Boderman, 2012) presents the result that 60% of respondents use social media several times a day, 20% sometimes a day, 10% once a day and 10% several times a week. Due to hearing loss, people with hearing loss are more prone to use text communication, social media and internet surfing (Toofaninejad et al., 2017) and therefore spend a lot of time on social networks. A German study of 38 hearing-impaired students of the University of Cologne (Schäfer-Miles, 2023) indicates that students spend an average of 203.31 minutes per day (over 3 hours) on social media, but bimodal-bilingual respondents spend an average of 269.91 minutes, or 4.5 hours, each day.

Regarding the fourth research question Which form of communication do people with hearing impairment actively and passively prefer – visual or textual? – the research analyzed the preferences of passive viewing of content on social media among 212 respondents, emphasizing a strong preference for videos in Slovak sign language, videos with Slovak subtitles and written texts in Slovak. More than half of respondents also like to consume content in international gestures and in visual forms such as photos and images, while a minority prefers other languages ​​and formats. The findings suggest that accessibility preferences play an important role in the consumption of social media content by persons with hearing impairment. This research shows that several respondents are bimodal-bilingual. Another result shows that only one fifth of respondents subjectively assessed that they mostly do not understand written texts on social media.

The results of the preferred forms of active expression show that the most popular is expression in the Slovak sign language and in the written form of the Slovak language. Furthermore, respondents actively express themselves by sharing photos, video recordings with captions and engaging in international shunting. This result indicates that the majority of respondents are active in written form, despite their low writing competence, for the following reasons: a) sign languages do not have standardized written forms, b) several people with hearing impairment publish video recordings or photos simultaneously with accompanying text, c) written form is faster and more convenient for some communicators, on the contrary, the process of recording and sending video recordings takes too long, d) to save smartphone battery consumption and consumption data when recording and sending video recordings, e) due to the desire for social interaction and participation in digital communication (Mack et al., 2020).

The research analyzed the preferred ways of active expression of social media users, finding that most respondents prefer active expression in Slovak sign language or writing text in Slovak. The rest of the respondents prefer to express themselves through video recordings with subtitles, use other languages ​​and forms of sign language, or add photos and images, as many people with hearing impairment perceive the world primarily visually. From this and previous research, it was indicated that more than half of the respondents, specifically 53.3%, like to watch videos of foreign signers in international sign language, which is understood as lingua franca, i.e. a mixed language consisting of several national sign languages. On the contrary, 27.2% of respondents are actively involved in international forwarding. We were surprised by the result that 41.4% of respondents actively upload videos in the Slovak language with subtitles. However, from our point of view, the reality is that there are far fewer, if not more, on social networks. On the other hand, we can say that this creation is time-consuming. In addition, persons with a hearing impairment must have a good and comprehensible language expression and have a good command of the written form of Slovak for creating subtitles.

Regarding the fifth research question What are the purposes of using social media for people with hearing impairment? - the use of social media among 212 respondents shows that the vast majority use it to communicate with friends and colleagues, as well as with family. A significant number of respondents also use them to obtain information on various topics and to improve their language skills, especially in the area of ​​sign language and vocabulary. A smaller part of the respondents uses social media to improve communication skills in speaking and foreign languages.

To the sixth research question How often do people with hearing impairment use emoticons and gifs to express emotions and feelings? - the use of emoticons and gifs is a common part of communication on social media. The data analysis shows that almost half of the respondents use them occasionally/sometimes, which indicates a medium level of their integration into online interactions. However, there is considerable variation in frequency of use, from those who always use them to those who never use them. Many respondents also use sign language in their communication, which is a verbal non-vocal motor-visual language. At first glance, it resembles non-verbal communication, which is why they also use emoticons and gifs.

To the seventh research question With which groups of people do people with hearing impairment prefer personal or digital communication? - the result analyzes the communication preferences of 212 respondents, finding that personal communication is most preferred with family, while digital communication dominates communication with deaf and hearing strangers, which indicates a different approach to different groups. Respondents prefer personal communication with their friends (hearing and deaf). These preferences reflect the importance of personal relationships and the convenience of digital communication in specific contexts. We can emphasize that for the deaf or hearing-impaired, more important values ​​are in social communication, such as trust towards familiar persons, which can be realized in personal communication, and the full value or fluency of communication with certain persons. Digital communication with hearing strangers is primarily perceived as a relief, as it requires less effort and stress than face-to-face communication or telephone conversation, which is difficult for hearing-impaired persons (Kožuh – Debevc, 2020).

To the eighth research question What accessibility barriers do people with hearing impairment currently face on social media platforms? - the result describes the barriers that respondents face when using social media. The most significant barrier is video recordings without subtitles, which represent a problem for three quarters of respondents. A significant obstacle is also the lack of understanding of the expression from the mouth, while a smaller percentage have problems with written text and sign language. Video content without subtitles is an increasingly widespread problem on social media that frustrates the hearing impaired. J. O´Neill (2013, in Mariorana-Basas – Pagliaro, 2014) states that “unfortunately, online informational, instructional and entertainment video or audio videos, whether recorded or broadcast live, are rarely subtitled, and there are currently no known laws requiring subtitles for all video or audio content on the Internet unless the content has first been broadcast on television with subtitles”. Similarly, two thirds of the respondents mostly do not understand the expressions from people's mouths in video recordings. Understanding reflection is an art, as not everything that is said can be seen on the lips. About 35% of spoken speech can be obtained by lip reflection, for example the sounds a and o are clearly observable by the shape of the mouth, but the sounds k and g cannot be clearly distinguished. It is also not possible to distinguish the differences between the sounds made by closed lips - p, b and m. In viewing, two roles play an important role: the share of thinking and one hundred percent mental energy; a person with a hearing impairment must learn to complete missed sounds, words and sentence units, which requires maximum attention.

Hypothesis Testing About Social Media Use

For statistical analysis, given the established three hypotheses and the nature of the data, we used the Mann-Whitney U-test for two independent samples and Spearman's correlation test. We applied each of these tests to individual hypotheses in accordance with the nature of the specific data that appeared in the given hypothesis. Statistical analysis was performed in the SPSS 22 program.

H1: There is a statistically significant difference in the average time spent on social networks between men and women with hearing impairment. – in this hypothesis there are variables, namely the average time spent on social networks and gender.

Tab. 10: Time spent on social networks by men and women

From Table 10, we can observe that in terms of time spent on social networks, the most hearing-impaired men reported that they spend an average of 1 to 2 hours a day on social networks, accounting for 37.2% of their group. Likewise, most hearing-impaired women answered that they spend an average of 1 to 2 hours a day on social networks, making up 40.3% of their group.

Based on the nature of the variables for testing hypothesis 1, we used a non-parametric test since both groups have the same distribution, namely the Mann-Whitney U-test.

Tab. 11: Time spent on social networks according to average ranking value

Tab. 12: Mann-Whitney U-test

Based on the results presented in tables 11 and 12, we can conclude that there is no statistically significant difference between men and women with hearing impairment in the average time spent on social networks. H1 was not confirmed.

H2: There is a statistically significant relationship between the rate of use of emoticons or gifs on social networks and education. – in this hypothesis, there are variables, namely the rate of use of emoticons or gifs on social networks (tab. 8) and education (in the descriptive statistics of the research sample). Based on the nature of the variables for testing hypothesis no. 2, we used a non-parametric test that is used to measure the statistical dependence between two variables, namely Spearman's correlation test.

Tab. 13: Spearman's correlation test (Spearman's rho test)

Based on the results presented in Table 13, we can conclude that there is no statistically significant relationship between the rate of use of emoticons or gifs on social networks and the education of respondents with hearing impairment. H2 was not confirmed.

H3: There is a statistically significant difference in the average time spent on social networks depending on the preferred form of communication in the household. – in this hypothesis there are variables, namely the average time spent on social networks and the preferred form of communication in the home.

Tab. 14: Time spent on social networks according to the preferred form of communication in the household

Based on the results presented in Table 14, we can observe that in terms of the average time spent on social networks, most respondents who use the spoken language at home said that they spend an average of 3 to 4 hours a day on social networks, while they made up 34.7% of their group. Conversely, most respondents who use sign language at home said that they spend an average of 1 to 2 hours a day on social networks, and this constituted 42.9% of their group. Based on the nature of the variables for testing hypothesis 3, we used a non-parametric test - the Mann-Whitney U-test.

Tab. 15: Time spent on social networks according to the preferred form of communication in the household

Tab. 16: Mann-Whitney U-test

Based on the results presented in tables 15 and 16, we can conclude that there is no statistically significant difference in the average time spent on social networks among people with hearing impairment, due to the preferred form of communication at home. H3 was not confirmed.

Conclusion

Hearing impairment is often considered a limiting phenomenon, as it can create significant information and communication barriers, especially in interaction with hearing persons. Data from this study indicate that social media, as an integral part of modern social communication, have helped people with hearing impairment, including the deaf, to provide information, knowledge, formal and informal education and new forms of entertainment, to develop and maintain contacts or friendships between persons with the same handicap and others, but also to improve the ability to express themselves and share their thoughts. Social media such as Facebook and WhatsApp are key communication channels in everyday life for the hearing impaired. They allow them to express themselves either by writing, sending video recordings in Slovak sign language, video chatting in real time, or sharing pictures. Deaf signers who use sign language to communicate can communicate with each other naturally and spontaneously without the need to travel short or long distances. Social media also has the effect of permanently bringing together deaf members into one large community or into small groups, as the number of deaf signing members who physically attend deaf clubhouses has been declining in recent years. We personally think that this study is of remarkable importance since it involved a large number of deaf signers, which is rather rare. An important value of the research was the accessibility of the questionnaire with embedded video recordings with a translation of the text into Slovak sign language, for deaf signers.

We strongly believe that in the future, artificial intelligence will be further improved to be able to automatically caption all video recordings and adequately interpret the sign expressions of gesturers, transforming them into subtitles so that even non-gesturing people can better understand them.

Author: PaedDr. B.Sc. Roman Vojtechovský Department of Slovak Language and Literature Department of the Slovak language in the communication of the deaf Faculty of Education of the University of Trnava in Trnava

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