UTAR Faculty of Arts and Social Science’s (FAS) Bachelor of Communication (Honours) Public Relations student Teoh Wan Yi won “Best Presenter Award” at Seminar Kebangsaan Pascasiswazah Sains Sosial dan Kemanusiaan 2020. Organised by Fakulti Sains Sosial dan Kemanusiaan, Universiti Malaysia Sabah, the conference was held from 27 to 28 October 2020 on Google Meet.

Teoh’s research paper, titled “Gratifications and Health Information Sharing Behaviour in Social Media during COVID-19 Pandemic” won the Best Presenter Award. Teoh walked away with a certificate of participation.

The conference aimed to provide a platform for discussion among academicians, professionals, and practitioners in the related field as well as to establish networks among academicians and practitioners.

Explaining her research, Teoh said, “Recent studies indicate that social media has been commonly used as an effective online platform for communication, entertainment and interaction. Furthermore, social media usage during the pandemic has been increased tremendously because the public is prohibited from going out. This study is guided by the Uses and Gratification Model by extending Coronavirus Anxiety as motivation in examining its role on COVID-19 Information Sharing Behaviour.”

She added, “Research is one of the most important learning processes of my undergraduate study. When I first committed myself to the world of social science research by working on a research proposal, it allowed me to understand the formation of theory and interpretation of data. Research requires a lot of reading and practices; this helped me in developing my written and oral communication skills. I appreciate the advice given by my tutor and friends throughout the study. I am looking forward to learning new skills and knowledge for the upcoming research.”

The research paper was co-authored with FAS Department of Public Relations Lecturer Pong Kok Shiong.