SOCIAL MEDIA ADDICTION AMONG YOUTH OF KATTAPPANA

MUNCIPALITY
NAYANA JOSEPH
II B.Ed. Physical Science
Mount Carmel College of Teacher Education For Women

ABSTRACT
Social networking websites are currently being used regularly by millions of people. The
Internet is more than just a means of seeking information.The present study is an attempt to
know about social media addiction among youth of Kattappana Municipality. For this study, a
questionnaire was prepared and a survey was conducted among50 youth of Kattappana
Municipality. From the study it was found that most of the people visit social media more than 5
times a day.It was found that facebook is the most popular social media which most people use.

INTRODUCTION

Twenty first century is also known as information age, computer and internet have
infiltrated all areas of our lives. Nowadays people use social media to play games and
communicate with each others, to shopping and in order to fulfil many functions at the
sametime.

Social networking websites are currently being used regularly by millions of people.
The Internet is more than just a means of seeking information. People discovered that the
Internet could be used to connect with other people, weather for business or commercial
purpose, make new friends, re-waken old friends and long lost relatives.Many students always
log into their account on Facebook, Twitter etc. as a part of their everyday routine. There are
millions of students they are login into the social networking sites every day.Increased use of
social media leads addiction among several pupil,especially among youth.Addiction usually
refers to compulsive behaviour that leads to negative effects. In most addictions people feel
compelled to do certain activities so often that they become a harmful habit, which then
interferes with other important activities such as work or school.Social Media addiction is a
phrase sometimes used to refer to some ones spending too much time using facebook, twitter
and other form of social media.
 Researchers at Chicago University concluded that social media addiction can be
stronger than addiction to cigarettes. Media cravings ranked ahead of cravings for cigarettes
and alcohol. And at Harvard university, researchers actually booked people up to functional
MRI machines to scan their brains and see what happens when they talk about themselves,
which a key part of what people do in social media. They found that self-disclosure
communication stimulates the brain’s pleasure centres much like sex and food do.Plenty of
clinicians have observed symptoms of anxiety, depression and some psychological disorders
in people who spend too much time online, but little hard evidence has been found proving
that social media or internet use caused the symptoms.

Teens social media addiction is behavioural disorder in which teens become so

preoccupied and obsession with social media that you to distract them from engaging in the
real world and in turn causes harmful effects on multiple aspects on the lives. While many
teenagers engage in some form of social media and consider it as a daily part of their lives,
teen social media addiction is characterized by the level of this used being so extreme that it
negatively affects the relationships and responsibilities in the teen lives.

Although there are many useful applications of social media, the excessive use of this
medium led to personal social and occupational problems. In this regard, the investigator
decided to conduct a survey among youth of Kattappana Municipality to measure their social
media addiction. The aim of the study is to identify whether there is a statistically significant
differentiation between social media addiction levels of users, according to gender, age and
educational situation, daily social media use time and tool used to connect the social media.

OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

 To determine the purpose of having social media accounts among youth

 To find out an average time students spend on different social media collectively per day.
 To find out the number of different social media in which students are member of.
 To find out the extent of students addiction to social media.

METHODOLOGY

Survey method was adopted to collect data for the study of social media addiction among youth
of Kattappana Municipality. The sample of the study consists of 50 youth in Kattappana
Municipality. Tool used for the survey is a questionnaire consisting of 22 questions prepared by
investigator.

ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION

The survey was conducted among 50 students on the topic social media
addiction.Among 50 students all the students are members of any of the social networks. 60%
of students visit social networking sites with no goal or specific purposes in mind. Among
50students about 58% of students avoid their activity with family and friends because of social
networking sites. About 60% of students stay up late because they spend more time on social
media on night while 40% of students hide the time spend on social networking site from their
family and friends.

The percentage of students who prefers to interact with people on social media rather
than face to face is about 54%. About 90% students have more friends on social media than
from their real life. 8% of youth visit social networks every hour, 25% of youth visit 2-5 use
times a day, 25% of students more than 5 times a day. 12% of students use social media once
aday,14% use every couple of hours,and 16%of them always log on. The time spend by youth
is shown in figure 1.

Time spend
25
20
15
10
Time spend
5
0
once a Every Every 2-5 times always more
day hour couple of a day logged than 5
hour on times a
day

Fig 1: Time spend by youth on social media

60% youth use only smart phones to access social network and 20% of youth use both
smart phones and a personal computers, 20% of youth use laptops and personal computers.
96% of youth have 100 contacts on social media. 80% of youth use social networks to keep in
touch with friends and family members.

FINDINGS AND CONCLUSION

From the study it was found that most of the people visit social media more than 5
times a day.It was found that facebook is the most popular social media which most people
use.However, some people believe that the usage of social media enhances the scope of
students towards education and culture. The new generation is the electronically addicted
generation. Due to this addition students face many effects in their lives. This report aims to
find out the extent social networking sites affectstudents on their school success, relationship
status,and social life.Social media have positive effects but there are some negative effects
also. Moreover, when addiction hinders academic path of teenagers, then social networking
sites become important instead of education, family, peer attraction and recreational activities.

REFERENCES

http://en.m.wikipedia.org>wiki>socialmedia

http://www.lifewire.com>what-is-socialmedia

http://www.forbes.com>social-media

www.investopedia.com>terms>socialmedia

http://www.dreamgrow.com>top is most popular social networking sites.

http://www.lifewire.com>advantages of social media.

http://futureofworking.com>10 advantages and disadvantages of social media.

http://www.nibusinessinfo.co.uk>content