Impact Of Social Media On College Students In Chennai

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Social media have become a major part of an interconnected society, impacting personal and professional lives. Social media consists of unique tools that impact not only communication but relationships among people. Using social media to gain information may have significant effects on the students’ academic performance and career development. The main aim of this study was to assess the impact of social media among college students in the Chennai population.
MATERIALS AND METHODS: This is a cross sectional survey study and a self administered questionnaire was distributed among students using an online platform called google forms. It included 2 sections, the first section was about demographic questions and the second section was a questionnaire about social media addiction. 130 responses were collected and analysed by chi square test by using the statistical software SPSS version 23.0
RESULTS: 73% of students were using Facebook and Instagram were the most common types of social media ( p value- 1.180). About 63.11% of them have a negative effect on their lives because of social media. About 56.7% of them were having 2 to 4 social media accounts. About 72.73% of the students were using facebook and instagram for more than 6 hours a day. Females were more addicted to social media and using longer time than the males ( p value- 0.009).
CONCLUSION: According to this study, various effects and influences of participants lives on education. Most of the negative aspects can be overcome by reducing the amount of time spent on social media to provide ample time for family leisure in a relaxed atmosphere and face to face interactions. All this will help to reduce the negative impact of social media on students which will in turn benefit.