SOCIAL MEDIA ADDICTION AMONG YOUTH

Abstract

Internet and social media addiction are two new rising terms in the medical and psychological world, with very little knowledge and research available about them. This is because the Internet, and more specifically social media, have only been around for a very limited amount of time, yet the amount of time we use them today is insurmountable; it is immeasurable to live without them in both our business and personal lives. The people most affected and seemingly most drawn to using the Internet excessively and spending most of their time on social media sites—including Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Whatsapp, Snapchat and Google+—are youths. Youth are defined as individuals between the ages of 18 and 35 years old. They are most familiar with the uses of these technologies as they have been raise during it on an almost daily basis. The following study explores the influences of Internet use and the possible addictions among youth to social media using a convenient sample survey. The group sampled came from a mostly students and working professionals between age group of 18-35 years, with a relatively small female sample. The results were that females have more like seeking behavior as compared to males. Also females use social media more as compared against males to escape from the problems and negative and emotional feelings. And males are more persistence in using social media than females and had various failed attempts to reduce their use of social media. Furthermore, the amount of time both males and females used the Internet on a daily basis was fairly high, and almost all participants were involved in some sort of social media, specifically Whatsapp. More research is necessary to determine if possessing various personality traits and possible social and mental disorders could affect one’s vulnerability to becoming addicted to the social media.