Does Social Media Make Unhappy? A Research on the Effect of Social Media Platforms Usage on Happiness in Demographic Crack

Abstract

The new technologies brought by the digital age are changing how individuals and societies communicate, learn, work and manage. Digital tools and platforms that have developed thanks to technology have made people's lives easier while affecting their emotions, thoughts, and behaviors. Thanks to digital tools, communication has become independent of time and space, and distances have become closer. People who had to be isolated due to the coronavirus epidemic have increased their use of digital technology to communicate with their loved ones, get information, work, learn, socialize, and have fun. According to the results of TÜİK's “Household Information Technologies (IT) Usage Survey, 2021”, the internet usage rate in 2021 is 82.6%, and the rate of those who use the internet regularly is 80.5%. On the other hand, according to the results of the World Happiness Report by Gallup, Turkey ranks 112th in the World Happiness Ranking. While Turkey's happiness level has shown a decreasing momentum since 2016, social media usage rates are increasing. In line with these data, the research aims to determine the effect of social media platform use on happiness. Descriptive research, one of the quantitative research types, was used in the research design with the experimental research method. Within the scope of the research, an online questionnaire was applied to 170 white-collar employees, who were reached by convenience sampling method. According to the research results, happiness is similar according to the duration of use of social media platforms.