Social Media Habits of Youth in Pakistan and the Role in Developing Social Capital

Abstract

The core objective of the study was trifold in nature (i) to investigate the social media habits among youth. (ii) To analyze the magnitude and direction of relationship among communicative use, friending, self-disclosure, bonding and bridging social capital among youth. (iii) To investigate the magnitude regarding the impact of communicative use, this includes the phenomenon of bonding, friending, bridging social capital and selfdisclosure among youth. A cross-sectional research design was followed, and n=384 students were selected from 6 renowned public universities of Punjab, Pakistan. Data was collected through a questionnaire comprised of socioeconomic status, media habits, friending, and self-disclosure, bridging and bonding capital items. Acquired responses were analyzed through SPSS-21, and hypothesis was tested through Pearson Correlation coefficient p<.01<0.5, and the magnitude of the effect was determined through a linear regression model. There was a significant positive correlation found between friending, communication use, bonding, self-disclosure, and bridging the social capital through social media and regression model findings showed a significant effect of communicative use on bonding social capital and self-disclosure on bridging social capital through social media among youth.