THE EFFECT OF SOCIAL MEDIA ADDICTION LEVEL ON THE DAILY LIFE ACTIVITIES OF STUDENTS AT IZMIR KÂTIP CELEBI UNIVERSITY

Abstract

Purpose: With the increasing popularity of social media, the possibilities offered by social media attract the attention of users of social networks. However, excessive and problematic use of social media causes some defects in people’s individuality, especially at the point of “connecting with the society” and most importantly, psychological dependencies. In this study, the effect of social media on daily life was analysed by applying an online survey of İzmir Kâtip Çelebi University undergraduate students aged 18-30.Material and Methods: The 236 people from 18 different departments participated in the study between December 2020-April 2021. Asked questions consisting of two parts named personal information form (age, gender, social media usage, daily social media usage time) and social media addiction scale (the impact of students’ use of social media on their daily life) to the participants. SPSS program was used in the analysis of the data.Results: As a result of the analysis, no significant relationship was found between social media usage and social media addiction (p>0,05). However, when the duration of daily social media usage is compared with the effect of social media use on daily life, a meaningful result has been obtained (p<0,05).Conclusion: It has been observed that as the duration of social media use increases, the person exhibits more addictive behaviors. In order to reduce addictive behaviors, it would be appropriate to reduce the time spent by the person on social media.