Social media and addiction. The effect of social media on the social life of post-adolescence young people


Georgia Papanikou
Στέφανος Αρμακόλας
Χρήστος Παναγιωτακόπουλος
Ιωάννης Δρίτσας
Abstract

The systematic use of social media has been linked to the appearance of symptoms of anxiety, symptoms of depression, burden on the psychological well-being of users, low self-esteem, psychological discomfort, even loneliness and isolation. The main purpose of this research was to investigate the degree to which post-adolescent people (18-21 years old) in the wider area of Patras are addicted to social media. For the purposes of the research, the quantitative method of data collection and analysis was chosen using a questionnaire consisting exclusively of closed questions, while the sample consisted of a total of 127 young people who live in the wider area of Patras. Overall, this research seems to confirm the tendency of post-adolescent youth to use social media to enhance their sociability. Nevertheless, it seems that the use of social media by the young people in the sample is not of such a degree and of such a nature that their social life is threatened. Essentially, then, the results of the present research converge more towards the opinion that the use of social media does not seem to negatively affect the social life of the young people in the sample.

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