Exploring the Variation in the Reasons for the Use of Social Media by Adolescents over a Period of Time

Abstract

Information and Communication Technology and its applications for social media, have helped humanity greatly and continue to do so. The significance of social media in terms of communication cannot be overstated. The emergence of mobile phones that support social network applications has given social media a new dimension and promoted increased engagement.Students have been using social media for various purposes since its advent, therefore, the researcher aimed at studying the variations in the reasons of using social media initially and presently by them. The researcher used primary data for the purpose, which was collected by administering questionnaires for students. The data was analyzed using crosstabulation and factor analysis with the help of SPSS version 25. The results revealed that earlier students use social media for more socialization like making new friends, video chatting, sharing information, chatting with friends and family learning singing etc. However,drastic change in the reasons of using social media can seen as now they are more inclined towards social media as a sourceof earning money, blogging, vlogging as well as for academic purpose.