Social Media Usage Trends among Urban Female Undergraduates: A Case Study in Vijayawada City

Abstract

College students are the highest users of Social Media and it is imperative to understand the patterns, and purposes of usage, as well as possible changes wrought on their psyche and behaviour. This study aims to identify the present trends in social media usage among undergraduate female students in Vijayawada city, to discern - the devices used, memberships subscribed, purposes used, identity creation, networking time, negative effects and educational usage. A survey was conducted and data analyzed using SPSS-Statistic 19.0 software and results correlated with reviewed literature. The study revealed that notwithstanding the attitude of parents and teachers, the social media networking habits of the students will prevail and eventually the advantages will nullify the disadvantages; and though cell phones are banned on many college premises, they will certainly be used in the classrooms of the near future. The findings add substance to the ongoing research in this field.