ISSN 2348-3156 (Print)

International Journal of Social Science and Humanities Research ISSN 2348-3164 (online)
Vol. 4, Issue 3, pp: (376-380), Month: July - September 2016, Available at: www.researchpublish.com

THE PLUGGED-IN LIFE OF TEENS:

IMPACT OF SOCIAL MEDIA ON
INTERPERSONAL COMMUNICATION
AMONG ADOLESCENCES
1
Dr. Neeraj Kumar, 2Dr. Anita Arora, 3Ms. Taruna Narang
1
Principal, 2,3Assistant Professor, Smt. Jawala Devi College of Education, Sanghol, District Fatehgarh Sahib, Punjab

Abstract: New digital media have dramatically altered the communication landscape, especially for adolescence.
With the growing popularity of Internet communication among adolescents, the Internet, social media, instant
messaging and cell phones have become important social tools in their life. This study is concerned with examining
adolescences’ use of social media and the role that social media plays on how adolescents communicate with others
on interpersonal level. A questionnaire was designed and distributed to the selected sample in the area
surrounding district Fatehgarh Sahib, Punjab in order to analyze the effect of social media on the interpersonal
communication among adolescence. The data were gathered from 500 adolescents (ranged from 13-18 years).
Findings show that adolescents rely too much on social media and their interpersonal relationships and
communication has been significantly affected by it.
Keywords: Adolescence, Social media, Social networking sites.

1. INTRODUCTION
During the last two decades the world, in general and India, in particular has witnessed for remarkable changes in
Information Technology and it led to the emergence of Social Networking Sites (SNS) which are currently being used by
millions of Indian adolescences and it has far reaching impacts on their interpersonal communication skills. SNS enable
rapid exchange of knowledge, high levels of dialogue and collaborative communication through text, audio and video.
(Boyd & Ellison, 2007). It appears that in today’s society someone may be lead on to believe that the Internet has begun
to take over direct communication skills within families. Social media and adolescents have become a major topic in
today’s society or there may be a possibility that communication skills amongst teenagers may begin to diminish.
Adolescents have now been given the tools and technology to maintain their lives without speaking a word to someone
face-to-face. In contrast this may have a negative effect on their communication skills within their interpersonal life.

2. REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE

There are several studies that have addressed the impact of social networking sites on the interpersonal communication of
adolescence:
Shim (2007) examined the impact of the Internet on the face to face communication of teenagers. The study aimed to
determine the relationship between high school students’ use of Internet and face-to-face communication with family
members and their friends at Carpnde lschool in the state of Illinois, USA. The study found out that the Internet influences
the behavior of students because it reduced the desire to connect personal, face-to-face communication with their families
and friends.

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Research Publish Journals
 ISSN 2348-3156 (Print)
International Journal of Social Science and Humanities Research ISSN 2348-3164 (online)
Vol. 4, Issue 3, pp: (376-380), Month: July - September 2016, Available at: www.researchpublish.com

Mecheel (2010) investigated the impact of the social networking on the social relations on a sample of (1600) young users
of social networks in Britain, The results showed that more than half of the youth who used the sites, admitted that they
spend more time on the internet more than on the real friends or with family members. The study also showed that about
53% of those who participated in the survey state that the social networks of Internet change their lifestyles.
Idakwo (2011) examined the use of social media among Nigerian youths. Findings revealed that most people use
Facebook more than other social media channels in Nigeria. Also, most respondents concurred to the fact they use the
social medial especially Facebook, as an alternative to other conventional communication media.74% admitted to using
Facebook as an alternative to other kinds of communication.
Rantai, Hamdan and Hamid (2014) investigated theinfluence of social media in enhancing positive relationship among
Youth. The variables discussed in the research were the purpose of using social media, the social media frequently used,
and the usage of social media in enhancing positive relationship among youth. Findings revealed that the students used the
social media for chatting, entertainment, and seeking news. The students also agree that the social media can be used to
enhance positive relationship among youth.

Objectives
1. To explore the extent of adolescences’ exposure to SNSs.
2. To determine the nature/patterns of adolescences’ interactions on SNSs and
3. To determine the impact of SNSs usage on adolescences’ interpersonal communication.

Hypotheses
1. There is no statistically significant effect of the number of hours of using social networking sites and interpersonal
communication with others.
2. There is no statistically significant effect of the use of social media on the interpersonal communication of
adolescence with others.

Research Design
The research design for this study is the descriptive survey research design. A descriptive survey seeks to find out certain
facts concerning an existing phenomenon. The area of the study is Fatehgarh Sahib District, Punjab. The choice of the
area is for proximity and to ensure effective distribution and collection of data through the use of a questionnaire.

Research Instrument
The instrument for data collection is a self constructed questionnaire. The questionnaire has been designed for the
purposes of the study consisting of three parts: the first part includes the independent variables such as age, gender and
area, the second part includes 10 items about social media usage. The third part includes the effects of social networks on
the interpersonal communication among adolescences containing 20 items.

3. STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

The growth and popularity of social networking sites have generated concerns among school authorities, communication
experts and socio-psychological researchers about the benefit and potential risks facing adolescences, as they engage in
online social networking to cater for their social and information needs rather than oral or face-to-face communication.
The current tools of teenage communication go by a peculiar set of names. Wall Posts, Status Updates, Activity Feeds,
Thumbs Ups, Smilies and Profiles are some of the ways that teens today communicate with one another. The use of social
media can directly shape and form the behavioural patterns of adolescence as they learn develop a sense of self and form
their own opinions and judgments based on their interpersonal communication within online social networks. The
communication techniques that they develop may possibly be a direct result of these learned behaviours and could be
derived from their social networking. However, social networking could prove to be benefit or negative influence on teens
and their overall behaviour and communication skills.

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International Journal of Social Science and Humanities Research ISSN 2348-3164 (online)
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4. FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION

The findings are discussed in light of the study objectives and hypotheses. The findings of the study showed the
following:
4.1 Findings
Demographies
The purpose of this research study was to investigate the impact of the social media on the interpersonal communication
among adolescence. A total of 520 adolescents were asked to respond to a questionnaire. Out of these, 500 participants
who met research criteria were selected. Out of the participants 59% were male and 41% were female. The average age of
the participants was 16.5 years. An overwhelming majority of 92.2% were between 15-17 years old, while 6.8% were
between 13-14 years old. This indicates that all of the respondents belonged in the teenage years, with majority falling
between mid and late teenage.
Social Networking Accessibility
Respondents were asked three closed ended questions regarding access to cell phones, computers, and profiles on the
social networking sites. The participants in the survey reported they either own or have access to a cell phone with texting
capability and a computer with the ability to connect to the Internet. Majority of the respondents i.e. 61.7% said they own
mobile phones, 14.8% said they used cyber cafes, 12.7% said they used laptops and 6.7% said they used their parents‘
mobile phones. This results in easy access and the convenient option to participate in social networking.
Social Network Usage
 Almost 98 % adolescents spend more than two hours a day using the social media. 78 % of the respondents spend
more than three hours on social media. 38.3 % of the participants spend more than four hours on social media at home
or in schools.

 Friends or peers are the significant factor in introducing respondents to the Internet or social media.
 A large number of the respondents (86.4%) reported facebook as their first social media program and it was closely
followed by Whats app with 83.6% of the respondents visiting it daily.

 Furthermore, chatting was the most popular initial usage of the social media with 79.8% admitting so. Becoming
updated on friends’ activities was at a high 65 % while keeping up with trending topics at 12 %. Zero respondents
claim that they use the social media for playing online games.
 Since chatting was the most popular usage, it can be safely assumed that adolescence’s interpersonal relationships and
communication has been significantly affected by it.
 92.8% respondents said that social networking sites have helped them keep in touch with friends, 94.8% said social
networking sites helped them meet new friends and 79% agreed that they felt out of touch when they had not logged
into Facebook for a while.
Social Media and Interpersonal communication
Respondents were asked to rate their level of agreement to various statements regarding their use of social media to
communicate with others. Respondents were also asked to answer various statements that reflected the prevalence of
specific social media behaviours to communicate with others.
A high 93.2% respondents agreed that they use social media more while in waiting rooms, hospitals, gatherings etc.
74.6% respondents strongly agreed that their personal communication is done through social media, 54.8% either agreed
or strongly agreed that social networking sites take away their face to face socializing time with family. A majority of
88.2% either agreed or strongly agreed that they prefer talking through social media than direct communication, 83.7%
either agreed or strongly agreed that their diction has changed by using social media, 71.7% strongly agreed that they
spend more time at home using social media than spending time with their family,
Respondents were asked to rate their level of agreement to various statements regarding their use of facebook and whats
app to communicate with others. Respondents were asked to rate their level of agreement to a statement regarding their
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International Journal of Social Science and Humanities Research ISSN 2348-3164 (online)
Vol. 4, Issue 3, pp: (376-380), Month: July - September 2016, Available at: www.researchpublish.com

perspective on how social networking has affected their interpersonal relationships. Results revealed that more
respondents felt they rely too much on whats app and facebook, while the majority felt that their ability to communicate
has been affected due to this usage. Also, the majority of respondents strongly felt that social media have helped them to
make more friends. All the respondents admitted that the social media have helped them to be in touch with friends.
Again, this proves the usefulness of the social media in improving relationships among adolescence. All respondents also
feel that the social media can improve interpersonal communication between friends. This again reflects the power of the
social media for cementing friendship. Respondents were then asked to respond to a statement that reflected a specific
behaviour of communication; results revealed that respondents use texting/whats app more often than facebook to have
conversations with others. It may be that the quick turnaround time and easier access to cell phones may be attractive
features of texting.
4.2 Testing Hypotheses
Hypothesis 1: There is no statistically significant effect of the number of hours of using social networking sites and
interpersonal communication with others.
This hypothesis was tested with the help of the table given below:

Item N Mean S.D. Co-relation Level of Significance

coefficient
Effect of number of hours
of using social media on 500 81.176 10.194 0.268 .01
Interpersonal
communication
To test the first hypothesis, Pearson correlation coefficients were used between the number of hours spent on using social
media and its effect on interpersonal communication. The results showed that there is a statistically significant
relationship between the number of hours of using social media on interpersonal communication, which implies that the
null hypothesis is rejected. It is therefore, concluded that the number of hours spent on using social media significantly
impact interpersonal communication among adolescence.
Hypothesis 2: There is no statistically significant effect of the use of social media on the interpersonal communication of
adolescence with others.
This hypothesis was tested with the help of the table given below:

Item N Mean S.D. Co-relation Level of

coefficient Significance
Effect of social
media on 500 81.176 10.194 0.289 .01
Interpersonal
communication
To test the second hypothesis, Pearson correlation coefficients were used between the use of social media and
communication with others. The results showed that there is a statistically significant relationship between the use social
media on interpersonal communication, which confirms the validity of the second hypothesis. It is therefore, concluded
that the social media usage significantly impact interpersonal communication among adolescence.
4.3 Discussion
Our results indicated that the majority of participants use social media frequently. In fact, our sample showed that our
participants use social media multiple times per day. The continual use of social media indicates that it has become an
integral part of daily life for these teens. Furthermore, a significant number of participants indicated they access social
media while in class and home, either from a mobile phone or computer. This finding indicates that teens frequently
engage in social media while communicating with others.
There are statistically significant relationships between the number of hours spent on social media and the effect of social
media on interpersonal communication, which confirms the validity of first and second hypotheses, meaning that the use
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 ISSN 2348-3156 (Print)
International Journal of Social Science and Humanities Research ISSN 2348-3164 (online)
Vol. 4, Issue 3, pp: (376-380), Month: July - September 2016, Available at: www.researchpublish.com

of social media makes it easier for the participants to communicate with others. However, social media affects the
interpersonal communication among adolescences. This is a logical and acceptable result, given that the subjects live in a
social environment in which there are some requirements of modern life such as technology and Internet.
Educational Implications
This research study offered insight into a possible relationship between how adolescences are incorporating social
networking into the ways they communicate with others. This research took a critical look at adolescences’ usage of
social media and how it impacts their interpersonal relationships. It so emerged that this generation has made social media
their top priority and continues to need more usage in order to feel satisfied. The results and implications from this study
can be used to improve relationships and communication through social media.

KEY TERMS DEFINED

Adolescence - is a young person whose age falls within the range from thirteen through nineteen (13–19)
Social media-refers to the means of interaction among people in which they create, share, and/or exchange information
and ideas in virtual communities and networks.
Social networking sites- virtual communities which mainly focus on user relationships‘ the members of this communities
create profile pages of themselves which have information about one self ,their backgrounds and any vital information
that may lead one to recognize another in these virtual communities.

REFERENCES
[1] Boyd, D. M., & Ellison, N.B. (2007). Social network sites: Definition, history, and scholarship. Journal of
Computer-Mediated Communication, 13(1), 131-137.
[2] Lenhart, A., Madden, M., Macgill, A.R., & Smith, A. (2007). Teens and social media. Washington, DC: Pew
Internet & American Life Project
[3] Mecheel, V. (2010).Facebook and the invasion of technological communities. NY: Newyork
[4] Shim, Y. S. (2007).The impact of Internet on teenagers’ face-to-face communication.Global Media Journal, 6(10).

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