Social media use motives among post graduate students of agricultural sciences

Introduction

Social media usage is on the rise since the early 2000s. Nowadays social media plays a crucial role in the lives of young adults. In recent years, the proliferation of social media platforms has revolutionized the way individuals communicate, interact, and consume information. With the advent of smartphones and easy access to the internet, social media has transformed the way individuals communicate, share information, and interact with one another. There were 751.5 million internet users in India at the start of 2024, when internet penetration stood at 52.4 per cent. India was home to 462.0 million social media users in January 2024, equating to 78 per cent of the total population. A total of 1.12 billion cellular mobile connections were active in India in early 2024, with this figure equivalent to 78.0 percent of the total population. (DIGITAL 2024 INDIA Report) [1] . Social media use motives refer to the reasons or purpose behind using social media platforms. One of the primary social media use motives is social interaction. Students use social media platforms to connect with friends and family, to join online communities and groups. Social media platforms enable users to engage in real-time conversions with others. Also, the significant motive for social media use is information seeking. Individuals use social media to stay up to date with current events, find answers to questions related to the research work, and learn new things. Entertainment is also a major motive for social media usage. In addition to these motives, social media use can also be driven by self-expression and personal identity. People use social media to share their thoughts and express their opinions and perspectives and showcase their creativity and talents. Social media use is not specifically limited to adolescents as adults also use social media platforms as an important socializing and information tool Heo et al., (2015) [5] , Schivinski et al., (2019) [13] with social media use influencing different types of behavior across the entire lifespan Kuss et al., (2013) [7] Schivinski et al., (2019) [13] . Previous research investigating the negative outcomes of social media use indicated that problematic social media use www.extensionjournal.com (PSMU) may lead to deteriorated psychological well-being Huang (2012) [6] , Lin et al., (2016) [10] and overall health Pontes (2017) [11] , Brailovskaia et al., (2020) [3] . One of the most prominent negative effects of social media use relates to problematic use stemming from dysregulated usage Kuss and Griffiths (2017) [8] often triggered by the design of the social media platforms. According to Twienge and Campbell (2019) [14] , social media use also helps people feel more connected to others, which may lessen social isolation. Social media plays an important role in the lives of people of all ages as they take advantage of their sense of belonging in various communities Roberts and David (2020) [12] . It offers a variety of ways to interact with both weak ties, such as co-workers, acquaintances, strangers, and close ties, such as family, friends, and relatives Chen and Li (2017) [4] .

Objective: To study social media use motives among post graduate students of agricultural sciences

Methodology

The "Ex-post-facto" research design was used for the study. This "Ex-post-facto" design was considered appropriate because the phenomenon has already occurred. It is the most systematic empirical study in which the researcher does not have direct control over independent variables because their manifestations have already occurred. The students from master's degree and doctoral degree were selected as respondents for this study. Total sample size comprised of 216 post graduate students from only agricultural sciences. The proportionate sample selected from each university on basis they're of their intake capacity. The total 216 students were selected among that 192 were social media users and 24 were non users. The data was collected through online survey using the KOBO Tool box. The necessary information was collected from the respondents with the help of the standardized questionnaire prepare using Kobo Toolbox application for the study. The proper instructions and information provided to the students for getting accurate data. Simple Random sampling method used. They were assured that the information collected would be used only for the study purpose without disclosing their identity. Social media use motives measured with the help of social media use motives scale adopted from Ali Iffat et al., (2019) [2] . There were five dimensions such as diversion, cognitive need, affective need, personal integrative needs, social integrative need including 20 statements. The responses were obtained on five points continuums namely strongly agree, agree, neutral, disagree, strongly disagree with a score of five, four, three, two and one respectively. The dimensions of social media use motives were ranked on the basis of percent scores.

Results and Discussion

Social media use motives refer to the underlying reasons or purposes that drive individuals to use social media platforms, such as to connect with others, seek information, share experiences, or alleviate loneliness. Here the rank given to the dimensions of student's social media use motive shown below Table 1. The survey result indicated that social media use was driven by various motives, including diversion, cognitive needs, affective needs, personal integrative needs, and social integrative needs. Diversion dimension indicated that (20.31%) of respondents strongly agree that they used social media to feel less lonely, while (28.13%) strongly disagree. The (48.44%) of respondents disagree that they used social media to pass time when bored. Cognitive Need dimension indicates that (35.94%) of respondents strongly disagree that they used social media for research and studies and (36.98%) of respondents disagree that they used social media to search for jobs or online business/scholarship opportunities. Affective Needs dimension expressed that (28.13%) of respondents strongly agree that they used social media to express their emotions to others easily. While (35.42%) of respondents strongly agree that they used social media to develop romantic relationships. Personal Integrative Needs (28.13%) of respondents strongly agree that social media was part of their self-image and (31.25%) of respondents strongly agree that people used social media to judge them. Social Integrative Need (31.77%) of respondents strongly disagree that they used social media to communicate with friends. While the (35.42%) of respondents disagree that they explore social media to stay in touch with family. The previous findings from personality psychology demonstrated that social media users tend to be slightly more extraverted than non-users Marengo et al., (2020) [9] and it is well-known that extraverts have a stronger urge to socially interact with other persons.

Conclusion

It was observed that the utilization of social media was driven by a range of motives, including socializing, self-expression, and information-seeking. The findings also indicated that students had mixed opinions about the role of social media in their lives, with some using it to feel less lonely or to develop romantic relationships, while others hold different opinion. This study helped to inform and build strategies for promoting healthy social media use and mitigating potential negative effects. From the study, the majority (22.47%) of respondents used social media platforms for personal integrative need to enhanced their self-esteem, develop identity while other respondents used social media for affective need, diversion need, social integrative need and cognitive need.

References

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