A descriptive study on internet and social media use among college going students of Kangra district of Himachal Pradesh

Advancements in the field of communication in today’s scenario has played a major role in the development of the society. There were times when people wait for long to know about their near and dear ones well being. Then came the advancement in the field of communication and with the advent of telephones people start communicating verbally. Slowly and slowly the time came when people are able to communicate even when they are moving from one place to another. But now the technology has reached to its heights and now it is not only possible to communicate verbally but we can talk to each other by viewing. Various applications has made the societal outreach far more available and easily accessible to common man. From education to healthcare, from sports to fashion and from online buy to better communication it has benefited in almost all fields. Present study aims to assess the internet and social media usage among students and its effect on their health. The study was conducted on 100 college going students of district Kangra of Himachal Pradesh. In the study it was found that all of them are accessing it in their mobile phones. Internet was used by majority of the users for academic as well as entertainment and communication purposes. The most preferred sites used were WhatsApp, Instagram and Facebook. They mostly use it after dinner. Majority of the users (79%) reported its use for 2-3 hrs/day. More than half of the users have 200-250 friends on social media.