Relationship between Social Media and Loneliness among Students of Federal University Otuoke, Nigeria

Abstract

The study examine the relationship between Social Media Addiction and Loneliness among students in Federal University Otuoke , Bayelsa State ,One Hundred and Thirty-four participants randomly drawn from the University campus was used for the study  The study used the UCLA loneliness scale to get measures for loneliness while a specific time range was used to get measures for Social Media addiction After subjecting the data using the independent t test and the Anova analysis the study found out that  social media addiction has a significant influence on loneliness. (t (132) =4.731 p<.05) also study revealed that age does not have a significant influence on loneliness (F (5, 128) = 1.697 p>.05)moreover there is no significant difference of gender on loneliness. (t (132) = .703 p>.05)and there is a significant influence of average hour spent on social media on loneliness. Subsequently the study recommended that mental health experts should Double up efforts in raising awareness about the increase in social media addiction in the society and make effort to mitigate the trend. Ensure that they provide intervention therapy to help people overcome any form of maladjustment. and individuals should also strive to ensure that they moderate the use of social media.