INTRODUCTION:

Social networking sites (SNS) are a tool to communicate with the people through web-based communities like Facebook, Orkut, MySpace, Twitter etc. Facebook, one of the leading Social Networking Site (SNS), currently has more than 500 million users of whom fifty percent log on to it every day.¹ As per the available data, nearly 96% of students are using any of the SNS. Over one third of all unique visits to Facebook were from users in the 18-24 year old age range and Facebook was the most frequently visited site in the world for the people aged between 17 and 25 years.

Wilson K, Fornasier S, White KM,² reported in their study that the higher user of SNS have addictive tendency. Pantic I et al, Beckert and Morrison CM^3-5 revealed after their study that the online social networking and internet addicted user shows depression. Students are making social relationship for attaining pleasure, enhancing mood, improving confidence and facilitating learning. And if somehow, they are not able to attain the desired goals then they will develop a sense of guilt, hopelessness or frustration. This means that it is having direct influence on their psychosocial wellbeing and existing social relationship. Hence, this study was planned to find out and report the pattern in which they use, how often they log in, how much time they spend, the purpose of using and their own opinion about its impact on their psychosocial wellbeing and academic performance.

The objectives of the study were to assess the pattern of social networking usage by nursing students of a selected college and to determine the impact of social networking on perceived psychosocial and academic wellbeing of nursing students.

METHODS AND MATERIALS:

Design

The study design was retrospective descriptive. Quantitative retrospective survey approach was used to collect the data regarding SNS use, pattern and its impact on psychosocial and academic wellbeing.

Sample and Setting

The target population was student studying nursing in Undergraduate or Diploma programme. The sample was selected from a selected college of nursing in Dehradun. Snow ball sampling method was used to select 150 SNS users from a selected nursing college. The first subject was identified through screening and one social networking user gave the reference of other social networking user and so on. Nursing students who were using social networking sites for minimum of one hour/day for at least four days a week since three months were included in the study if they consent.

Tools and techniques

Tools were self-constructed by the researchers for assessing the pattern of usage of SNS, perceived impact of SNS use on psychosocial wellbeing and academic performance. The tools were prepared after extensive literature review and were validated by the experts from the field of psychiatry, psychology, psychiatric nursing and education. The questionnaire to assess impact of SNS on psychosocial wellbeing included the domains of interpersonal aspects (six items), self confidence (four items), self concept (four items), life satisfaction (four items) and sleep (four items). It has 22 items in total each of the items was assessed on a six point Likert scale ranging from strongly agree to strongly disagree. Beck’s Depression Inventory, a 21-item standardised scale, was used to assess the depression level of the participants.

Ethical Clearance

Approval to conduct the study was obtained from the ethical committee of the Institute where the study was conducted and principal of the college of Nursing. Informed consent was obtained from all the participants after explaining the purpose of the study and ensuring confidentiality of the information.

RESULTS:

Nearly three-fourth (72.7%) of the participants were female and more than one third (38.7%) hails from urban area. Around three-fourth (73.4%) were having more than 10,000 rupees as their monthly family income and most of them (80%) belongs to Hindu religion. Around two third of the subjects (66%) were living in hostel.

Pattern of SNS usage

Table No. 1 shows the pattern of SNS use among nursing students. Eight percentages of students reported to have got intimate relationship through SNS and 4.7% got their life partner through SNS. A substantial proportion (37%) of the subjects was using SNS for two hours or more per day and majority (57.3%) of the participants were using SNS in the evening and late night.

Psychosocial Wellbeing

SNS usage (Table No.2 and 3) had a positive effect on perceived life satisfaction, self confidence and self concept of nursing students whereas had a negative effect on perceived interpersonal relationship and sleep pattern. But impact of SNS on some items of the self confidence had positive effect where as others had negative effect. More than three fourths (79.3%) of the SNS users think that they become more open and accessible to their friends after joining SNS. Three fourths (75.3%) of the student’s reported that their level of confidence has improved. Due to SNS, 66% students are able to present their self nicely in front of others. Most importantly, more than one fourths (28%) of the participants felt that they were addicted to SNS. One firth (20.7%) reported to use SNS after 11 pm in the night and 15% of the participants reported that they feel sleepy during day time and in class rooms (Table No.3).

Table No. 1. Pattern of usage of SNS among nursing students (N=150)

Variables		Frequency	Percentage
Total friends in SNS	Less than 50	38	25.3
	50-99	32	21.3
	100-200	44	29.3
	More than 200	36	24.0
SNS has become part of my daily routine		63	42.0
Feel out of touch when not logged into social networking for a day or two		59	39.3
Feel as a part of social networking community at the campus		93	62.0
Have got intimate relationship through social networking		12	8.0
Found life partner through social networking		7	4.7
Accept any anonymous friend requests		24	16
Accept anonymous friend requests of people whose profile seems to be impressive		42	28
Like to send friend requests to those users whose profile seems to be impressive		29	19.3

Table No. 2: Perceived positive impact of SNS usage on psychosocial wellbeing of nursing students. (N=150)

Rank order	Items of the Questionnaire (Positive impact)	Psychosocial Domain	Agreement
Rank order	Items of the Questionnaire (Positive impact)	Psychosocial Domain	f	%
1	I feel happy when my old friends send me request.	Life satisfaction	144	96.0
2	I feel good when my friends comments on my status.	Life satisfaction	142	94.7
3	I feel SNS is useful for me.	Life satisfaction	138	92.0
4	I am happy with my time used in SNS.	Life satisfaction	137	91.3
5	I have control over the usage of SNS in terms of time.	Self concept	121	80.7
6	Due to SNS, I have become more open and accessible to my friends.	Self confidence	119	79.3
7	Due to SNS, my level of confidence has improved.	Self confidence	113	75.3
8	Due to SNS, I am able to present myself nicely in front of others.	Self confidence	99	66.0
9	SNS has made my life easier.	Self concept	79	52.7

Table No.3: Perceived negative impact of SNS usage on psychosocial wellbeing of nursing students. (N=150)

Rank order	Items of the Questionnaire (Negative impact)	Psychosocial Domain	Agreement
Rank order	Items of the Questionnaire (Negative impact)	Psychosocial Domain	f	%
1	I feel low when my friends do not comment on my updates	Self confidence	58	38.7
2	After joining SNS, time spent on face to face interaction with friends has decreased a lot.	Interpersonal aspect	46	30.7
3	I never comment to my friends who do not comment on my updates/photos.	Self confidence	44	29.3
4	I feel addicted to SNS.	Self concept	42	28.0
5	I feel uninterested in my real environment or surrounding but more interested in the virtual environment (SNS).	Interpersonal aspect	41	27.3
6	I am using SNS till late night (beyond 11:00pm) regularly	Sleep	31	20.7
7	After joining SNS, time spent on face to face interaction with family has decreased a lot.	Interpersonal aspect	29	19.3
8	I lose my confidence when my updates are being commented negatively by my friends.	Self confidence	27	18.0
9	After joining SNS, I often argue with my parents while using it.	Interpersonal aspect	23	15.3
10	I feel sleepy during day time, due to SNS over usage at night.	Sleep	23	15.3
11	I am losing my sleep time in SNS activity.	Sleep	22	14.7
12	I feel bad when my friends neglect me for being busy in SNS in front of me.	Self confidence	20	13.3
13	I wake up late in morning due to SNS otherwise I used to wake up early in the morning	Sleep	14	9.3

Table No.4. Shows the impact of social networking sites usage on the academic performance of students. (N=150)

Rank order	Items of the Questionnaire	Agreement
Rank order	Items of the Questionnaire	F	%
1	Social networking helps me updating my knowledge in different areas.	134	89.3
2	Unlike books, I never feel fed up of social networking sites.	68	45.3
3	Unlike SNS, whenever I open my books I feel asleep.	63	42.0
4	Social networking sites consumes up my study time.	48	32.0
5	Earlier my morning used to start with books but now with SNS (e.g., facebook)	40	26.7
6	I am not able to complete my assignments on time due to social networking.	34	22.7
7	I am not able to stop using social networking sites, even during exam time.	31	20.7
8	I feel my marks are deteriorating due to social networking.	28	18.7
9	I feel compulsive to open social networking sites, even in classroom.	27	18.0
10	SNS has replaced books in my life.	19	12.7
11	I am not able to concentrate on my studies due to use of SNS.	17	11.3
12	I am physically present in class, but mind usually stick to the social networking activity.	15	10.0

Impact on Academic Performance

SNS usage has an impact on academic performance too as shown in Table No.4. Nearly one half (48%) of the SNS users agreed that it consumes their time otherwise utilized for study purpose. One fifths (20.7%) of the participants were agreed that they were not able to stop using SNS even during exam time. Nearly one fifth (18%) of the respondents agreed that they were using SNS in classroom and 18.7% students felt that their grade in exams were deteriorated due to social networking and 11.3% students were not able to concentrate in studies due to use of SNS. on the positive side of the SNS usage, 89.3% of the SNS users reported that SNS helps them update their knowledge.

The depression score of study participants was assessed using the standardized Beck Depression Inventory and the difference in depression score between high and low users of SNS was analysed using Mann Whittney U test. The depression score of the high users (Mean 11; range 0-35) of SNS was significantly higher (p<0.05) than that of low users (mean 6; range 90-39).

DISCUSSION:

Online social networking sites such as Facebook and Orkut are extremely popular as indicated by the numbers visits to the sites. They allow students to connect with users with similar interests, build and maintain relationships with friends, and feel more connected with their campus. Many studies on impact of SNS on psychosocial well being, addiction and other aspects were done on western countries, results of which can be compared with the results of the present study. In the present study, it was found that 28% of students were accepted that they are addicted to SNS. Similar findings were published by Wilson K, Fornasier S, White KM in 2010. In present study, high users of SNS were found to be having higher depression score than low users of SNS which was supported by the findings of Pantic I et al.

There were few positive impacts due to SNS as perceived by SNS using students most of which were related to their life satisfaction and self confidence. Interpersonal relationship and sleep quality had a negative impact due to SNS use by nursing students as perceived by them. Most of the participants felt that SNS help updating knowledge but agreed that it leads to sleepiness in classroom, lack of concentration, feeling addicted, deterioration in exam grades and not able to restrain form using SNS even during exam.

Special attention should be given to the nursing students who are using SNS heavily, as they are having significantly high depression score. Use of electronic media can be encouraged in nursing education as it helps in keeping the students updated and students become more open, confident and comfortable through them but use of SNS in classroom should be prohibited since it leads to lack concentration and attention.

REFERENCE:

1. Facebook Tops Billion-User Mark [Internet]. The Wall Street Journal (Fowler GA). [Cited 2012 Oct 4]. Available from: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB30000872396390443635404578036164027386112.html

2. Wilson K, Fornasier S, White KM. Psychological predictors of young adults’ use of social networking sites. Cyberpsychol Behav Soc Netw [Internet]. 2010 Apr [cited 2012 Mar 25]; 13(2):[about 4p.]. Available from: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/ pubmed/205282744

3. Pantic I, Damjanovic A, Topalovic D, Bojonovic JD, Ristic S, Pantic C. Association between online social networking and depression in high school students: behavioral physiology view point. Psychiatr Danub [Internet]. 2012 Mar [cited 2012 Mar 25];24(1):[about 3 p.]. Available from: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih. gov/pubmed/22447092

4. Moreno MA, Jelenchick LA, Equan K, Cox E, Young H, Gannon KE, USA, Felling bad on facebook : depression disclosure by college students on a social networking site. Depress Anxiety [internet]. 2011 Jan [cited 2012 Jan];28(6):[about 8 p.]. Available from: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21400639

5. Morrison CM, Gore H. The Relationship between excessive Internet use and depression: a questionnaire-based study of 1,319 young people and adults. Psychopathology [Internet]. 2010 Jan [cited 2012 Feb 2]; 43(2):[about 6 p.]. Available from URL:-http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20110764

Received on 28.04.2014 Modified on 22.05.2014

Int. J. Nur. Edu. and Research 2(2): April- June 2014; Page 131-134