Social Media and Youth: Uses, Problems, and Prospects in Southern Punjab (Pakistan)

Abstract

The current study aimed to explore and investigate the social media uses and gratifications among the youth of Southern Punjab with regard to problems and prospects. The researcher aimed to investigate the social media usage behavior, preferences, gratification,and motives of the youth aged between 17-25 years to measure the prospects and problems of social media usage patterns. It was also measured that the level of impact of social media on social interactions, on religious information and level of trust and reliability over the information provided by social media websites. A survey research design has been utilized as a data collection tool. A total of 1200 respondents were selected by purposive sampling technique from the three selected districts. The results supported both theories Uses and Gratification and Social Learning as there was significant difference in usage patterns among youth belonging to different socio-demographic characteristics.