Social media addiction of social studies and class teacher candidates

Abstract

The use of social media entering our lives through Web 2.0 technology reaches wide audiences. Through social media, users can share information and have the opportunity to track the sharing of others. The use of mobile technologies, the Internet and smart phones increases the time that young people spend on social media. Increased use of social media may cause the individual’s addiction. The aim of this study is to determine teacher candidates' social media addiction status. The study group of the research consisted of 4th grade teacher candidates studying in the social studies and classroom teaching departments of Süleyman Demirel University during the 2018/2019 academic year. As for data collection, “Social Media Addiction” scale developed by Şahin, and Yağcı was used [1]. Data analysis was done by SPSS 22 program; in addition to descriptive statistics T-test was applied and significance was evaluated at p <0.05. As a result of the study, there was no significant difference according to gender. While there was no relationship between the students' study department and social media addiction, the sub-dimension of virtual communication was found to be significant for the students of social studies teaching department. Teacher candidates studying in social studies teaching department stated that they used social media for getting information, social awareness and current news and for determining and solving problems. It is possible to say that the social media and media literacy courses that the social studies teacher candidates have during their undergraduate studies have an effect on their awareness of media.