Prevalence and Nature of Internet Use among Adolescents in Vadodara (Gujarat)

Abstract

Internet has been a very facilitating medium and making lives easier for many of us. Internet is increasingly becoming a channel through which people, and especially adolescents, socialize and be in constant contact with their family, relatives and friends. More than a medium of acquiring knowledge, for adolescents, it has become a medium of expression of their implicit feelings and to know what is happening in their peer group. The current research aims to study the prevalence and nature of Internet use among adolescents. Population for the research included adolescents of Vadodara District in Gujarat. A total of 1657 adolescents were taken as the sample for the study. A survey research was conducted on 1657 adolescents using a self developed questionnaire along with Young’s Internet Addiction test. Results indicate that 44.8% of the participants are Average Users of the Internet, while 14.6% of the participants belong to the category of above average users of the Internet. The present study also shows that participants use the Internet mainly for social communication and social networking sites are the most commonly used sites on the Internet.