Abstract
Background: One of the revolutionary applications in the last few years is the social media which enhanced easy communication between people from different localities. Social media enters the daily lives of people and becomes an essential technology. According to the latest statistics, social media users are approximating 4.74 billion worldwide with average use of 2.5 hours per person.
Aim: This study focused the light on the potential effects of social media on the social life of people, the psyche of individuals, and the academic performance of students.
Methods: A cross-sectional study was carried out on 512 participants of both sexes and of different socio-demographic backgrounds in Nineveh Governorate over a period of 6 months. For the academic aspect, the questionnaires were allocated to 486 students from the total participants. The questionnaires were designed to cover as much as possible the potential effects of social media on the social, psychological, and academic aspects of life.
Results: The use of social platforms made three quarters of the participants experienced some sorts of psychological problems such as anxiety and depression, 38% were negatively affected by bad comments, in addition to lonliness feeling, all of them showed significant association (P < 0.001). Howerver, the social media did not affect the social life of the participants and their communications. Inversely, most users confirmed that social platforms enhanced their academic performance despite the effects of wasting time and reduced focussing on their study.
Conclusions: Social media have variable effects on individuals’ life. They have negative effects on the psychological status, neutral on the social life, and positive on the educational level. Knowledge of these effects is crucial to avoid the harmful effects and achieve the greatest benefit from using these platforms
