CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

Background of the Study

As humans live in a generation of booming technology, social media has become part of

their daily lives. Social media helps almost every student in the world. It makes their life easier

because of social media. Either for entertainment, communication, socialization or for researching,

social media is commonly used. Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest are some of the social

media application that is used by most of the teenagers. Almost every student owns an account for

each social media site. It opens new opportunities to students to make new friends and be updated

on what’s happening in the social media world. It also helps students to temporarily escape their

problems.

However, too much use of social media makes a person addicted to it. It makes a person

change their attitude base on what they are learning in social media and affects the way people

interact with their colleagues and gain weight because of not doing anything. They see social media

more exciting and interesting rather than to interact with the society which mostly means isolating

themselves due to personal reasons. These actions clearly state that social media is far more

attractive than activities done physically and these are undeniably true to some people especially

to adolescents.

Wilson (2016) stated that too much media can cause a problem. The more social media a

person consumes exposes them to more problems such as addiction, cyber bullying, and exposure

to inappropriate content, and psychological effects. Social networking sites such as Facebook,

Snapchat, Twitter, and dozens of others allow people to stay in touch like never before. However,

some people spend so much time on these sites that it begins to interfere with their lives.
Psychologists are referring to this as a social networking addiction. According to Raja (2017), a

teenager may be feeling overwhelmed, curious, lonely, bored, stressed, depressed or even anxious

about something and may decide to go online to kill time. Once in the virtual world of the social

media, he will most likely forget his worries and feel better.

Study shows that social media addiction does not only affect our behaviour but as well as

the physical body (Raja, 2017). Teens may lose interest in meeting friends and spending time with

them. They may want to be on their own most of the time, even when their friends are around. And

teens could avoid social gatherings and may fall short on their commitments and schedules.

Teenagers may complain of frequent headaches and even discomfort in their eyes. They may not

be able to see properly and may have blurry or strained vision problems. They may not be able to

sleep properly and may have problems with falling asleep or staying asleep. They may toss and

turn in their sleep or start speaking while they are sleeping. Teens may experience fluctuating

weight. They could either gain or lose weight without any obvious reasons.

Social media is also now a part of education system in schools. According to Ito (2009),

teens use these technologies for a number of positive activities, which include delving deeper into

interest-driven communities and participating in various activities. Ahn (2011) adds that “Social

Network Sites (SNS) provide a platform for the youth to participate in communities that help them

to learn, and practice skills within a particular knowledge area”. Banquil (2009), found a

continuing drop of grades among students who use social networking sites.

Hence, it is the intention of the researchers to study and explain the extent of social media

addiction to the students and what urges them to get addicted to it. Eventually, this monitoring and

limitation of using social media could help or provide students have knowledge or insights and

greater understanding on social media addiction. The general basis for this research is also to
conduct on the possible causes and effects on participants that is addicted to social media such as

Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, and Instagram. In the growing generation of booming technology,

reliable and informative sources about this vogue topic is one of the society’s greatest needs and

as researchers, this human needs will be addressed.

Statement of the Problem

The foremost objective of this study is to explain the extent of social media addiction

among senior high school students. The general basis for this research is to conduct on the possible

causes and effects of social media addiction such as Facebook, YouTube, Twitter and Instagram

to the students. More specifically, it answered the questions:

1. What is the profile of the respondent in terms of:

a. Grade level

b. Number of hours they use social media

c. The commonly used social media networking sites that they use

2. What are the reasons why students gets addicted to social media?

3. What are the indication and signs that the student is addicted to social media?

4. What are the effects of social media addiction to the academic performance of the

students?

Scope and Delimitations

This study was conducted to explain the extent of social media addiction among secondary

school students in Tacloban City. The aspects looked into are the reason and cause of social media

addiction, the effects of social media addiction, the indications of social media addiction. This

study was conducted during the second semester of the school year 2017 – 2018.
 The data will be gathered in selected secondary school in Tacloban City. It will be

conducted during the student’s free time in order to not interrupt and disturb their discussion.

Significance of the Study

This study will be beneficial to all specifically to the following:

To the Students. This study may help students to be more informed about social media

addiction. The finding of this study will be a redound to the students that is using social media and

that too much of it can lead to social media addiction. It also informs them whether they are a

social media addict.

To the Parents. This study may help parents be aware of the signs and indication that their

child might be addicted to it. They may change their ways of living by engaging themselves to

support the passion of their children and they may engage themselves to more recreational

activities that would make their child busy.

To the School Administration. This will help the law makers of the school to implement

policies that can help students lessen their use of social media in school. This will also help the

school administrator to be aware of what is happening to the students.

To the Teachers. This study will aid teachers to implement the “DO’S” and “DON’T’S”

strictly. This study will improve their style in teaching and this will also give idea to the teachers

to have a technology based teaching style. This study would help teachers to make social media as

a platform for submission of assignment, projects, and such.

To the Future Researchers. This will serve as their related literature and will give them

idea to study further. They can uncover some critical aspects on what really social media is, and

why those some students lead to social media addiction and in a process that some of researcher

failed to explore more information