The Usage and Upshots of Social Networking Sites: A Study among Students of Engineering Colleges in Kozhikode City, Kerala

Abstract

Social Networking Sites (SNS) which is a popular mode of communication in present era is one of the well flourished tools of web 2.0 technology. It offers a varied spectrum of resources and services to the user community like messaging, blogging, sharing pictures, videos, events, interests with people in their network anywhere in the globe. It has a phenomenal influence in the political, economic, and educational domains of our social life. It has bought an evident makeover in the attitude, personality and academic performance of students who are the most ardent users of Social media. The main objective of this study is to examine the various aspects of usage of SNS like purpose and frequency, impact on academics, satisfaction level etc. Among engineering college students in the city of Kozhikode, Kerala. Structured questionnaires were used to collect data from a representative sample. The study unveils that majority of students uses SNS as an interactive platform for friendly communication and academic usage is comparatively less. Awareness need to be raised for the intelligent usage of social media by educating students about the applications, benefits, and risks related with social networking sites.