Exploring the Virtual Realm: Social Networking and its Influence on Well-being and Anxiety among Students

Social networking sites can be used as a channel for the transmission of information, with varying benefits and drawbacks. While some research revealed that excessive usage of social media can lead to behavioural or social difficulties, others discovered that it can promote prosocial behaviours. The present study examines the influence of social networking on well-being and anxiety comparing 80 Male and 80 female social network users of having same demographic variables, age range between 18 to 25 years, by employing Lubben Social Network Scale: (Lubben, J. (1988), The Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS; Diener et al., 1985) and Anxiety scales of the subscales of the DASS-21 (Lovibond & Lovibond, 1995). The results displayed that well-being is higher in women than male social media users; but at the same time women were having higher anxiety than male students. The study had contribution to the academic that the social media had a positive impact on individual and social behaviour among the students which may be used to explain the importance of social media used in this contemporary society.