Why Do People Use Social Media So Often? What are the Contributing Factors? Is Loneliness One of the Major Contributing Factor?

Nearly a decade ago, there were no major social media platforms, but during last 10 years, there has been major increase in the number of social media sites and users. On the other hand, depression, loneliness, anxiety, etc. are also becoming widespread and common among teenagers and youths of our country. According to a WHO report, 36% of the Indian population is suffering from depression, majority of them are between age 6 to 25. So, this research has been carried to find out the contributing factors among youths and teenagers for the frequent usage of mainly three social media apps: WhatsApp, Facebook and Instagram. The data was collected through a questionnaire. The sample population was 100 college going students. Through the study it was found that 65% of the participants use all the three social media apps. 29% of them used it as a tool for the expression of their thoughts, while 27% of them used it to keep in touch with their loved ones.