A STUDY ON THE INFLUENCE OF SOCIAL NETWORKING SITES ON THE INTERPERSONAL RELATIONSHIPS OF COLLEGE STUDENTS IN CHENNAI AND COIMBATORE CITIES OF INDIA

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1 A STUDY ON THE INFLUENCE OF SOCIAL NETWORKING SITES ON THE INTERPERSONAL RELATIONSHIPS OF COLLEGE STUDENTS IN CHENNAI AND COIMBATORE CITIES OF INDIA *PurinatYamakanith, Research scholar, School of Commerce, CMS College of Science & Commerce, Coimbatore. **Mr.P.Gurusamy, Assistant Professor, School of Commerce, CMS College of Science and Commerce, Coimbatore. ABSTRACT In India at present the usage of Social Networking Sites (SNS) amongst college going students has vastly increased and the usage of SNS has extensive influence on these students in numerous ways, particularly on their interpersonal relationships. The present study is placed in this context to examine the influence of SNS on interpersonal relationships of college students and also to construct a profile which can capture the college students usage pattern of SNS. Six hundred college students were selected from both Chennai and Coimbatore cities for generating primary data; questionnaire methods were used for the said purpose. In the present study the concept of social network and social networking sites are explained in detail through sociological perspective. A greater section of this article is dedicated for discussing the growth of SNS in India, particularly among the college students. It was found that the usage of SNS has effect on interpersonal relationships of college students, particularly with their members of family, friends and teachers. It was also found that due to the availability of SNS the communication between college students and their members of family, between college students and their friends has increased. In this study college going students usage pattern of SNS, their purpose of usage of SNS, the amount of the time they spend, their preferred SNS, degree of their trustworthiness of online friends and much more interesting aspects have been dealt keeping the scientific research as base. It provides an outlook for investigating the technological implications on society in the domain of sociology. Keywords: Social networking sites, interpersonal relationships, college students, social network, communication 48

2 Preamble: During the last two decades the world, in general and India, in particular has witnessed for remarkable changes in Information Technology (IT). The advancement in IT led to the emergence of Social Networking Sites (SNS). SNS are currently being used regularly by millions of people. The usage of SNS has been so widespread that they have caught the attention of academics worldwide. SNS are now being investigated by numerous social science researchers. An increasing number of social scientists are developing interest in studying SNS, because of its impact on society. Further, the usage of Social Networking Sites (SNS) among the people of India is evidently increasing, particularly among the Indian college students. It has invariably left a big impact on society in general and college students in particular. The term Social Networking Sites has been defined by different authors in several different ways. This leaves the reader with a feeling of being unsure of its real meaning. Social Networking Sites can be broadly defined as internet-based social spaces designed to facilitate communication, collaboration, and content sharing across networks of contacts. Social Networking Sites allow users to manage, build and represent their social networks online. Social Networking Sites are usually made up of other individuals; they might also include profiles of events, companies, even political parties. People use Social Networking Sites for countless activities. Among the most common uses are, connecting with existing networks, making and developing friendships/contacts, create an online presence for their users, viewing content/finding information, creating and customizing profiles and so on. Social Networking Sites have rapidly gained popularity. Globally the active memberships on SNS reached 320 billion in Review of Literature In the following review of existing studies on the related topic provide us a base to go ahead in the pursuit of understanding usage pattern of SNS by Indian college students. The study entitled The Influence of Social Networking Sites on the Interpersonal Relationships of College explores how today the importance of Social Networking Sites is increasing. Many SNS developers like Facebook, My space, Twitter and others are competing to give the best features in terms of socialization,interaction, privacy and even entertainment. This study primarily asks a major question: Does SNS usage affects interpersonal relationships? This study was aimed to determine the effects of SNS to the interpersonal relationships. It also focuses on analyzing the level of interpersonal relationships.through these SNS, people develop virtual interpersonal relationships. Tiffany A and et. al., (2008) millions of contemporary young adults use social networking sites. However, little is known about how much, why, and how they use these sites. In this study, 92 undergraduates completed a diary-like measure each day for a week, reporting daily time use and responding to an activities checklist to assess their use of the popular social networking site, Facebook. At the end of the week, they also completed a follow-up survey. Results indicated that students use Facebook approximately 30 min throughout the day as part of their daily routine. communicated on Facebook using a one-to-many style, in which they were the creators disseminating content to their friends. Even so, they spent more time observing content on Facebook than actually posting content. Facebook was used most often for social interaction, primarily with friends with whom the students had a pre-established relationship offline. In addition to classic identity markers of emerging adulthood, such as religion, political ideology, and work, young adults also used media preferences to express their identity. Implications of social networking site use for the development of identity and peer relationships are discussed. Pratyasha Jain (2011)this paper is focused to find out the answer whether the social networking sites are boon or bane for today's society. Social networking websites like Orkut, Facebook, MySpace and YouTube are becoming more and more popular and has become part of daily life for an increasing number of people. Because of their features, young people are attracted to social networking sites. No doubt these SNS provides employment, marketing, personal growth, sharing of information but the 49

3 most prevalent danger through often involves online predators or individuals. These SNS has great impact on youth of India. One can easily see the entry gate of these social networking sites but it is unable to find exit for these SNS. One side these sites provide to communicate with our dear ones websites can be useful for education based on sound pedagogical principles and proper supervision by the teachers on the other side it creates platform for many cybercrimes, and also distracts students from their studies, everyone should be understood that The SNS is a child of computing by computing but for the society. So we focused on the fact that how SNS are implementing and used in an effective manner that is also beneficial for Indian society and what are the role of Indian youth.in this paper we focused on the positive as well as negative impact of these social networking sites on the Indian youth and what are the ethical responsibilities of the users of these sites. Geetanjali Naidu &Sunil Agrawal (2013) In today's scenario social media became a very useful tool in buying behavior decision making. it is influencing customer/consumer in a dynamic manner. Now customer/consumer is taking help of social media regarding purchasing of any product. Social media like face book twitter Skype are going to play a very important role in consumer/customer buying behavior decision making. Now in today's scenario social media like Blogs, LinkedIn, face book, twitter, Skype, etc. are playing a very important role in consumer buying behavior decision making process directly and indirectly. In recent trend of innovation in management social media becomes powerful and cost free approach to promote product to consumer. As per the survey result India's 75 youth are using social media for sharing their thought and views and comment in different area of country. In our research study we try to find out impact of social media in buying behavior of consumer/customer with special reference to Raipur city. Objectives of the Study: 1. To engage in a Sociological analysis of the concept of interpersonal relationship with a special focus as the changing nature of inter-personal relationships. 2. To analyze the growth in the number and the pattern of impact of Social Networking Sites on college going students, particularly on their changing interpersonal relationships. Methodology This study primarily uses descriptive research design: The questionnaire survey method is used to collect demographic data about respondent s behavior, beliefs, opinions, interests and the like and the data thus generated is organized, analyzed and interpreted. A purposive sample of college students in Bangalore and Mysore cities was selected for eliciting the study data. 600 students were selected from ten colleges in Chennai and Coimbatore cities. A detailed list of all the colleges providing education for degree courses and pre-university level in Chennai and Coimbatore cities was obtained from university sources. The primary data for this study was generated from six selected colleges in Chennai and Coimbatore cities. The choice of Chennai city is primarily rooted in the fact that it is considered as one of India s IT hub and is also home to the highest number of Internet connections in Tamil Nadu. Further, these cities have large number of educational institutions and colleges. Coimbatore is one of the important cities in Tamil Nadu state and it is the second-largest city in Tamil Nadu. Coimbatore has now emerged as a technology hub and being considered as the next IT hub is the primary reason for the real estate boom and there are a lot of Computer Science & Engineering Colleges in Coimbatore. In order to gather data from the respondents and questionnaire were used as research tool. The Questionnaire which is the primary tool of data collection is framed taking into consideration the 50

4 primary objectives of the study. With the help of few sample questions a brief questionnaire was distributed to all the selected colleges in order to identify the users of SNS. Framework of Hypothesis It's a statistical procedure used to support (accept) or not support (reject) the hypothesis based on sample is the only source of current information about the population. Because our sample is a probability sample and therefore representative of the population, the sample results are used to determine whether or not the hypothesis about the population parameter has been supported. A hypothesis has been framed for this study and they are: 1. There is no significant relationship between frequencies of the usage of SNS and preference over the usage of SNS (per week) of the college students. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION Analysis and Interpretation: The table No.1 gives general information of the respondents. The total size of the sample is were selected from Chennai city and another 300 were from Coimbatore city. These 600 college students were further divided into two more sections on the basis of their level of education and gender. Here an attempt is made to give the equal proportion to each selected sample. The table No. 2 depicts the usage pattern of college students; the frequency of the usage of SNS. According to the table shows total 39.2 of college students in Chennai and Coimbatore cities spend 4-7 hours per week for using SNS. Quite significant numbers of people (29.3) are spending 8-12 hours per week to use SNS. The comparison of this data among the college students of Chennai and Coimbatore cities is quite interesting. In Coimbatore city 42 of college students spend 4-7 hours on using SNS but in Chennai city same amount of time is spent by only 36.3 of students. Table No.1 General Profile of the Respondents Region College in Chennai City College in Coimbatore City Level of Student s Education male Gender female Total Pre-University Level Degree Level Pre-University Level Degree Level Total

5 Time Table No.2 Frequency of the Usage of Social Networking Sites (per week) College in Chennai City Colleges in Coimbatore City Total no. of Total Less than 1 hour hours hours hours More than 12 hours The table No.3represents views of the college students on changing nature of interpersonal relationships with their respective members of family. The total 82.8 of college students have agreed and total 17.2 have disagreed any changes in their interpersonal relationship with their family members. Hence there is a major influence of SNS on the changing college student s interpersonal relationships with their members of family. The table No.4 shows total 84.7 of college students in both Chennai and Coimbatore cities have responded positively that they communicate with their family members more increasing due to the availability of SNS. In this regard there is no much difference between college students of Chennai and Coimbatore. Only total 15.3 of college students have responded negatively. The table No.5 is quite related to the previous issue we are dealing with. Total 81.2 of college students in both Chennai and Coimbatore cities have responded positively that they have been changed in their relationship with their family members after started using SNS. In this regard there is no much difference between college students of Chennai and Coimbatore. Only total 18.8 of college students have responded negatively Table No.3 Changing Interpersonal Relationships with the Members of Family College in Colleges in Chennai City Coimbatore City Total no. of Total Opinion Agree Disagree

6 Table No.4 The Increasing Level of Communication with the Family due to the Usage of SNS College in Colleges in Chennai City Coimbatore City Total no. of Opinion Total Yes No Table No.5 Changes in the relationship with the family after using SNS College in Colleges in Chennai City Coimbatore City Total no. of Opinion Total Yes No The table No.6 shows the changes in interpersonal relationship of the college students and their friends. The question has the usage of SNS altered the nature of your relationships with your friends, for that 81.5 of total college students of both Chennai and Coimbatore cities have agreed and only 18.5 have disagreed with the statement. The table No.7 One Way ANOVA shows the results that the calculated value of F > F crit. Therefore, we rejected the null hypothesis. Hence, there is significant relationship between frequency of the usage of SNS and preference over the usage of SNS of the college students. Table No.6 Changing Interpersonal Relationships with the Friends College in Colleges in Chennai City Coimbatore City Total no. of Opinion Total Agree Disagree

7 Table No.7 The relationship between frequency of the usage of SNS and preference over the usage of SNS of the college students Preference over Frequency of the usage of SNS the usage of SNS Less than 1 hour 1-3 hours 4-7 hours 8-12 hours More than 12 hours Total Facebook YouTube Twitter Orkut MySpace Others Total ANOVA Source of Variation SS df MS F P-value F crit Rows Columns Error Total Findings: The respondents of this study were collected from the college students both in Chennai and Coimbatore as equality at 50, the majority (39.2) of both college students were using SNS 4-7 hours per week, (82.8) of them agreed with they have changed interpersonal relationship with the members of family, (84.7) of them said yes that there were increasing the level of communication with the family due to the usage of SNS, (81.2) of them said yes that there were changing in the relationship with the family after using SNS, (81.5) of them agreed with they have changed interpersonal relationship with the friends and (68.5) of them preferred to use face book most. Conclusion: Through the above analysis it is found that the usage of SNS influences interpersonal relationships of college students. It was considered college students interpersonal relationships only with their members of family and their friends. The usage of SNS brought lots of changes in interpersonal relationships between these students and members of family and it also helped students to have more communication with their family members. It is also true with their friends. The majority (68.5) of the college students in both Chennai and Coimbatore cities use Facebook and second only 16.8 of them use YouTube. The majority 81.5 of total college students in both Chennai and Coimbatore cities have agreed with using of SNS altered the nature of their interpersonal relationships with their friends. The present study provides a major base for analyzing the technological implications on society in the domain of sociology. The present research based study confirms the implications of social networking sites on the interpersonal relationships of college students. 55

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