The Lived Experience of Female Adolescent Students With Regards to Social Media Use in Addis Ababa and Its Perceived Psychosocial Effect
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Date
2023-10
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Addis Ababa University
Abstract
This study examines the lived experiences of female adolescent students in Addis Ababa that use social media platforms on regular basis, with a focused analysis on the perceived impact of their use on their psychosocial wellbeing.
As more and more people are seeking to increase their social engagements online, research professionals have expressed a growing concern over the need for understanding the psychosocial impacts of social media use. At the same time, there is a dearth of qualitative research exploring the association between social media and psychological and social ailments. However, most lack the appropriate context to be applicable in a country like Ethiopia, as there are considerable cultural, social differences and individual peculiar understanding.Employing a phenomenological framework, the purpose of this study was to investigate the lived experiences of adolescent females in Addis Ababa with regular use of social media. Semi-structured interviews were used to generate rich, detailed descriptions of the phenomenon. Data analysis from narrative dialogues illuminated three essential themes: (a) Common use of specific social media platforms across participants along with a significant amount of time spent by the participants per day on those platforms. (b) increased occurrences of mood variations like feelings of anxiety and low mood along with reduced self-esteem. (c) A common feeling that it has significant impact on their productivity and academic performances.
Conclusion and Implication of this study underscores the need for Interventions regarding regular adolescent engagements on these platforms particularly using youth education and with active involvement of parents, teachers and policy makers to play a role to counteract the negative consequences of regular social media use.Female Adolescent Students and Social Media…