Beyene, Zenebe (PhD)Worku, Mebratu2021-04-062023-11-082021-04-062023-11-082014-06http://etd.aau.edu.et/handle/123456789/25957The advance and popularity of the social media is increasing rapidly since the last few years. These social media have been noted for some benefits. This is especially in the socialization process by giving access to communicate with old ji-iends, new friends' and family. Social medialFacebook has also been used as a source of news and as a vehicle for political and humanitarian causes too. However, these benefits do not erase the foars associated with the usage of these forms of media. These fears range ji-om privacy issues to waste of time, addiction, Loss of educational achievements, eliminating interpersonal communication in its most original form and many others. However, the aforementioned social media impacts remains hazy when it comes to the case of Ethiopia, especially of the young students. This study, therefore, examines the usage and related impacts of Facebook, one of the most popular social media, among young University Undergraduate students in Ethiopia. Accordingly, using the uses and gratifications, media dependency and the network society theories as a theoretical guide, the study investigated 'why for' and 'how' HE students in the country use Facebook. Obsen'ation and questionnaire has been used to collect data from 300 respondents studying at four different HE institutions. Hence, the finding shows that many students in the HE institutions are heavy users of Facebook with many already tending toward excessive usage and over dependency. Many undergraduates access their Facebook account several times a day and spend an average of 1-2 hours per day. Furthermore the study provide consistent evidence that chatting and messaging as well as posting and viewing photos as the most frequent activities of these undergraduate students on Facebook. They use the site mainly for personal and socialization purposes, but lower for academic purposes. However, the study, of course, does not find any relationship with academic achievement of the sample students. Moreover, Facebook has created an opportunity for students to easily communicate with their existing friends, to enjoy leisure time, to date online and to keep them up-to-date. However, the finding also detected some sort of negative Facebook impacts including time wastage, addiction and loss of privacy. Hence, the study recommends that students and any user should be carejid in their social media use and should exert targeted efforts to counter Facebook risks and thereby achieve maximum benefit the site offers.enSocial Media UsageEthiopian UniversityThesis