Effect Of Covid’19 On Use Of Social Media And Its Implication For Mental Health Of University Students

Abstract

The unexpected consequences of COVID-19 forced to close several educational institutions, causing many issues for the students. An online survey was administered on students at Government College University Lahore to learn how COVID-19 affected their use of social media and its implication for mental health. A sample of 131 students took part in the survey. It was found that more than one-half of the participants spent more time on social media because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The sleeping time of most of the students was affected due to the dependence on social media. The most preferred apps among the students were Instagram and Facebook where they spent time to entertain themselves. Salience and withdrawal were found as the two main indicators of social media accounts for the increase in mental health issues.