Usage of Online Social Networking Sites among School Students of Siliguri, West Bengal, India

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Social networking sites (SNSs) are online platforms that provide individuals with an opportunity to manage their personal relationship and remain updated with the world. The primary objective of the present research was to find the pattern of school students' SNS usage and its influence on their academic performance. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The setting was an English medium school situated in the metropolitan city of Siliguri in West Bengal. A pretested and predesigned questionnaire was self-administered anonymously by 388 randomly selected students. The data were analyzed using appropriate statistics. RESULTS: Three hundred thirty-eight (87.1%) students used SNS and spent an increased amount of time on these networks. Addiction was seen in 70.7% and was more common in the age group of 17 years and above. CONCLUSION: There is a need to educate students about the ways of using SNS and the perils associated with it, to help them understand that though very much in trend, they should be used cautiously.