FACEBOOK ADDICTION: AN UNDERRATED MODERN AGE PANDEMIC- CORRELATION WITH PERSONALITY TRAITS AND SELF ESTEEM.

INTRODUCTION: Founded on 4th February 2004 for communication limited to Harvard students, Facebook today is the most used social networking service (SNS) worldwide. There are 1.78 billion active Facebook users daily and 2.89 billion active Facebook users monthly as of July 2021.[1]. The primary motives of Facebook use are to communicate, collaborate and share content.[2] With such growing popularity and billions of users, there has been a concern of behavioral addiction to this SNS. Facebook addiction is said to occur when an individual spends an excessive amount of time on Facebook over the internet, disrupting one’s daily activities and social life.[3,4]. If five hours or more is spent daily on Facebook then the person is said to be addicted to Facebook.[5]. Excessive use of Facebook and other SNS is linked with health hazards including addiction and dependency. The present study is therefore aimed to find out the level of Facebook addiction in a sample of students population and briefly discuss the issues associated with its unintended use. REVIEW OF LITERATURE: Substance abuse or addictions involve intake of drugs or alcohol, while behavioral addictions are about engaging in repetitive behavior. Nonetheless, researchers have acknowledged the significan similarities between chemical addictions and excessive behaviors which are non-chemical (Albrecht et al., 2007 Grant et al., 2010). Internet addiction is a nested term for various addictive behaviours engaged on the internet platform. Accordingly, social media addiction may be considered as a subtype of internet addiction. It involves symptoms similar to internet addiction that are negative consequences associated with social media use such as preoccupation about using social media, withdrawal, excessive engagement, mood control and losing control over usage (Ryan et al., 2016). Social media addiction is defined as “being overly concerned about social media, driven by an uncontrollable motivation to login to or use social media, devoting so much time and effort in social media that it impairs other important life areas” (Griffiths, 2005). Among all social media applications, Facebook has gained the most popularity and amassed the highest number of users in the world. At the global level, there are over 2.27 billion monthly active users and 1.15 billion daily active users. Currently, India has the world’s most significant number of Facebook users, with over 300 million users, and it is expected to reach 444.2 million users by 2023. Facebook visiting frequency is more than three times a day, and 76% of Facebook users are men and 24% users are women (Statista, 2019). Facebook usage has grown exponentially in India. Teenagers and young adults are it’s prominent users. Indian Market Research Bureau (IMRB) reported that social media penetration in rural India is increasing and Facebook continues to be the most popular social media platform as about 84% of the internet users in India use internet primarily to access social media sites like Facebook (Anita, 2015). Among Indian students, 46% of the facebook addicted individuals found to have depressive symptoms (Elavarasan and Dhandapani, 2017), 26% of the facebook addicted felt lonely (Shettar et al., 2017), and 3% of facebook addicted experienced stress and anxiety (Meena et al., 2015). Personality factors also play a role in Facebook usage and addiction. Previous studies explored the association between Big five personality factors. Extraverted individuals are outgoing and social; neurotic individuals are prone to experience unpleasant emotions; conscientious individuals are self-disciplined and achievement-oriented. Agreeable individuals are compassionate and cooperative. Individuals who are open to experience, appreciate and curious to have a variety of experiences (McCrae and Costa, 1999). Factors which are associated with Facebook use were found to be associated with Facebook addiction also. Extraversion, neuroticism, low conscientiousness is related to Facebook addiction (Caers et al., 2013; Hwang, 2017; Wang et al., 2015). Conscientiousness, extraversion, neuroticism, and loneliness strongly predicted Facebook addiction (Biolcati et al., 2018). Personality mediated through perceived social support related to Facebook addiction (Zafar et al., 2018). AIM: • O EVALUATE THE ADDICTION OF FACEBOOK AMONG UNIVERSITY STUDENTS AND STUDY ITS CORELATION WITH SELF ESTEEM AND PERSONALITY TRAITS OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the addiction of facebook among students. To evaluate their self esteem and its relation with facebook addiction. To evaluate their personality traits and its relation with facebook addiction. INCLUSION CRITERIA: Individuals age 18-40years. Not suffering from any psychiatric illness, Mental retardation and any neurological illness. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This study is going to be a observational cross sectional study among students of Teerthanker Mahaveer University, Moradabad, Uttar Pradesh. Socio-demographic details and details specific to Facebook addiction, personality traits and self esteem will be recorded and calculated with the help of Bergen Facebook Addiction Scale(BFAS), Big Five Inventory-10 and Rosenberg Self Esteem Scale. The performas will be circulated in printed form and online with the help of google forms among the students of university. SAMPLE SIZE: The total sample taken- 506 candidates TOOLS: Bergen facebook addiction scale. Big five inventory-10. Rosenberg self esteem scale. RESULTS: Results will be tabulated and analysed using the appropriate statistical test after the completion of the study. CONCLUSION: Conclusion , Discussion and Limitations will be based depending upon the result.