An assessment of the impact of new media on youths: A study on Santal Community of Angul District, Odisha

New Media is the digital form of any media like news, blogs, web sources, and social platforms whose ultimate aim is to render information. In recent times, the youth have been very susceptible to using the new media in numerous ways. The study aims to (i) assess the uses of new media in the day-to-day life of youths of the Santal community and (ii) examine the effect of the new media on social and cultural life among the youths in studied community. The cross-sectional study was employed and a mixed-method approach among the teenagers and young adults (13-30 Years) in two villages of Bikrampur Block of Angul district was used. Household census and schedule, face-to-face interviews, and focus group discussions was used for the study. The study has found that the usage of New Media has significantly increased among the youth since the outbreak of communicable diseases. It has also been found that the cultural and social lives of youth are being hampered due to excessive use.