Analysing social media addiction among referees in Izmir: A Quantitative study by demographics

This study aimed to determine the levels of social media addiction among referees working in the province of İzmir. The research was conducted within the scope of quantitative research, using a survey model and a descriptive research design. The research population consisted of referees actively working in the province of İzmir, while the sample group consisted of 300 referees working in the provinces of İzmir in the branches of basketball, volleyball, archery and taekwondo, determined using the convenience sampling method. A demographic information form and the Social Media Addiction Scale were used as data collection tools in the research. IBM SPSS 22.0 software was used for data analysis. The findings revealed that there was no significant difference in the total scores for social media addiction, virtual communication, and virtual tolerance sub-dimensions based on the referees' gender, length of service as a referee, or level of education. However, a significant difference was observed in referees' perceptions of social media addiction, the sub-dimensions of virtual communication and virtual tolerance, and the total social media addiction score according to their age. In light of this study, comparisons with referees in other disciplines and different groups on the same subject could be considered.