An Investigation of Social Media Addiction Levels Among Students of the Faculty of Sports Sciences

The purpose of our research is to determine the purposes for which students use social media most and the effect of their frequency of use on their social media addiction levels. A survey model was used and the participants consisted of 333 university students, 240 male and 93 female, selected through random sampling method. A Personal Information Form and the Social Media Addiction Scale-Adult Form were used as data collection tools in the study. As a result of Cronbach's Alpha internal consistency analysis, it was calculated as 0.69 for the "Virtual Tolerance" sub-dimension, 0.80 for the "Virtual Communication" sub-dimension, and 0.83 for the total scale. Independent t-test and one-way analysis of variance (Anova) were used in the data analysis. In the findings, it was determined that there was no significant difference in the sub-dimensions and the total score of the scale according to their sports status, purpose of social media use, the platform on which they follow social media, and the social media platform they follow most frequently (p>0.05). A significant difference was found in the means of the virtual tolerance subscale based on students' gender, age, and department, p<0.05. A significant difference was also found in the total scale score for the Virtual Tolerance and Virtual Communication subscales based on the time students spent on social media, p<0.05. Our research shows that students' social media addiction varies depending on various variables. It has been observed that as the time spent on social media increases, their social media addiction also increases. Measures should be taken to reduce the time students spend on social media, and training is recommended to prevent addiction.