An exploration in the influence of social media on university students' relationships

摘要

The inception of social media (SM) started during 1997, when Six Degree was the first social media platform that allows users to set up their profiles, upload pictures and interact with people of similar interests and mind-sets. Ever since then, until the present, many social networking sites have emerged that allow continuous communication, interactions, exchange of information, contents and many more, whereby many people use SM for different reasons, which include getting into a relationship and maintaining it. Therefore, this study sought to comprehend the influence of SM on university students' relationships. A quantitative research methodology, together with the underlying model of the technology acceptance model (TAM), was considered to elicit responses from 271 respondents through questionnaires. The findings indicated that several students utilised SM and social networking sites excessively. Furthermore, the study found that students have favourable perceptions about SM toward their relationships. Nonetheless, not all students used SM for relationship reasons, though the platform has an influence on their relationship in general.