Abstract:

It was aimed to examine the relationship between the social media use of university students in Konya during the pandemic period and the perceived social support in this study. The sample of the study, in which the relational scanning model was used, consists of 342 volunteer students selected by convenience sampling technique and studying at KTO Karatay University, Selcuk University, Necmettin Erbakan University and Konya Food and Agriculture University. It was observed that 89.2% of the sample had an increase in the duration and frequency of social media use during the pandemic and 54.1% of the sample had social media use more than 3 hours during the pandemic period. As a result of the research, it was found that university students' perceived social support scores from family, friends and special people differ according to various variables related to the pandemic period, which includes various anxiety elements due to uncertainty and risks to health. Differences in perceived social support scores were observed according to the variables of living/not living with the family before the pandemic, and returning/not returning to the family during the online education period. In addition; some usage purposes of social media differed according to the variables of increase/no increase in the duration and frequency of social media use, and returning/not returning to the family during the online education period. In addition, a positive and significant relationship was found between the scores of using social media for communicating with friends, sending and receiving messages, exchanging ideas and accessing information, and perceived social support scores from friends. In this context, it is possible to say that university students' perceptions of social support have begun to transform in the age of social media.

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