Abstract:

While the rapid development of technology affects all areas of daily life, Web 2.0 technology has changed all parameters of both the media and the individual. Social media platforms that emerged with this change have placed users in a position where they can take the consumption part of the media and produce content. As a result, some digital diseases began to emerge. Especially, generation Z individuals, who come to the fore with their digital competencies, put social media tools at the center of their lives and may experience addiction problems due to excessive use of social media. In the research, it is aimed to reveal how much space social media occupies in the lives of Z generation individuals, the effects of social media addiction on the daily life of individuals and whether these effects vary depending on demographic variability. For this purpose, the data in the research were collected through a questionnaire from 300 students studying at Sakarya University, Faculty of Communication. According to the results of the research, while the social media addiction levels of the Z generation individuals were found to be "less addicted", there were differences according to gender, age and daily usage time. Accordingly, it has been concluded that women are more engaged in social media, younger individuals have a higher tendency to be social media addicts, and the addiction levels of individuals increase in parallel with the duration of use. 

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