The social impacts of high-involvement in social networking sites amongst the Maltese University students

Abstract

This study is concerned with social impacts of high involvement in social networking sites (SNSs) among Maltese university students. It aims to uncover the reasons behind the participants’ constant need to be online and whether there are any social effects that high usage poses on the participants. A qualitative approach has been adopted in order to acquire necessary data. This has been achieved through three focus groups which were conducted among Maltese university students between the ages of 18 and 24. The main findings from the data analysis included three super-ordinate themes; psychological needs, impression management and time displacement. From these themes, it was indicated that high involvement in SNSs is derived from the psychological needs of the participants; the need for social affiliation and self-esteem. Moreover, other findings proved that at times social networking replaced time spent with family and friends. This research also found that social networking was a strong distraction when it came to the participants’ academic activities; nonetheless, their academic grades were not affected. Finally, this research demonstrated that social networking assisted the participants to keep in touch with people abroad and maintain offline relationships; more to the point, it made participants feel part of an online community. This study proved that social networking posed both positive as well as negative effects on the social lives of the participants.