Social Media Use and Overall Well-Being Among University Accounting Students

Abstract

The main objective of this study is to describe patterns of social media use (time, purpose, and content) and their relationship with emotional experiences and students’ perceptions of its impact on their daily lives. Accordingly, the following research question was formulated: How are patterns of social media use characterized, and how are they related to students’ emotional well-being and perceptions of their impact on their lives? This research was conducted using a quantitative approach, which focuses on the study of phenomena through the collection of numerical data and statistical analysis. This approach makes it possible to objectively measure variables, identify patterns within the data, and explore relationships or associations among different factors, thereby facilitating a structured and empirically verifiable understanding of the phenomenon under investigation. To determine the study sample, a non-probability convenience sampling technique was employed, resulting in a sample of 100 students enrolled in the Bachelor’s Degree in Accounting in the blended-learning program at the Autonomous University of Nayarit. The collected data were processed using SPSS statistical software. The results indicate that 81.8% of the surveyed students use social media for four to six hours per day or more than six hours per day. In addition, entertainment was identified as the primary reason for using these platforms. Finally, 45.5% of the students reported having voluntarily taken breaks from social media, while only 4.5% had sought professional help to address issues related to anxiety and stress levels.