Examining the relationship between cyberloafing and social media addiction of vocational high school students

Modern problems such as cyberloafing and social media addiction have started to affect all segments of society. The widespread use of the Internet and the popularisation of social media platforms have led people to spend more time in the digital world. With the increase in these trends, cyberloafing and social media addiction cause serious effects on the physical and mental health of individuals. Cyberloafing refers to the tendency to surf the internet aimlessly and waste time. Individuals are constantly engaged with their mobile phones or computers, whether at work or school, at home or outside. This can lead to lack of attention, loss of productivity and problems in personal relationships. Cyberloafing is a serious problem that negatively affects the quality of life of many people. Social media addiction refers to individuals becoming overly dependent on social media platforms. Social media platforms are used to satisfy people's needs to share information, communicate and express themselves in the virtual world. However, these platforms can also lead to addiction by encouraging continuous use. Social media addiction can lead to serious consequences such as psychological problems, low self-esteem and personal privacy violations. In this study, the relationship between cyber loafing and social media addiction of vocational high school students was examined. The research population consists of students studying in vocational and technical education institutions in Sakarya province in the 2021-2022 academic year. In this research, survey model, one of the quantitative research methods, was used. Cyber loafing scale and social media addiction scale for adolescents were applied online to the volunteer students participating in the study. In the analysis of the data obtained, t-test, one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA), Tukey test and Pearson product-moment correlation analysis were used.vi As a result of the research, it was seen that the cyberloafing levels of female students were higher than male students, the cyberloafing level increased as the class level increased, students with mobile phones showed a higher level of cyberloafing than those without mobile phones, cyberloafing increased as the daily game playing time and daily time spent on social media increased, and the level of cyberloafing increased as the income status of the family increased. When the effects of the obtained data on social media addiction were examined; it was seen that female students had higher social media addiction, class level had no effect on social media addiction, mobile phone ownership status had no effect on social media addiction, social media addiction increased as the daily game playing time increased, the increase in the time young people used social media increased social media addiction, and the increase in the income level of families had no effect on social media addiction. When the relationship between cyber loafing and social media addiction was examined, it was seen that there was a positive and moderate relationship.