Modeling the effect of new media literacy levels and social media usage status on problematic internet usage behaviours among high school students

Abstract

There has been a considerable increase in problematic internet usage among high school students due to the fact that our daily lives are considerably being occupied by internet. It is therefore important to investigate into the variables considered as effective in problematic internet use of this group. This paper seeks to address whether there are relations between problematic internet use and social media usage status as well as purpose of social media usage and new media literacy. A total of 155 ninth grade students studying in high school affiliated to Turkey Ministry of National Education were recruited in this study. The relational screening research design from descriptive research methods was adopted in this paper. Personal information form and three data collection instruments were employed in this study. The data obtained in the research were analyzed through Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Model based on the research design. According to the results of partial least squares structural equation model, the relative importance order of the variables examined in the study can be posed as: social media usage status, social media usage purposes and new media literacy.