Smartphone Addiction and the Use of Social Media among University Students

This study was conducted to determine the prevalence of smartphone addiction, using the Smartphone Addiction Scale -Short Version (SAS-SV) among English language preparatory year students in a state university.It also aimed to determine which mobile applications are more popular among the participants.164 students were given questionnaires, but seven were eliminated as not owning a smartphone.Statistical analysis was run for 157 students, of which 73 were girls and 84 boys, with an average age of 18.94.The analysis of the results showed that 28.8 percent of girls and 32.1 percent of boys were above the cut-off points.This constitutes 30.6% of the total participants that were among the risk group.There was no significant difference found based on gender, place of living or field of study.WhatsApp, Instagram, YouTube, Facebook and Snapchat were the most popular applications as over 50 percent of the participants used them.Study implications and future research directions were discussed.