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@article{189165,
        author = {Dr. Shreelakshmi K},
        title = {A comparative study - Social media usage among rural and urban adolescents},
        journal = {International Journal of Innovative Research in Technology},
        year = {2025},
        volume = {12},
        number = {7},
        pages = {5502-5506},
        issn = {2349-6002},
        url = {https://ijirt.org/article?manuscript=189165},
        abstract = {The proliferation of digital technologies has fundamentally reshaped social interaction, communication, and information consumption for adolescents worldwide. Social media platforms—such as Instagram, YouTube, and Facebook—have become integral to the daily lives of school students, serving as crucial tools for peer connection, entertainment, and identity formation. The present study aims to assess the level of social media usage among male and female school students from urban and rural settings. The study specifically sought to: (1) examine the gender difference in the level of social media usage among the combined rural and urban student population, and (2) examine the difference in the level of social media usage between rural and urban student populations. The primary hypotheses of the research were: (H1) There is a significant gender difference in the level of social media usage among rural and urban students, and (H2) There is a significant difference in the level of social media usage between the rural and urban populations. The Social Media Usage Scale (Kimberly, 2010) and a Socio-demographic Information sheet were used to collect data. A purposive sampling method was employed, involving a sample of N=200 high school students. The independent samples t-test was conducted to analyse the differences. The results indicate that there is no significant difference in the level of social media usage when comparing: (a) male and female students, and (b) rural and urban students.},
        keywords = {Social media usage, Gender, Urban & Rural},
        month = {December},
        }