The Uses and Impact of Social Media for Teenagers in Sub-urban Area

Abstract

It seems like new media technologies, especially social media, are widely used in the today’s society in Indonesia regardless of the area where the people live, i.e. urban area, suburb, or rural area. Yet, that the most prominent users of social media are simply teenagers. Despite the variations of motive that may drive teenagers to use social media, the argument is that the use of social media, with whatever the motives, does have impacts on social life of the teenagers. This research deals with social media use and impacts by focusing on teenagers living particularly in the suburb area of Sukoharjo Regency, Central Java.By focusing on the impacts of social media on communication behavior, the research employs a quantitative approach of survey research which involved as many as 200 respondents. The result of the research shows that the level of the parent’s income influences the social media usage in the suburb area of Baki Sub-district, Sukoharjo Regency. There was also no impact on the teenager’s communication pattern towards the society. Keyword: Social Media, Teens, Impact, Communication Behaviour.