Running Head: ​Effects of increased cell phone and social

media usage on interpersonal communication

1

Effects of increased cell phone and social media usage on interpersonal communication

Communicology 371
R. Kelly Aune, Ph.D.

24 April 2018

Peter Kim`
Sean Putney
Mart Joshua Lopez
McKaela Sanders
Effects of increased cell phone and social
media usage on interpersonal communication
2

Table of Contents

Table of Contents……………………………………………………………………..2

Hypothesis……………………………………………………………………………..3

Methods………………………………………………………………………………...5

Participants…………………………………………………………………….5

Materials………………………………………………………………………...6

Design…………………………………………………………………………...6

Procedures……………………………………………………………………..7

Results………………………………………………………………………………..…8

T Tests………………………………………………………………………..….8

Group Statistics……………………………………………………..…………9

Report………………………………………………………………………..….11

Summary…………………………………………………………………..……15

Discussion………………………………………………………………………..…....16

References…………………………………………………………………….…….....21

Appendix…………………………………………………………………….……........23
Effects of increased cell phone and social
media usage on interpersonal communication
3

Hypothesis

H1: The increased use of cell phones and social media has enhanced

interpersonal communication.

H2: The increased use of cell phones and social media has not enhanced

interpersonal communication.

Mankind has been fascinated and consumed by the invention of the mobile

device. With the advancement of cellular devices, technology has become more

prevalent in modern society. As technology continues to advance, society is given more

tools to connect with their network from the past and present. Cellular devices and

social media establishes several new avenues to keep in touch and enhances the ease

of communication.

In today’s modern society, smartphones can be used for a wide range of

functions that serve as very useful tool. Out of 84 individuals surveyed through

SurveyMonkey, 53.6% spent over seven hours a week using their cell phones. The use

of phone applications has become a primary accessory to cell phones. The question

arises, has the abundance of cell phone usage lead to larger and more easily

accessible networks of communication?

Through the use of mobile devices, people are communicating with each other

more frequently. Since the advent of the Internet, social media has shifted the social

paradigm. People are now spending more time communicating in an online space,
Effects of increased cell phone and social
media usage on interpersonal communication
4

rather than in person. The results of the investigation can influence the way individuals

perceive the use of cell phones and social media and how future technology is

developed to enhanced human interaction.

Although there is an increase in usage of cell phones and research shows people

are spending a significant amount of time on their devices, there is a positive correlation

to this phenomenon. Society is currently experiencing the most connected time in

history. With just the touch of the button, people can participate in a video conference

with multiple countries across the world.

The term “third places” refers to a place where a person goes when are not

working, attending school, or at home. These are places like the gym, the beach, or

perhaps the bar. As society is making a generational shift in many regards of life, there

has also been a shift in what is considered a third place. People are spending a

significant amount of time using cell phones. Individuals can use devices as a source of

entertainment, communication, and an all around utility for everyday life.

In a study done by Oxford University (2007) titled, ​The Benefits of Facebook

“Friends:” Social Capital and College Students’ Use of Online Social Network Sites,

quoted as saying, “​online SNSs (Social Network Sites) support both the maintenance of

existing social ties and the formation of new connections” (Oxford, 2007, Paragraph 3).

Through the use of mobile applications and the ever growing list seen in the app

store, it is enticing for users to download new apps. Applications can also allow people

to do thousands of different utilities.

Effects of increased cell phone and social
media usage on interpersonal communication
5

Methods

The method of collecting data to support the hypothesis is collected by a

self-made and managed Survey Monkey project. The following information will outline

the participants involved, materials, and design an procedure.

Participants

84 surveys were utilized in the collection of data in the experiment. The survey

was shared through typical mediums of social networks and through the University of

Hawaii email system. Due to emailing other students within the university, majority of

data collected was from 21-25 year olds. This age group makes up for 40% of the data

collected. The network of the 84 individuals surveyed spans from a centralized group of

the four students working on the project: Kim, Lopez, Putney, and Sanders.

The participants of this survey accessed this survey on through time electronic

devices with no time restrictions. According to the Survey Monkey platform, participants

spent an average of 3 minutes and 39 seconds to complete the survey. From all 84

participants, there was a 100% completion rate of the 24 question survey. The 100%

completion rate refers to the amount of people who began the survey and ultimately

finished the survey. This does not refer to the skipped questions that may appear on the

data set.
Effects of increased cell phone and social
media usage on interpersonal communication
6

Materials

Individuals participated on this 24 question survey through the Survey Monkey

platform. The questionnaire can be accessed through a desktop computer or mobile

device. Survey Monkey does not showcase data regarding how the survey was

accessed whether by desktop or mobile. There were no niche or special apparatuses to

conduct the experiment as everything was performed through basic devices that had

access to the Internet.

The tools used to analyze and organize data include Microsoft Excel, Survey

Monkey’s on-site data analysis/trends, and IBM SPSS Statistics. IBM SPSS Statistics

was the main tool for analyzing data through independent-sample t-tests to compare

means and to define the means throughout the raw data collected.

Design

The experiment utilized a questionnaire to help answer the main hypothesis. The

questioning was set to answer whether or not social media enhances interpersonal

interaction and communication. The independent variable in this experiment is the

usage of cellphones in an individual’s personal life. This ultimately affects the

dependent variable which is the level of convenience and ease of communicating with

other people. The following survey designed is aimed to answer the proper questions to

help build educated inferences that high phone usage enhances human interaction.

Participants were first asked qualifying demographic questions such as gender

and age. Participants were then asked to identify and measure the amount of phone
Effects of increased cell phone and social
media usage on interpersonal communication
7

usage per week. The following line of questions helped gauge the amount of

commitment the user has to each individual’s phone usage. Questions regarded anxiety

when without access to cellphone to the financial commitment one has to a device.

Questions regarding phone usage were also targeted from a moral and ethical point of

view. The two questions were meant to gauge how the participant felt about the right

age regarding cell phone usage and the overall positive or negative effect of its

existence.

Secondly, the main line of questioning is to set a baseline of social media

networks that the participants are using. According to the Pew Research Center, as of

January 10, 2018, 69% of adults use at least one social media site with Facebook being

the most popular. The survey was also designed to help understand the use of social

media on cellular devices. Questions regarding time spent on social media, personal

importance, and amount of interpersonal engagement was included in the questioning.

Procedures

The data was collected on one platform utilizing the questionnaire service known

as Survey Monkey. 24 questions were created on the website and the link was copied

and shared through four individuals involved in the project. The goal was to collect data

through a series of 24 questions that were divided in several categories. These

categories included demographics, cell phone usage, and social media usage. Each

category contains deeper questioning that measures certain ideas.

Effects of increased cell phone and social
media usage on interpersonal communication
8

Results
(Refer to Appendix A)

From the responses, the demographics showed that 65% of participants were

female, and 35% were male. With regards to age, 19.05% of participants stated they

were in the range of 18 to 20 years old, 40.48% of participants were within 21 to 25

years old, 13.10% were within 26 to 30 years old, and 27.38% stated that they were

over the age of 30.

The survey then proceeded to propose questions pertaining to the hypothesis in

the area of cell phone usage. It began by asking the participants how many hours a

week they spend on their phone. The results were across the board with 53.57% of

participants spending over seven hours a week on their phone. 17.86% of surveyors

reported they spend five to seven hours a week, 16.67% reported three to five hours,

9.52% reported one to three hours, and only 2.38% reported that they spend less than

one hour a week on their phone. ​An independent-samples t-test was conducted to

analyze the provided demographics to better assess who was surveyed. The following

independent-samples t-test, Table 1, was to focus on the mean of hours spent on a

phone between male and female. The survey asked for hours spent on the phone in

separate categories. These categories included less than one hour, 1-3 hours, 3-5

hours, 5-7 hours, and more than 7 hours. These five groups were labeled 1-5 in

respective positions and then analyzed using SPSS. Among

those surveyed, the average time spent on a phone a week between both male and

female is close to 5-7 hours.

Effects of increased cell phone and social
media usage on interpersonal communication
9

Table 1
Independent-sample t-test comparing means of genders and hours spent on their phone
week

Note. ​hoursonmp = hours spent on cell phone a week, Female = female participant,
Male = male participant

On a scale of 1 to 100, participants reported an average score of 52% that the

surveyors would be anxious if they left their cell phone at home. As for phones being a

distraction, the data showed that women are more easily distracted by their phone when

focusing on other tasks. Participants were asked to rate their level of vulnerability to

being distracted by their mobile phone on a scale from 1-50. Table 2 represents the 56

female participants had an average vulnerability level of 37.44% out of 50. While males

were more vulnerable at 4.85 points higher with a mean of 42.29%.

Table 2
Independent-sample t-test comparing means of genders and their vulnerability to being
distracted by their phone.

​ istractedbymp = vulnerability level of being distracted by phone when completing

Note. d
tasks, Female = female participant, Male = male participant
Effects of increased cell phone and social
media usage on interpersonal communication
10

94.05% of participants reported that they do not feel the need to have the newest

cell phone on the market, leaving only 5.95% who feel they need to have the newest

model. The survey also questioned participants whether they ever spend money for

in-app or app purchases. 75% of respondents claim they do not, whereas 25% claim

that they do spend money. An average of 87.80% of participants reported they feel that

cell phones enhance human interaction. 12.20% reported they feel that the use of cell

phones handicap interaction. Table 3 represents the compared means between the

amount of hours spent on a phone each week and whether or not they felt that cell

phones enhanced human interaction.

Table 3
Independent-sample t-test comparing means of hours spent on cell phone and whether
they felt that it enhanced or handicapped human interaction

Note. ​hoursonmp = hours spent on cell phone a week, usingmpenhance = whether or

not participants felt that cell phones enhanced human interaction

According to Table 3, there is no noticeable difference between the time spent on

a cell phone between the two types of individuals. Our audience was then asked at what

age they think that it is appropriate for a child to have a cell phone. The data collected

wide range of results, displaying that 2.38% think ages three to five, 1.19% think ages
Effects of increased cell phone and social
media usage on interpersonal communication
11

five to seven, 9.52% think ages seven to ten, 38.10% think ages 10 to 13, and 48. 81%

think after the age of 13 is appropriate to have a cellphone. When asked if they use their

cell phone to escape awkward social interactions, 72.62% of participants reported yes.

27.38% reported that they do not use their phone to escape awkward social

interactions. Facebook had the highest level of engagement with reports showing

85.71% usage, with YouTube in second place displaying 70.24% usage. 66.67% of

participants reported they use snapchat, with Instagram following closely with 65.48%

usage. 28.57% of participants reported they use Twitter, 22.62% reported they use

LinkedIn, and 3.57% reported they do not engage in social networking. In regards to

social media usage, the participants were asked to provide the amount of

connections/friends/followers they have on their primary social media and how many of

them do they talk to. The following results are listed below in Table 4.

Table 3
Comparing means of hours spent on cell phone and whether they felt that it enhanced
or handicapped human interaction
Effects of increased cell phone and social
media usage on interpersonal communication
12

​ umoffollowers = number of connections/friends/followers on participant’s primary

Note. n
social media, talkedto = number of people participant talks to on their primary social
media

Not all participants answered questions as eight participants were excluded from

answering the number of contacts and four individuals did not answer the question of

how many people they converse with on that specific platform. The average amount of

contacts that an individual is 848.38 people, while they only speak to 29.78% of those

they are connected to. Therefore, the data shows that an individual will only speak to an

average of 3.5% of their total contacts on their primary social media. Furthermore,

participants were given the opportunity to select from a variety of answers regarding

why they use social media. 92.86% reported they use social media to keep in touch with

family and friends, 58.33% use to share their experiences, 55.95% use to find

information, and 45.24% use to share media. 29.76% of surveyors also reported they

use social media to get opinions, 26.19% use to make new friends and to make

professional business contacts, and 22.62% use to play games. Figure 1 visualizes the

information to greater illustrate the stark difference between the first and second ranking

reasons.
Effects of increased cell phone and social
media usage on interpersonal communication
13

Figure 1
Bar graph comparing the most common uses for social media among the 84
participants

When asked if the participants felt more comfortable cybernetically or in real life

when conversing with a friend, 79.52% reported face-to-face conversation and 20.46%

stated cybernetic conversation. 51.19% of participants claimed that they spend over five

hours a week socializing outside of school or work. 26.19% reported three to five hours,

17.86% stated one to three hours, and 4.76% claimed less than one hour. Surveyors

were then given a selection of settings to which they prefer for relaxation. 70.24% prefer

home, 47.62% prefer out with family or friends, 39.29% prefer outside doing physical

activities, and 19.05% prefer to be online for relaxation. When asked if they ever
Effects of increased cell phone and social
media usage on interpersonal communication
14

experience the fear of missing out, 53.09% of participants reported no and 46.91% of

participants stated yes. 52.38% of surveyors claim they do not feel less intimidated

communicating through their smartphone, whereas 47.62% reported that they do feel

intimidated by smartphone interaction. Participants were then asked if they follow or

connect with people that they do not know. 45.24% responded that they do not, and

54.76% reported that they do. 58.33% of surveyors stated that they do not consider

their followers their friends, whereas 41.67% responded that they do. When asked if

they would approach someone they do not know in real life, but know online, 49.40% of

respondents claim that it depends. However, 27.71% responded yes and 22.89%

reported no. Along with this, participants were asked if social media boosts confidence

when receiving 'likes' or 'shares' or 'comments'. 63.54% of the participants responded in

the positive, while the remaining 36.47% of individuals experienced no confidence

boost.

Lastly, surveyors were asked whether social media has made a positive or

negative on impact on their life. 81.93% of participants answered that it has made a

positive impact while 18.07% have replied in the negative. This particular question

answers a more general query of the effect of the technology on individuals.

The data collected helps support the original hypothesis with some limitations.

When reviewing the data it was clear that people, across all demographics were utilizing

their phone and social media to a high extent. The average amount of time spent on

their phones throughout the week was around 5-7 hours. Secondly, 92.94% of

participants utilized their social media to connect and keep in touch with family and
Effects of increased cell phone and social
media usage on interpersonal communication
15

friends. This reason tops the list of several reasons why the surveyors utilized social

media, the closest reason falls to “sharing experiences” with 58.82% of participants

checking off the answer. Lastly, an overwhelming amount of participants answered in a

similar fashion to two telling questions. The first question is “Do you feel that cell phones

enhance or handicaps human interaction?” From the 84 participants, 87.95% of

individuals answered that it enhances human interaction. Second question is more

specific to the use of social media, “Do you feel as though Social Media has a positive

or negative impact on your life?” From the surveyors, 81.93% of individuals felt that

social media provides a positive impact on their life. These two questions were

answered in a way that showcases cell phone usage in a more positive light. It supports

the hypothesis in that many individuals believed it had value to provide with human

interaction and overall quality of life. Within the survey design, questions that would help

gauge the negative effects that the use of cellular phones can have on interpersonal

communication were included. These included phones as a distraction, using it as an

escape mechanism from awkward interactions, etc. Unfortunately, the major limitation

with the data supporting the hypothesis is that the dependency of cellular phones have

created a new issue.

Effects of increased cell phone and social
media usage on interpersonal communication
16

Table 3
Means test for vulnerability level of being distracted by phone when completing tasks

Note. ​distractedbymp = vulnerability level of being distracted by phone when completing

tasks

According to a means report generated on SPSS, on a scale of 1-50, participants felt

that they were easily distracted by their cell phones at a rating average of 39 points.

With that limitation in mind, the data showcases that there are perceived positive

impacts of cell phones and social media in different areas.

Discussion

The aim for this hypothesis was to see if the usage of cellphones and social

media either enhances or does not enhance interpersonal communication. Overall, the

results showcased that the increased usage of cell phones and social media has

enhanced interpersonal communication.

Effects of increased cell phone and social
media usage on interpersonal communication
17

The design of the survey was meant to help interpret several ideas that will be

reviewed in the following segment. Depending on the question, there may be a positive

or negative leaning connotation of what the question is trying to grasp. It was crucial to

collect information that would help confirm the hypothesis, while having data on both

spectrums to prove said hypothesis. An example of a negative question includes “​How

easily are you distracted by your phone when focusing on other tasks?​“ A positive

question may be “Do you feel that cell phones enhance or handicaps human

interaction?”

After the general demographic statistics were taken, participants were asked to

provide information regarding their general cell phone usage throughout the week.

54.12% of individuals answered that they use their phones for over seven hours a week,

this is a majority of the survey takers. Although a majority of individuals spent over 7

hours of time, the compared mean between male and female is comparable. Both male

and female average to about 5-7 hours a week on their cell phones. Along with gauging

a quantifiable amount of time spent on the phone, the survey was designed to help

illustrate the dependency of their cellphones. There are two major sections to

measuring the dependency. First, what is the financial commitment an individual is

making to their product. Their financial commitment through app or in-app purchases

and whether the user feels the need to purchase the newest phone as it comes out.

When reviewing the data, users do not feel connected to those two issues. 94.05%, a

large majority of participants did not feel the need to purchase the newest phone on the

market. As for making app and in-app purchases, 75% of surveyors do not make any
Effects of increased cell phone and social
media usage on interpersonal communication
18

purchases. The second section of visualizing dependency is the physical and mental

dependency to their cell phone. Understanding more of their dependency can help put

into perspective the amount of use that is going into their daily interpersonal

communication. Surveyors were asked how easily distracted they were by their phones

on a scale of 1-50. The participants scored an average of 39 points on the overall

distractedness of a cell phone when competing other tasks. Secondly, participants were

asked if they utilized their cell phones as a means to escape awkward social

interactions. 72.94% of individuals answered in the positive which showcases their

dependency on their phone. The notable piece of data in this set is that 87.80% of the

participants feel that the use of cell phones has ultimately enhanced human interaction.

Although the participants showcased a negative dependency on their phone, 87.80% of

individuals still feel that positive value is added into human interaction.

The second section the survey design gauges one of the primary uses of the cell

phone, social media. Participants were asked to defined the social media they used, the

amount of contacts they had on their primary social media, and how many of them they

engaged in conversation with. Maybe most importantly, is the question that requests the

reasons for using social media. These four questions provided insight of the breadth of

someone social media networks that the participants were on. The second and third

question specifically was meant to measure the amount of engagement on these

networks. As mentioned in the results, individuals only engaged in conversation with

only 3.5% of their friends on their primary social media. It is worthwhile to compare a

handful of statistics. First, an overwhelming amount of participants (92.94%) answered

Effects of increased cell phone and social
media usage on interpersonal communication
19

that they use social media to keep in touch with friends. Yet, the participants are only

engaging an average 3.5% of their contacts. There may be a few possible reasons for

such a large gap between the amount of friends and friends that are engaged. It is

possible that the participants are using their social media as a pool of contacts in case

they would like to contact their friends in the future, not necessarily on a daily basis.

Secondary to that, it may be that the participants would only contact their online

contacts if completely necessary. Secondly, it is possible that the question regarding

engagement was not worded well enough. The original wording was “Out of those

friends; how many do you have conversations with on that platform?“ This question

does not define the frequency of conversations and may invite skewed answers into the

study. A suggestion for a future design would be wording the question that properly

frames the frequency in the surveyor’s head. An example of a better question may be

“Out of those friends; how many conversations do you have (weekly) with them on that

platform?“ Although the data set seemed to contradict itself in the area, it supports

another area of questioning. Question 15 asks whether individuals feel more

comfortable conversing cybernetically or in real life. Approx. 79% of individuals felt more

comfortable conversing with friends in real life. This piece of data agrees with the

previous notion that it may be possible that the participants are only conversing with

others if completely necessary since most feel comfortable with interacting face-to-face.

The future research on cell phone usage and correlation with humans interaction is still

new. The trajectory of cellphone usage will only increase as spending more time on cell

phones are common and “acceptable”. As people may use their cellphones to escape or
Effects of increased cell phone and social
media usage on interpersonal communication
20

to “kill” time, the reasons are limitless. There are potential of future studies on this topic

as the complexity and usage are increasing and it provides an opportunity to dig deeper

within research. There are several ideas and suggestions to consider if the study was

executed again. First of all, the verbiage of the questions could have been more

effective in defining the meaning of the question. Frequencies, amounts, and age

groups were not strictly defined and could have skewed the data in several ways. Also

there are variety of categories in regards to “communication” and “social media”.

Different types of apps have different cultures in supporting communications. A further

research would be better worded and geared towards different type of app users.

Questions can be geared towards an app and communications with better precise data.

Secondly, there were questions where scale was not created correctly. Instead of a 1 to

10 scale, there were scales such as 1 to 50 and 1 to 100. A future study would benefit

from more defined answers to better find an association or correlation within the data.

Thirdly, numerical answers should not be grouped, but defined specifically. An example

of this would be the age groups defined in the paper, it created a difficult process of

defining the data in analysis form. Lastly, if given the opportunity to complete the study

again, it would be beneficial to implement several avenues of survey distribution. One

alternative could be hosting the survey natively through polls on Instagram or Facebook.

This will provide insights to location, age, and survey results on a platform that is

dominated by active social media users.

This is the beginning of research regarding human interaction and the way the

mobile world has presented itself as a third space for participants. With the data
Effects of increased cell phone and social
media usage on interpersonal communication
21

collected, the data generally supports the main hypothesis that the increased time spent

on cell phones and social media enhances human interaction. Cell phones,

smartphones, and other social media apps were made to connect people from all over

the world. In the study, the participants showed through data that was majority of the

reason why they use their smartphones. However, it is also common to see that the

usage of smartphones separate and does not enhance interpersonal communications.

Effects of increased cell phone and social
media usage on interpersonal communication
22

References

O'Keeffe, Gwenn Schurgin, et al. “The Impact of Social Media on Children, Adolescents, and

Families.” ​Pediatrics​, American Academy of Pediatrics, 1 Apr. 2011,

pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/127/4/800.short.

“Relationships among Smartphone Addiction, Stress, Academic Performance, and Satisfaction with

Life.” ​Computers in Human Behavior,​ Pergamon, 31 Dec. 2015,

www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0747563215303162.

“Social Media Fact Sheet.” ​Pew Research Center: Internet, Science & Tech,​ 5 Feb. 2018,

www.pewinternet.org/fact-sheet/social-media/.

“Social Media and Loneliness: Why an Instagram Picture May Be Worth More than a Thousand

Twitter Words.” ​Computers in Human Behavior​, Pergamon, 7 Apr. 2016,

www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0747563216302552.

“We're All Connected: The Power of the Social Media Ecosystem.” ​Business Horizons,​ Elsevier, 16

Feb. 2011, ​www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0007681311000243​.

https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B-5-JeCa2Z7hSDBhbFIyVXZfMGM/edit
Effects of increased cell phone and social
media usage on interpersonal communication
23

Ellison, et al. “Benefits of Facebook ‘Friends:" Social Capital and College Students' Use of Online

Social Network Sites | Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication | Oxford Academic.” ​OUP

Academic,​ Oxford University Press, 1 July 2007, academic.oup.com/jcmc/article/12/4/1143/4582961.

https://academic.oup.com/jcmc/article/12/4/1143/4582961

Dos, Bulent. “The Relationship Between Mobile Phone Use, Metacognitive Awareness and

Academic Achievement.” ​European Journal of Educational Research,​ vol. 3, no. 4, 2014, pp.

192–200., doi:10.12973/eu-jer.3.4.192.

https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1085990.pdf
Effects of increased cell phone and social
media usage on interpersonal communication
24

Appendix

1. Male / Female / Undisclosed

2. How old are you?
a. 18-20
b. 21-25
c. 26-30
d. Over 31
e. Prefer not to answer
3. Do you own a smartphone?
a. Yes
b. No
4. How many hours a week do you spend on your phone?
a. Less than one hour
b. 1-3 hr
c. 3-5 hrs
d. 5-7 hrs
e. Over 7 hrs a week
5. If you left your phone at home, how anxious would you be? (1-10)
6. How easily are you distracted by your phone when focusing on other tasks? (1-10)
7. Do you feel the need to have the newest cell phone on the market?
a. Yes
b. No
8. Do you ever spend money for in-app or app purchases?
a. Yes
b. No
9. Do you feel that cell phones enhance or handicaps human interaction?
a. Yes
b. No
10. At what age do you think it’s appropriate for a child to have a cellphone?
a. 3-5 y/o
b. 5-7 y/o
c. 7-10 y/o
d. 10-13 y/o
e. After the age of 13
11. Do you use your phone to escape awkward social interactions?
a. Yes
Effects of increased cell phone and social
media usage on interpersonal communication
25

b. No
12. Do you engage in any social networking?
a. No, I don’t engage in any social networking
b. Facebook
c. LinkedIn
d. Youtube
e. Twitter
f. Instagram
g. Snapchat
13. How many friends do you have on your primary social media?
a. (fill in)
14. Out of those friends; how many do you have conversations with on that platform?
a. (fill in)
15. Does social networking allow you to have freedom of speech?
a. Yes
b. No
16. Why do you use social media? (You can tick more than one response)
a. To find information
b. To play games
c. To make professional and business contacts
d. To keep in touch with family and friends
e. To make new friends
f. To get opinions
g. To share videos/ pictures/ music
h. To share your experiences
17. Do you feel more comfortable cybernetically or in real life when having a conversation with a
friend?
a. Cybernetic conversation
b. Real life conversation
18. How many hours a week do you spend socializing outside of school/work?
a. 0-1 hours
b. 1-3 hours
c. 3-5 hours
d. Over 5 hours
19. What’s your preferred setting for relaxation?
a. At home
b. Outside doing physical activities
c. Out with family/friends
d. Online
20. Do you ever have a “fomo”? (fear of missing out)
a. Yes
b. No
21. Do you feel less intimidated communicating through your smartphone?
a. Yes
b. No
22. On a scale of 1-10 how much do you feel the need to have your cell phone with you at all times?
(10 being I absolutely need my cellphone, 1 I couldn’t care less)
Effects of increased cell phone and social
media usage on interpersonal communication
26

23. Do you follow or connect with people you don’t know?

a. Yes
b. No
24. Would you consider your followers your friends?
a. Yes
b. No
25. Would you approach someone you don’t know in real life but know online?
a. Yes
b. No
c. Depends
26. Do you feel as though Social Media has a positive or negative impact on your life?
27. Does social media boost your confidence when your receive 'likes' or 'shares' or 'comments'?
a. Yes
b. No