Özkan AVCI

Çağrı SÜRÜCÜ

Communication technologies are developing rapidly today. In this period, which is also called the communication age, the prominent areas are the new media environments. New media environments create digital environments that provide two-way interaction with different content that is diversified from multiple channels at the same time. In the new media, social media consists of interactive digital media, where people have the right to talk and share their knowledge and personal opinions. Thus, social media, which emerged as a new type of communication, has become the fastest growing area in world history. Social media, which is a new type of communication, has become the fastest growing sharing area in world history. The aim of this study is to determine the social media usage and interactions of university students. The sample of the study consisted of 302 students studying at Bartin University. Social Media Scale prepared by Kocak (2012) was used for the data collection. In order to determine the reliability and specificity of the items in each sub-dimension of the scale, the total correlation values of the items and Cronbach's Alpha coefficients were taken into consideration. The data obtained from the study were analyzed with SPSS 22 package program. As a result of this research, it was found that the participant university students used mostly Instagram as social media platform. It was observed that the most frequent activities of the students on social media were listening to music, looking at photos and watching videos. In addition, it was determined that male students were more likely to use social media for social interaction than female students.

Keywords: internet, communication, social media, new media, university students