Abstract

This research endeavored to discover the reasons behind widespread social media reliance among Pakistani youth. The major focus of research was to understand how the social media reliance results into such behaviors and patterns that reinforce the extensive adoption of this medium throughout society. The researcher has taken two most important aspects usage and gratification regarding the youth’s reliance on social media. Students both male and female aged 18-30 from public and private universities of metropolitan cities (Lahore, Karachi, Peshawar, Quetta, Islamabad ) Pakistan were taken. By using purposive sampling, 1000 university students were taken as sample for this study. Survey method was used for data collection and for data analysis Pearson product-moment correlation was applied to test the relationships between independent and dependent variables. Findings of the study disclosed that usage aspect was the most important for youth to had extensive social media reliance as compared to other aspects..

Key Words

Gratification, Pakistani, Reliance, Social Media, Usage, Youth

Introduction

The figure of social media outlets increases daily and new forms of social media appears, some based on content, some founded by social communications, some centered on photo and video only. Gratifying various needs. news collection and reporting, establishing social connections, endorse a political agenda and providing entertaining content are some of the purposes of social media.

The dawn of social media has been a great influence on the ways of distributing information. Social media is a phenomenon that has changed the course of interaction and communication among individuals on a global level. However, social media is not a new concept; it has been evolving since the beginning of human interaction. Nonetheless, in the recent time, it has taken up a more important role in human communication.

Currently, the social media may be recognized as the growing media that is used by a large number of the world’s population. It can be understood as the form of media which provide with on- demand and instant access to content and information at anytime, anywhere, provided that an individual has a digital device like computer, smart phones, etc. It has a diverse range which includes various social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, We-chat, WhatsApp, BBM, Blogs etc., and other internet enabled devices like Wikipedia, Youtube etc.

Why social media reliance is increasing day by day? Which major factors or outcomes are resulting because of this reliance? These are pertinent question and major focus of this research is to explain and understand how the social media reliance results into such behaviors and patterns that reinforce the extensive adoption and use of social media throughout society. Social media use is mass and community driven and is a key provider in the shifting role of individuals on these networks. (Scheepers et all 2015).

Social media is a medium that permits knowledge to be broadcasted by social Contact. In the scope of this study, social media means such podium which allows operators to carry out a host of activities like sharing of massage, online sharing of picture, videos, melody, advertise data, events etc. The most important key features of social media are well connected, Community opinions, Communication, participation and connectedness. In this study, the researcher has taken Facebook as social media and frequency of using Facebook as parameters to check the reliance of youth on it.

Literature Review

Online platforms help to maintain already established associations, connect strangers having common preferences, political perspectives and hobbies. Social media tactics tempt audiences having similar language, religious ideas and similar vision. Basic variance between all social platforms exists because of the communication tools and technologies they offer (Boyd and Ellison 2008). 

The usage of social networks is growing. Among these networks Facebook has become the most shared and on demand online platform having users in millions. Usage patterns of students regarding Facebook and which tools of Facebook are preferred by them are the real objective behind the current research. So in present study eighty six volunteer undergraduate students participated. So various techniques of SPSS like   percentage, frequency, and mean statistical analysis techniques were used to investigated the survey data. The results of the study presented that mostly students spend their maximum time on Facebook because of the uniqueness of its tools like   messaging to each other, Friends lists, important Links, News and Photos. This study has also given insight into how Facebook helps to maintain and support the ideas which can be helpful for student in social and academic fields. The researchers had recommended that in future research studies should emphasis on how this social media technology can apply into education and teaching part (Bicen & Cavus, 2011).

 Zolkepli and  Kamarulzaman (2011) empirically investigated how social media needs and innovation influence the adoption of social media amongst Internet users. The theoretical perspective of the uses and gratifications, and Rogers’ five characteristics of innovation were reviewed and extended to explain the needs and motivations of the consumer. The study was conducted by testing and quantifying the relationship between the uses and gratifications of social media, while taking into consideration the mediating effect of social media technology innovation. This research applied a two-phase, multimethod strategy in the context of Malaysia. The strategy comprised the qualitative approach via focus group discussions with 48 respondents and the quantitative approach via online survey questionnaires with 428 respondents. Overall, the findings suggested that social media adoption is significantly driven by three types of need category – personal (consisting of enjoyment and entertainment), social (consisting of social influence and interaction) and tension release (consisting of belongingness, companionship, playfulness). In turn, these needs are motivated by the social media innovation characteristics (relative advantage, observability, compatibility) that increase the likelihood of the adoption. The research made a significant contribution in the area of media and technology adoption, which can be used to help marketers understand the factors that motivate social media usage.

Gao and Feng (2016) in their research study had observed the users from China who seek gratifications from diverse social media and strategies to engage the users on social media. For this purpose, two researches were conducted on the ground of existing literature review. The researchers had discovered some major gratifications from social media usage included information seeking, entertainment, social interaction, self-expression and impression management and collected possible items for each gratification. Then a survey method was conducted on 209 social media users and 161 microblog users to examine the influence of these three group as broadcaster, communicator, and interaction based on their usage pattern. 

Leon (2017) conducted a research titled advertising consumption trends on social media which was basically a media dependency study. The drive and aim of this investigation were to discover relationships between sociall media users’ media dependency, media literacy, and social media usage, with their perceptions of advertisements on social platforms. This study focused on individuals’ different perceptions of advertisements on social media in regards to social media dependency. This study had measured five specific attributes of social media consumption, which were the users’ perceptions of credibility of advertising on Facebook, perceptions of effectiveness of advertising on Facebook, media dependency, media literacy, and social media usage. This study also measured levels of purchase intention. This research was based on past findings regarding media dependency, media literacy, perceived effectiveness, and perceived credibility, and was helpful in better understanding how media perceptions may be consistent or largely different than the outcomes seen with traditional old media such as print advertisements, television commercials, radio commercials, etc.

Hu et al (2017) in their research on social media had studied the habit framework related to social psychology regarding use of social media. These researchers examined that how habit of using social media has have its influence on future behavior of users. This research study concluded that firstly social media habit is formed because of the past use and preferences of the individuals, and the more repeatedly usage means the stronger habit of social media interaction. Secondly individuals start pondering that only social media has the worth to satiate their personal needs so the more worth to social media leads to stronger social media habit. Lastly this research supported the social psychology philosophy that habit leads to future behavior, the more individuals engaged themselves in social media usage, the more social media they will use in the future. 

Kaye & Johnson (2017) explored in their research that how reliance, credibility and interaction influence the motives for using certain type of social media for political information. Online survey method was adopted to ask from the users regarding the accuracy and fairness of political content found on social media and to which extent they rely on those platforms for political gratification.  Respondents were asked to tell that how much time they spent on a platform. Reliance for political information from social networking sites, blogs, and Twitter was measured using a five-point Likert scale. As per finding of the study users revealed that they prefer such blogs and tweeter accounts which are owned by the common people and are free from the influence of corporate influence. Moreover, the findings discovered that people no more trust the traditional media as it projects the bias content. Overall, credibility was found the strongest measure of reliance on social platforms for political interest.

Another important research study explored the needs gratification of Pakistani women from Facebook. This research was about how Pakistani women have also adopted this new information technology into their lives. The definite objectives of the research were to measure the total time spent on Facebook and secondly by engagement which needs they gratify from Facebook. Participants of the study were from Fatima Jinnah Women University and International Islamic University (Female Campus). The findings of the study highlighted the importance of social media in the lives of women who use it for certain needs gratification like seeking information, interaction and relaxation. The present research has discovered the inclination of women towards Facebook and also has grouped the needs which women gratify through the use of Facebook. The results of the study were in accordance with the previous uses and gratification investigations that Pakistan women also use Facebook to gratify their social integrative needs. (Riaz, Aksar, & Pasha, 2016)

Rationale of the Study

The aim of this study is to identify that among usage and gratification which aspect is more growing or which factor is increasingly used among Pakistani youth because of social media reliance. As society is observing the rapid growth in social media reliance, it is much needed to study the phenomena. In past, much work has been done where researchers had taken social media as independent variable and measured its impact. Whereas in this research, the researcher has chosen two major aspects as dependent variables along with social media as independent variable. The researcher wanted to find out that how social media reliance give boost to these variables and among this which aspect has strong relationship with social media reliance.         




Significance of the Study 

This study seeks to demonstrate the factors which result because of social media reliance among the Pakistani youth. This study also provides a better and more comprehensive understanding of why and to which extent the Pakistani youth use social media.

Subsequently, this study is not to predict the adoption of these platforms but rather to investigate on how social media reliance drives the continued use of the needs gratification and which needs are more gratified from these platforms. One of the main challenges for researcher in this domain of research is the rapid change that is taking place in both the technological developments and user preferences.




Research Objectives  

1. To analyze the relationship between social media reliance, usage and gratification?

2. To check how social media reliance increases the usage?

3. To explore the effectiveness of Interpersonal communication and online connectivity within social circle because of social media reliance.

4. To check to what extent sense of community among users increase by reliance on social media?

5. To evaluate how expansion in beliefs of Pakistani youth affected by the social media reliance?

6. To explore that how knowledge upgrading of users increase because of reliance on social media?

7. To find out that gratification of user’s needs is because of the social media reliance.

8. To discover that user’s social relation building (strong and weak ties) increase due to reliance on social media.




Research Questions

1. Whether there are effects of social media reliance on usage and gratification needs aspects of Pakistani youth?

2. How does social media reliance increase the usage?

3. How does reliance on social media increase usage for Information seeking?

4. How does reliance on social media increase effectiveness of Interpersonal communication and online connectivity within social circle increase?

5. How reliance on social media increase sense of community among youth?

6. How does social media reliance of Pakistani youth affect expansion in beliefs?

Whether knowledge upgrading of youth increased by reliance on social media

7. How social media reliance influence user’s needs gratification?

8. How does user’s social relation building (strong and weak ties) increase by reliance on social media?




Usage Hypotheses

H 1: There is a statistically significant relationship among usage and social media reliance.  

H 1: Reliance on social media has increased Effectiveness of Interpersonal communication of Pakistani youth 

H 2: There is a statistically significant relationship between on line connectivity within social circle and social media reliance  

H 3: Reliance on social media increase sense of community among youth

H 4: knowledge upgrading of users increased by reliance on social media.

H 5: Social support of ideas from social media increase reliance on it. 




Gratification Hypotheses

H2 : There is significant relationship between needs gratification of Pakistani youth and social media reliance

H 1: Confirmation of social media expectations is positively related with reliance on it. 

H 2: Reliance on social media increase User’s social relation building (strong and weak ties) 

H 3:  Reliance on social media affect the Opinion formulation of the youth.

H 4: Companionship from social media is positively related with reliance on it.

H 5: Social media reliance of youth helps them to be more vocal about their Fame/ glory\show of about achievements.  




H 3: Social Media Reliance is Affecting the Usage and Gratification Aspects of Pakistani Youth

Theoretical Framework

Using Uses and Gratification theory of mass media and Media dependency theory, the researcher presented social media effects research findings as the outcome of media use to be different from the media effects tradition. There are numerous reasons for these approaches. First, this study is not about the media effects but it does concern itself with outcomes in terms of reliance. This would accommodate the predictive power of the model which states that there are certain requirements like usage and gratification which makes the user more and more involved in the social medial. This research is based on the theoretical framework that is comparable to Strizhakova and Krcmar’s (2003) in that it takes support of two theories; Uses and gratification and media dependency theory. This is done to consider the appropriate characteristics of the new media information system and to construct a causal model that is more compatible with the “effect” of new media.

By applying these two approaches, this study aims to provide a better and more complete understanding of how some aspects like usage and gratification are affected by reliance on social media. Reliance on social media and needs gratification are the main reasons for taking the uses and gratification theory and media dependency theory. The researcher has sought the help of both these theories as the study is about how social media reliance of youth and various aspects like usage and gratification related to it.

Research Methodology

This study used a survey method by using a structured questionnaire to get quantitative data from population of this study. Survey research is a design for getting larger number of views from concerned population on a topic being understudied. It tries to explore the difference of opinion and correlational relationship among variables, and to measure the degree of relation among different phenomenon being under researched. The main objective of this method is to target large number of sample that is conveniently available and respond to research questionnaire easily (Weisberg, Krosnick & Bowen, 1996).

 

Population

Sample Size

By using The population for the present study is comprised of youth, both male and female aged 18-30 studying at public and private universities of metropolitan cities (Lahore, Karachi, Peshawar, Quetta, Islamabad  ) of Pakistan, having access to this medium and using social media a suitable statistical formula, over all 1000 university students were taken as sample for this study.

 

 Sampling Method

Purposive sampling from non-probability sampling techniques was used. The population of present research is youth of Pakistan. This study targets the social media users which are Pakistani youth, age ranged between 18 to 30 years. Survey method was employed for data collection. The sample is selected form different universities (private and public sector) of Lahore, Islamabad and Karachi, Quetta and Peshawar. The target population is enrolled students of the selected universities. This population was chosen keeping in view the demographic needs, social media usage and rationale of study.

Sampling Structure

The idea of the research is to collect data only from social media users that’s why the researcher has used purposive sampling from non-probability sampling technique. This has allowed the researcher to get the exact information regarding social media reliance. The population of this study is youth of the Pakistan. The sample is selected form different universities (private and public sector) of Lahore, Islamabad and Karachi, Quetta and Peshawar. The target population is selected universities enrolled students. Sample of the research was taken from these Public and Private universities.




 

Table 1. List of Public and Private Universities for Sample Selection

S. No	City	Public University	Private University
1	Lahore	University of the Punjab	Lahore Garrison University
2	Karachi	University of Karachi	Iqra University
3	Islamabad	International Islamic University	Riphah International University
4	Quetta	University of Baluchistan	AL-Hamid Islamic University
5	Peshawar	University of Peshawar	Iqra National University

 




The sampling frame contain two registered universities (public and private) from major metropolitan cities of Pakistan.

 

Statistical Analysis and Tool for Data Collection

Correlation test is used to analyze the data using suitable descriptive statistics.

 

Pre-Testing and Reliability Test

The survey questionnaire was pre-tested on 50 individuals. The results discovered certain short comings in the instrument so the researcher made changes at the testing stage. For checking the instrument’s reliability, internal consistency and Cronbach’s alpha were executed. Reliability testing is applied when research instrument is based on Likert type scale (Likert’s-1952). In this formatting respondent expresses his opinion by showing the intensity and agreement with scale items (Hanif, & Ahmad,2004). So each of the dependent variables was operationalized into a set of factors and the answers were obtained on Likert 9 point scale.

 

Variables

Social media reliance is an independent variable of this study whereas usage and gratification aspects are the dependent variables.

 

Research Instrument/Tool

Data is collected by using structured questionnaire, comprising only close ended questions. Keeping the objectives of the study, questionnaire is comprised of 4 parts. The first part includes the demographic orientations of the respondents such as gender, age, education, socio-economic status etc. The second part is about independent variable that is social media and activities on this platform. Third part is of usage orientations of the respondents such as Interpersonal communication, on line connectivity within social circle, sense of community, expansion in beliefs and knowledge upgrading etc. Part four measures the gratification aspect of Pakistani youth which is supposed to increase because of reliance on social media. Reliability of the tool judged through Cronbach’s Alpha.




 

Table 2. Tests of Normality

	Kolmogorov-Smirnov			Shapiro-Wilk
	Statistic	Df	Sig.	Statistic	df	Sig.
SocialMedia Reliance	.053	1000	.000	.985	1000	.000
Usage	.274	1000	.000	.827	1000	.000
Gratification	.068	1000	.000	.970	1000	.000

Graph 1

As we can see from the Normal Q-Q plot of Social Media Reliance that points are clustered around the line which shows that our data is normally distributed.

Graph 2

Graph 3

Normal Q-Q plot of Gratification reveals that our variable is normally distributed as the points are clustered around the line

Data Analysis

SPSS was used for data entry, statistical analysis and interpretations. Pearson product-moment correlation test was applied to check the relationships between independent and dependent variables.

 

Usage Hypotheses

H1: There is a Positive Relationship Between Social Media Reliance and Usage Aspect




Table 1. Pearson Product Moment Correlation between Social Media Reliance and Usage

	Social Media Reliance	Usage
Pearson Correlation	1	.877**
Sig. (2-tailed)		.000
N	1000	1000

**. Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed).

 




To check the relation between Usage and Social media Reliance Pearson Product moment correlation is used. P-value 0.000 indicates that there exist relationship between usage and social media reliance as the p-value value is less than 0.01. The value

of correlation (r = 0.877) indicates a strong positive relationship between usage and social media reliance.

 

H 2: Reliance on social media has increased Effectiveness of Interpersonal communication of Pakistani youth




 

Table 2. Pearson Product Moment Correlation between Social Media Reliance and Effective Interpersonal Communication

	Effectiveness of Interpersonal communication	SocialMedia Reliance
Pearson Correlation	1	.086
Sig. (2-tailed)		.040
N	1000	1000

 




To check the relation between Effectiveness of Interpersonal communication and Social media Reliance, Pearson Product moment correlation is used. P-value 0.040 indicates that there exist relationship between Effectiveness of Interpersonal communication and social media reliance as the p-value value is less than 0.05. The value of correlation (r = 0.086) indicates a positive relationship between Effectiveness of Interpersonal communication and social media reliance

 

H 3: There is a Statistically Significant Relationship between on Line Connectivity within Social Circle and Social Media Reliance 




 

Table 3. Pearson Product Moment Correlation between on Line Connectivity within Social Circle and Social Media Reliance 

	SocialMedia Reliance	online connectivity within social circle
Pearson Correlation	1	.013
Sig. (2-tailed)		.006
N	1000	1000

 




Pearson Product moment correlation is used to check the relation between on line connectivity within social circle and Social media Reliance. P-value 0.006 indicates that there exists relationship between on line connectivity within social circle and social media reliance as the p-value value is less than 0.01. The value of correlation (r = 0.013) indicates a positive relationship between on line connectivity within social circle and social media reliance.

H 4: Reliance on Social Media Increase Sense of Community Among Youth




 

Table 4. Pearson Product Moment Correlation between Sense of Community Among Youth and

Social Media Reliance

	SocialMedia Reliance	Sense of Community
Pearson Correlation	1	.418
Sig. (2-tailed)		.005
N	1000	1000

 




To check the relation between Sense of Community and Social media Reliance, Pearson Product moment correlation is used. P-value 0.005 indicates that there exist relationship between Sense of Community and social media reliance as the p-value value is less than 0.05. The value of correlation (r = 0.418) indicates a positive relationship between Sense of Community and social media reliance.

 

H 5: knowledge Upgrading of users Increased by Reliance on Social Media




 

Table 5. Pearson Product Moment Correlation between knowledge Upgrading of users and Social Media Reliance

	Social Media Reliance	Knowledge Upgrading
Pearson Correlation	1	.016
Sig. (2-tailed)		.008
N	1000	1000

 




To check the relation between Knowledge Upgrading and Social media Reliance, Pearson Product moment correlation is used. P-value 0.008 indicates that there exist relationship between Knowledge Upgrading and social media reliance as the p-value value is less than 0.05. The value of correlation (r = 0.016) indicates a positive relationship between Knowledge Upgrading and social media reliance.

 

H 6: Social Support of Ideas from Social Media Increases Reliance on it




 

Table 6. Pearson Product Moment Correlation between Social Support of Ideas and  Social Media Reliance

	Social Media Reliance	Social Support
Pearson Correlation	1	.043
Sig. (2-tailed)		.041
N	1000	1000

 




Pearson Product moment correlation is used to check the relation between Social Support and Social media Reliance. P-value 0.041 indicates that there exists relationship between Social Support and social media reliance as the p-value value is less than 0.01. The value of correlation (r = 0.043) indicates a positive relationship between Social Support and social media reliance. Sense of community is the strong variable among our sub hypothesis of Usage

 

Gratification Hypotheses

The Second Major Hypothesis of this Study was

H2: There is Significant Relationship between Needs Gratification of Pakistani Youth and Social Media Reliance




Table 1. Pearson Product Moment Correlation between Social Media Reliance and Gratification

	SocialMedia Reliance	Gratification
Pearson Correlation	1	.750**
Sig. (2-tailed)		.000
N	1000	1000

 




Pearson Product moment correlation is used to check the relation between Gratification and Social media Reliance. P-value 0.000 indicates that there exists relationship between Gratification and social media reliance as the p-value value is less than 0.01. The value of correlation (r = 0.750) indicates a positive relationship between Hedonic and social media reliance.

 

H 2: Confirmation of Social Media Expectations is Positively Related with Reliance on it




 

Table 2. Pearson Product Moment Correlation between Confirmation of Social Media Expectations and Social Media Reliance

	Social Media Reliance	Confirmation of Social Media Expectations
Pearson Correlation	1	.091
Sig. (2-tailed)		.004
N	1000	1000

 




To check the relation between Confirmation of Social Media Expectations and Social media Reliance, Pearson Product moment correlation is used. P-value 0.004 indicates that there exist relationship between Confirmation of Social Media Expectations and social media reliance as the p-value value is less than 0.058. The value of correlation (r = 0.091) indicates a positive relationship between Confirmation of Social Media Expectations and social media reliance.

 

H 3: Reliance on Social Media Increase User’s Social Relation Building (Strong and Weak Ties)




 

Table 3: Pearson Product Moment Correzalation between User’s Social Relation Building (Strong and Weak Ties) and Social Media Reliance

	SocialMedia Reliance	Social Relation Building(Strong and weak ties)
Pearson Correlation	1	.085
Sig. (2-tailed)		.007
N	1000	1000

 




To check the relation between Social Relation Building(  Strong and weak ties) and Social media Reliance, Pearson Product moment correlation is used. P-value 0.007 indicates that there exist relationship between Social Relation Building(Strong and weak ties) and social media reliance as the p-value value is less than 0.058. The value of correlation (r = 0.085) indicates a positive relationship between Social Relation Building(Strong and weak ties) and social media reliance.

 

H 4: Reliance on Social Media Affect the Opinion Formulation of the Youth




 

Table 4. Pearson Product Moment Correlation between Opinion Formulation of the Youth and Social Media Reliance

	Social Media Reliance	Opinion formulation of youth
Pearson Correlation	1	.335
Sig. (2-tailed)		.000
N	1000	1000

 




Pearson Product moment correlation is used to check the relation between Opinion formulation of youth and Social media Reliance. P-value 0.000 indicates that there exists relationship between Opinion formulation of youth and social media reliance as the p-value value is less than 0.01. The value of correlation (r = 0.335) indicates a positive relationship between Opinion formulation of youth and social media reliance.

H 5: Companionship from Social Media is Positively Related with Reliance on it




 

Table 5. Pearson Product Moment Correlation between Companionship and Social Media Reliance

	SocialMedia Reliance	Companionship
Pearson Correlation	1	.186
Sig. (2-tailed)		.000
N	1000	1000

 




Pearson Product moment correlation is used to check the relation between companionship and Social media Reliance. P-value 0.000 indicates that there exists relationship between companionship and social media reliance as the p-value value is less than 0.01. The value of correlation (r = 0.186) indicates a positive relationship between companionship and social media reliance.

 

H 6:  Social Media Reliance of Youth Helps them to be more Vocal about their Fame/ Glory\show of about Achievements 




 

Table 6. Pearson Product moment correlation between vocal about Fame/ glory\show of achievements and social media reliance.

	Social Media Reliance	More Vocal about their Fame/ Glory/Show of about Achievements
Pearson Correlation	1	.082
Sig. (2-tailed)		.009
N	1000	1000

 




Pearson Product moment correlation is used to check the relation between More vocal about their fame/ glory/show of about achievements and Social media Reliance. P-value 0.009 indicates that there exists relationship between More vocal about their fame/ glory/show of about achievements and social media reliance as the p-value value is less than 0.01. The value of correlation (r = 0.082) indicates a positive relationship between More vocal about their fame/ glory/show of about achievements and social media reliance. Opinion formulation of youth is the strongest variable among sub hypothesis of Gratification.

 

H 3: Social Media Reliance is Affecting the Usage and Gratification Aspects Of Pakistani Youth




 

Table 1. Pearson Product Moment Correlation between Comparative Analysis of usage and Gratification Aspects of Social Media Reliance

	Social Media Reliance	Usage	Gratification
Pearson Correlation	1	.877	.750**
Sig. (2-tailed)		.000	.000
N	1000	1000	1000

 




To check the relation between Usage and Social media Reliance Pearson Product moment correlation is used. P-value 0.000 indicates that there exist relationship between usage and social media reliance as the p-value value is less than 0.01. The value of correlation (r = 0.877) indicates a strong positive relationship between usage and social media reliance.

Pearson Product moment correlation is used to check the relation between Gratification and Social media Reliance. P-value 0.000 indicates that there exists relationship between Gratification and social media reliance as the p-value value is less than 0.01. The value of correlation (r = 0.750) indicates a positive relationship between Hedonic and social media reliance.

Table indicates that among these two variables usage is the variable that is most strongly correlated with social media reliance.

Discussion

This study explores the relationship between social media reliance and usage, cognitive, hedonic and gratification aspects. This study tried to explore how social media reliance of Pakistani youth is affecting various factors related to it. The study provided the results by comparing the four major aspects of social media reliance. This study tried to find the various indicators of social media reliance. Findings of previous related researches have made the researcher conclude that social media has become the most influential platform for adoption of new trends. 

The core purpose of this study was to dig out the factors behind reliance of Pakistani youth on social media for completion of various needs and aspects related to their needs. Therefore, the researcher has compared the four major factors which are real indicators of social media reliance.

The major hypothesis studied was, there is a positive relationship between social media reliance and usage aspect. In order to check the relation between usage and social media reliance, pearson product moment correlation is used. p-value 0.000 indicates that there exists relationship between usage and social media reliance as the p-value value is less than 0.01. The value of correlation (r = 0.877) indicates a strong positive relationship between usage and social media reliance.

The researcher has divided the major hypothesis of usage into five sub hypotheses. The first sub hypothesis was, reliance on social media has increased Effectiveness of Interpersonal communication of Pakistani youth. To check the relation between effectiveness of interpersonal communication and social media reliance, pearson product moment correlation is used. p-value 0.040 indicates that there exist relationship between Effectiveness of Interpersonal communication and social media reliance as the p-value value is less than 0.05.The value of correlation (r = 0.086) indicates a positive relationship between Effectiveness of Interpersonal communication and social media reliance. 

Second sub hypothesis was, there is a statistically significant relationship between on line connectivity within social circle and social media reliance. Pearson Product moment correlation was used to check the relation between on line connectivity within social circle and social media Reliance. .P-value 0.006 indicates that there exists relationship between on line connectivity within social circle and social media reliance as the p-value value is less than 0.01. The value of correlation (r = 0.013) indicates a positive relationship between on line connectivity within social circle and social media reliance.

Third sub hypothesis of the study was, Reliance on social media increase sense of community among youth. So to check the relation between sense of community and social media reliance, Pearson product moment correlation is used. P-value 0.005 indicates that there exist relationship between sense of community and social media reliance as the p-value value is less than 0.05. The value of correlation (r = 0.418) indicates a positive relationship between Sense of Community and social media reliance.

Fourth sub hypotheses was knowledge upgrading of users increased by reliance on social media and to check the relation between Knowledge Upgrading and Social media Reliance, Pearson Product moment correlation is used. P-value 0.008 indicates that exist relationship between Knowledge Upgrading and social media reliance as the p-value value is less than 0.05. The value of correlation (r = 0.016) indicates a positive relationship between Knowledge Upgrading and social media reliance.

Last sub hypothesis of the usage was social support of ideas from social media increases reliance on it. Pearson Product moment correlation is used to check the relation between social support and social media reliance. P-value 0.041 indicates that there exists relationship between Social Support and social media reliance as the p-value value is less than 0.01. The value of correlation (r = 0.043) indicates a positive relationship between Social Support and social media reliance. Among all these sub hypotheses, sense of community was the strongest sub hypothesis of Usage.

The second major hypothesis of this study was, there is significant relationship between needs gratification of Pakistani youth and social media reliance. Pearson Product moment correlation is used to check the relation between gratification and social media reliance. P-value 0.000 indicates that there exists relationship between Gratification and social media reliance as the p-value value is less than 0.01. The value of correlation (r = 0.750) indicates a positive relationship between hedonic and social media reliance

First sub hypothesis of gratification aspect was, confirmation of social media expectations is positively related with reliance on it. To check the relation between confirmation of social media expectations and social media reliance, Pearson Product moment correlation is used. P-value 0.004 indicates that there exist relationship between confirmation of social media expectations and social media reliance as the p-value value is less than 0.058. The value of correlation (r = 0.091) indicates a positive relationship between Confirmation of Social Media Expectations and social media reliance.

Second sub hypothesis of gratification was reliance on social media increase user’s social relation building (strong and weak ties). To check the relation between social relation building (Strong and weak ties) and social media reliance, Pearson Product moment correlation is used. P-value 0.007 indicates that there exist relationship between social relation building (Strong and weak ties) and social media reliance as the p-value value is less than 0.058. The value of correlation (r = 0.085) indicates a positive relationship between social relation building (Strong and weak ties) and social media reliance.

Third sub hypothesis is reliance on social media affect the Opinion formulation of the youth. Pearson Product moment correlation is used to check the relation between opinion formulation of youth and social media reliance. P-value 0.000 indicates that there exists relationship between opinion formulation of youth and social media reliance as the p-value value is less than 0.01. The value of correlation (r = 0.33) indicates a positive relationship between opinion formulation of youth and social media reliance.

Fourth sub hypothesis is Companionship from social media is positively related with reliance on it. Pearson Product moment correlation is used to check the relation between companionship and social media reliance. P-value 0.000 indicates that there exists relationship between companionship and social media reliance as the p-value value is less than 0.01. The value of correlation (r = 0.186) indicates a positive relationship between companionship and social media reliance. 

Fifth sub hypothesis was social media reliance of youth helps them to be more vocal about their Fame/ glory\show of about achievements. Pearson Product moment correlation is used to check the relation between more vocal about their fame/ glory/show of about achievements and social media reliance. P-value 0.01 indicates that there exists relationship between more vocal about their fame/ glory/show of about achievements and social media reliance as the p-value value is less than 0.01. The value of correlation (r = 0.82) indicates a positive relationship between more vocal about their fame/ glory/show of about achievements and social media reliance. Opinion formulation of youth is the strongest sub hypothesis of Gratification.

Third major hypothesis was social media reliance is affecting the Usage and gratification aspects of Pakistani youth. Table indicated that among these two variables usage was the variable that was most strongly correlated with social media reliance.

Conclusion

This study gave an opportunity to investigate that how social media reliance of youth satisfy their various needs aspects related to it. The researcher of the study believed that uses and gratifications theory of media and dependency theory of mass media soundly examined the continued usage of social media. These approaches had provided well insight about the actual aims of continue social media reliance.

This study has explored the major aspects which have compelled the Pakistani youth to rely on social media for fulfillment of their requirements. Social media is an ongoing phenomenon which have changed our lives completely about how we observe, how we think, act and judge. This study has contributed and gathered facts regarding the real reasons behind social media reliance of Pakistani youth.

By applying uses and gratifications theory and dependency theory of mass media, this study explored and discussed the power and intensity level of social media which tempt youth to fulfill their needs from social media. Growing social media reliance has created so many trends in society in last decade so the factors like usage, cognitive, hedonic and gratification are related with social media reliance and are very much important to have research on them. 

The intention of this research was to pinpoint that among two aspects usage and gratification which aspect has strong relationship with the social media reliance of Pakistani youth. The investigator in this study has compared these aspects to know the strong relationship with the social media reliance. The usage aspect proved to be the primary and most important aspect regarding the social media reliance as compared to gratification aspect. 

The purpose of this study was to answer the following questions: (1) Do usage (Effectiveness of Interpersonal communication, on line connectivity within social circle, sense of community, knowledge upgrading, Social support) and gratification(social relation building (strong and weak ties, Opinion formulation , more vocal about their Fame/ glory\show of about achievements, social companionship ) aspects affected due to social media reliance. This inquiry tried to find and verified the factors which had resulted because of social media reliance among the Pakistani youth. This study has provided a better and more comprehensive understanding of why and to which extent the Pakistani youth use social media. The findings of the study had proved that youth rely social media for many needs which compel them to rely more and more on this platform. And from many aspects of social media reliance, usage was the main aspects to had more reliance on it.

This study mainly focused on the major aspects like usage and gratification of social media. Other factors (e.g., personality impact, social influence) should also be studied in future because all these factors have different impact on sample.

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