A Study to Analyse Usage of Social Media in Rural India

Exploring the Impact of Social Media on Health Education in Rural India

Abstract

Changes in how people may share information have been revolutionary. The term socialmedia refers to a wide range of Internet-based platforms created specifically for user-generated contentcreation, discussion, and sharing. The study's goals were to ascertain the extent to which people utilizesocial media, the kinds of uses to which it is put, and its potential use in spreading health information.This research was conducted between September 2018 and February 2019 in a rural area in the Indianregion of Punjab. A systematic interview schedule that had already been developed and piloted was usedto conduct interviews with the participants. There were 4,000 people in all that took part in the study. Ofthose 618 (15.5), over 90 had access to the internet on their smartphones. Men used smartphones ata far greater rate (22.9 vs. 11.3) than women. 742 people (18.5) were social media users, withWhatsApp being the most popular platform. Participants' use of social media was rather high, at 13.5percent (n = 542). The two main reasons people used social media were to keep in touch with friends andfor fun. Eighty percent or more of social media users believe it should be utilized more often for healtheducation, while only 11.8 percent believe the government is making effective use of the medium. Therewas a striking increase in the use of social media for communication among the young, male, educated,employed, and prosperous.