What does social media have to do with health? A case study of Bangkok youths
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Chulanee Thianthai
Abstract
Objective
This qualitative research aims to understand how Bangkok youths perceive social media usage effects on their physical, psychological, social and spiritual health.
Methods
A total of 74 Bangkok youths, aged 15–24 years old, divided according to each age and gender group participated in in-depth interviews and mobile phone search observations. Health impact was categorized into the four health aspects through content analysis according to sociological perspectives.
Results
Bangkok youths view social media to have both positive and negative effects on their health. Increased awareness of negative results was shown with increased age. While younger youths use social media for entertainment, older youths also use social media for self-development. Interests and degree of sensitivity varied among the genders.
Conclusion
Effective health education can only be achieved through future youth-centered research on social media usage based on age, gender and cultural variations.
Acknowledgments
The researcher would like to thank all the participants, The Thailand Research Fund and the Faculty of Political Science, Chulalongkorn University for making this research possible (RSA5680053). I am grateful to Professor Nancy Rosenberger, Assistant Professor Natalie Porter, Chayata Viriya, PhD and Raksaya Aunsnunta for giving valuable comments.
References
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©2018 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston
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- What does social media have to do with health? A case study of Bangkok youths
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Articles in the same Issue
- Frontmatter
- Original Articles
- Awareness and practices of menstrual hygiene among females of reproductive age in rural Puducherry – a mixed method study
- Many hours of watching medical TV shows is associated with greater medical knowledge
- Spatio-temporal trends in the risk of adolescent pregnancy in Minas Gerais, Brazil, 2000–2015
- Sexual behaviour and its correlates among adolescents in Brunei Darussalam
- The relationship between anxiety and social support in male and female students in high schools in the southeast of Iran
- Cannabis and amphetamine use and socio-ecological (proximal and distal) factors among school-going adolescents in four countries in the Caribbean and four countries in South America
- Gender differences in concussion-related knowledge, attitudes and reporting-behaviours among high school student-athletes
- Determinants of overweight and obesity among urban school-going children and adolescents: a case-control study in Bangladesh
- Addiction to the Internet and mobile phones and its relationship with loneliness in Iranian adolescents
- Prevalence and associated factors for social phobia among school-going adolescents in a rural area of Puducherry, South India
- Self-efficacy of osteoporosis preventive behaviors and its predictors in Iranian adolescents
- Prevalence of pediculosis and its related factors among primary school girls in the north of Iran
- Risk behaviors in adolescence – a study in a Portuguese health unit
- Statistical analysis for the impact of smoking on the behavior and health of Qatari adolescents
- Risk behaviors screening in Thai adolescents with acute and chronic illnesses
- Prenatal and early life origins of adolescence sleep problems: evidence from a birth cohort
- Intake of fruit, vegetables and milk products and correlates among school boys in Saudi Arabia
- Determinants of early marriage among female adolescent in Indonesia
- Social health needs of Iranian male adolescents
- Radiation and its associated health risks: assessment of knowledge and risk perception among adolescents and young adults in Saudi Arabia
- What does social media have to do with health? A case study of Bangkok youths
- Determining the development of syntax in typically-developing Indian adolescents using a syntactic analysis package
- Prevalence of traumatic injuries to the anterior teeth among 3–17-year-old school children of Indore and correlating it with Kuppuswamy SES, occlusal relationship and ascertaining percentage of those seeking the treatment
- Impaired dynamic thiol/disulfide homeostasis in pubertal gynecomastia
- Can upper limb taping or exercises improve hand function, writing speed and self-perception of performance in adolescent school children?
- Hemihyperplasia/hemihypertrophy in adolescents: prospective international study
- Depression in a sample of Tunisian adolescents: prevalence, associated factors and comorbidity with anxiety disorders
- Predictors of sexual function in pregnant Iranian adolescents
- Spiritual belief and its link with potentially addictive behaviors in a youth sample in Switzerland
- Short Communications
- Violence depicted in advertisements on LinkNYC kiosks in Manhattan, New York City
- Major food groups contributing to sodium intake in school-attending adolescents
