Texting Behavior’ and Impacts of ‘Mobile Messaging’ on Youth of Pakistan: A Uses and Gratification Analysis

Abstract

Advances in mobile technology have revolutionized the lives of Pakistani people, especially youngsters. The excessive use of mobile for ‘texting’ i.e. sending messages has become a normal practice regardless of the time and place. The present study focuses on this intensive habit of mobile texting exhibited by the youngsters of Southern Punjab to highlight and understand some of the common factors/reasons of mobile texting and their impacts on the lives of teenagers. The research paper explored texting behavior and impact of messaging on teenagers and youth in light of Uses and gratification approach. This research includes a sample of 627 students associated with various institutions of Multan city as the respondents were selected through multi-staged sampling technique. In this connection, survey research designed was used with structured questionnaire comprised close-ended questions. The results of the study clearly indicated positive and negative impact on different sphere of life of the users including social, physical and academic etc. The date collected clearly reveals that youngsters frequently use mobile messaging in order to keep in contact with their friends as it is economically viable mode of communication. Teenage boys show a greater tendency of sending and responding to messages from unknown numbers as compared to girls. Moreover, mobile texting has become a popular mode of secret communication in the face of sexually segregated patriarchal Pakistani society. However, this blessing also, at times, proves to a ‘social evil’ due to its negative impacts on studies and health.



Author Information
Shahzad Ali, Bahauddin Zakariya University, Multan, Pakistan

Paper Information
Conference: EuroMedia2018
Stream: Mass Communication

This paper is part of the EuroMedia2018 Conference Proceedings (View)
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Posted by James Alexander Gordon