LBEF RESEARCH JOURNAL OF SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY AND MANAGEMENT

Author(s):Manju Sharma, Dr. Sandeep Kautish

Abstract:Social Networking Sites (SNSs) has revolutionized the digital world by connecting people around the globe through internet technology. Ever since its introduction, SNSs are growing rapidly and have become the integral part of day to day lives. Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Snapchat etc. are some of the ubiquitous SNSs platforms. This paper uncovers the impacts of these SNSs platform on life satisfaction of people inside Kathmandu valley.

This research highlights on two theories “Socio-emotional Selectivity Theory” (SST) and “Uses and Gratification Theory” (UGT) which highly impacts the SNSs usage patterns. The survey was conducted by distributing online questionnaires. The results were derived through SPSS tool using descriptive and inferential analysis methods. The findings suggest that Facebook is popular among all age groups while LinkedIn is popular within age range 25-40. Similarly, socialization, entertainment, communication and career building are the motivations behind SNSs usage. Also, the results show, though SNSs is very useful in free knowledge sharing, the lack of proper government rules and regulation seems to be a greater barrier in their effective implementation. Finally, the results unveil that life satisfaction increases when there is increase in actual friends and increase in well-being of people after using SNSs. The paper further proposed a conceptual model for effective SNSs implementation in Nepal.

Keywords — Conceptual Model, Facebook, LinkedIn, Life satisfaction, social networking sites, social-emotional selectivity theory, uses and gratification theory