International Journal of Social Science Research (IJSSR)

Social Media as the Socializing Agent: A Study of Adolescent Students in Coimbatore

An adolescent daily spends a substantial amount of his or her time on social media, it becomes im-portant to understand the role of social media as a socializing agent. The present article attempts to understand the role of social media as a socializing agent among adolescent students in the Coimba-tore district of Tamil Nadu, India. This paper focuses on the role of social media as a socializing agent in three major areas i.e., in inculcating family norms, health-related information, and educa-tion. In 2023, 155 adolescent students aged 13 to 19 years from the Coimbatore district of Tamil Nadu were interviewed regarding their usage of social media and its significance in instilling family norms, health, and education-related information among them. It was observed that social media has started to act as the socializing agent in the educational sphere, whereas when it comes to family norms and health-related information, the family continues to act as the primary socializing agent.