Impact of Social Media on Emotional State of Saudi Female Millennials in Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia

Human beings are very diverse in their feelings, behaviors and attitudes. Although being similar in numerous ways, they tend to behave differently in different situations when interacting with each other. New methods of communication via the social media and mobile communication have also added to this diversity as a result of which there is a significant change in social behavior of people. This paper was written with the intention of investigating the effects of social media on the emotional state of people in general and millennials in particular who work and live in Saudi Arabia. With this aim in mind, a specific target group was identified which was the Saudi Female millennials in the Eastern Province of the country to conduct the study. A questionnaire was created concentrating on three areas of focus - jealousy, motivation and sadness. The survey was conducted over a period of two months and the data was then studied and analyzed using chi-square testing. The results derived confirmed that the use of social media has both negative and positive impacts on the emotional state – in terms of jealousy, motivation and sadness – of the Saudi female millennials and also impacts their social behavior. The paper concludes with the opinion that social media can and does influence our lives in both good and unhealthy ways and thus it is imperative that we be aware of our emotional state when using such technologies and keep them under check. The technology or medium is not inherently good or bad but it how we use it that creates the desired or undesired social behavior.