College Students 'Left To Their Own Devices' By Elliot Panek

“Left to Their Own Devices: College Students’ ‘Guilty Pleasure’ Media Use and Time Management” is a media habits research conducted by Elliot Panek in August of 2017. Panek refers to college students’ media usage as virtually uncontrollable, especially during the pre-consumption phase. Panek refutes the notion that social media is an addiction and instead, demonstrates the correlation between social media use and levels of self-control. While many social media habit studies have continued to proliferate over the years, researches have missed an opportunity to better understand the dynamics of motivations and rewards that underlie all new media use. Instead, researchers have regarded social media usage as an addiction due to mental and behavioral disorders. After sampling undergraduate Internet users, Panek quickly discovers that Internet usage is positively correlated with deficiencies in self-regulation (Panek, 2013).

Submitted by Modo Labs Team, they’ve conducted statistical research amongst a general population of students which reveals some shocking data. According to a 2015 study, just over 90% of college students use and engage in multiple social media platforms every day, compared to the mere 12% who were using social media back in 2005. It’s commonly noted that students flock to social media to kill free time, keep up with current events, and connect with those whom they don’t see on a regular basis. In addition, the Modo Labs Team discovered three key factors that drive students into social media platforms: Ease of Use, Privacy, and Visuals. Privacy is especially important, which is why many students use Facebook and Instagram thanks to their wide array of privacy settings (Modo Labs,