Extrinsic connectivity vs. intrinsic disconnectivity among internet users

Pages: 908-911
Shilpi Aggarwal and Punam Midha (Department of Psychology, Maharshi Dayanand University, Rohtak, Haryana)

Internet, over last one decade, has become an integral part of our daily life. In the contemporary technological era, though internet has connected people 24×7, yet this nearness has appeared to be resulted into a psychological distance among them. Hence there are controversial evidences as some have reported more closeness can be observed among internet users, while others have reported that internet usage has led to loneliness among its users. So the present study in an attempt to explore the level of internet usage and its association with intrinsic disconnectivity, i.e., feeling of loneliness among its young users. A purposive sample of 60 college students both male and female within the age range of 19 to 21 years both from urban and rural areas of Faridabad district was drawn. To measure the internet usage and loneliness level, Young’s Internet Addiction test and UCLA Loneliness Scale (Russel, 1996) were used. Descriptive statistics was used to find out the prevalent level of internet usage and the level of loneliness among youth. Further, correlational analysis was done to find out the relationship between internet connectivity and corresponding intrinsic disconnectivity among youth.