Social Media Usage and Self Perception among Dental Students at King Abdulaziz University, Saudi Arabia

Background: Facebook and other social media are attractive to those in the field of medical education. It can affect human being as some researches show that it has positive effect while others revealed theopposite. This study aimed to describe the pattern of Facebook use among the dental students at king Abdulaziz University and to assess its effect on behavior, social interactions, academic performance and study as well as health status.Methods: This is a cross sectional study targeted the undergraduate dental students in the academic year 2016-2017. A self-administered questionnaire was distributed online to all target students. It included 4 sections asked about the pattern of Facebook use and its purpose, the effect of Facebook use on behavior, study, academic performance and health of the target students. Data was analyzed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 16.Results: Whatsapp (82%) and Facebook (62%) were the most common types of social media used by the students and about 50% of them used Facebook for only 30 minutes per day. Considerable number of the students were using Facebook for educational purposes (66%) and felt that it made the social life better and believed it affected the time they spend with their friends and family (38%). They perceived Facebook as a source of inspiration and motivation (40%) about one third of them felt lonely despite of their many Facebook friends. Feeling less active (58%), having affected eyesight (33%) and headache (45 %) was reported after using Facebook by the students. About 31 % of them decided that Facebook had a negative effect on their study and 33.6 % of them believed that Facebook affected their grade point average (GPA).Conclusion: Although having some positive impact, use of Facebook has also negative impact on the students social interactions, behavior, health, study and academic performance as perceived by the dental students.