Social Media Usage: Determinants and Potential Risks among University Students in Egypt and Saudi Arabia

The purpose of this study is to explore the determinants and prevalence of social media addiction among university students in two Arab nations (Egypt and Saudi Arabia) based on such key factors as country, gender, time spent daily on social media, as well as field of study (academic discipline). The present study used a quantitative research design. The data were collected through a structured questionnaire from 1,905 participants (593 Saudi university students and 1,312 Egyptian university students). The questionnaire used in the current study is designed based on the nine-item Social Media Disorder (SMD) scale developed by Van den Eijnden et al. to examine the contribution of demographic and behavioral variables to predict social media addiction among university students. The findings of the current study designate a higher prevalence of social media addiction among Saudi university students compared to Egyptian students. Additionally, the findings indicate that male students and individuals who engage in social media for more than six hours daily were at greater risk of being addicted to social media. Furthermore, students who are enrolled in scientific disciplines demonstrated greater susceptibility to social media addiction compared to their counterparts in Education, Humanities, and medical fields. These insights assured the role of demographic and behavioral variables in shaping the patterns of digital dependency among university students. This is a self-reported cross-sectional survey and may restrict generalization to the findings. Future research could explore longitudinal data, as well as other factors that impact, such as academic attainment and mental health. The research contributes to the growing literature on digital addiction in two Arab nations, highlighting the demographic and behavioral characteristics of social media addiction. The findings have significant implications for the academic and psychological effects of digital dependency among university students in the Arab region.