The rapid growth of social media has significantly influenced the learning patterns of collegestudents, transforming these platforms into important tools for academic engagement and selfdevelopment. This study examines the role of social media in promoting self-initiated learningamong college students, with special reference to Palayamkottai. The research explores howstudents utilize platforms such as YouTube, WhatsApp, Instagram, Telegram, and Facebook foraccessing educational resources, participating in academic discussions, collaborating with peers,and enhancing their knowledge beyond classroom instruction.The study adopts a descriptive research design to analyze students’ usage patterns, influencingfactors, benefits, and challenges associated with social media as a learning tool. Findings indicatethat social media plays a vital role in encouraging independent learning, improving access toinformation, and fostering collaborative knowledge sharing. However, issues such as distraction,misinformation, and time management concerns were also identified. The study concludes thatwhile social media has significant potential to support self-initiated learning, its effectiveutilization requires proper guidance, digital literacy, and structured integration into highereducation practices.
A.Benazir et al. (Fri,) studied this question.