Paper Title
THE EFFECT OF SOCIAL MEDIA USAGE ON ATTENTION SPANS IN FEMALE UNIVERSITY STUDENTS

Abstract
In recent years, owing to dramatic increases in smartphone usage time, particularly among the younger generations, concentration and attentional difficulties have emerged as particularly salient concerns. The prevalence of such difficulties has raised questions about the potential causal linkbetween smartphone usage and cognitive performance. However, the results of previous research on the correlationsbetween media multitasking and (deficiencies in) attentional functioning remain mixed. Specifically, while some studies reported a negative correlation between the two variables, others highlighted potential cognitive benefits, rather than impairments, particularly in action video game playing. In this context, the present study examines the relationship between mobile technology use, especially screen time during social media usage, and continuous concentration in female university students. We used the Social Media Use Integration Scale (SMUIS) to evaluate the study participants’reported screen timeand did an online test to measure their ability to concentrate. The results revealed no significant association between social media usage patterns and female university students’ ability to concentrate. This outcome could be attributed tolimitations of measurement methods used in the present study and task variations. However, our findings warrant further research, particularly longitudinal studies, so asgain abetter understanding of the long-term impacts of smartphone usage on continuous concentration in today’s younger female populations. Keywords - Mobile Technology, Smartphone, Social Media, Concentration Attention Spans