When Social Media Becomes a Lifeline and a Trap: Social Media Disorder Among Rural Filipino Students During COVID-19

What this study is about

During the COVID-19 pandemic,

What this study is about

During the COVID-19 pandemic, many young people depended on social media more than ever. It became a place for school updates, friendship, entertainment, news, coping, and escape. For students living under long community quarantine, especially in rural areas, social media was not just a hobby—it was often one of the few available ways to connect with the outside world. 

But the same tool that helped students cope could also become difficult to control. This study examined social media disorder (SMD) among rural young college students in Luzon, Philippines. SMD refers to problematic or addictive patterns of social media use, such as preoccupation, withdrawal, conflict, using social media to escape, and difficulty cutting down. 

The study had two goals:

1. To determine the prevalence and predictors of social media disorder among rural college students.
2. To describe how students with SMD used social media during the pandemic. 

Why rural youth matter here

Mental health services in the Philippines are limited and often concentrated in cities. Rural students may face added challenges: poorer internet access, fewer mental health resources, fewer recreational options during lockdown, and greater dependence on low-cost or free social media platforms. 

The study also notes that while the Philippine Mental Health Strategic Plan recognizes internet-related addiction as a possible concern, social media disorder remains underrepresented in the country’s mental health landscape. 

What the researcher did

This was an explanatory mixed methods study. That means the researcher first analyzed quantitative survey data, then used qualitative responses to explain the patterns more deeply. The design is shown in Figure 1 on page 3, where the quantitative phase identifies prevalence and determinants of SMD, the qualitative phase examines narratives from students with SMD, and the interpretation integrates both strands. 

The study included 500 undergraduate students who were:

• 18–24 years old,
• living in rural areas in Luzon, and
• enrolled in a Philippine higher education institution. 

SMD was measured using the Social Media Disorder Scale, a 9-item tool based on criteria similar to internet gaming disorder: preoccupation, tolerance, withdrawal, persistence, displacement, problems, deception, escape, and conflict. Students who answered “yes” to five or more items were categorized as having SMD. 

What the study found

1) One in four rural students had social media disorder

Out of 500 respondents, 121 students, or 24.2%, met the study’s criteria for SMD. 

This is a high proportion. The article notes that it is higher than the 5% prevalence reported in a multi-country meta-analysis using a similar measurement approach, and higher than an earlier Philippine study on Facebook addiction. 

In plain language: during the pandemic, social media was not merely a coping tool for many students. For some, it became a pattern of use with signs of addiction-like behavior.

2) Lower-income rural students were at higher risk

Students from poor households had 2.920 times greater odds of having SMD compared with middle- to high-income students. Students from low-income but not poor households had 2.812 times greater odds. 

This is important because many assume that problematic digital use is mainly a concern of more affluent youth with better devices and connectivity. This study complicates that assumption. For poorer rural students, social media may become more central because it is cheaper, more accessible, and one of the few available ways to meet social, emotional, educational, and informational needs during confinement. 

3) TikTok use was associated with higher odds of SMD

Students active on TikTok had 1.669 times greater odds of SMD compared with non-users. 

The study does not say TikTok “causes” SMD. But it suggests that short-form video platforms may be especially engaging because they offer many gratifications at once: entertainment, escape, social connection, information, and sometimes educational content.

What students with SMD said social media did for them

The qualitative part of the study analyzed written narratives from the 121 students with SMD. Five themes emerged. 

1) Maintaining social ties

Students used social media to keep in touch with friends, family, relatives, classmates, and the wider social world while face-to-face interaction was restricted. For rural students in lockdown, social media helped reduce isolation and maintain a sense of belonging. 

2) Escape and stress relief

Many students described social media as a way to forget problems, manage boredom, relieve stress, and cope with school and family pressures. This is understandable during quarantine—but when escape becomes the main coping strategy, it may contribute to disordered use. 

3) Source of information

Students used social media to stay updated about COVID-19, current events, and social/political issues. However, the study also warns that reliance on social media for information can expose students to sensationalized content, misinformation, and anxiety-provoking discussions. 

4) Support for educational needs

Because learning moved online, social media helped students communicate with classmates and teachers, discuss coursework, and access educational content. For students with limited internet bandwidth, social media messaging functions could be easier to use than heavier learning management systems. 

5) Awareness of potential harm

Importantly, students with SMD were not unaware of the problem. Some recognized that social media affected their productivity, priorities, mental health, and exposure to misinformation. One of the most powerful insights of the paper is that young people can experience social media as both necessary and harmful at the same time. 

Bottom line

This study shows that social media disorder is a real concern among rural Filipino students during crisis conditions. But it also shows why simply telling young people to “stop using social media” misses the point. Social media was helping students meet basic social, emotional, informational, and educational needs during quarantine. The challenge is to reduce harmful, compulsive patterns while creating better offline and online support systems. 

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Policy/practice recommendations

1. Empower rural communities to identify signs of SMD
   Barangay health workers, community health nurses, school personnel, and mental health advocates can teach families how to recognize signs such as withdrawal, conflict, loss of control, disrupted routines, and using social media mainly to escape distress. 
2. Create low-cost offline alternatives for coping and social connection
   Rural communities can organize safe, socially distanced activities during lower-risk periods, such as outdoor exercise, community gardening, peer support activities, and youth programs.
3. Support poorer rural households
   Because lower-income students had higher odds of SMD, mental health interventions should also address economic stress, basic needs, digital poverty, and lack of safe recreational options. 
4. Use TikTok for mental health promotion—but carefully
   Since TikTok use was linked with higher SMD odds, advocates can also use the platform for psychoeducation, helpline promotion, myth-busting, and reflective social media use campaigns. 
5. Coordinate schools and communities
   Schools can work with local health workers to routinize educational requirements, provide rest periods, and reduce unnecessary online overload for students studying from home. 

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Glossary of key terms

• Social media disorder (SMD) — A problematic or addiction-like pattern of social media use involving symptoms such as preoccupation, withdrawal, loss of control, conflict, and using social media to escape. 
• Problematic social media use — A broader term for social media use that interferes with wellbeing, responsibilities, relationships, or daily functioning.
• Social Media Disorder Scale — A 9-item tool used to screen for SMD using criteria adapted from internet gaming disorder. 
• Uses and Gratifications Theory — A media theory suggesting that people use media to meet needs such as connection, information, entertainment, identity, and escape. 
• Community quarantine — COVID-19 restrictions that limited mobility, schooling, work, and face-to-face social interaction in the Philippines.
• Rural mental health — Mental health concerns and services in rural areas, where access to professionals, facilities, and programs may be limited.
• Digital inequality — Unequal access to reliable internet, devices, bandwidth, digital literacy, and online resources.
• TikTok use — Active use of the short-form video platform TikTok; in this study, TikTok users had higher odds of SMD. 
• Mixed methods study — A research design that combines quantitative and qualitative methods to answer different but connected parts of a research question.
• Explanatory mixed methods — A type of mixed methods design where quantitative findings are explained or deepened using qualitative data.