Internet Addiction And The Role Of Psycho Social Factors Among Professional College Students A Two Phase Study

INTRODUCTION Largest democracy and oldest civilization has taken a step towards being the smartest nation. Digital India Report, 2015. Technology has always played a decisive role in the lives of human beings more now in this era of fast communication and movement. Internet, as a network of communication has penetrated the world at an enormous speed touching human lives more than ever. The computers changed the whole perception of the world and the Internet has revolutionized the way we even think and behave. As we celebrate World Internaut Day (―Internaut day‖, 2016) every year, the Internet is catching up with the fancies of people worldwide with greater innovations and technical perfections. Its deleterious effects are also beginning to show up in terms of problematic-use, misuse, crimes and other fraudulent practices. As adolescents and young adults are the rampant users of the Internet a detailed analysis of their use pattern and factors affecting Internet use becomes one of the most pressing needs of the day. It is in this context that the present study tries to analyse Problematic Internet Use or Internet Addiction among professional college students of North Malabar region of Kerala. Internet technology has progressed at an alarming speed. Today mobility and time constraints have become prime concerns and therefore Internet also has moved from the concept of fixed connections to the concept of mobile access of the Internet through the use of smart devices (Internet Society Global Internet Report, 2015, p.8). Newer technologies exist or are being developed for mobile Internet access, including Wi-Max and white spaces, while new forms of extending the mobile network are being explored, including high-altitude balloon, drone, or new satellite systems. India too is moving with the worldwide trend and would replace the U.S. as the second largest in terms of the number of Internet users. India will have 462 million Internet users by June 2016 and the number of Mobile Internet Users in India is expected to reach 371 million by June 2016 (Internet and Mobile Association of India and IMRB International, 2014). The latest programme to boost the use of Internet is ‗Digital India: Power to Empower' (Department of Electronics and Information Technology, 2015), a programme to transform India into a digitally