YouTube Usage and Youth Netizens’ Behaviors : A Correlational Study

Recent advances in technology have resulted in over-dependence on social media for communication purposes. With the emergence of various social media platforms, youths have become increasingly active users of social media and are driven to surf online information. As such, youths are susceptible to the influence of social media. Therefore, this research aims to determine the relationship between YouTube usage and youth netizens’ behaviors in the Malaysian context. A structured questionnaire was used to gather data from a sample of 132 youth netizens in Damansara, Kuala Lumpur. The data were analyzed using Pearson Correlation at an alpha (α) level of ≤ 0.05 via the SPSS software package (SPSS Inc., Chicago, IL, USA, 20.0). The relationship was measured based on YouTube access, purpose, motivations, and interests, lifestyle, self-personality, and communication skills. The findings showed a significant positive relationship between YouTube usage and youth netizens’ behaviors (r = .711, k < 0.05). It was envisaged that this study will advance our understanding of how YouTube videos influence youth behaviors