Media and Communication Review

The Price of Screen Time: How Prolonged Digital Exposure is Contributing to Rising Stress and Anxiety Among University Students

2025-08-25T06:23:57+00:00

The study examines how screen time impacts university students' psychological state by evaluating their conditions related to stress, anxiety, depression and sleep patterns. Screen time has experienced an increase, mainly because of remote learning implemented during the COVID-19 pandemic, which researchers connect to deteriorating mental health conditions. Screen-related activities lead to fragile sleep quality, reduced physical exercise, and undesirable social relations, which combine to worsen stress and depression symptoms. Student behaviours that include watching complete shows in short periods tend to worsen procrastination and emotional withdrawal while causing social separation that diminishes mental wellness. The analysis indicates that psychological health is negatively impacted by excessive screen time, particularly when individuals surpass the recommended limits. The research indicates that sleep problems act as a connection between excessive screen time and mental health problems. The study demonstrates that healthy mental results need proper screen time regulation and outdoor activities. However, universities must establish programs to ensure both limitations in screen-time exposure and support for physical activity and wellness. Implementing these initiatives demonstrates the potential to enhance students' wellness conditions.

Influence of Celebrity Trustworthiness on Purchase Intention of Darling Hair among Female Undergraduates in University of Ilorin: A Qualitative Study

2025-08-25T11:52:27+00:00

Studies have revealed consumer distrust as a key factor hindering the effectiveness of online celebrity endorsement campaigns, as consumers believe that celebrities do not use the endorsed product. Despite such trends of consumer distrust, Darling (a brand that produces hair extensions for braids and weaves) still employs the endorsement strategy in their online advertisements. This study explores the lived experiences of Darling Hair consumers, examining how their trust in celebrity endorsers featured in Darling Hair online advertisements influences their purchase intention. Qualitative research method was adopted and in-depth interviews were conducted, with the snowball technique on 27 consumers of Darling Hair who are female undergraduates in the University of Ilorin. Thematic analysis was conducted using NVivo 11 software. Thus, the findings show that consumers perceive celebrity expertise and transparency as factors that influence their belief in Darling Hair celebrity endorsers, thereby leading to favourable purchase intentions. The study also reveals that consumers’ perceptions of celebrity product experience and communication consistency foster the dependability of Darling Hair celebrity endorsers, which influences their purchase intention. The conceptualization of celebrity trustworthiness can be viewed from two windows of believability (celebrity expertise and transparency) and dependability (product experience and communication consistency). Hence, the findings provide a roadmap for brands and future research can be conducted on improving online celebrity endorsement strategies. The study recommends that brands should partner with knowledgeable celebrities who understand advertising and the advertised product, while such celebrities should regularly share honest accounts of their product experiences to testify to the truthfulness about their endorsement deals.

Exploring News Authentication Processes and Challenges of Social Media Users in Pakistan

2025-08-25T12:06:20+00:00

The proliferation of disinformation and fake news on social media platforms have emerged as a major challenge, accentuating the role of social media users in news verification. The current study aimed to examine the cognitive processes of media-literate social media users in Pakistan during verification and sharing of news on Facebook and X (formerly Twitter). It also explored the challenges faced by social media users in authenticating news. Tandoc’s Audiences Act of Authentication (AAA) model was applied as conceptual framework to analyze news verification behavior. Therefore, purposive sampling technique was employed to recruit 12 post graduate university students in Lahore. This sampling method was chosen to ensure inclusion of participants with active social media engagement and digital media literacy skills. The study revealed that the AAA model was employed in Pakistani context, adding another extra tier for source verification on Facebook and X. Participants are active social media users who deliberately cross-check news from various sources. They are more involved in intentional and interpersonal steps for news verification rather than waiting for incidental news posts to appear on their timeline. Major challenge in news authentication includes politically-driven news posts in the form of disinformation, lack of credible sources for instant verification, and time constraint in verifying against rapid proliferation of fake news. This research elucidated news verification practices, in a localized context of Lahore from the perspective of AAA model, calling key stakeholders to focus on specialized digital media literacy strategies in order to curb dissemination of misinformation and fake news

Representations of AI in Pakistani Newspapers

2025-08-25T12:30:16+00:00

This study has explored the representation of artificial intelligence in Pakistani newspapers. What perspectives and concerns they have shared about artificial intelligence? To understand the importance of AI: researchers checked the prevalence of AI in news coverage (ope-ed articles), categorical and temporal sentiment analysis, AI Framing: Risks and rewards regarding AI, AI coverage concerning Business, politics, law and order, education, military & intelligence, health care and others. The methodology of the study is quantitative and qualitative content analysis. The sample of the study is the columns from January 2023 to January 2024 of the three leading English dallies: Dawn, Pakistan Today, and The Nation among the top Ten English dallies using a purposive sampling technique. The reason for selecting the most recent articles is that the researcher wants to add the most recent information regarding AI to integrate the most recent findings. The findings show that Pakistani newspapers showed optimistic to cautious sentiments towards the use of artificial intelligence in our daily lives and the most prevalent frames are Risk and rewards of AI, the Role of AI in education followed by the role of AI in the legal system.