Abstract

Daily, more people (couples inclusive) in Nigeria sign up to social media platforms to get constant information about the happenings within and beyond their environments. This study investigated the influence of social media addictive tendencies on marital intimacy among couples within Owerri Municipal Council, Imo State, Nigeria. The researchers anchored the study on the Uses and Gratifications theory. The survey design was adopted and Convenient sampling technique was used in the distribution of questionnaires and collection of data from a total of 370 married men and women that made up the sample size for the study. Findings revealed that most couples within Owerri Municipal Council are active users of Facebook, WhatsApp, Twitter and Instagram; there is the presence of addictive tendencies as most couples agree that their partners spend more time with their phones, get distracted with their phones during serious discussions and keep all their social media accounts secret or protected with password among others. The study concludes that unchecked social media usage among couples is breeding bad blood in their spousal relationships, and can in a long time if unregulated cause disintegration or divorce among couples who cannot tolerate such situations. The researchers recommend that Couples should self-regulate themselves on when to use and the amount of time spent on social media as a way of mitigating addictive tendencies.