Influence of Social Media on Youth in Nigeria
Chapter One
OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY
The objectives of the study are;
- To investigate whether the increase in unwanted female youth’s pregnancies is as a result of exposure to social media pornography among youths
- To find out whether youths spend more time on social media network than other sites,
- To examine whether social media is the primary method of communication to youths
- To find out whether negative social media content can increase violent behavior of youths
CHAPTER TWO
REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK
This paper finds expression on technological determinism theory propounded by McLuhan (1962), who Baran and Davies (2012, p. 273) quoted as stating that “changes in communication technology inevitably produce profound changes in both culture and social order.” For Adler (2006, overview, paragraph 1) the theory, “Technological determinism (TD), simply put, is the idea that technology has effects on our lives.” From the submissions, the relevance of this theory to this paper stems from the point that social networking sites as technological inventions used in human communication have visible effects on the media users presently. The social media have brought revolutions in the people’s daily means of interaction. Also, the accessibility of the social media makes human mediated-communication to be a minute-to-minute matter. This is because all the forms of social media could be accessed through Third or Fourth Generation (3G or 4G) internet-enabled mobile phones, ipads, iphones, blackberries. With these new communication technologies, the youths like other audiences could send and or receive information at a whirl-wind pace across the globe. The social media bring the users closer to each other, the distance notwithstanding, as well as alter how the conventional media messages are received by the audience. Therefore, the social networking sites have their contributions on the communication of the users, just like McLuhan in Agba (2002, p. 255) asserts that “the medium is the message… each medium activates a particular mixture of the senses, which makes the form of the medium, rather than the message, determine ways of perceiving and articulating understanding.” The perception which the social media provoke among their users is different from the one the conventional mass media could ignite within their own audiences. For example, from the manner which the youths used the social networking sites for mobilization of themselves during the mass revolts in the Middle East, fondly known as ‘Arab Spring,’ it could be deduced that they (the social media) possess the potentials for instantaneous provocation of the people. That was evident in how the youths galvanized via the social media as they embarked on the said serious uprising. Also, social media triggered similar reaction among Nigerians in their response to federal government’s removal of fuel subsidy early January 2012. Nigerians in cities like Kano, Kaduna, Lagos and Abuja mobilized themselves quickly through the social networking sites to protest against the decision. The immediate response which was activated terrified everyone. With these scenarios mentioned, one could visualize the immediate responsiveness which the social media could rouse among their users. Moreover, one of the tenets of technological determinism theory that makes it germane to this study is that “each technology has a … particular communication forms, contents and uses,” (McQuail, 2010, p.103). The social media as new communication technologies have distinctive communication forms, contents and forms which distinguish them from other media. These features are perhaps what give the new media their own special appeals which are why their audiences use them. For instance, it is quite clear that the social networking sites are interactive and participatory in nature. A good number of Nigerian youths use one or more social media channels for the purposes of exchanging personal or group information, messages, pictures, movies, and sharing of life experiences among others. In the work conducted in (2009), which was entitled ‘the impact of the internet on users,’ Bakker and Sádaba succinctly explain that: The fact that technologies are used in a social context and have to fulfil existing needs cannot be emphasised enough (Castells, 2001).
CHAPTER THREE
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Research design
The researcher used descriptive research survey design in building up this project work the choice of this research design was considered appropriate because of its advantages of identifying attributes of a large population from a group of individuals. The design was suitable for the study as the study sought to influence of social media on youth in Nigeria
Sources of data collection
Data were collected from two main sources namely:
(i)Primary source and
(ii)Secondary source
Primary source:
These are materials of statistical investigation which were collected by the research for a particular purpose. They can be obtained through a survey, observation questionnaire or as experiment; the researcher has adopted the questionnaire method for this study.
Secondary source:
These are data from textbook Journal handset etc. they arise as byproducts of the same other purposes. Example administration, various other unpublished works and write ups were also used.
Population of the study
Population of a study is a group of persons or aggregate items, things the researcher is interested in getting information influence of social media on youth in Nigeria. 200 students of Enugu state university of science and technology, Enugu state was selected randomly by the researcher as the population of the study.
CHAPTER FOUR
PRESENTATION ANALYSIS INTERPRETATION OF DATA
Introduction
Efforts will be made at this stage to present, analyze and interpret the data collected during the field survey. This presentation will be based on the responses from the completed questionnaires. The result of this exercise will be summarized in tabular forms for easy references and analysis. It will also show answers to questions relating to the research questions for this research study. The researcher employed simple percentage in the analysis.
CHAPTER FIVE
SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION
Introduction
It is important to ascertain that the objective of this study was to ascertain influence of social media on youth in Nigeria
In the preceding chapter, the relevant data collected for this study were presented, critically analyzed and appropriate interpretation given. In this chapter, certain recommendations made which in the opinion of the researcher will be of benefits in addressing the challenges of influence of social media on youth in Nigeria
Summary
This study was on influence of social media on youth in Nigeria. Four objectives were raised which included: To investigate whether the increase in unwanted female youth’s pregnancies is as a result of exposure to social media pornography among youths, to find out whether youths spend more time on social media network than other sites, to examine whether social media is the primary method of communication to youths, to find out whether negative social media content can increase violent behavior of youths. In line with these objectives, two research hypotheses were formulated and two null hypotheses were posited. The total population for the study is 200 students of Enugu state university of science and technology, Enugu state. The researcher used questionnaires as the instrument for the data collection. Descriptive Survey research design was adopted for this study. A total of 133 respondents made up final year students, year four students, year three students and year two students was used for the study. The data collected were presented in tables and analyzed using simple percentages and frequencies
Conclusion
In today’s information Age, the marriage of computer to contemporary media has facilitated sweeping changes to occur before the eyes of our youths and our traditional beliefs. Social media have provided an open arena where the youths are free to exchange ideas on various violence. Most youths associates social media with positive outcome, yet this is not always the case, most people use social media for inter-personal communication at home such as G.S.M sets, chart room and participation in electronic communities because, they found entertainment and information seeking to be the highest in rank followed by convenience, Social media interaction is done by the users through the sites, message through social media are public and are not meant for individuals but for the.
Recommendation
Social Media Sites (SMS) can also be used for negative things such as texting, cyberbullying, sharing of obscene images, therefore the Nigerian youths should be properly guided in the way they use these media. They should equally be mindful of the fact that writing makes an exact person, therefore, they must not allow codes and abbreviations hamper the knowledge of good spelling skills expected of them in their writing skills. Parents and guardians should as well exercise some control on what their children and wards engage in online as a form of check when they are at home.
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