social media habits - copy

25
INTRODUCTION Over the years the term ‘new media’ has been used widely in the field of communication. New media can be defined as a disparate set of communication technologies that share certain features made possible by digitalization and being widely available for personal use as communication devices. With the growing rate of new media, the word ‘new’ may soon be replaced as people have imbibed the use of the new media into their everyday lives. Human beings have embraced various new media platforms such as Social media, Blogs and Micro blogging, Search, Online Viral Video, gaming, virtual communities, etc. Social media popularly known as Web 2.0 are new media platforms used for social interaction, created using highly accessible and scalable publishing techniques. The term was originally coined by Tim O’Reilly and Dale Dougherty. There are many social media applications such as wikis, blogs, IM, RSS Feeds, video sharing sites and social networking sites. Various social networking and micro-blogging sites such as Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, YouTube, Flickr, Photobucket, and MySpace are increasingly becoming popular among the youths. They have become a vital parts of the students lives and It is no doubt that the social media has completely revolutionized their lives and even the older population. "Social media isn’t really “new.” While it has only recently become part of mainstream culture and the business world, people have been using digital media for networking, socializing and information gathering – almost exactly like now – for over 30 years:"-Sean Carton in his July 2009 blog posting: Defining social media. Andrew Keen (as cited in Idakwo, 2011) criticizes social media in his book The Cult of the Amateur, writing, "Out of this anarchy, it suddenly became clear that what was governing the infinite monkeys now inputting away on the Internet was the law of digital Darwinism, the survival of the loudest and most opinionated. Under these rules, the only way to intellectually prevail is by infinite filibustering.” Kaplan and Haenlein (as cited in Idakwo, 2011) divided social media into six different types: Collaborative projects, blogs and micro blogs, content communities, social networking sites, virtual game worlds, and virtual social worlds. Technologies

Upload: nonye-wilkie

Post on 24-Nov-2015

7 views

Category:

Documents


1 download

TRANSCRIPT

INTRODUCTION

Over the years the term new media has been used widely in the field of communication. New media can be defined as a disparate set of communication technologies that share certain features made possible by digitalization and being widely available for personal use as communication devices. With the growing rate of new media, the word new may soon be replaced as people have imbibed the use of the new media into their everyday lives. Human beings have embraced various new media platforms such as Social media, Blogs and Micro blogging, Search, Online Viral Video, gaming, virtual communities, etc. Social media popularly known as Web 2.0 are new media platforms used for social interaction, created using highly accessible and scalable publishing techniques. The term was originally coined by Tim OReilly and Dale Dougherty. There are many social media applications such as wikis, blogs, IM, RSS Feeds, video sharing sites and social networking sites. Various social networking and micro-blogging sites such as Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, YouTube, Flickr, Photobucket, and MySpace are increasingly becoming popular among the youths. They have become a vital parts of the students lives and It is no doubt that the social media has completely revolutionized their lives and even the older population. "Social media isnt really new. While it has only recently become part of mainstream culture and the business world, people have been using digital media for networking, socializing and information gathering almost exactly like now for over 30 years:"-Sean Carton in his July 2009 blog posting: Defining social media. Andrew Keen (as cited in Idakwo, 2011) criticizes social media in his book The Cult of the Amateur, writing, "Out of this anarchy, it suddenly became clear that what was governing the infinite monkeys now inputting away on the Internet was the law of digital Darwinism, the survival of the loudest and most opinionated. Under these rules, the only way to intellectually prevail is by infinite filibustering.

Kaplan and Haenlein (as cited in Idakwo, 2011) divided social media into six different types: Collaborative projects, blogs and micro blogs, content communities, social networking sites, virtual game worlds, and virtual social worlds. Technologies include: blogs, picture-sharing, vlogs, wall-postings, email, instant messaging, music-sharing, crowd sourcing, and voice over IP, to name a few.

Nigerian undergraduates in various tertiary institutions, both public and private, make full use of various social media applications and the lack of power supply and expensive internet access is no more an excuse. Most mobile networking services provide cheap internet packages in which Nigerians can use to easily access the internet without stress. Nowadays, a lot of mobile phones; be it Smartphone or regular phones now give people the ability to download various social media apps on their phones so they can easily access their favourite social networking websites. Nigerian undergraduates use these social media platforms to keep in touch with their friends, for entertainment, to make new friends all over the world and also for their assignments. Teachers in tertiary institutions in Nigeria have also started making use of the social media to communicate with their students. They follow their students on twitter, friend them on facebook, post their assignments and course outlines on their blogs and encourage students to put up their assignments in their private blogs.

Facebook has become the largest social networking website in the world after it was offered freely to the public in 2006. The amount of Nigerians that have joined Facebook has increased over the years. Statistics show that there are 5 052 300 Facebook users in Nigeria, which makes us number 32 in the ranking of all Facebook statistics by country. The University of Lagos has various groups and pages which were made mostly by students to keep in touch with their course mates, get informed about happenings in their various faculties and departments, share assignments, and so on. Recently, Nigerians in general and not only youths have imbibed the habit of using Twitter, a micro blogging site, to be connected with each other through 140 characters per post. Now public figures such as governors, commissioners, celebrities and even media organizations such as newspaper, TV stations and radio stations have Twitter pages where they periodically post whatever they like giving their followers the opportunity to re-post their personal posts.

Social media is now the new equaliser that is breaking the information monopoly that was enjoyed by the state and a few media houses. In the process, it is unleashing hidden journalistic talents as we witness a mushrooming of bloggers, social commentators and critics (Ihebuzor, 2011). There are hundreds of social networking sites including Nigerian based sites such as Nairaland, Naijazone, Gbooza!, LagosMeet, etc. which connect Nigerian undergraduates to each other and professionals and which use various technological tools to support a wide range of interest and practises. These websites can be said to have an addictive hold on some students.

Statement of the problem: As Nigerian youths keep on using the internet overtime, they get accustomed to some of these social media platforms; as time goes on; some of these social media sites cause distractions, low self-esteem, total reliance on the internet and negative exposure (bad language, pornographic videos, violence, etc.).

Students are found sometimes, going on facebook and using Twitter whilst lectures go on. When caught, they may be sent out of the classroom, which causes them to lose the knowledge they would have probably gotten from that lecture. Some students also forget important engagements which they were meant to be a part of because they get so carried away with some of these social media websites. The internet gives opportunity to virtually anyone to join various social networks all over the world. In the course of this, people may meet friends online who may be abusive, violent, entertain some dirty habits and so on. It is not easy to control a virtual stranger from another part of the world unless he/she is reported which could also take the website a while to effect their decision on the reported person.

The purpose of this study is to understand the level of effect that the social media has on the full-time students of the Mass Communication Department of the University of Lagos (UNILAG). Are the effects negative or positive? Could they influence their behaviours in any way? Would their regular socialization habits be altered?

With the aid of this Research Questions below, this paper aims to find out, through open and closed questions:

1. In what way do full-time Mass Communication students of UNILAG make use of social media?2. How often do full-time Mass Communication students of UNILAG make use of social media?

3. What are the views of the full-time Mass Communication students of UNILAG on the purpose of the use of social media?4. What are the after-effects (whether good or bad) of the usage of social media by Nigerian undergraduates?Significance of study:The media is a tool and the people that use it are a reflection of the people that use it. This therefore means that understanding its uses will help its uses and diminish its downsides. This study is very significant because it will help users, policymakers, educators as well as the public particularly that of the mass communication world to understand its usage by mass communication students and thereby identify problems if any so as to know how to address the issue since mass communication has to do with transmission of information to a heterogeneous audiences through a medium. References

Idakwo , L. (2011). The use of social media among Nigerian youths [PDF Document]. Retrieved from

http://www.slideshare.net/goldlami/the-use-of-social-media-among-nigerian-youths2Ihebuzor, N. (2012). Social media: Emerging patterns of use and abuse. The Punch. Retrieved from

http://www.thepunchng.com

Social Baker(2012). Nigeria facebook statistics. Retrieved from

http://www.socialbakers.com/facebook-statistics/nigeria

LITERATURE REVIEWThe media have a strong social and cultural impact upon society. This is predicated upon their ability to reach a wide audience with a strong and influential message. Marshall McLuhan uses the phrase the medium is the message as a means of explaining how the distribution of a message can often be more important than content of the message itself. It is through the persuasiveness of media such as television, radio and print media that messages reach their target audiences (Idakwo, 2011).

Social scientists have identified four specific categories of new media that share common qualities and likenesses: interpersonal communication media, interactive play media, information search media, and collective participatory media. McQuails study (as cited in Alpizar, 2010) is concerned with the collective participatory media which refer to how one can use the internet for purposes such as swapping information, ideas and thoughts, and creating computer-mediated relationships. Through the internet, people get the opportunity to express their various opinions on political, social and cultural issues. Also, because of the internet, there is a high level of consumer participation.

The theoretical framework for this study is based on the uses and gratification theory and the dependency theory.

THE USES AND GRATIFICATIONS THEORY

The two propounders of the uses and gratification theory, Blumler and Katz believe that there is not merely one way that the populace uses the media. Instead, they believe that there are many reasons for using the media, as there are many users. The theory posits that media consumers have a free will to decide how they will use the media and how it will affect them. The theory is generally concerned with what people use the media for. Various studies have been carried out on social media in relation to the Uses and Gratifications theory.

Park, Kee, and Valenzuela (2009) and LaRose and Eastin (2004) found the major uses and gratification factors of Social Networking site users to be: socializing, entertainment, self-status seeking, and information (p. 731); LaRose and Eastin (2004) found similar factors like the need for information-seeking, entertainment, and social needs to be the most prevalent (as cited in Dunne, A., Lawlor, M., Rowley, J.) Aine Dunne, Margaret-Anne Lawlor and Jennifer Rowley (2010) in their findings indicated that the participants were actively using Bebo for their own personal motives and gratifications in terms of presenting and managing a certain identity and persona in a social context. Coming down to Nigeria, Lami Idakwo (2011) concluded from his study of social media usage among Nigerian youths that there is an existing positive relationship between the social networking services and the youths who use it. The habitats and attitudes formed according to their aspirations were evidences that they have gratifications from using the social networking sites. It serves as their prostheses.

McQuail & Windhal (1993) stated that early theories of mass communication (e.g., the magic bullet theory) viewed the mass media as having a uniform and immediate influence on individuals, whom they believed where easily susceptible to influence and unable to form their own opinions (as cited in Quan-Haase and Young, 2010 ) the exposure to standardized cultural goods caused audience members to become a homogenous, uncritical, and passive mass with little willpower to resist the appeal and influence of the mass media. Katz et al, (1974) stated that the goal directedness of audience members is what distinguishes the uses and gratifications model from early communication theories. Here, the audience is characterized as active, discerning, and motivated in their media use. The focus of this theory is on what people do with the media rather than the influence or impact of the media on the individual.

Katz, Blumer, and Gurevitch (as cited in Gallion, 2011) noted: Mass communication is used by individuals to connect (or sometimes to disconnect) themselvesvia instrumental, affective, or Integrative relationswith different kinds of others (self, family, friends, nation, etc). The scheme attempts to comprehend the whole range of individual gratifications of the many facets of the need to be connected. (p. 513). Instant or text messaging help youths feel connected even if they are not able to communicate with someone in person. The new media technologies allow an individual to connect or disconnect instantly depending on their mood and who they are communicating with. This is a key element for why and how uses and gratifications theory is so directly tied to youths and the use of social media. Katz, Blumer and Gurevitch (1973) further noted that, to fully understand uses and gratifications, five elements must be kept in mind: (1) The audience is looked at as active; (2) need gratification and choice of media are linked to the individual; (3) the media is in competition with other sources of need satisfaction; (4) many goals of mass media stem from audience members; and (5) the cultural significance of judgments based on value should be put on hold while evaluating the audience separately.

The uses and gratifications theory has been applied to a variety of mass media and media content, with the selection of media type evolving to match the dominant or emerging media of the day. For example, a uses and gratifications approach has been applied in the context of radio (Herzog, 1944; Cantril and Allport, 1935); various forms of print media, such as newspapers and magazines (Payne et al., 1988; Berelson, 1949). It is the theory which explains of how people use media for their need and gratification. In other words we can say this theory states what people do with media rather than what media does to people. A major strength of the Uses and Gratifications theory is the emphasis on the audience as active in the reception of media. However, this would suggest no passivity within the audience whatsoever. A person may, for example, be too lazy to turn off their television and as a result consume any media that is available, regardless of need. But in the case of social networking, a person deliberately registers his or identity with the social networking site, logs in when he/she decides to, and engages in activities he/she chooses to (Idakwo, 2011).

The theory of uses and gratification places emphasis on audience reception. Weiser (2001) noted that the way an individual uses the internet ultimately meets a need or an end result. The overall well-being of an individual depends on the way in which media is used and what goal was met using that media. The social component is the central (and most important element) in applying the Uses and Gratifications model to Social networking sites. Users who participate in social networking sites in order to gratify socializing needs typically desire to meet new people, sustain offline relationships, and create a sense of community. Generally, mass communication students are meant to be active media users to stay on top of happenings all over the world. It is believed that mass communication students in general are slowly reducing the way in which they seek information from the various traditional media (newspapers, TV and radio) and are increasingly getting dependant on the new media to source for information. Several researches have been carried out on why adolescents and youths use social media and the gratifications they get from it but a study hasnt been carried out on why the mass communication students of the University of Lagos make use of social media and that is what this paper intends to find out.

THE DEPENDENCY THEORY

Dependency can be defined as the quality or state of being influenced or determined by or subject to another. The dependency, information by the media is everywhere and prevalent in society. Individuals seek out the information that they need to feel connected to their larger social world (Ball-Rokeach & DeFleur, 1976) as cited in Alpizar (2010). Generally, youths fill the need to fit in and fitting in requires the youths to imitate the activities of his or her peers or what is acceptable within their society. Generally speaking, youths will seek out the information they need through new media to fit in and stay connected i.e. they depend on the media especially new media to get acquainted with the kind of information they need to fit in with others.

The dependency theory is a theory that predicts that you depend on media information to meet certain needs and achieve certain goals. It is imperative to note that people do not depend on the media equally. There are factors that influence dependency on the media. One of such factors is that people tend to become dependent on the media that meets a number of their needs than those who meet but a few. The second factor is that people tend to rely more on media information when social change and conflicts are high. (Sandra Ball Roacheach and Melvin de Fleur: 1976) as cited in Naeto, Onabajo and Osifeso (2008). The dependency model assumes that as societies and new media become more advanced, media assumes more responsibility for carrying out specific and unique information functions.

Social media has created a platform for people to get information, share ideas among themselves, and get entertained amidst so many other factors. Because of the overflow of information in the social media, people especially those in the urban areas; depend heavily on the media to make decisions pertaining to their lives

Relating the theory to this study, some of the needs of the students include education, entertainment and communication. The ultimate goal is connectedness when it comes to the use of social media: To get connected to the world. The dependency theory will be used to explore to what extent, if any, the students are dependent on social media. This theory does not posit the notion that the students fail to survive without these kinds of media, but rather, the study will examine why these students rely on social media for many of their interactions and make it a vital part of their normal routine.

References

Alpizar, K.S. (2010). NEW MEDIA USE AMONG HIGH ACHIEVING ADOLESCENTS. Master's Theses.

Paper 3799. Retrieved from http://scholarworks.sjsu.edu/etd_theses/3799

Amobi, T.I. (2011). Assessing global digital divide through computer ownership, literacy, access and

usage of New media by Nigeria youths, in Ralph Akinfeleye (Ed.). Unilag communication

review, Lagos: Department of Mass Communication 5(1), 24-47.

Anaeto, S.G., Onabajo, O.S., & Osifeso,J.B. (2008). Models and theories of communication. Bowie,

M.D: African Renaissance Books Incorporated.

Augustin, J.G. (2011). Applying the uses and gratifications theory to social networking sites: A

review of related literature (Masters Thesis). Retrieved from

http://ipfw.academia.edu/AugustinGallion

Dunne, A., Lawlor, M., Rowley, J. (2010). Young people's use of online social networking sites - A

uses and gratifications perspective. Journal of Research in Interactive Marketing, Vol. 4

Iss: 1, pp.46 - 58.

Idakwo , L. (2011). The use of social media among Nigerian youths [PDF Document]. Retrieved from

http://www.slideshare.net/goldlami/the-use-of-social-media-among-nigerian-youths2Quan-Haase, A., & Young, A. L. (2010). Uses and gratifications of social media: A

comparison of facebook and instant messaging. Bulletin of Science Technology Society, 30

(5), 350-361.

Sean Carton. (2009). Defining social media [Web log message]. Retrieved from

http://www.clickz.com/clickz/column/1703507/defining-social-media

Uses and gratifications theory. (2010). Retrieved from

http://communicationtheory.org/uses-and-gratification-theory/METHODOLOGYParticipants and procedure

The purpose of this study is to find out the usage habits of social media among full-time undergraduate students of the mass communication department, University of Lagos. As such, the survey method was considered appropriate for this study and the research instrument used was a 20-item questionnaire, which was administered to elicit responses from a sample of 40 respondents out of a total population of 470 students. In the questionnaire, open ended and close ended questions were used in constructing the questions.

The systematic sampling technique was then used to select samples from each of the four levels, thereby bringing the total sample size to 40 respondents.

The instruments were administered by four members of the group using the wait and get approach. However, the members had to drop the questionnaires to the respondents who were unable to fill it on the spot. Some of the class representatives helped by giving copies of the questionnaires to those who were selected in the sample from theirProcedure and time frame

The research is a two weeks research which started on Monday the 2nd of July and ended on the 16th of July.

Scope and limitations

The limitations encountered in this research include the non availability of some of the respondents. Also, due to the fact that we used the system sampling technique, we had a number of 40 respondents in mind; but because we added up the whole population, the 100 level students were under-represented because we could only get a sample of 7 from their total of 97 and the 200 level students were over-represented because we got a sample of 13 from their total of 157. We hoped to get a sample of 10 students from each level to represent each class equally, but even with these little irregularities, we still maintained our sample size of 40.Five of the respondents were unavailable, so, we had to pick the names of the people directly under them in the general population. This degraded our research work because of the sampling method we used which requires strict adherence to the respondent that falls under the sample.

We had to go to some specific places so as to get the questionnaires back from some of the respondents. Also, we had to drop copies of some questionnaires with some class-reps to give them to respondents in our sample that were in their classes. Out of the 40 questionnaires that were administered, only 36 were filled while the other four respondents were unavailable. ReferencesAmobi, T.I. (2011). Assessing global digital divide through computer ownership, literacy, access and

Usage of New media by Nigeria youths, in Ralph Akinfeleye (Ed.). Unilag communication

Review, Lagos: Department of Mass Communication 5(1), 24-47.

RESULTS

The major findings of the study are presented in this chapter and are analysed based on the research questions. The total number of respondents involved in this research study were 36, involving 31 females and 5 males. Of these, 5 were 100 level students, 13 were 200 level students, 9 were 300 level students and 9 were 400 level students.RQ1. In what ways do full time mass communication students of UNILAG make use of social media?

To determine the various uses of the social media and the various social networking sites used by full time mass communication students of the University of Lagos, respondents were made to answer 7 questions to elicit answers.

TABLE1: Social sites used and the ones used most

Social mediaUsedUsed most

Facebook100%77.8%

Twitter72.2%36.1%

MySpace19.4%2.8%

Tumblr19.4%0%

Nairaland8.3%0%

Friendster5.6%2.8%

Bebo0%0%

None0%2.8%

Other0%2.8%

Table 2: Purpose of social networkingResponsePercentage

To keep in touch with friends and family66.7

To meet new people33.3

For assignments and educational purposes38.9

To entertain myself(videos, games, music, etc)33.3

To get information, opinions and share my experience61.1

The distribution of some of the questions and results relating to research question 1 are shown in tables 1 and 2. Relating to the social network where one can find a large number of Mass Communication full-time undergraduates of UNILAG, and the one used mostly by them, Facebook came up with 100% relating to the former and 77.8% relating to the latter; while 0% of the respondents do not use any of the social platforms and 2.8% gave a response of giving equal time to the various sites they use.

Relating to the purpose of social networking, 66.7% responded to its usage in keeping in touch with friends, while 33.3% responded to its usage in meeting new people and also for self-entertainment. Some of the respondents stated that they use other social media websites like LinkedIn, Naijapals, Instagram, 60photos, etc. NOTE: The responses presented in tables 1 and 2 are based on multiple choices of the respondents to the questions on the questionnaire relating to research question 1. Table 3: Purpose of ownership of web-enabled smart phonesResponsePercentage

Check Emails38.9

Social networking69.4

Educational reasons41.7

Entertainment44.4

NOTE: Statistics on the kind of phones used by the respondents showed that over 90% of them are owners of web-enabled smart phones.Analysing this table relating to one of the questions put to the respondents and their responses, a total of 69.4% of the respondents use their smartphones for social networking, while the least respondents with 38.9% uses their smartphones to check emails. It is important to note that just 41.7% of respondents use their smart phones for educational purposes.RQ2: How often do full time Mass Communication students of UNILAG make use of social media?

To rate the amount of time spent by full-time undergraduates of Mass Communication, UNILAG, respondents were made to answer 3 questions comprising of how much time they spend on these platforms and reasons why they spend less time on them.

Table 4: Weekly level of activity on social media platformsResponsePercentage

Very high11.1

High16.7

Moderate 47.2

Low 16.7

Very low11.1

Total N 100% 36

Table 5: Reasons for less activity on social media platformsResponse Percentage

Lack of security8.3

User accounts could be easily hacked25

Information provided may not be genuine38.9

Cyber-bullying2.8

None 19.4

Other 5.6

The distribution showing the results of the questions asked the respondents are shown in tables 4 and 5 As regards the question of the rate in which they frequent the use of social media platforms on a weekly basis, 47.2% respondents answered moderately, while 2.8% respondents answered very low as clearly displayed in the tables above. Also as regards the question relating to the reasons why some people spend less time on these platforms, 38.9% answered because the information given were not genuine, while the least respondents,2.8%, gave the reason of cyber-bullying as clearly shown above on table 5. RQ3: What are the views of the full-time Mass Communication students of UNILAG on the purpose of the use of social media?To determine the various ways the social media is viewed by the students, respondents were made to answer three questions.Table 6: Reasons for not using social media platformsRespondents Percentage

I dont have time25

I dont find it interesting8.3

I dont want publicity5.6

Religious reasons2.8

Others 2.8

Tables 2 and 6 displays the various views the students have about the various social media platforms. As presented in table 2, respondents stated their purposes of the usage of the social media and these purposes clearly show their view of the purpose of the various social media platforms. 66.6% representing the majority of the respondents, views its purpose as that of creating a platform to relate with friends and family, while the least respondents, 33.3%, are of the opinion that the purpose of social media platforms are that of meeting people and to entertain oneself.

Table 6 explains why some students perform less or no activity on these social media platforms. 25% views it as time demanding, while the least, 2.8%, spend less activity on it because of their religious beliefs. The other respondents views are clearly stated on table 6.

RQ4: What are the after-effects (whether good or bad) of the usage of social media by full-time Mass Communication undergraduates, UNILAG?To determine the after-effects (whether good or bad) of social media platforms, respondents were made to answer three questions. Table 7: Benefits of social media platformsResponse Percentage

I have made many new friends and connected with the old ones47.2

It enhanced my interpersonal skills and helped me express myself better22.2

I have found various educational sites that help with my work19.4

It gives me something to do when I am bored25

I can easily get information on happenings from all over the world52.8

Table 8: Negative effects of the social mediaResponse Percentage

It takes up lot of my time61.1

I now prefer making friends online than in person8.3

It is now difficult to distinguish between the meaningful relationships I form in the real world than in the casual ones I form online.19.4

I would rather go on these sites than face my school work2.8

More reliance on technology0

Tables 7 show that majority of the respondents, precisely 52.8% answered that social media helps them get information of happenings all over the world, while 19.4 % answered that the social media helps them with their school work. Table 6 relating to the negatives effects of the social media, 61.1% answered that it takes a lot of their time, while the least respondents, 2.8% answered they would rather go to those sites than face their school work as clearly stated on the table.

Note: it is to be noted that 66.7% respondents answered no to a questionnaire question that asked if they used social media sites during lectures, while 16.7% respondents answered yes to the question. This clearly shows that a little number of students access social media sites during lectures.

REFERENCEAmobi, T.I. (2011). Assessing global digital divide through computer ownership, literacy, access and

usage of New media by Nigeria youths, in Ralph Akinfeleye (Ed.). Unilag communication

review, Lagos: Department of Mass Communication 5(1), 24-47.

CONCLUSION

The purpose of this study as stated in the initial chapter was to understand the usage of social media by the full-time undergraduate students of the mass communication department of the University of Lagos. It was also set to understand their attitudes towards the social media and its impact on their lifestyles. The study explored a few existing literature in research relating to the social media and the Uses and Gratifications theory. Students are active users of the social media and they make decisions as to how and when they would use various social media platforms of their choice for their gratification.Facebook is the most popular social networking site and Social media has become a major mode of communication especially for youths, who form over 50% of the world population on Facebook. From this study, we found out that all respondents make use of Facebook and over half of them stated that it is their most preferred social networking site. Social media is slowly moving from just an interactive form of communication to mass communication.Exploring the Uses and Gratifications theory which states that people have the free will to decide how they use media and how it would affect them, we were able to find out some reasons why people use various social media websites. Many users of social media use it to communicate based on existing relationships. Most respondents stated that they use social media to keep in touch with friends and family and also to get information, opinions and share their experiences with people over the World Wide Web. The rest said that they use social media for educational purposes, to meet new people and to entertain themselves. Findings from this study show that technology is being used by youths to enhance social interactions through the use of web-enabled smart phones. Most respondents that use smart phones stated that they use them more to go on social networking sites than for educational purposes, entertainment and to check their emails.The weekly level of social media activity of the students are however not bad regarding to the results we got from our survey. Most respondents stated that their level of social media per week was more on the average side. This may be due to personal reasons or the problems they face when using social media which include ingenuity of information provided. Only a few of the respondents were concerned with the lack of security, hacking of user-accounts and cyber-bullying.

On the effects of social media on the students, results show that it leans more on the positive side than the negative side. The amount of time the students spend on social media websites was stated as the most negative effect of social media by the respondents. Also the belief that the respondents now find it hard to distinguish between the meaningful relationships they form in the real world and those they form online is of concern. Some respondents also prefer making friends online than in real world while others would rather go on these websites than face their school work. However, no respondent indicated that because of social media, they now rely more on technology. On the positive effects, most respondents indicated that social media helps them to get information on happenings all over the world as they are mass communication students and they need to be up to date on news stories all the time. Social media has also helped people to make new friends and connect with old ones. From the questionnaire, we discovered that most people are interested in creating good content that generates attention due the use of social media. It gives students things to do when they are bored, helps with educational activities and enhances interpersonal skills.RECOMMENDATIONS1.) Mass Communication students of the University of Lagos should endeavour to use social media more for the benefit of educational purposes. There are various social media websites that can help in assignments, researches, essays etc. that a student would come to face with in the course of his/her school work. Some websites that can help students in their school work include: www.wikepedia.com, www.ask.com, www.answers.com , etc. 2.) The students should not base their sole reason on using social media websites to stay in touch with friends and family; they should also be interested in creating good content that would generate attention and how to use various technology tools to generate their messages across the web. Mass Communication students of UNILAG should take up the habit of creating personal blogs where they explore various issues in the world of communication. They should also make sure they have a sizeable audience that would be receivers of their opinions.

3.) Mass communication teachers should take up the habit of communicating with their students through social media websites. They should encourage them to put up their assignments on blogs, relate with students from all over the world so as to swap ideas on various issues ranging from educational issues, mass communication issues, political issues, etc.4.) The mass communication students should make use of these social media websites to promote their talents, interests and causes as most of these platforms come with little or no costs. . Also, they could use these websites as an avenue to make money to take care of their personal needs so as not to depend solely on their parents for everything.5.) Mass communication students of UNILAG should make sure they try as much as possible to maintain the relationships they make in the real world and they should try and reduce the time they spend on these social media websites and create more time for themselves to do other things (e.g., catch up with school work, read motivational books, engage in physical recreational activities, etc.) other than browse the internet. BIBLIOGRAPHY

Alpizar, K.S. (2010). NEW MEDIA USE AMONG HIGH ACHIEVING ADOLESCENTS. Master's Theses.

Paper 3799. Retrieved from http://scholarworks.sjsu.edu/etd_theses/3799

Amobi, T.I. (2011). Assessing global digital divide through computer ownership, literacy, access and

usage of New media by Nigeria youths, in Ralph Akinfeleye (Ed.). Unilag communication

review, Lagos: Department of Mass Communication 5(1), 24-47.

Anaeto, S.G., Onabajo, O.S., & Osifeso,J.B. (2008). Models and theories of communication. Bowie,

M.D: African Renaissance Books Incorporated.

Augustin, J.G. (2011). Applying the uses and gratifications theory to social networking sites: A

review of related literature (Masters Thesis). Retrieved from

http://ipfw.academia.edu/AugustinGallion

Dunne, A., Lawlor, M., Rowley, J. (2010). Young people's use of online social networking sites - A

uses and gratifications perspective. Journal of Research in Interactive Marketing, Vol. 4

Iss: 1, pp.46 - 58.

Idakwo , L. (2011). The use of social media among Nigerian youths [PDF Document]. Retrieved from

http://www.slideshare.net/goldlami/the-use-of-social-media-among-nigerian-youths2Ihebuzor, N. (2012). Social media: Emerging patterns of use and abuse. The Punch. Retrieved from

http://www.thepunchng.com

Quan-Haase, A., & Young, A. L. (2010). Uses and gratifications of social media: A

comparison of facebook and instant messaging. Bulletin of Science Technology Society, 30

(5), 350-361.

Sean Carton. (2009). Defining social media [Web log message]. Retrieved from

http://www.clickz.com/clickz/column/1703507/defining-social-media

Social Baker(2012). Nigeria facebook statistics. Retrieved from

http://www.socialbakers.com/facebook-statistics/nigeria

Uses and gratifications theory. (2010). Retrieved from

http://communicationtheory.org/uses-and-gratification-theory/GROUP MEMBERS

Group Leader: Ezenwere Faith

Group Blog: www.9queens1king.tumblr.com

Ezenwere Faith Ijeoma100902060

Sofola Oreoluwa100902128

Ladeinde Nancy100902089

Ajelana Adedeji100902020

Bashua-Alimi Catherine100902051

Awolo Oyinkansola100902040

Johnson Eniola100902085

Oshosanya Gladys100902121

Adebayo Precious100902002

Oriaghan Omoye110902126

THE UNIVERSITY OF LAGOS,

AKOKA, YABA___________________________________________________________________________________

SOCIAL MEDIA HABITS

OF THE FULL-TIME MASS

COMMUNICATION UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF

LAGOS.

By: Group 1 Members (200-Level)

Course: Foundations of communication research

Lecturer: Dr. Amobi

Url: www.9queens1king.tumblr.com