INFLUENCE OF SOCIAL MEDIA CONTENT ON THE SOCIAL

BEHAVIOUR OF COVENANT UNIVERSITY

UNDERGRADUATES

BY

ADEBANJO OLUWADAMILOLA URAOJO

15BE02247

MARCH, 2019

i
 INFLUENCE OF SOCIAL MEDIA CONTENT ON THE SOCIAL BEHAVIOUR OF

COVENANT UNIVERSITY UNDERGRADUATES

BY

ADEBANJO OLUWADAMILOLA URAOJO

A PROJECT SUBMITTTED TO THE DEPARTMENT OF MASS COMMUNICATION,

COLLEGE OF BUSINESS AND SOCIAL SCIENCES, COVENANT UNIVERSITY,

OTA, IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE AWARD

OF THE DEGREE OF BACHELOR OF SCIENCE (B.SC) IN MASS

COMMUNICATION

MARCH, 2019

ii
 CERTIFICATION

Adebanjo Oluwadamilola Uraojo, a student in the Department of Mass Communication with

matriculation number 15BE02247, has satisfactorily completed the requirements for the research

work for the Degree of Bachelor of Science (B.Sc.) in Mass Communication. The work

embodied in this project is original and has not to the best of our knowledge been submitted in

part or full for any other Diploma or Degree of this or any other University.

……………………………… …………………………………..

Dr Olatunji Oyedepo Dr Olusola Oyero

Project Supervisor Head of Department

…………………………………….

External Examiner

iii
 DEDICATION

This research project is dedicated to God Almighty, the author and finisher of my faith for His

sufficient strength upon me during the course of this research project.

I also dedicate this work to my loving and supportive parents, Colonel and Mrs Adebanjo for

their prayers, as well as my amazing siblings, Omobola, Omoba and Demilade for their words of

encouragement. I appreciate you all and thank you for not losing faith in me.

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 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I thank God Almighty for the strength, grace and good health he granted me to successfully

finish my research work. I also wish to appreciate the Chancellor of Covenant University, Bishop

David Oyedepo for his life-changing words of wisdom which has helped me in the course of my

learning experience.

I also want to deeply appreciate my wonderful parents, Colonel and Mrs Adebanjo as well as my

siblings; Omobola, Omoba and Demilade. Thank you for your undying support and words of

encouragement that kept me going.

My profound gratitude also goes to my Supervisor, Dr Tunji Oyedepo for his direction and

contribution to this work. I thank my supervisor for his assistance and faith in me. It was truly an

honour to be supervised by you.

I also want to also thank my Head of Department, Dr Olusola Oyero and all my lecturers in the

Department of Mass Communication; Dr Oladokun Omojola, Dr Oscar Odiboh, Dr Stella

Aririguzoh, Dr Patrick Okon, Dr Suliemanu Usaini, Dr Kehinde Oyesomi, Dr Nelson Okorie, Dr

Ada Peters and Miss Angie Adebayo. I want to specially appreciate Mr Darlynton Yartey, Mrs

Olufunke Omole, Mr Babatunde Adeyeye, Mr Evaristus Adesina and Miss Thelma Ekanem.

I also want to appreciate all my friends and course mates who helped me in trying times; I

specially want to recognize and thank my friends Peace Odekpe and Blossom Emma-

Nwanchukwu, thank you for being my sisters and adding flavour to my journey in school. Also

to my fellow supervised and entire course mates, I pray we all graduate in flying colours by

God‟s grace and mercy.

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 TABLE OF CONTENTS

Cover Page ………………………………………………………………………… i

Full Title Page……………………………………………………….……………... ii

Certification…………………………………………………………………….…... iii

Dedication………………………………………………………….……………….. ⅳ

Acknowledgements……………………………………………….………………..... ⅴ

Table of Contents……………………………………………….……………………. ⅵ

List of Tables…………………………………………………………….………..…. x

Abstract…………………………………………………………………….…………. ⅺ

CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION

1.1 BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY.…………………………………………...... 1

1.2 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM …………………………………………….. 3

1.3 OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY…….…………………………………………… 5

1.4 RESEARCH QUESTONS…………….………………………………………….. 5

1.5 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY…….………………………………………… 6

1.6 SCOPE OF THE STUDY……………….…………………………………………. 6

1.7 LIMITATIONS………………………….…………………………………….…… 7

1.8 OPERATIONL DEFINITION OF TERMS………………………………………. 7

CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1 INTRODUCTION…………………………………………………………………. 9

2.2 THE REVIEW………………………………………………………………….…... 9

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2.2.1 Concept of Social media……………………………………………………….. 9

2.2.2 Social media and social behaviour………………………………………….….. 15

2.2.3 Importance of social media on social behaviour……………………………….. 17

2.2.4 University students and social media use……………………………..………... 18

2.2.5 Social media and university students development…………………................ 19

2.2.6 Social media contents impact on university students‟ social behaviour... …….. 20

2.3 EMPIRICAL STUDY…………………………………………………………...… 22

2.4 THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK………………………………….…………...… 25

2.4.1 The Media ecology theory………………………………………….…..……… 25

2.5 GAP TO FILL ……………………………………………….……………...….…. 26

2.6 SUMMARY OF LITERATURE……………………………………………..…… 27

CHAPTER THREE: METHOD OF STUDY

3.1 STUDY DESIGN……………………………………………………… ………… 28

3.2 POPULATION OF THE STUDY…………………………………….....……….. 29

3.3 SAMPLE SIZE………………………………………………………….………… 29

3.4 SAMPLING TECHNIQUE……………………………………………..……….. 29

3.5 INSTRUMENT FOR DATA COLLECTION……………………………..…….. 32

3.6 VALIDITY AND RELAIBILITY OF INSTRUMENT……………………..….. 33

3.7 METHOD OF DATA COLLECTION…………………………………………… 33

3.8 METHOD OF DATA PRESENTATION………………………………………… 33

CHAPTER FOUR: RESULTS

4.1 DATA PRESENTATION………………………………………………………… 34

4.2 DISCUSSION OF FINDINGS…………………………………………...……… 61

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CHAPTER FIVE: SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION

5.1 SUMMARY………………………………………………………………………. 67

5.2 CONCLUSION…………………………………………………………………… 68

5.3 RECOMMENDATIONS…………………………………………………...…….. 69

5.4 SUGGESTIONS FOR OTHER STUDIES……………………………………..... 71

REFERENCES............................................................................................... …… 72

APPENDIX 1………………………………………………………………………… 75

APPENDIX 2………………………………………………………………………… 79

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 LIST OF TABLES

TABLE 2.11: SOCIAL MEDIA HISTORY….…………………………………….. 10

TABLE 4.1: DEMOGEAPHIC DATA OF RESPONDENTS………………….…. .. 35

TABLE 4.2: USE OF SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORM…………………………...... 37

TABLE 4.3: TIME SPENT ON SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORM………………….. 38

TABLE 4.4: EXPOSURE TO SOCIAL MEDIA CONTENT THAT INFLUENCE SOCIAL

BEHAVIOUR AND LIFESTYLE …………………………………………………. 39

TABLE 4.5: EXPOSURE TO NEGATIVE SOCIAL MEDIA CONTENT ENCOURAGE

PARTICIPATION IN SUCH ACTIVITIES………………………………………… 40

TABLE 4.6: EXPOSURE TO POSITIVE SOCIAL MEDIA CONTENT ENCOURAGE

PARTICIPATION IN SUCH ACTIVITIES…………………………….………….. 41

TABLE 4.7: SOCIAL MEDIA CONTENT AWARENESS (EDUCATION)..……. 42

TABLE 4.8: SOCIAL MEDIA CONTENT AWARENESS (POLITICS)………….. 43

TABLE 4.9: SOCIAL MEDIA CONTENT AWARENESS (SPORTS)……..…….. 44

TABLE 4.10: SOCIAL MEDIA CONTENT AWARENESS (TV & MOVIES)…… 45

TABLE 4.11: SOCIAL MEDIA CONTENT AWARENESS (MUSIC & DANCE)... 46

TABLE 4.12: SOCIAL MEDIA CONTENT AWARENESS (ART)……………….. 47

TABLE 4.13: SOCIAL MEDIA CONTENT AWARENESS (FASHION & STYLE)… 48

TABLE 4.14: SOCIAL MEDIA CONTENT AWARENESS (FOOD)……………... 49

TABLE 4.15: SOCIAL MEDIA CONTENT AWARENESS (BEAUTY & MAKEUP)… 50

TABLE 4.16: SOCIAL MEDIA CONTENT AFFECTS FACE TO FACE

INTERACTION..................................................................................................... 51

TABLE 4.17: SOCIAL MEDIA INFLUENCE ON VIEW OF SOCIETY………. 52

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TABLE 4.18: SOCIAL MEDIA INFLUENCE ON RELATIONSHIP WITH THE OPPOSITE
SEX…………………………………………………………………………..…… 53

TABLE 4.19: BELEIVING INFORMATION ON SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORMS… 54

TABLE 4.20: TAKING ACTION ON INFORMATION ON SOCIAL MEDIA

PLATFORMS………………………………………………………………........ 55

TABLE 4.21: SOCIAL MEDIA CONTENT INFLUENCE ON THINGS DONE ON A DAILY

BASIS…………………………………………………………………………... 56

TABLE 4.22: DEVELOPING NEW SOCIAL VALUES AND BEHAVIOURS BASED ON

SOCIAL MEDIA CONTENTS………………………………………………. 57

TABLE 4.23: SOCIAL MEDIA CONTENT INFLUENCE BEHAVIOUR TOWARDS

PARTIES INVOLVED…………………………………………………........ 58

TABLE 4.24: SOCIAL MEDIA INFLUENCE DRESSING AND OUTWARD

APPEARANCE………………………………………………………….......... 59

TABLE 4.25: SOCIAL MEDIA CONTENT INFLUENCE ON INTERACTION WITH

PEOPLE AND LIFESTYLE………………………………………………… 60

x
 ABSTRACT

Social media has become the new communication tool used in transmitting social values in
today’s world, but the excessive and addictive use and exposure to content on social media is
said to also influenced the behaviour and social lifestyle of people especially teenagers as they
are liable to adapt to behaviours they perceive as trending and acceptable. This trend has
therefore led to the display of certain negative behaviour and lifestyle picked up from social
media platforms. Therefore, the study examined the usage and exposure to social media content
and how it influences the social behaviour and interactions of Covenant University
undergraduates. For this study five objectives and research questions were raised with the
answers provided. The study was anchored on the Media ecology theory which states that the
media acts to directly shape culture and influence human perception, lifestyle and values which
describes the powerful nature of social media as part of the communication processes to change
social behaviour. The method adopted was Survey and the instrument of data collection was the
questionnaire, a total number of 300 copies of questionnaire were administered to the
respondents. The findings from the study revealed that social media plays a vital role in the lives
of young people as majority of respondents spent an average of 2-4 hours (53.7%) on these
social media platforms and aware of the different social media contents. The study also revealed
that respondents were greatly influenced to participate in contents they are exposed to on social
media (80.8%) but they were also independent in selecting the contents they expose and engage
themselves with on social media. The study therefore, recommends that there should be
continuous sensitization of university students and young people by parents, guardians and other
stakeholders on the appropriate use of social media and become aware of the negative influences
of excessive use of social media. Also, social media platform owners should perform their social
responsibilities by being more scrutinizing in terms of the contents created and shared on their
platforms.

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 CHAPTER ONE

GENERAL INTRODUCTION

1.1 BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY

Over the years people have always found a way to pass and get information, from the town crier

in the market squares to the radio and TV. It is therefore no surprise that the world today has

evolved to more innovative ways to communicate and pass information. According to Adelabu

(2015, p. 1) the society and world in general as before has evolved once again to the use of social

media as the means of generating, sharing and receiving messages. Ayarekar (2015, p. 38) says

social media has been one of “the most recent and booming technological innovations” it is also

referred to as a “virtual community” which evolved from the invention of the internet (Lu, Zhao

& Wang, 2010, p. 346). It includes different applications and platforms such as Instagram,

Snapchat, Twitter, Facebook, Whatsapp etc.

Haida and Rahim (2015 p. 1) state the term social refers to “the interaction of an individual or a

group as a member of society” and media refers to “a system of communication and interaction”.

We can therefore say that social media is a system where individuals can interact and

communicate with each other as members of a particular society or interest group. It is “the

interaction among people where they create, share, and or exchange information and ideas in

virtual communities and networks” (Haida & Rahim, 2015, p. 1).

Statista (2015) in (Duffett, 2017, p. 20) states that social media allows its users to generate

personalized online pages, connect and interact with peers as well as exchange information that

they have created personally. It is has become an indispensable part of our daily lives especially

that of adolescents and young adults of this 21st century known as „generation Z‟ James and

1
Levin (2015) in (Duffett, 2017, p. 20). According to Selina and Milz (2009) in (Ohajionu &

Mathews, 2015, p. 336) Social media have been seen as one of the greatest medium for

relationship building as it encourages creating of personal ideas and information as well as

interacting and sharing between participants involved. The purpose of social media is to

encourage sharing and sending messages, and this has created a new avenue for people to

interact and share experiences with each other.

According to Matsumoto (2007, p. 1293), the author sees culture as “a unique meaning and

information system, shared by a group and transmitted across generations, that allows the group

to meet basic needs of survival, coordinate socially to achieve a viable existence, transmit social

behaviour, pursue happiness and well-being and derive meaning from life”. We see that culture

is a set of unique tools humans use to meet their everyday physical, social and environmental

needs in order to survive. The author is also of the opinion that due to the various environmental

and ecological situations humans find themselves in is what makes them produce different

reactions and behaviours to solve these different problems while interacting with each other and

their environment (Matsumoto, 2007, p. 1295). Thus, we have different groups of people having

their special and unique behavioural systems in order to survive in their own environment which

differs from another. Social behaviour from the understanding of culture can be seen as the

actions, values and attitudes people exhibit as a result of the influence from their particular and

unique environmental, physical and social situations in which they find themselves. It can

therefore be described as the actions that a person exhibits because of their culture, belief or

value system.

According to Adelabu (2015, p. 1), youths and young adults have shifted from getting their day

to day information and entertainments needs from the old and traditional form of media (books,

radio and TV etc.) to the new media that is, social media. These young people have therefore

based their lives on the messages popularised on the social media platforms. It is therefore no

2
doubt that social media has played a vital role in shaping and structuring the way these young

people live their lives which leads to social change. Most young people get exposed to social

media contents especially visual and audio-visual such as pictures, music videos, movies etc. that

popularise certain ways of living such as owning expensive cars and jewellery, drug abuse,

engaging in premarital sexual experimentations and activities etc. which shapes a new social

behaviour and value system with the aim of trying to achieve such life. The advent of the social

media have also brought a lot of benefits for individuals such as revolutionising the

communication process and making the world a lot closer but with this it has also brought some

side effects which are mostly affecting the young adults because they engage on these platforms

the most and are open to accessing vast amount of content on social media.

The study therefore aims to establish the connection social media has with students‟ social

behaviour specifically among Covenant University students and to also emphasize how social

media can also be used to popularize edifying contents and positive messages promoting positive

social behaviours rather than negative contents.

1.2 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

Communication in the world is controlled by the social media and its usage has greatly increased

globally. Social media have made information access easier and faster as well as interaction

more flexible among individuals, groups and communities from the context of communication

and relationship building. The communication function of the social media have allowed

adolescents and youths co-construct their own environments where they can develop and share

their own accepted behaviours and values (Juszczyk, 2015, p. 80-81) Juszczyk (2015 p. 81)

opined that these norms and accepted behaviours created on social media are then transferred to

new generation users and this will eventually form their lifestyle. Hence, we see social media has

improved the creating, sharing and exchange of values as well and though that is a good thing it

can also have its side effects.

3
According to Al-Sharq, Hashim and Kutbi (2015) in (Chukwuere & Chukwuere, 2017, p. 9930)

university students‟ excessive use of social media has raised debate on whether the use and

exposure to materials shared has influenced their social lifestyle, wellbeing and behaviour.

According to van Coeverden (2015, p. 8) social behaviour also demonstrates that people are

liable to adapt to other people behaviours even when the investment in this behaviour is initially

costly. In order words when individuals are exposed to certain behaviours that they believe are

acceptable due to popularisation, in order to adapt they sacrifice whatever it takes or costs which

they seem not to mind. With social media being an avenue for new values and information to be

shared and different individuals to relate and form new interactions it is possible for many

individuals to have picked up certain false social ideals and behaviours and adapted to them

irrespective of what it costs. This is why social media is said to have an active part in influencing

young peoples‟ social behaviours and lifestyle as the young people are the prime users of it and

certainly pick one or two behaviours that are popularized or perceived as desirable and good.

This can have positive or negative impact depending on the certain social behaviours young

people decide to pick up and imbibe.

Livingstone and Bober (2003, p. 2) also state that social media is a major cause of generation gap

between parents and their children. Parents are not aware of what their children and young adults

engage social media for. Although there are parents who are internet literates, some are still not

aware of certain aspects of the social media that young people experiment and engage in which

causes strain in communication and interaction between them which ultimately makes parents

unaware of activities their children engage in.

This study therefore, seeks to identify how the usage of social media and exposure to social

media contents impacts the social behaviour of Covenant University undergraduates and their

perception towards its influence on their social interactions.

4
This study also aims to contribute to existing literature on what exactly students engages social

media for and how the contents received on these platforms have changed their behaviour in

relation to social interactions, morals and way of life which have not been fully explored.

1.3 OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

1. To determine the current level of awareness of social media content by Covenant

University undergraduates

2. To determine the extent to which Covenant University undergraduates engage social

media content on social behaviour

3. To determine the perception of Covenant University undergraduates on social media

content as a determining factor for social behaviour

4. To determine the extent social media content change the social behaviour of Covenant

University undergraduates

5. To determine the extent of exposure to social media content on social behaviour by

Covenant University undergraduates

1.4 RESEARCH QUESTIONS

1. What is the current level of awareness of social media content by Covenant University

undergraduates?

2. What is the extent to which Covenant University undergraduates engage social media

content on social behaviour?

3. What is the perception of Covenant University undergraduates on social media content as

a determining factor for social behaviour?

4. To what extent does social media content change the social behaviour of Covenant

University undergraduates?

5. What is the extent of exposure to social media content on social behaviour by Covenant

University undergraduates?

5
 1.5 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

The social media has been able to provide great benefits to the Nigerian society. The stress free

process of being able to create content, share and exchange these information at the blink of an

eye, it must also be considered that there are also going to be disadvantages.

This is why this study seeks to draw the attention of parents as well as the students in which this

study addresses to the dangers of constant exposure to negative social media content and to

understand the role social media plays in shaping and changing their social behaviour as well as

educate them on the appropriate use of social media to improve their social lifestyle.

This study aims to also alert social media platform owners who have the power to allow certain

information or content on their platforms to be more scrutinizing in terms of the contents created

and shared on their platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, Twitter etc as these young

students are liable to practice what they see on these platforms due to their vulnerable nature.

This study will also help school managements and teachers in understanding what their students

engage social media for and help them monitor and regulate the contents they are exposed to.

This study will also assist psychologists in understanding the reason behind certain youth social

behaviour and also how certain social media contents can influence human behaviour and make

them act a certain way.

Also this study is to be of help to other researchers that will carry out further research on social

media and its influence on young people as well as add to already existing literature on the

subject matter from a Nigerian perspective.

1.6 SCOPE OF THE STUDY

This research study seeks to identify the impact and influence social media contents have on the

social behaviour of Covenant University undergraduates. It is also focused on whether the

6
contents students are exposed to changes their behaviours and actions when relating or

interacting with others.

And so for this study, it will be limited to undergraduate students of Covenant University, Ota,

Ogun state. Among these respondent, we will focus on young people that make use of social

media. The reason for this choice is because the study is based on university students and for the

selection of Covenant University students is due to the school being the best University in

Nigeria according to the Times Higher Ranking and therefore the study aims at discovering the

influence of social media contents on this world class university‟s undergraduates.

1.7 LIMITATIONS TO THE STUDY

This study was limited to some challenges. The following limitations of the study are;

1. There was difficulty in getting back all 300 copies of the questionnaire, a total of 287

copies were retrieved while 13 copies were missing and due to time as a restriction, more

questionnaires could not be printed to replace the missing ones. This therefore will cause

the findings of the study difficult to be generalised.

2. There were also more female respondents to males and so the findings of the study might

not be easily generalised to both female and male adequately.

3. Also because survey was the method of study used, the authenticity and genuineness of

the respondents may not be known.

1.8 OPERATIONAL DEFINITION OF TERMS

1. Social behaviour: In this study, social behaviour refers to the lifestyle, habits, responses

and actions such as exchange, competition, cooperation, conflict and coercion a group of

people exhibit while interacting with others in their environment.

2. Influence: In this study, influence refers to the direct or indirect effect or impact a

particular thing has on another which causes it to change.

7
3. Covenant University undergraduates: In this study, university undergraduates are

students going to Covenant University.

4. Social media contents: In relation to this study, social media contents refer to the

various messages and information in whatever form that individuals create, send, share

and exchange on the social media platforms such as Whatsapp, Instagram, Twitter,

Facebook, Snapchat etc.

5. Social media: In relation to this study, social media refers to a “collection of applications

(Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp, LinkedIn, or YouTube etc.) and websites that link people

to share information and aware people about any event through social networking”

(Asad, Anam & Kanwal, 2016, p.369). It is an aggregate of various applications,

platforms, blogs and websites that help individuals interact and send messages at the

same time.

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 CHAPTER TWO

LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1 INTRODUCTION

The world today especially the younger generation has shifted to the social media as their

primary source of information. This shift is due to advancements in technology which has made

creating and sharing of messages instantaneous. The problem however, is that certain messages

shared have influenced the culture and lifestyles and contributed to the moral degradation of

people due to obsession and abuse of these social media platforms (Onah & Nche 2014, p. 2231).

This chapter examines relevant literature prior to this study on the areas of social media,

Nigerian youth engagement with social media and influences on cultural behaviour in Nigeria. A

theory relating to the subject matter will also be explored and how it can be useful towards

solving the problem.

2.2 THE REVIEW

2.2.1 CONCEPT OF SOCIAL MEDIA

According to Sajithra and Patil (2013, p. 69) Social media are expansions of the traditional

media. The traditional media is a way of dissemination information to a group of people but with

the addition of technology that is internet access the social media came to existence and anyone

can pass across information to different groups. The concept of the social media came into

existence in the 20th century but it is often seen as a novelty. Proper evaluation of the concept

helps in understanding the history of the social media.

9
 Table 2.1: SOCIAL MEDIA HISTORY

1971 1979 1984 1991 1995 1998-2004 2005-Beyond

Email Usenet Listserv Personal websites, 1st Social Blogs, Web 2.0 Apps and

Discussion groups Networking Site: Podcasts, User-generated

Classmates.Com Wikis content

Source: Sajithra and Patil (2013, p. 69)

1971: Email

The introduction of the email marked the beginning of the social media as we know today. Email

was invented by a computer engineer named Ray Tomlinson in 1971 when he worked for Bolt

Beranek and Newman (BBN). The company was hired by the United States Defence Department

to create the Internet in 1968. Emails are electronic mails where an individual can send letters

and other messages to a person‟s electronic mail boxes just like the traditional physical letters

and mail boxes but in the case of the email, the messages are sent immediately and feedback or

reply is also immediate.

1979: Usenet

The Usenet is an Internet discussion system distributed worldwide and was created in 1980 by

Tom Truscott and Jim Ellis graduates from Duke University. The inventors improvised the email

to send categorised messages and created a system where users could post and read messages to

more than one categories where these categories were called “newsgroups”.

1984: LISTSERV

LISTSERV was developed to make the usage of email communication more effective and easier

to reach a larger number people instantly. Before the LISTSERV sending emails was tedious

because the email lists were manually managed. Users had to send a message to the administrator

10
managing the list to ask for permission to be added or removed from a group and as the email

became more popular the lists became longer which made the job more time consuming and

tedious. Eric Thomson was looking for a way to make the management of these lists easier and

invented the LISTSERV which automated the process. The LISTSERV became the first

electronic mailing list software application and was launched in 1986. After LISTSERV other

mail list managing tools were created such as the Lyris ListManager created in 1997, Sympa also

in 1997 and GNU Mailman created in 1998.

1988: IRC

The IRC was development as a form of group chatting that also allowed one to one

communication through private messaging. It was created by Jarkko Oikarinen in 1988 and was

used to report on the Soviet coup attempt in 1991.The IRC stands foe Internet Relay Chat.

1991: Personal websites, discussion groups and chat

Other websites and discussion groups were developed and became popular after the IRC. Before

then internet access was not available to the general public, but after the private ISPs (Internet

Service Providers) started operation, it became easy for the general public to access the Internet

in their homes. This then brought the era for people to have their personal websites and

discussion groups where they shared their own opinions on certain topics and issues.

1995: Social Networking site classmate.com

The classmate.com was developed by Randy Conrads in 1995 and its aim was to connect people

with lost friends and acquaintances from primary school, secondary school, university, work and

so on. The site was one of the first social networking sites and has over 50 million members.

11
1998-2004: Blogs, Podcast, Wikis

The blogs of today evolved from the online diary, and one of the first generally recognised

bloggers was Justin Hall who started personal blogging in 1994. Blogging was used by people to

update their websites which lead to the online publishing of web articles we know in today‟s

blogs.

This brings to light that social media is not something that just happened but is what we know

today due to a series of technological improvements and advancements and will still continue to

grow and develop as we live in a world that is innovative and technology driven.

ROLES OF SOCIAL MEDIA

Social media have many roles and functions it performs. According to Kasturi and Vardhan

(2014, p. 5), the following are the key functions and roles of social media;

1. Communicate: The social media is one of the best and effective forms of communications

in today‟s world. It has given people the freedom communicating with ease without

having the face-to-face communication which might make it hard for some people to

freely express themselves.

2. Collaborate: With the social media people have been able to link up with other

individuals and engage themselves with social media chats, blogging, group chats etc. a

person can post a comment, video or picture and circulate it and get other people to

comment and participate which allows them combine and share ideas and in such sense

makes the process collaborative.

3. Educate: Kasturi and Vardhan (2014, p. 6) says a major role of social media is educating

the masses and social media has made the world a „global class room‟. Social media has

made it possible for people to attend online lectures, get vital information and get issues

12
 clarified by learned professionals in whatever field which is similar to the live classroom.

Through the technology of the social media people can access vast knowledge and useful

information about a certain topic of interest from different sources around the world.

4. Engage: Social media also brings about involvement. It encourages people to contribute

and share their own ideas and opinions and makes them feel like they are a part of

something which is why they constantly contribute and engage the social media.

5. Monitor: social media allows for people to understand a situation in real time Kasturi and

Vardhan (2014, p. 6). Social media has some features and facilities that allow individuals

monitor the traffic on their pages, websites or blogs. This allows a person spot challenges

and make adjustments to solve whatever problem they might have.

6. Maximise: social media also helps in maximising effort as it helps working and accessing

of information easier for people.

7. Entertain: An important role of social media is that it offers a form of entertainment to its

users. It allows individuals access various form of entertaining content which offers

relaxation to its users.

TYPES OF SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORMS

New social media platforms are being generated on a rapid scale; the following however are

some of the social media platforms used mostly today.

INSTAGRAM

Instagram is a mobile app that permits its users to share photos and videos. It was founded by

Stanford graduates Kevin Systorm and Mike Krieger in 2010. It was first called „Burbn‟ which

was only into photo-sharing but later added the video sharing features. On October 6, 2010 it was

on Apple App store and in 2012 was on android phones. Instagram has about 150 million active

13
users with 90% of them under the age of 35. It was later purchased by Facebook for $ 1 billion in

2012.

TWITTER

Twitter created by Jack Dorsey was launched in 2006, the mobile app is a micro blogging and

social network site that allows messages (also called tweets), with not more than 140 characters

to be posted instantly (Ohajionu & Mathews, 2015, p. 340). As at 2018, Twitter’s micro-

blogging service has an average of 335 million monthly active users worldwide (Statista, 2018a).

With this large followership, there are various groups of people from different spheres of life

sharing their messages at the same time

YOUTUBE

YouTube permits its users to upload and share video content on diverse arrays of subjects, and

also integrates an increasing number of additional features that allow users to interact with such

content and other users (Ohajionu & Mathews, 2015, p. 343). YouTube, launched in 2005 was

created by Jawed Karim, Steve Chen, and Chad Hurley (Engadget, 2016). YouTube has grown to

become a dominant medium that allows for social interaction among people (Ohajionu &

Mathews, 2015, p. 344). It has over 1.3 billion users and over 5 million videos have been

watched each day (Engadget, 2016).

Users are able to follow other users on the site and become “fans” by subscribing to receive

notifications when they post new content (Ohajionu & Mathews, 2015, p. 344). This is a good

avenue for young adults and adolescents to follow contents and people that they are interested in.

The youths and young adults out of curiosity and experimentation can find themselves following

content or individuals who popularize negative content and eventually get influenced by these

messages.

14
FACEBOOK

Facebook was launched in February 2004 and was developed by Mark Zuckerberg alongside

Andrew McCollum and Eduardo Saverin. The website was used first by Harvard University with

the number of 1,200 students then spread to all other Ivy League University servers (Croft,

2007). In May 2007, Facebook was announced to become the social operating system for the

internet and then ceased to be a closed network (Croft, 2007). Users were able to now link their

other internet activities to Facebook.

Today, Facebook has a membership of 2.23 billion monthly active users and is the biggest social

networking service currently, and is based on its global reach and total number of active users

(Statista, 2018b).

2.2.2 SOCIAL MEDIA AND SOCIAL BEHAVIOUR

Social media is a powerful means of influencing and shaping human behaviour (Furedi, 2015).

The author also says the claims about digital technology changing and transforming education,

work and interaction with others and all round human existence proposes that the social media

has a great influence on human lifestyle which means the constant increase of social media use

has played a vital part in contributing to modern day way of living and human behaviour. There

are some notable aspects of social behaviour that seem to be influenced by social media which

are; dressing, language, relationship and interaction with the opposite sex amongst others. Social

media has made it easy to access information that would not have been easy to get in the past

which connotes mass flow of information. It also allows for contribution and global interaction

which was not possible with traditional media (TV, radio, books) which suggests that social

media is more influential compared to the traditional media. This ability for global interaction

and mass information flow has led to individuals getting an eye into other societies and therefore

makes them question the validity of their own behaviour and lifestyle which can have a positive

15
or negative effect (Salama, 2017). Questioning of one‟s behaviour due to information from other

societies can allow for positive influence in the case that it can allow such individual or society

correct and revise their behaviours and interactions for the better. A great example is the female

equality which is a major topic on social media and has allowed different societies adapt it to

their social lifestyle especially in African societies where there were strict rules and norms on

female roles in society but with such topic being popularised and addressed on social media has

allowed many societies revise their rules on female roles in society and gender equality. In the

negative aspect of questioning and revising one‟s social lifestyle it can allow for adapting

behaviours that are not positive even though they are applicable and acceptable to these other

societies. Fashion and dressing for one has found a way to make social media one of its medium

for studying and anticipating new trends as well as connecting people to the different fashion

trends from all over the world (Manyam, Swarnalatha & Padma, 2018, p.128). An example in the

aspect of fashion and dressing in African societies is how it has changed from the decent way of

dressing to wearing of skimpy and revealing outfits by ladies because it was perceived as

acceptable by western societies. For the aspect of language, social media have influenced the

way young people communicate and interact with each other. Slangs have become a rampant

form of communication among youngsters. According to Ononogbu and Chiroma (2018, p.49)

there are certain short forms and slangs young people use in order to send across coded messages

among themselves while interacting on social media. This in turn has therefore helped to build

certain relationships over these social media platforms even with the opposite sex. People now

develop romantic relationships via this virtual space which might be unhealthy as it is difficult to

prove if a person is telling the truth or not on these social media sites and this has created a

laidback behaviour among young people about their relationships and interactions online, but not

all aspects of other society‟s social behaviours should be adapted as not every aspect is

applicable.

16
Social behaviour is dynamic in the sense that it is dependent on the situation or environment it is

displayed in which can vary from time to time (Matsumoto, 2007, p. 1295). It is therefore ever

changing and keeps evolving. Social media in particular has helped and contributed to the

evolving of society‟s social behaviour because it has opened the gates of globalisation and

borderless interaction between different individuals of cultural background and therefore

exchange of views and promoting of certain behaviours as led to each individual reviewing their

own social skills and possibly changing a part of it (Salama, 2017). Social media has provided a

pathway through which interaction can lead to new ideas, symbols, rituals and identities (Furedi,

2015). From these certain interactions, new social behaviours have evolved and new societies

both virtual and in reality have been created.

At the end, it is undeniable that social media has come to stay and its increase and intensity on

new social trends has contributed to the immediate impact on individuals‟ interaction with each

other and other social behaviours.

2.2.3 IMPORTANCE OF SOCIAL MEDIA ON SOCIAL BEHAVIOUR

It is understood that social media possesses a significant impact on people‟s social behaviours

and this impact can be both positive and negative in nature. It cannot be denied that social media

has provided positive contributions to society and the world at large by making it a lot closer and

leading to globalisation. Globalisation has given people the ability to reach and interact with

anyone across the world and as more people are connecting with social media to exchange ideas

and views as well as interact with each other to better societies and transform the world at large

without geographical distance being a barrier. Globalisation leads to the increased and growing

chances of interactions and interconnection of countries on a global scale. Countries are now

able to generate and create international relationships that can benefit their infrastructures,

economies and general living experience.

17
Social media have allowed for individuals to express their thoughts and showcase their unique

abilities which allows for global recognition of such abilities. In the same light, different cultures

have been able to express their unique way of living, social norms and cultural practices and

therefore attracted global recognition and popularisation of such information. This aspect of

social media has allowed for certain social behaviours to be widely accepted and appreciated

even by people of other cultural backgrounds. Such a tool can benefit societies and certain

groups in popularising and recognition of their beliefs and social behaviours as well as the

exchanging and sharing of these behaviours with other people on a global scale which can lead to

influencing and reforming other people‟s way of life positively or negatively depending on the

behaviours being shared and exchanged. This is why social media can be used as a powerful tool

in influencing people‟s perceptions and interactions on certain issues or topics and this ability

can be used positively by popularising information that will better societies, their way of life and

ultimately improve their social living.

It is therefore important to note that the reforming social behaviours requires great responsibility

and balanced evaluation by the groups involved in changing and revising of their social

interactions.

2.2.4 UNIVERSITY STUDENTS AND SOCIAL MEDIA USE

Farhan and Varghese (2018, p. 90) says that studies are carried on the impact of social media on

youths because of the fact that utilization of social media services have greatly increased among

the group. From their study they discovered that most youths spend from one (1) hour and above

on social media platforms which indicate the constant use and growing addiction of social media

among youths.

Ononogbu and Chiroma (2018, p. 50) say social media have taken root and thriving in Nigerian

society among the youths. This suggests that the rapid growing usage of social media is a global

18
phenomenon and the Nigerian student is not an exception. A significant part of this generation‟s

social, emotional and spiritual development occurs on the internet while networking and relating

on social media (Ononogbu & Chiroma, 2018, p. 51). This proves the notion that young people

of today‟s Nigerian society use and engage in activities on social media platforms such as

Instagram, Twitter, Whatsapp, Facebook etc. on a regular basis. Adelabu (2015, p. 1) says that

youths have shifted from the traditional media such as TV, radio and other media to the new

media in getting their entertainment needs. Young people especially university undergraduates

are constantly checking and engaging the social media through their mobile phones and other

portable electronic gadgets.

This suggests that social media usage and engagement is a rampant and growing activity among

university students and can lead to unhealthy addictive behaviour.

2.2.5 SOCIAL MEDIA AND UNIVERSITY STUDENTS DEVELOPMENT

Social media has assisted in development of human living and society. The advancement of

technology has increased development in various aspects such as learning, education,

communication, politics, health etc. which has made life easier.

With the social media, as one of the major technological advancement in the world today has led

to rise in social participation in areas of social justice, social responsibility, equality and political

awareness and participation especially among youth who are prime users. Youths have been able

to use the social media as an avenue to gather and organise themselves to engage in activities to

help and develop their societies creating a sense of social responsibility. Also in the area of

education and learning, social media has aided students both at secondary and university level in

creating virtual class rooms by creating academic chat rooms and groups where they can share

ideas and contributions relating to their academics. Lecturers and teachers have been able to use

these various social media platforms to enhance university student‟s participation and

19
engagement in their class work by sharing study materials and notes and asking questions via

these social media platforms. University students can attend virtual classes and lectures in the

comfort of their homes and get their certificates and qualifications online without any stress.

The social media has served has an educating platform not only for academics but also in

sensitizing young people on important social networking habits for social change and

development Jarrar and Hammud (2017, p. 25). Also social media has helped in the creating job

opportunities for these young people Asad, Anam and Kanwal (2016, p. 369). University

undergraduates have gotten job opportunities with companies who use online systems for

employee recruitment which makes the process easier and faster for them when looking for jobs

after their university education.

2.2.6 SOCIAL MEDIA CONTENTS IMPACT ON UNIVERSITY STUDENTS SOCIAL

BEHAVIOUR

It has already established that most of the information that university undergraduates access is

from social media platforms and as such engage more with the contents received from these

platforms for their daily information and entertainment needs Adelabu (2015, p. 1). Also social

media is described as a platform that allows individuals exchange their ideas and interact with

other groups of people via emails, chat rooms, blogs, websites etc.

The social media‟s ability to allow people exchange views connotes that there is a give and take

process where people are able to share their views and also receive other people‟s views and

would therefore provide a conducive place for „collaborative learning‟ for students Chen,

Kaewkitipong and Ractham (2016) in (Chukwuere & Chukwuere, 2017, p. 9929). Also Asad,

Anam and Kanwal (2016, p. 340) believe with social media new web tools students learning

skills have increased. Wang, Chen and Liang (2011, p. 5) also state that social media‟s ability to

provide easily accessible connections and interactions helps to provide a virtual space for

20
students to share their interests or problems, access academic support and strengthens their

online communication skills. But in most cases the same function of social media providing

interaction also leads to negative results such as distractions from academics, procrastination and

laziness which eventually will depreciate students‟ academic performance and learning (Wang,

Chen and Liang, 2011, p. 5). Due to various negative effects social media has on students‟

behaviour, proper direction and control of social media use should be priority in school settings

to enhance proper learning and teaching (Quansah, Fiadzawoo & Kuunaangmen, 2016, p. 963).

According to Chukwuere and Chukwuere (2017, p. 9929) are of the opinion that social media

eventually leads students to have addictive behaviours and dependence and causes self-esteem

problems, depression and sleeplessness. Also as mentioned before by Manyam, Swarnalatha &

Padma, 2018, p.128, fashion and dressing of adolescents have changed as being part of the

indices of social behaviour and lifestyle. Social media is an avenue for studying and anticipating

new trends as well as connecting people to the different fashion trends from all over the world

which they imbibe due to popularity. Students have also infused the use of slangs in their day to

day interaction with themselves. Ononogbu and Chiroma (2018, p.49) gave examples of some

slang used by young people when communicating such as „1174‟ meaning „party meeting place‟,

„Broken‟ meaning „hungover form alcohol‟ amongst many others. Also from movies, music

videos and other visual contents on social media, they see celebrities who they consider as role

models talk and act a certain way and so follow suit. In their relationships young people have

become more carefree with how they relate with each other especially the opposite sex or gender.

It is now popular opinion even among the Nigerian society for young people to engage in sexual

immorality and have multiple sexual partners.

Students and young people which are the primary active users of these various platforms have

been influenced the most because of their constant exposure and acceptance of the social media

contents.

21
2.3 EMPIRICAL STUDY

For the purpose of this study, some research works and papers related to this study were

reviewed in order to enhance the literature review.

Rastogi and Kumar (2017) carried out a study on the role of social media in the development of

values in youth. The main objective of the study was to find out the influence of social media on

the values among youths especially among those at the university level. The researchers believed

that the advancement in technology which led to the creation of social media plays a vital part in

the overall development and degradation of human values especially among youths. The

researchers stated that the various social media platforms have a massive effect on youths which

are both constructive and destructive in nature depending on the usage. The researchers brought

to light the positive ways of using the social media but stated that among youths and teenagers it

is often used in a destructive manner such as wasting time on useless chatting and watching of

videos and movies. The study also stated that social media affects the moral, cultural and social

values of the youths which is why youths should be assisted and motivated on the right usage of

social media platforms.to achieve the objective of the study, the researchers made use of survey

method where 40 undergraduate and post graduate students of BBAU, a central university were

given questionnaires for data collection and from the survey it was discovered that the students

had more virtual friends than real friends and engaged the social media via their mobile phones

and gadgets and most of them spent over two hours on social media platforms each day. In the

conclusion of the study the researchers stated that when social media networks are designed for

specific educational needs of students it can be useful in the improving of the academic

performance of students and bring positive changes in the value system of youths. The

researchers however, did not state how social media affects the social and cultural values of

youths in their findings; this study therefore aims to fill this gap especially in the area of the

social behaviour and values of young people.

22
A study conducted by Juszczyk (2015), on the fields of impact of social media on youth

contributes to the topic of social media usage and contents on the lifestyle of youths by

examining the different fields and aspects that social media has affected youths. The researcher

discussed the area of cyber-communication which allows students to understand how to manage

time and resources efficiently, as well as understand the act of accessing and processing skills

gained in meaningful content and communicate the material to its appropriate audience Juszczyk

(2015, p. 81). The researcher stated that cyber-communication also has its negative impact which

is access to an individual‟s personal information which makes it hard for children and youths to

protect themselves from certain unsafe information and individuals that gives support to

substance abuse, unsafe sexual practices or self-harmful behaviours on these platforms. The

researcher concluded that the social media is increasing in its measure of our daily lives as we all

search for information, communicate and interact with people and have access with popular

culture and as such is changing various parts of our lives (the private, social, cultural, economic

and intellectual). The researcher suggests however, that with the adequate and right guidance and

regulation the social media can have a positive impact on youths and help them balance between

virtual and reality.

Researchers Idrus and Hitam (2014) on a study of social media use and abuse reviewed the

development of the social media and its use across various age groups in different countries. The

researchers reviewed various studies pertaining to the use of social media and whether its impact

on general society was negative or positive. The researchers then concluded that the development

of the technology that is social media is a continuous phenomenon and its utilization depends on

the user‟s desire to engage it for positive or negative activities. This suggests that social media

use does not particularly cause negative or positive effects on individuals but solely depends on

the individual reason for engaging in social media.

23
James, James, Bongi and Abubakar (2018) carried out a research on the influence of social

media on student‟s behaviour in tertiary institution and universities. The study was to find out the

influence social media has on students in universities and if it negatively affects their academics.

The study stated that due to the constant use of social media by young adults and youths, it has

led to social media addiction and hence affects their academic performance. The researchers state

that social media has also brought about other negative online behaviour such as cyber-bullying.

The researchers used survey method and administered questionnaires as their instrument of data

collection. A sample of 300 respondents from 6 tertiary institutions was sampled for the study

and descriptive statistics was used to analyse the data. The researchers from their study found out

that the main activity youths engage the social media is for chatting and that it has different

impacts on the students‟ behaviour such as laziness, negative ethnic-religion conflict and a

platform for hate speech among young people. The researchers recommended that students be

trained on better usage of the social media in order to avoid misuse, also the NCC (Nigeria

Communication Commission) should develop a means to filter unwanted information such as

pornographic and other sexual content in chat rooms and posts and parents should monitor

activities of the young students on the social media (James, James, Bongi & Abubakar 2018,

p.128).

Asad, Anam and Kanwal (2016), also did a research on the effects of social media on youths and

had its main objective to be analysing the effects of social media on youth, its impact on society

in areas such as education, entertainment, health, job opportunities, communication and

interaction, enhancing skills and online shopping. The researchers used questionnaire study for

data collection. The sample of 380 respondents were selected through simple random sampling

from the University of Sargodha and from their study it was discovered social media plays an

important part in the providing of education and possible work prospects to students but also

caused health challenges and a negative effect on their culture. It was recommended that in the

24
usage of social media, users also have to put their cultural values and social norms into

cognizance. The researchers also recommended that government take action by placing ban on

immoral websites and also parents and teachers should carefully monitor young adults and

children when they engage social media.

2.4 THEORITICAL FRAMEWORK

2.4.1 THE MEDIA ECOLOGY THEORY

The concept of the Media Ecology theory was first introduced by Marshal McLuhan in 1964 but

the term was officially presented by Neil Postman in 1968. The Media Ecology Theory suggests

that the media acts directly to shape and organise culture (Moreno & Koff, 2016, p. 133).

According to Parameswaran (2008) in (Moreno & Koff, 2016, p. 133) the theory focuses on how

media and communication processes influence the human perception, feelings, understanding

and value. With the influence of media technology (which also entails new media as technology

has evolved) on society as the main focus of the Media Ecology theory, the three main principles

and assumptions of the theory are as follows according to Moreno and Koff (2016, p.134)

1. Media is instilled into every act and action in society: this suggests that media is part of

our everyday lives and determines much of our actions in the society.

2. Media repairs our perceptions and organises our experiences: media has the power to

both directly and indirectly influence our perceptions, beliefs and behaviour towards our

own society and world at large.

3. Media tie the world together: media is one of the powerful tools that turn the world as a

whole into a global village and brings all societies and different cultures together.

According to Parameswaran (2008) in (Moreno & Koff, 2016, p.134) this turns the

world into a unified social, cultural, political and economic system.

25
APPLICATION TO TOPIC

The Media Ecology Theory centres on how media especially the new media affects society. The

theory suggests that media influences the development of a society and the type of development

depends on the specific technology being used at the time. According to Moreno and Koff

(2016, p.133) the theory claims that „electronic media have revolutionized society, and society

becomes reliant on these communication technologies‟. This suggests the social media as well

which is as a result of technology evolution also has such power to influence beliefs, perceptions

and culture of a society and make members of such society become dependent and reliant on

such information and messages being expressed on this medium. In relation to the study, it

further buttresses the point that social media as a communication tool has the ability to influence

and change people‟s perceptions and beliefs about their society and culture as a whole.

2.5 GAP TO FILL

This research is focused on the impact social media contents have on the social behaviour of

Covenant University undergraduates as a case study. It elaborated on the history social media,

social media use among university undergraduates and its impact on their social behaviour and

lifestyle.

The gap to fill will be for other researchers to carry out further research on other aspects or areas

social media and its contents have influenced university students besides their social behaviour

and lifestyle as discussed in this study, as the new media is constantly evolving and changing and

new aspects are being discovered.

This study also explores the social behavioural changes of university students due to exposure to

social media contents. This study will also help to be a guide to government, institutions, parents,

26
guardians and youths themselves on how to properly educate these undergraduates on social

media engagement and also manage the information they are being exposed to.

2.6 SUMMARY/ CONCLUSION OF LITERATURE

This literature review fills the gap in the area of the influence of social media contents on

university students by explaining how and why it seems to influence their social behaviour. The

literature review addresses how constant engagement of the social media platforms and exposure

to popular content can bring about changes in an individual‟s behaviour and reaction to certain

issues or situations. This review has shed more light on the dangers of the negative effect social

media has on social values and behaviour.

This literature review will also help to create better knowledge of social media and how it can be

utilised by higher institutions and universities to promote their social values.

27
 CHAPTER THREE

METHOD OF STUDY

INTRODUCTION

This chapter focus on the research design and population of the study, the sample size, as well as

the research instrument used for the used for the study. For this study, data was collected using

survey and analysed with the Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS).

3.1 STUDY DESIGN

A Study or Research design is the structure and plan of the proposed research work (Akhtar,

2016). It is the plan and structure of a research work that states the method for data collection

and process of analysing the data. This study engaged quantitative method specifically Survey.

The study investigates how contents popularised on social media influence the social behaviour

of Covenant University students, the level of exposure to certain social media contents and how

it has influenced the way they interact with themselves and others outside their group as well as

their awareness of such contents and its effects on their social behaviour and lifestyle. Thus,

Survey became appropriate for investigating the questions that have been raised in this research

work.

3.2 POPULATION OF THE STUDY

The population for this study were the undergraduates of Covenant University, Ota, Ogun state.

The category of respondents was specifically selected for this study because they are social

media inclined and therefore provides appropriate answers to the research questions and also

being members of a world class university known for academic excellence and being the best

28
university in Nigeria was also another reason. The population chosen for this study have

heterogeneous characteristics in terms of age, family background and socioeconomic status; they

also have some common characteristics and similarities such as geographical location, university

students and being active social media users.

3.3 SAMPLE SIZE

The sample size for this study is 300 undergraduate students, according to Wilmer and Dominick

(2006, p.101), they state that “50 is very poor, 100 is poor, 200 is fair, 300 is good, 500 is very

good and 1000 is excellent” and due to this standard 300 were chosen from Covenant University

who will serve as the respondents of the study using Purposive sampling technique in which

Covenant University was chosen intentionally as the university is generally technology inclined

and encourages the use of social media and internet by students and as an organisation‟ they have

certain social behaviours unique to them. The sample size was selected because it is not possible

to get the opinion of every student in the school.

3.4 SAMPLING TECHNIQUE

Sampling technique is the procedure on how the samples were selected from the population. The

study used Purposive sampling technique to select Covenant University undergraduates because

the study was carried out to find out the effect social media contents have on Covenant

University students being a society with its individual social behaviours different from other

societies and groups.

From enquires, the researcher found that the population of Covenant University is approximately

about 7,000 undergraduate students. According to information from the university‟s website,

there are four (4) colleges which are as follows: College of Business and Social Sciences,

College of Engineering, College of Leadership Development Studies and College of Science and

29
Technology. The College of Business and Social Sciences have a total of six (6) Departments,

College of Engineering having five (5) Departments, College of Leadership Development

Studies having four (4) Departments and College of Science and Technology having nine (9)

Departments. The entire Colleges of Covenant University all together have a total of twenty-four

(24) Departments.

Simple random sampling was utilised to select one Department each from the four Colleges. The

researcher wrote down each department under the Colleges on pieces of paper and used simple

random sampling technique to select one Department from each College. The following are the

Departments from each College;

COLLEGES DEPARTMENTS

College of Engineering Civil Engineering

Electrical and Information Engineering

Mechanical Engineering

Petroleum Engineering

Chemical Engineering

College of Science and Technology Architecture

Biochemistry

Biological Sciences

Building Technology

Chemistry

Computer and Information sciences

Estate management

Mathematics

Physics

30
College of Business and Social Sciences Accounting

Banking and Finance

Business Management

Economics

Mass Communication

Sociology

College of Leadership Development Studies Languages and General Studies

Leadership Studies

Political Science and International Relations

Psychology

The Departments selected randomly by the researcher were the Department of Architecture from

the College of Science and Technology, the Department of Political Science and International

Relations from the College of Leadership Development Studies, the Department of Petroleum

Engineering from the College of Engineering and the Department of Economics from the

College of Business and Social Sciences. After some enquiries, the researcher found out that the

Department of Architecture has a total of approximately 250 students, the Department of

Political Science and International Relations has a total of approximately 417 students, the

Department of Petroleum Engineering has a total of approximately 180 students and the

Department of Economics has a total of approximately 400 students. The population therefore of

the four selected Departments are 1247 students in total.

A total of 300 copies of the questionnaire was administered among the students from the four

Departments; 60 copies of the questionnaire was administered to the Department of Architecture,

100 copies of the questionnaire was administered to the Department of Political Sciences and

International Relations (PSI), 43 copies of the questionnaire was administered to the Department
31
of Petroleum Engineering and 97 copies of the questionnaire was administered to the Department

of Economics. For equal representation and proportional distribution, Proportional Stratified

sampling was used to select the number of copies of the questionnaire to administer each

Department. This was done by dividing each group (that is the Department of Architecture,

Petroleum Engineering, Economics and PSI) by the total population which is 1247 multiplied by

the desired sample which is 300.

Formula-

For the Department of Petroleum Engineering

For the Department of Architecture

For the Department of Economics

For the Department of Political Sciences and International Relations (PSI)

3.5 INSTRUMENT OF DATA COLLECTION

The Questionnaire was the main instrument used for data collection for this research work. For

the questionnaire, a 27 item questionnaire created by the researcher was administered to the

selected respondents for the study. The questionnaire contains demographic data, which gives

32
basic information about the respondents such as their ages, sex, level etc. Some other questions

in the questionnaire are concerning social media and the respondents‟ level of usage and

engagement.

3.6 VALIDITY AND RELAIBILITY OF INSTRUMENT

To ensure content validity and reliability of the questionnaires, the researcher divided the

variables into themes that the respondents could easily understand. Multiple choices questions

were also provided with the options for the respondents to pick their answers to ensure that the

fullest possible data is generated. The researcher also made copies of the instrument available to

supervisor and communication experts for scrutiny to find out possible mistakes.

3.7 METHOD OF DATA COLLECTION

This is the method implemented in the collection of data by the researcher for solving the

research problem. The method used in this research study is Survey method. The questionnaires

for the study were well-structured and open-ended questions and self-administered.

3.8 METHOD OF DATA PRESENTATION AND ANALYSIS

This refers to the way the data collected from the study is presented and analysed. For this study,

data was presented and analysed using simple percentages and frequency tables for the research

questions. The data was analysed using tables and charts in the Statistical Package for Social

Sciences (SPSS).

33
 CHAPTER FOUR

RESULTS

4.1 DATA PRESENTATION

This chapter focus on presentation, analysis and discussion of findings of this study. The study

used survey and the instrument of data collection was questionnaire. The first aspect of this

chapter entails the presentation and analysis of the data gotten from 300 copies of questionnaire

distributed in Covenant University to the Petroleum Engineering, Architecture, Economics and

PSI students using frequency distribution tables and percentages. The second aspect then

comprises of the discussion of the quantitative.

The researcher distributed 300 copies of questionnaire and 287 copies were retrieved

representing 95.7%, while 13 copies were missing which represents the remaining 4.3%.

QUANTITATIVE DATA ANALYSIS

This is the data presentation and analysis of the findings from the survey conducted.

34
 TABLE 4.1

DEMOGEAPHIC DATA OF RESPONDENTS

Gender Percent (%)

Male 30.3
Female 69.7
100%
Total
n=287
Age Percent (%)
15 – 19 43.9
20 – 24 53.3
25 – 29 8
100%
Total
n=287
Level Percent (%)
100 1.7
200 12.2
300 26.5
400 54.4
500 5.2
100%
Total
n=287
Religion Percent (%)
Christianity 96.9
Islam 2.4
Traditional worshipper .7
100%
Total
n=287
College Percent (%)
COE 13.6
CST 20.6
CBSS 33.8
CLDS 32.1
100%
Total
n=287

From the demographic data gotten from the study, the table shows that a total of 287 respondents

filled the questionnaire. Among these the male respondents were at 30.3% while the female were

35
at 69.7%. This data could be translated that there are more of females within the university or

more female respondents were approached to answer the questionnaire. Also because the female

respondents were more, the answers given in the questionnaire may not be generalized among

both genders.

The age group with the highest respondents was the 20-24 age group (53.3%) and for the level of

the students, the highest respondents were 400 level (54.4%) this shows that majorly higher level

students were respondents for the questionnaire hence the age group 20-24 being more prevalent.

The highest respondents for religion was Christianity (96.9%) this shows that majorly Christians

attend the school which is also based on the fact that the university is a missionary institution,

hence the high number of Christians attending the university. Also the College with the highest

respondents was the CBSS (33.8%) due to the calculated distribution of the questionnaires.

36
 TABLE 4.2

USE OF SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORM

Facebook Percent (%)

Yes 11.5
No 88.5
100%
Total
n=287
Twitter Percent (%)
Yes 22.6
No 77.4
100%
Total
n= 287
Instagram Percent (%)
Yes 71.4
No 28.6
100%
Total
n=287
Pinterest Percent (%)
Yes 10.1
No 89.9
100%
Total
n=287
Whatsapp Percent (%)
Yes 36.2
No 63.8
100%
Total
n=287
Others Percent (%)
YouTube 45.5
Snapchat 19.2
Hangouts 9.1
Behance 9.1
Reddit 9.1
Messenger 9.1
100%
Total
n=11

Table 4.2 shows that amount of respondents that use the available social media platforms often

and from the percentage the social media platform used mostly by the students was Instagram

37
(71.4%) followed by Whatsapp (36.2%) then Twitter (22.6%) and the least used on a daily basis

was Pinterest (10.1%) therefore the table shows that Instagram had majorly more users among

the students than the other social media platforms. This can be based on its more appealing and

attractive features which leads to the high demand by youths.

TABLE 4.3

TIME SPENT ON SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORM

Time spent Percent (%)

30 mins - 1 hour 28.6

2 - 4 hours 53.7

5 hours and above 17.8

100%
Total
n=287

Table 4.3 shows the amount of time the respondents spend using social media platforms on a

daily basis. From the table above, most students spent about 2-4 hours (53.7%) engaging in these

social media platforms. This shows that the students spend a significant amount of time on these

social media platforms.

38
 TABLE 4.4

EXPOSURE TO SOCIAL MEDIA CONTENT THAT INFLUENCE SOCIAL

BEHAVIOUR AND LIFESTYLE

Percent (%)

Response Positively Negatively

Yes 67.2 20.6

No 20.9 65.2

I don‟t know 11.8 14.3

100% 100%
Total
n=287 n=287

Table 4.4 shows the exposure to social media content that have influenced the social behaviour

and lifestyle of the respondents positively or negatively. From the table above, the percentage of

people that say social media content influence their social behaviour and lifestyle positively were

67.2% while those that say it did not were 20.9%. Those that said it influenced their social

behaviour and lifestyle negatively were 20.6% while those that say it did not were 65.2% and

those that were indecisive were (11.8% and 14.3%).

39
 TABLE 4.5

EXPOSURE TO NEGATIVE SOCIAL MEDIA CONTENT ENCOURAGE

PARTICIPATION IN SUCH ACTIVITIES

Responses Percent (%)

Yes 8.4

No 86.4

I don‟t know 5.2

100%
Total
n=287

Table 4.5 shows how exposure to certain negative content on social media has encouraged them

to participate in such activities. From the table above, (8.4%) said yes and agreed that exposure

to negative content encouraged them to participate in such activities (fraud, cyber bullying,

stealing etc.) while majority said no (86.4%) and disagreed that exposure to negative content

encouraged them to participate in such activities and the remaining (5.2)% were indecisive.

40
 TABLE 4.6

EXPOSURE TO POSITIVE SOCIAL MEDIA CONTENT ENCOURAGE

PARTICIPATION IN SUCH ACTIVITIES

Responses Percent (%)

Yes 80.8

No 13.9

I don‟t know 5.2

100%
Total
n=287

Table 4.6 reveals the exposure to certain positive content on social media has encouraged them

to participate in such activities. From the table above, majority (80.8%) agreed that exposure to

positive content encouraged them to participate in such activities (health tips, inspirational etc.)

while (13.9%) said no and disagreed that exposure to such positive content encouraged them to

participate in such activities and the remaining (5.2%) were indecisive.

41
 TABLE 4.7

SOCIAL MEDIA CONTENT AWARENESS (EDUCATION)

Responses Percent (%)

Never 4.2

Rarely 25.4

Large Extent 32.1

Very Large Extent 38.3

100%
Total
n=287

Table 4.7 shows the extent of awareness and engagement of the respondents with social media

content on Education that can influence social behaviour. From the table, 4.2% of the

respondents were not aware and did not engage in social media content on education, 25.4%

rarely engage in educational content and 70.4% were aware and engaged in educational content.

42
 TABLE 4.8

SOCIAL MEDIA CONTENT AWARENESS (POLITICS)

Response Percent (%)

Never 8.4

Rarely 25.1

Large Extent 40.4

Very Large Extent 26.1

100%
Total
n=287

Table 4.8 shows the extent of awareness and engagement of the respondents with social media

content on Politics that can influence social behaviour. From the table 8.4% were not aware and

did not engage in such content, 25.1% rarely engaged in political content and the remaining

66.5% were aware and engaged in political content on social media.

43
 TABLE 4.9

SOCIAL MEDIA CONTENT AWARENESS (SPORTS)

Response Percent (%)

Never 10.1

Rarely 25.1

Large Extent 28.6

Very Large Extent 36.2

100%
Total
n=287

Table 4.9 shows the extent of awareness and engagement of the respondents with social media

content on Sports that can influence social behaviour. From the table above, 10.1% were not

aware and did not engage in sports related content, 25.1% rarely engaged in sport related content

and 64.8% were aware and engaged in sport related content.

44
 TABLE 4.10

SOCIAL MEDIA CONTENT AWARENESS (TV & MOVIES)

TV and movies Percent (%)

Never 2.1

Rarely 11.8

Large Extent 33.8

Very Large Extent 52.3

100%
Total
n=287

Table 4.10 shows the extent of awareness and engagement of the respondents with social media

content on TV and movies that can influence social behaviour. From the table, 2.1% were not

aware and did not engaged in content on TV and movies, 11.8% rarely engaged and 86.1% were

aware and engaged social media for content on TV and movies.

45
 TABLE 4.11

SOCIAL MEDIA CONTENT AWARENESS (MUSIC & DANCE)

Music and Dance Percent (%)

Never 3.8

Rarely 11.1

Large Extent 28.6

Very Large Extent 56.4

100%
Total
n=287

Table 4.11 shows the extent of awareness and engagement of the respondents with social media

content on Music and Dance that can influence social behaviour. From the table, 3.8% were not

aware and did not engage in contents relating to music and dance, 11.1% rarely engage in music

and dance related content and the remaining 85% were aware and engaged in music and dance

content.

46
 TABLE 4.12

SOCIAL MEDIA CONTENT AWARENESS (ART)

Art Percent (%)

Never 7.7

Rarely 19.9

Large Extent 34.8

Very Large Extent 37.6

100%
Total
n=287

Table 4.12 shows the extent of awareness and engagement of the respondents with social media

content on Art that can influence social behaviour. From the table, 7.7% were not aware and did

not engage in such content, 19.9% rarely engaged and are aware of such content and the

remaining 72.4% were aware and engaged in such content.

47
 TABLE 4.13

SOCIAL MEDIA CONTENT AWARENESS (FASHION & STYLE)

Fashion and Style Percent (%)

Never 5.2

Rarely 8.0

Large Extent 24.7

Very Large Extent 62.0

100%
Total
n=287

Table 4.13 shows the extent of awareness and engagement of the respondents with social media

content on Fashion and style that can influence social behaviour. From the table, 5.% of the

respondents were not aware and did not engage in content on fashion and style, 8.0% rarely

engage in such content and the remaining 86.7% were aware and engaged in fashion and style

related content on social media.

48
 TABLE 4.14

SOCIAL MEDIA CONTENT AWARENESS (FOOD)

Food Percent (%)

Never 3.5

Rarely 14.6

Large Extent 20.6

Very Large Extent 61.3

100%
Total
n=287

Table 4.14 shows the extent of awareness and engagement of the respondents with social media

content on Food that can influence social behaviour. From the table, 3.5% were not aware and

did not engage in contents on food, 14.6% rarely engaged and were aware of such content and

81.9% were fully aware and engaged in food related content on social media.

49
 TABLE 4.15

SOCIAL MEDIA CONTENT AWARENESS (BEAUTY & MAKEUP)

Beauty &Makeup Percent (%)

Never 13.9

Rarely 12.5

Large Extent 19.2

Very Large Extent 54.4

100%
Total
n=287

Table 4.15 shows the extent of awareness and engagement of the respondents with social media

content on Beauty and Makeup that can influence social behaviour. From the table, 13.9% did

not engage and were aware of such content, 12.5% rarely engaged and aware in such content and

73.6% were aware and engaged in content on beauty and makeup.

50
 TABLE 4.16

SOCIAL MEDIA CONTENT AFFECTS FACE TO FACE INTERACTION

Percent (%)

Responses Negatively Positively

Strongly Agree 9.8 22.0

Agree 20.6 50.2

Undecided 14.6 18.5

Disagree 32.8 8.4

Strongly Disagree 22.3 1.0

100% 100%
Total
n=287 n=287

Table 4.16 shows the response of the respondents when asked if social media content affected

their face to face interaction both negatively and positively. The table shows that 30.4% of the

respondents agreed that social media content have affected their face to face interaction

negatively and 55.1% disagreed that it affected their face to face interaction negatively while

14.6% were indecisive. 72.2% of the respondents agreed that social media content have affected

their face to face interaction positively and 9.4% disagreed it affected their face to face

interaction positively while the remaining 18.5% were indecisive. This show that majority of the

respondents believed that social media contents they were exposed to influences their face to

face interaction with other whether negatively or positively.

51
 TABLE 4.17

SOCIAL MEDIA INFLUENCE ON VIEW OF SOCIETY

Percent (%)

Responses Positively Negatively

Strongly Agree 20.2 8.4

Agree 42.9 31.0

Undecided 23.7 27.5

Disagree 11.1 22.6

Strongly Disagree 2.1 10.5

100% 100%
Total
n=287 n=287

Table 4.17 shows the response of the respondents when asked if social media contents they are

exposed to or engage in have influenced their view on society and their environment positively

or negatively. From the table, 63.1% agreed that social media contents have influenced their

view on society positively and 13.2% disagreed that it has influenced their view of society

positively while 23.7% were indecisive. 39.4% agreed that social media content have influenced

their view on society negatively and 33.1% disagreed that social media content have influenced

their view on society negatively while 27.5% were indecisive. This shows that majority of the

respondents were in the opinion that social media contents they were exposed to influences their

view on society one way or another whether positive or negative.

52
 TABLE 4.18

SOCIAL MEDIA INFLUENCE ON RELATIONSHIP WITH THE OPPOSITE SEX

Responses Percent (%)

Strongly Agree 17.8

Agree 41.5

Undecided 22.3

Disagree 12.2

Strongly Disagree 6.3

100%
Total
n=287

Table 4.18 the response of the respondents towards the influence of social media contents they

engage in and are exposed to influences their relationship with the opposite sex. The table shows

that 59.3% agreed that social media contents influenced their relationship with the opposite sex,

18.5% disagreed that social media contents influenced their relationship with the opposite sex

while the remaining 22.3% were indecisive. The table therefore shows that majority of the

respondents agreed that social media contents have influenced their relationship and how they

interact with the opposite sex.

53
 TABLE 4.19

BELEIVING INFORMATION ON SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORMS

Responses Percent (%)

Strongly Agree 9.1

Agree 31.0

Undecided 35.2

Disagree 19.5

Strongly Disagree 5.2

100%
Total
n=287

Table 4.19 shows the response of the respondents when asked if they believe the information

they see on social media platforms. From the table, 40.1% agreed that they believe the

information they see on social media platforms and 24.7% disagreed that they believe the

information they see on social media platforms while the remaining 35.2% were indecisive. This

shows that majority of the respondents believed and therefore trust all information they received

on social media platforms.

54
 TABLE 4.20

TAKING ACTION ON INFORMATION ON SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORMS

Responses Percent (%)

Strongly Agree 10.8

Agree 36.6

Undecided 31.0

Disagree 16.7

Strongly Disagree 4.9

100%
Total
n=287

Table 4.20 shows the responses of the respondents when asked if they take action on the

information they see on social media platforms. The table shows that 47.4% agreed that they take

action on the information they see on social media platforms, 21.6% disagreed that they do not

take action on information they see on social media platforms while the remaining 31% were

indecisive. This shows that majority of the respondents are aware that they act based on the

information they receive on social media platforms.

55
 TABLE 4.21

SOCIAL MEDIA CONTENT INFLUENCE ON THINGS DONE ON A DAILY BASIS

Responses Percent (%)

Strongly Agree 9.4

Agree 37.6

Undecided 24.0

Disagree 23.7

Strongly Disagree 5.2

100%
Total
n=287

Table 4.21 shows the response of the respondents when asked if the content they see and

exposed to influences activities and things they do on a daily basis. The shows that 47% of the

respondents agreed that social media content influence the things they do on a daily basis and

28.9% disagreed that social media content influences the things they do on a daily basis while

24.0% were indecisive. This shows that majority of the respondents agreed that social media

contents they are exposed to regularly influences the activities and things they do on a daily

basis.

56
 TABLE 4.22

DEVELOPING NEW SOCIAL VALUES AND BEHAVIOURS BASED ON SOCIAL

MEDIA CONTENTS

Responses Percent (%)

Strongly Agree 17.1

Agree 44.3

Undecided 20.2

Disagree 13.9

Strongly Disagree 4.5

100%
Total
n=287

Table 4.22 shows the response of the respondents when asked if they develop new social values

and behaviours by the contents they see and exposed to. The table shows 61.4% agreed that they

develop new social values and behaviours by the contents they see on social media and 18.4%

disagreed that they develop new social values and behaviours while 20.2% were indecisive. This

shows that majority of the respondents agreed and were aware that they develop new social

values and behaviours by the social media contents they see, are exposed to and engage in.

57
 TABLE 4.23

SOCIAL MEDIA CONTENT INFLUENCE BEHAVIOUR TOWARDS PARTIES

INVOLVED

Responses Percent (%)

Strongly Agree 15.0

Agree 47.4

Undecided 19.5

Disagree 14.6

Strongly Disagree 3.5

100%
Total
n= 287

Table 4.23 shows the response of respondents when asked if the social media contents they see

and engage in influences the way they behave towards the parties or individuals involved in that

content. From the table it shows that 62.4% agreed that they behave in certain ways towards

parties according to the contents they see on social media, 18.1% disagreed that they do not

behave towards parties according to content received on social media while 19.5% were

indecisive. This shows that majority of the respondents behave or react to parties or individuals

in certain ways based on the contents they receive on social media.

58
 TABLE 4.24

SOCIAL MEDIA INFLUENCE DRESSING AND OUTWARD APPEARANCE

Responses Percent (%)

Strongly Agree 18.8

Agree 46.0

Undecided 15.7

Disagree 13.9

Strongly Disagree 5.6

100%
Total
n=287

Table 4.24 shows the response of the respondents when asked if the contents they see on social

media influences the way they dress and their outward appearance. From the table, 64.8% of the

respondents agreed that the contents they see on social media influences their dressing and

outward appearance and 19.5% disagreed that contents on social media do not influence their

dressing and appearance and 15.7% were indecisive. This shows that majority of the respondents

believe and are aware that social media contents they are exposed influenced their dress and

appearance.

59
 TABLE 4.25

SOCIAL MEDIA CONTENT INFLUENCE ON INTERACTION WITH PEOPLE AND

LIFESTYLE

Responses Percent (%)

Strongly Agree 16.4

Agree 39.7

Undecided 24.0

Disagree 16.7

Strongly Disagree 3.1

100%
Total
n=287

Table 4.25 shows the response of the respondents on if majority of the social media contents they

see influence their interaction with people and their lifestyle. From the table, 56.1% agreed that

majority of the contents they see on social media has affected the way they interact with others

and their lifestyle, 19.8% disagreed that social media affects the way they relate and interact with

others and their lifestyle while 24.0% were indecisive. This shows that majority of the contents

the respondents were exposed to influences how they interact and relate with other people and

also their lifestyle.

60
4.2 DISCUSSION OF FINDINGS

4.2.1 INTRODUCTION

This part of the study is to interpret the quantitative data that has been presented. The discussion

offered here is not only based on the data that has been presented prior to this section but also on

existing literature on the subject matter. Also the data gathered from this study will be discussed

and analysed based on the research questions of the study.

Research Question 1: What is the current level of awareness of social media content by

Covenant University undergraduates?

With the evolving and changing world we live in today, new technologies are being discovered

every day. A perfect example of such innovations is the social media (new media). Social media

have revolutionised communication in modern society making it faster and easier.

Since social media have become a rampant tool used by almost everyone for creating, sharing

and exchanging information. It is important for its users to be able to classify and be conversant

with the certain contents they engage in on this medium. From the findings of this research work

seen in tables 4.2, 4.3, 4.7, 4.8, 4.9, 4.10, 4.11, 4.12, 4.13, 4.14, and 4.15 which answer the

research question, it can be said that majority of the respondents are actively aware of different

visual and audio-visual contents on social media that they can engage in. This is because

majority of the respondents were all aware of one or more social media platform and most of the

respondents engage these mediums on an average of 2-4 hours. A large amount of the

respondents are also more aware and engage in Fashion and Style related contents on social

media platforms (86.7%), followed by Food related content (81.9%), then Beauty and makeup

related content (73.6%), then Art related content (72.4%), then Educational content (70.4%),

then Politics related content (66.5%) and lastly in Sport related content (64.8%). From the

61
findings, it shows that most of the respondent are aware and engage in fashion and style related

content on social more than Sports related content and this can be due to the fact that there were

more female respondents than male respondents. From the study, gender tends to play a role in

the contents that people tend to engage in because females tend to be more interested in contents

that relate more to fashion, style and beauty and this ultimately will influence the contents they

are aware of or engage in and if it was reversed and there were more of males the sports related

contents might have been the major interest of the respondents. The age of the respondents as

indicated in Table 4.1 can also influence the contents the respondents were interested in as the

majority of respondents were from ages 20- 24 years and at such age it is believed dressing and

general outward appearance matters most to such age group hence the fashion and style related

visual content were of majority interest followed by the food and beauty related contents. As

eating right and finding information about proper food as well as beauty and make up also

constitute to the outward appearance of an individual.

Research Question 2: What is the extent to which Covenant University undergraduates engage

social media content on social behaviour?

Social media provides performs various roles for its users especially to young people. Kasturi

and Vardhan (2014) as cited in the literature of this study stated the key functions of social media

which are to communicate, collaborate, educate, engage, monitor, maximise effort and entertain.

Also Ononogbu and Chiroma (2018) as cited in this research work stated that social media

engagement has taken a deep root in Nigerian society especially among youth because of their

high level of engagement with it and so it can be said that university students fully engage in

social media.

From research findings, it can be said that Covenant University undergraduates engage social

media contents of behaviour. From table 4.3, 4.4, 4.5, 4.6, the respondents gave response to the

62
amount of time given to engaging on these social media platforms, if their exposure to content on

the platforms influences their social behaviour and lifestyle positively or negatively and also if

exposure to whether negative or positive media content encourages them to engage in it.

According to authors Farhan and Varrghese (2018, p.90), they stated that students spend from an

hour and above on social media platforms which goes in line or agrees with the findings from the

study that revealed most of the respondents spend an average of 2-4 hours on social media

platforms on a daily basis signifying the constant use and even growing addiction to social

media. The respondents also admitted that exposure to content on social media has influenced

their social behaviours positively (67.2%) while those that say it does not are 20.9%. Also the

respondents that say it influences their social behaviour and lifestyle negatively are 20.6% while

those that say it does not are 65.2%. this suggests that majority of the respondents believe that

social media contents they are exposed to provides more of a positive rather than negative

influence on their social behaviours with a remainder of the respondents not knowing whether it

influences them both positively or negatively (11.8% and 14.3%) which suggests that they are

not aware of whether their social behaviour are being influenced or changed by the contents they

see on social media. The respondents also state that their exposure to negative social media

content does not encourage them to engage in those activities (86.4%) while (8.4%) say that it

does. The respondents then stated that their exposure to positive social media content encourages

them to participate (80.8%) while (13.9%) say that it does not. From this, it suggests that

majority of the respondents believe that they will not engage in negative activities they are

exposed to on social media and will rather will engage in positive activities they are exposed to

on social media platforms. This however still answers the question that Covenant University

students to a large extent actively engage in social media video or visual contents that influence

and change their social behaviours whether positive or negative, although according to the

63
findings Covenant University undergraduates would rather engage in positive activities rather

than negative activities.

Research Question 3: What is the perception of Covenant University undergraduates on social

media content as a determining factor for social behaviour?

The perception on a subject matter determines the way the information is received, understood

and interpreted. This is why the perception of an individual determines their understanding and

view on a subject matter. Tables 4.19, 4.20, 4.21, 4.22 and 4.23 answer this research question.

The findings from the research, the respondents gave response to if they believed the information

they received on social media contents, if they take action based on the information they receive,

if the social media content they receive influences what they do on a daily basis, and if they

develop new social values and behaviours by the contents they see on social media platforms.

The respondents admitted that they believed information they received on social media

platforms, take action based on the information they receive on social media platforms, the

things they do on a daily basis are also influenced by the social media content or information

they receive and they also develop new social values and behaviours due to their engagement

with contents on social media. Majority of Covenant University students agree that social media

is a determining factor for social behaviour and perceive that it influences their social behaviour

and lifestyle positively rather than negatively; it is therefore believed that Covenant University

students have a positive perception towards social media content as a determining factor for

social behaviour.

Research Question 4: To what extent does social media content change the social behaviour of

Covenant University undergraduates?

It is established from past research that social media influences social behaviour one way or

another but this research question was to find out the extent to which contents Covenant

64
University engage in influence their social behaviours. Table 4.16, 4.17 and 4.18 provide the

answers to this research question. From the research findings, the respondents gave their

response to how social media has affected their face to face interaction both positively and

negatively, their view on society both positively and negatively and also their relationships with

the opposite sex. All these being part of an individual‟s social behaviour (face to face interaction,

view on society and relationships with the opposite sex). The respondents admit that social

media content to a large extent have changed their social behaviours as majority of the

respondents admitted that social media contents they engage in affects their face to face

interaction whether negatively and positively although most stated that it has improved their

interaction positively rather than negative, also the respondents also admitted that social media

content influenced their view on society whether negatively or positively and as well as their

relationships with the opposite sex. According Ononogbu and Chiroma (2018, p.51) a significant

part of young people‟s social and emotional development occurs on the internet while chatting or

relating on social media. The findings from the study therefore agree with the remark made by

the authors and further attests to the fact that the social media video content plays an important

role in shaping the social behaviour of the students. This is why it can be said that social media

contents Covenant University engage in has to a large extent changed their social behaviour in

the aspect of their dressing, language or interactions with people as well as their relationships

with the opposite sex.

Research Question 5: What is the extent of exposure to social media content on social

behaviour by Covenant University undergraduates?

Table 4.23, 4.24, and 4.25 answer this research question. From the findings of the research, the

respondents gave their responses to whether the social media contents they see and engage in

influences how they behave towards parties involved, if social media contents influences their

dressing and outward appearance and if it influences the way they interact with people. From the

65
respondents, we see that they to a large extent behave towards parties based on the content they

see concerning them; social media content also influence their dressing and outward appearance

as well as the way they interact with people. It can therefore be said that Covenant University

students are exposed social media content on social behaviour to a large extent.

66
 CHAPTER FIVE

SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS

5.1 SUMMARY

The study was conducted in order to determine the influence of social media contents on

university undergraduates‟ social behaviour, using Covenant University as a study. The study

was carried out due to the researcher‟s interest on how social media contents can influence social

behaviour. The researcher decided to carry out this study because of the rampant research done

on social media influence on youths in foreign countries with not enough done in Nigeria.

The first chapter focused on advent of new media technology and how it has revolutionized

communication with emphasis on social media‟s role in the sharpening of culture in today‟s

world. The chapter also gives a brief overview of the background to the study, the statement of

the problem, the objectives of the study, the research questions, significance of the study,

limitations to the study and the operational definitions of terms.

The second chapter discusses the concepts relating to the research topic. The chapter gives an in

depth understanding of social media explaining the different forms of social media before it

became what it is today, its influence on social behaviour and university undergraduates. The

chapter also reviews different literature by other researchers and scholars relating to the subject

matter and gives an empirical review of these related studies. The chapter then explained a

theory, Media Ecology theory to the topic of study.

The third chapter entails the research method adopted for the research work. It includes the

research design, population, sampling technique, instrument of data collection, validity and

reliability test, method of data collection and method of data presentation and analysis. The

67
method used for this study was Survey method and the questionnaire was used as instrument for

data collection from the respondents who are the undergraduates of Covenant University.

The fourth chapter included the statistical proof of the data gathered. The results and answers to

the research questions listed in chapter one were answered using figure and tables to represent

the data gathered from field work. The analysis of the data was done using Statistical Package

for Social Sciences (SPSS).

The fifth chapter of this study contains the summary of the whole research work which

comprises of the conclusion, recommendations and suggestions for further study.

SUMMARY OF FINDINGS

The findings from the study prove that;

 Covenant University students are well aware of social media content and active in their

engagement with it.

 Social media contents play a vital role in determining the social behaviour of Covenant

University students in terms of dressing, language, relationship with the opposite sex

amongst others.

 Covenant University students‟ exposure to social media content encourages them to

engage in such activities but from findings the students are majorly encouraged to

participate in positive activities rather than negative.

5.2 CONCLUSION

The result from the study reveals that Covenant University students are well aware of social

media content and active in their engagement with it. Also it was discovered that based on their

interests they engage in certain social media contents rather than others, most of the respondents

engaged in Fashion and style related contents more than Sports related content and this could be

68
due to the gender of the respondents. The gender seems to play a role in the video contents the

students tend to be interest in as there more female respondents than male respondents hence the

interest for fashion and style related visual content and it is believed that if this was reversed

sports related contents might have the interest of the respondents.

The result also revealed that social media plays contents Covenant University students engage in

plays a major role in the determining the social behaviour and lifestyle of the students. Social

media seems to determine how they relate with others in certain situations and environment

especially the opposite sex. Most of the respondents agreed that social media has influenced the

way they relate and interact with the opposite se one way or the other.

It was also revealed that constant exposure to certain social media contents whether positive or

negative encourages and influences them to participate in such activities but in the case of

Covenant University students they are more encouraged and stimulated to participate in positive

activities rather than negative.

5.3 RECOMMENDATIONS

According to the findings of the study, it is observed that many university undergraduates social

behaviour are influenced by the contents they are exposed to on social media but only to a

certain level. The following are therefore the suggested recommendations;

1. Students and parents should become aware of the influence social media have on

people‟s social behaviour in order to avoid certain bad behaviours and lifestyle such as

violence, cyber bullying, fraud etc. due to constant and excessive exposure to negative

social media content. Also, allocating adequate time to educate and continually sensitize

them on the appropriate use of social media to improve their social lifestyle.

69
2. Also social media platform owners who have the power to allow certain information or

content on their platforms to be more scrutinizing in terms of the contents created and

shared on their platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, Twitter etc. and

sanction anyone by banning whoever promotes negative content on these platforms and

suspending or deactivating their accounts. By doing so the social media platform owners

perform their social responsibility role as students are protected from being exposed to

visual or audio-visual contents that depict negative behaviour which will decrease the rate

of social vices in society.

3. More visual and video content advocating or promoting positive social values should be

more rampant among these social media platforms in order to increase the level of

engagement in positive social lifestyle rather than the negative values being popularised.

The Media ecology theory which is in view that social media have the power to shape

and structure human behaviour and lifestyle, emphasising on positive contents that can

lead to the masses imbibing such positive values.

4. From the findings, it was discovered that the students and young people decide the

content they watch or see. It is therefore important for these students to consciously select

the contents that promote positive social behaviours that go in line with their society. And

also not believe everything they watch and see on social media as that could cloud their

judgements and general view or belief system about achievements such as cars, jewellery,

riches etc. and society.

5. Government also can play a major role in curbing the exposure of young people to certain

negative video content on social media by placing bans on certain sites and applications

that promote the viewing of obscene and indecent behaviours. This will help to reduce

social vices and improve participation of the young people in more positive social

behaviour and lifestyle.

70
 6. Management of institutions and other universities can also be of assistance by providing

tools and platforms that push out more educative and entertaining content online for the

students in order to direct their focus to more educative contents thereby increasing their

use of social media for positive inquiries. In addition to this, management can organise

lectures and programs to educate students on proper social media use through

entertaining means which will develop positive social behaviours among the students.

5.4 SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER STUDIES

The study focused on the influence of social media contents on the social behaviour of university

undergraduates, the researcher decided to look into this study based on the students‟ perception

of the influence of social media contents they‟re exposed and engage in on their social

behaviour. My suggestions for further research are;

1. The research population was limited to one university; however other researchers can

make use of two or more universities.

2. My research was only based on the social behaviour of university students. For further

studies, researchers can look into the area of self-harm.

71
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 APPENDIX 1
COVENANT UNIVERSITY
COLLEGE OF BUSINESS AND SOCIAL SCIENCES

DEPARTMENT OF MASS COMMUNICATION

QUESTIONNAIRE
Dear Respondent,

I am an undergraduate student of the Department of Mass Communication, Covenant University,

Ota, Ogun State. I am currently conducting a study on the “Influence of Social media contents
on the social behaviour of Covenant University undergraduates”. Kindly respond to the
following questions as sincerely as possible. Your responses will be treated with utmost
confidentiality and the information provided will be used purely for academic purposes.

Thank you.

Yours faithfully,

Adebanjo Oluwadamilola.

SECTION A: ENGAGEMENT OF SOCIAL MEDIA CONTENT FOR SOCIAL

BEHAVIOUR

INSTRUCTION: Kindly tick your appropriate response to the questions in this section.

1. What social media platform do you use often

(1) Facebook
(2) Twitter
(3) Instagram
(4) Pinterest
(5) Whatsapp
(6) Others specify……………………………………………………………..
2. How much time do you spend on these social media platforms on a daily basis
(1) 30 minutes – 1 hour
(2) 2 – 4 hours
(3) 5 hours and above

75
3. Does the exposure to social media content influence your social behaviour and lifestyle
positively?
(1) Yes
(2) No
(3) I don‟t know
4. Does the exposure to social media content influence your social behaviour and lifestyle
negatively?
(1) Yes
(2) No
(3) I don‟t know
5. Does exposure to negative media content (fraud, stealing, cyber bullying, cat fishing)
encourage you to participate in such activities?
(1) Yes
(2) No
(3) I don‟t know
6. Does exposure to positive media content (inspirational, motivational, health tips)
encourage you to participate in such activities?
(1) Yes
(2) No
(3) I don‟t know

SECTION B: SOCIAL MEDIA CONTENT AWARENESS

INSTRUUCTION: Please respond to the statements below using the following rating scale:
Never (1), Rarely (2), Large Extent (3) and Very Large Extent (4)

7. Contents available on Social media for Social Behaviour 4 3 2 1

1. Education
2. Politics
3. Sports
4. TV and movies
5. Music and Dance
6. Art
7. Fashion and style

76
8. Food

9. Beauty and makeup

SECTION C: SOCIAL MEDIA CONTENT INFLUENCE ON SOCIAL BEHAVIOUR

INSTRUUCTION: Please respond to the statements below using the following rating scale:
Strongly Agree (SA), Agree (A), Undecided (U), Disagree (D), and Strongly Disagree (SD).

ITEMS SA A U D SD
8. Social media content have affected my face to
face interaction negatively
9. Social media content have affected my face to
face interaction positively
10. Social media content have influenced my view of
society positively
11. Social media content have influenced my view of
society negatively
12. Social media content have influenced my
relationships with the opposite sex
13. I believe information I see on social media
platforms
14. I take action on the information I see on social
media platforms
15. The social media content I see influences things I
do on a daily basis
16. I develop new social values and behaviours by
the contents I see on social media platforms
17. The social media content I see influences the way
I behave towards parties or individuals involved
in that content
18. The social media content I see influences the way
I dress and my outward appearance
19. Majority of social media content I see influence
the way I interact with people and my lifestyle

77
 20. Majority of social media content I see influence
my view on society
21. Majority of social media content I see influence
the way I dress and my outward appearance
22. Majority of social media content I see influences
my daily habits
SECTION D: DEMOGRAPHIC DATA

1. Gender
(1) Male
(2) Female
2. Age
(1) 15-19
(2) 20-24
(3) 25-29
(4) 30 and above
3. Level
(1) 100
(2) 200
(3) 300
(4) 400
(5) 500
4. Religion
(1) Christianity
(2) Islam
(3) Traditional worshipper
(4) Others specify……………………………………………………….
5. College
(1) COE
(2) CST
(3) CBSS
(4) CLDS

78
 APPENDIX 2
CODING GUIDE

S/N VARIABLE ATTRIBUTES CODES

1 Do you use Facebook often Yes 1

No 2

2 Do you use Twitter often Yes 1

No 2

3 Do you use Instagram often Yes 1

No 2

4 Do you use Pinterest often Yes 1

No 2

5 Do you use Whatsapp often Yes 1

No 2

6 Others Yes 1

No 2

7 How much time do you spend on these 30 minutes – 1 hour 1

social media platforms on a daily basis 2 – 4 hours 2

5 hours and above 3

8 Does the exposure to social media content Yes 1

influence your social behaviour and lifestyle No 2

positively I don‟t know 3

9 Does the exposure to social media content Yes 1

influence your social behaviour and lifestyle No 2

negatively I don‟t know 3

79
10 Does exposure to negative media content Yes 1

encourage you to participate in such No 2

activities I don‟t know 3

11 Does exposure to positive media content Yes 1

encourage you to participate in such No 2

activities I don‟t know 3

12 Engagement in social media content on Never 1

Education Rarely 2

Large extent 3

Very large extent 4

13 Engagement in social media content on Never 1

Politics Rarely 2

Large extent 3

Very large extent 4

14 Engagement in social media content on Never 1

Sports Rarely 2

Large extent 3

Very large extent 4

15 Engagement in social media content on TV Never 1

and movies Rarely 2

Large extent 3

Very large extent 4

16 Engagement in social media content on Never 1

Music and Dance Rarely 2

Large extent 3

80
 Very large extent 4

17 Engagement in social media content on Art Never 1

Rarely 2

Large extent 3

Very large extent 4

18 Engagement in social media content on Never 1

Fashion and style Rarely 2

Large extent 3

Very large extent 4

19 Engagement in social media content on Never 1

Food Rarely 2

Large extent 3

Very large extent 4

20 Engagement in social media content on Never 1

Beauty and Makeup Rarely 2

Large extent 3

Very large extent 4

21 Social media content have affected my face Strongly agree 1

to face interaction negatively Agree 2

Undecided 3

Disagree 4

Strongly disagree 5

22 Social media content have affected my face Strongly agree 1

to face interaction positively Agree 2

Undecided 3

81
 Disagree 4

Strongly disagree 5

23 Social media content have influenced my Strongly agree 1

view on society positively Agree 2

Undecided 3

Disagree 4

Strongly disagree 5

24 Social media content have influenced my Strongly agree 1

view on society negatively Agree 2

Undecided 3

Disagree 4

Strongly disagree 5

25 Social media content have influenced my Strongly agree 1

relationships with the opposite sex Agree 2

Undecided 3

Disagree 4

Strongly disagree 5

26 I believe information I see on social media Strongly agree 1

platforms Agree 2

Undecided 3

Disagree 4

Strongly disagree 5

27 I take action on information I see on social Strongly agree 1

media platforms Agree 2

Undecided 3

82
 Disagree 4

Strongly disagree 5

28 The social media content I see influences Strongly agree 1

things I do on a daily basis Agree 2

Undecided 3

Disagree 4

Strongly disagree 5

29 I develop new social values and behaviours Strongly agree 1

by the contents I see on social media Agree 2

platforms Undecided 3

Disagree 4

Strongly disagree 5

30 The social media contents I see influences Strongly agree 1

the way I behave towards parties or Agree 2

individuals involved in that content Undecided 3

Disagree 4

Strongly disagree 5

31 The social media content I see influences Strongly agree 1

the way I dress and my outward appearance Agree 2

Undecided 3

Disagree 4

Strongly disagree 5

32 Majority of social media content I see Strongly agree 1

influence the way I interact with people and Agree 2

my lifestyle Undecided 3

83
 Disagree 4

Strongly disagree 5

33 Majority of social media content I see Strongly agree 1

influence my view on society Agree 2

Undecided 3

Disagree 4

Strongly disagree 5

34 Majority of social media content I see Strongly agree 1

influence the way I dress and outward Agree 2

appearance Undecided 3

Disagree 4

Strongly disagree 5

35 Majority of social media content I see Strongly agree 1

influences my daily habits Agree 2

Undecided 3

Disagree 4

Strongly disagree 5

36 Gender Male 1

Female 2

37 Age 15 – 19 1

20 – 24 2

25 – 29 3

30 and above 4

38 Level 100 1

200 2

84
 300 3

400 4

500 5

39 Religion Christianity 1

Islam 2

Traditional worshipper 3

Others 4

40 College COE 1

CST 2

CBSS 3

CLDS 4

85