Convenience or Nuisance? Social Media Engagement and Unizik Students’ Interpersonal Communication Among Peers
Journal Title: IOSR Journal of Humanities and Social Science - Year 2018, Vol 23, Issue 2
Abstract
With Increased Multiplicity Of Various Personalized Media, Attributed To Be Reinforcing Students‟ Persistent Online Presence, There Is Fear That Their Face To Face Communication Among Fellow Peers Within The Nigeria Setting Could Be In Jeopardy, Thereby Constituting Either Convenience Or Nuisance, Notwthstanding A Plethora Of Studies In Diasporas That Had Measured Related Trends. The Study Design Is Survey Whereby 400 Copies Of Questionnaire Instrument Were Administered To UNIZIK Students Who Formed The Study Population And 392 Copies Returned Representing A 98% Return Rate. Findings Show That Students Have Social Media Accounts Which They Use For Interpersonal Communication Among Fellow Peers. Majority Of Them Engage In The Networks Using Their Mobile Technologies (85%) Which Attribute To Their Continued Online Presence Where They Spend At Least One To Five Hours On Daily Basis. For Instance, 35% Of Them Have Their Mobile Technologies Always Available And Connected On The Internet, 45% Usually Get Connected Only In The Day Times And Then Switch Off Their Phones And Connections In The Evening. On The Contrary, 20% Of Them Prefer Being Online Only In The Evening, Probably Because That Is When They Find Much Time To Reply To Messages Sent To Them On The Networks. The Prevailing Social Media Sites Include The Whatsapp (55%), Facebook (15%), Twitter (13%), 2go (5%) Instagram (2%), And Then Various Dating Sites (10%), Notwithstanding That Some Have Multiple Accounts In Some Of The Sites. It Is Dominant That Social Media Sites Keep Multiplying, And Are Mostly Used By Students For Numerous Purposes. They Not Only Use These Sites For Mediated Interpersonal Communication With Fellow Peers But Also To Establish And Sustain Same With Unknown People, A Privilege Offered Mainly By Some Of The Dating Sites Which Further Account For Reasons Why Majority Consider The Social Media Convenient (80%) And Cheap Rather Than Voice Calls And Text Messages For Maintaining Interpersonal Communication. Only A Few (26%) Of Them Consider The Engagement As Nuisance When Students Get Engrossed And Addictive To Chatting That It Affects Their Face To Face Communication With Fellow Peers, Especially During Academic Discussion, Lectures, In Buses, In Churches And Even In Public Gatherings Notwithstanding Their Ability To Restrict These Excesses. The Social Exchange And The Uses And Gratifications Theories As Used Were Upheld To Argue That The Technological Exchanges Between Students Capture A Mutual Cost-Benefit Structure And That Students‟ Perception And Nature Of Social Media Use Is Related To The Needs And Gratifications They Derive Therein And As Well Consider It As Nuisance Based Also On The Needs The Social Media Refuse Them.
Authors and Affiliations
Cornelius Aghadiegwu, Ukwueze Ph. D. , Ekene Godfrey Okafor
Keywords
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- EP ID EP417218
- DOI 10.9790/0837-2302087184.
- Views 86
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