CHAPTER ONE

1.1

INTRODUCTION

Background to Study

Communication is a basic human need and for that reason, man has always found a means of
meeting this need. The media, which is an umbrella term for various means of communication,
has become an integral part of human life around the world. The earliest forms of personal
media, speech and gestures, had the benefit of being easy to use and did not necessarily need
complex technology.
The weaknesses of not being able to communicate to large audiences led to the development of
mass media, such as writing. With these developments, the role of the media in the society
became more and more significant. John Dewey emphasized the role of media for education as
James Agee and Walter Lippmann also highlighted the functions of the media for entertainment
and information.

New Media
New technologies can lead to new types of media and the ability to use a given form of media is
related to the ability to use its related technology. Today, technology has made more universal,
the ability to produce media. Printing, radio and television are some examples of mass media in
that they are intended to reach vast audiences. But these forms of media previously could not be
produced readily by the average person. The advent of relatively inexpensive, personal media
technologies like blogging, podcasting and Internet video allowed the average literate person to
do what was theretofore restricted to media companies. These forms of media are still referred to

as new but they have become part of society even as much as the traditional media in some parts
of the world. In a few years, the term new media might not be very suitable because these
forms are becoming part of our daily lives and the fusion with traditional media might dilute the
fact that it is new. They are also referred to as alternative media, but if compared to the roles of
the media as defined by Walter Lippmann, John Dewey and James Agee, they satisfy the
definition of any other kind of media and some theories which apply to traditional media might
apply to new media as well.

Humanity has always lived through times of great change. Every age it has passed through has
been based on beliefs and (new) technologies, responding to the needs of individuals anxious to
adjust to new forms of socialization. A time of great change is a period in which society looks for
meaning. Information is already a tool, the principal tool, which people use to perceive and
understand their environment. Language and culture help people filter this information, while
communication tools help them process it.
Whenever a group of individuals have to process a larger quantity of information, they invent a
communication tool to assist with the transition from one period to another. When a great change
occurs, a society swings between innovation, which keeps its systems in motion, and stability,
which, in turn, prevents a descent into anarchy. Sociologists call this the edge of chaos;
psychologists use the term homeostasis. This function ensures that the system remains stable
by preserving what exists, while also incorporating the information likely to threaten its
equilibrium. There is also the issue of self-regulation, in which the system transforms itself to
adapt and remain stable.
At various periods in the past, a technical or technological innovation has contributed to the
evolution of society. We have thus passed from the printing age to the energy age, and thence to
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the digital age. Means of communication are also means of speeding up access to knowledge.
Our communication tools (engraving, slate, print, television, computer, etc.) and our behaviors
when faced with these tools have not only modified time and space, but also the culture of
societies. Each stage in the use of tools has modified the filters of our perception and the
imagination of human beings.

Social Media
Social media is a form of electronic communication which facilitates interaction based on certain
interests and characteristics. Social media are media for social interaction, using highly
accessible and scalable publishing techniques. Social media use web-based technologies to
transform and broadcast media monologues into social dialogues. They support the
democratization of knowledge and information and transform people from content consumers to
content producers. Social media are elements of the new media and according to Danny Shea in
The Huffington Post accessed 20th June 2010 have become the highest activity on the internet.
The rapid growth of social media activities that has been observed over the last two to three
years is indicative of its entry into mainstream culture and its integration into the daily lives of
many people. In parallel with this, social media have also gained considerable attention from the
academic and business worlds.

History of Social Media

"Social media isnt really new. While it has only recently become part of mainstream culture
and the business world, people have been using digital media for networking, socializing and
information gathering almost exactly like now for over 30 years:"
-Sean Carton in his July 2009 blog posting: Defining social media, in ClickZ.
Social media started as a concept many years ago but has evolved into sophisticated technology.
The concept of social media can be dated back to the use of the analog telephone for social
interaction. The most recognizable use of social media was through innovative application, an
online dialogue framework, created by Ward Christensen, a former IBM employee and Randy
Suess. Initially, they envisioned a place where they could immediately contact their coemployees for announcements, i.e. meetings, reports, and other affairs, rather than making
multiple phone calls, distributing memos, and the like. They were looking into creating a
computerized bulletin board, which is why they named the program CBBS (Computerized
Bulletin Board System). Soon enough, more and more employees contributed their ideas and
comments in the said online community. That event was a momentous episode in the history of
computer and internet. It was the birth of online social networking.
The CBBS platform was made known to other companies and has been used for specific
purposes. The Bulletin Board System expanded largely and began breaking into the mainstream
much sooner than it was planned to. It was during the rise of the Internet Service Providers in the
early 1990s when social networking sites began to flourish. Along with the availability of
internet service to people, many people rummaged to have themselves acquainted with this new

technology. With the fast response of people to the budding internet community, the bulletin
boards which were usually used by companies have started to expand their roles by offering their
service to more people around the globe. More and more people joined the online community
with the innate goal of creating an identity in this space and at the same time exploring the vast
place that is the internet. Because of this, many internet-savvy companies gave what people
wanted- getting to know more people and sharing common interests and points of view; that is
through websites where they can socialize, websites which are now referred to as social
networking sites.
Social media attained a great measure of success with the launch of the then very popular
friendster.com. Creator of Friendster, Jonathan Abrams concocted a perfect mix of popular
features from earlier social networking predecessors. Friendster became an instant success and
gathered about three million members who signed up in its early months of launch.
As years passed, Friendster reached an overwhelming hundred million users from all over the
globe. With much demand from its users, Friendster unfortunately got out of hand and suffered
from too many glitches in the server. Today, Friendster has been announced as a newly owned
entity of a Malaysian Company, and outshone by present social networking sites but still remains
to be patronized most especially in Asia.
The conception of myspace.com opened the internet users to vast opportunities of selfexpression which include wide control over a users profile content. Practically different people
from all walks of life have dedicated pages in MySpace. In MySpace, users experienced the best
of creating unique identities to show to the online world.

MySpace remained as the uncontested favorite among all the social networking sites until 2005
when it met its future competitor in the market. Soon enough, MySpace created additional
features like mobile applications in order to keep up with the latest trends in the online
community; and at the same time be at par with the growing popularity of contemporary social
networking sites, more specifically the next thing in line.
Facebook
Facebook started as a local social network made for the students of Harvard. It was developed by
a sophomore, Mark Zuckerberg. Facebook was actually made by hacking Harvards database
containing identification images of students. The initial idea was actually to compare the faces of
students with images of animals, for entertainment purposes. However, due to the potentially
damaging contents of the site, the creators decided to put it down before it caught the attention of
school authorities.
The application was shut down, but the idea of creating an online community of students came to
existence. The platform was then improved and sooner than they expected, Facebook was
released in campuses other than Harvard. Thereafter, high schools were already starting to get
attracted to the idea of having online communities, thus opening the website to the younger
population. In 2006, facebook.com ultimately offered the opportunity to the rest of the world. As
2007 approached, the registrants reached an overwhelming digit- roughly a million dozen.
Facebook has grown to become the biggest and most popular social networking site today with a
population of above 500 million active users. (facebook statistics, 2010)

Other social networking sites continued to appear in the scene. Blogging sites like Bebo,
Multiply and many others came into view. Microblogging partnered with social networking
became popular with the launch of Twitter. On Twitter, online users can post their Tweets,
basically a 140 character phrase or line about what they have in mind.
With the help of API (Application Programming Interface), microblogging sites like Twitter and
Tumblr and other dedicated sites like Flickr, Photobucket and many others were able to connect
with popular social networking sites, making an unending link of information in the World Wide
Web.
How Social Media Work/Characteristics
Social media utilization is believed to be a driving force in defining the current period as what
psychologists call the Attention Age. A common thread running through all definitions of
social media is a blending of technology and social interaction for the co-creation of value. One
characteristic shared by both social media and industrial media is the capability to reach small or
large audiences; for example, either a blog post or a television show may reach zero people or
millions of people. The properties that help describe the differences between social media and
industrial media depend on the study. Some of these properties are:
1. Reach - both industrial and social media technologies provide scale and enable anyone to
reach a global audience.
2. Accessibility - the means of production for industrial media are typically owned privately
or by government; social media tools are generally available to anyone at little or no cost.

3. Usability - industrial media production typically requires specialized skills and training.
Most social media does not, or in some cases reinvent skills, so anyone can operate the
means of production.
4. Response time - the time lag between communications produced by industrial media can
be long (days, weeks, or even months) compared to social media (which is capable of
virtually instantaneous responses; only the participants determine any delay in response).
As industrial media are currently adopting social media tools, this feature may well not
be distinctive anymore in some time.
5. Permanence - industrial media, once created, cannot be altered (once a magazine article is
printed and distributed changes cannot be made to that same article) whereas social
media can be altered almost instantaneously by comments or editing.
Community media constitute an interesting hybrid of industrial and social media. Though
community-owned, some community radios, TV and newspapers are run by professionals and
some by amateurs. They use both social and industrial media frameworks.
In his 2006 book The Wealth of Networks: How Social Production Transforms Markets and
Freedom, Yochai Benkler analyzed many of these distinctions and their implications in terms of
both economics and political liberty. However, Benkler, like many academics, uses the
neologism network economy or "network information economy" to describe the underlying
economic, social, and technological characteristics of what has come to be known as "social
media".

Andrew Keen criticizes social media in his book The Cult of the Amateur, writing, "Out of this
anarchy, it suddenly became clear that what was governing the infinite monkeys now inputting
away on the Internet was the law of digital Darwinism, the survival of the loudest and most
opinionated. Under these rules, the only way to intellectually prevail is by infinite filibustering.
Social media can take many different forms, including Internet forums, weblogs, social blogs,
microblogging, wikis, podcasts, pictures, video, rating and social bookmarking. By applying a
set of theories in the field of media research (social presence, media richness) and social
processes (self-presentation, self-disclosure) Kaplan and Haenlein created a classification
scheme for different social media types in their Business Horizons article published in 2010.
According to Kaplan and Haenlein there are six different types of social media: Collaborative
projects, blogs and microblogs, content communities, social networking sites, virtual game
worlds, and virtual social worlds. Technologies include: blogs, picture-sharing, vlogs, wallpostings, email, instant messaging, music-sharing, crowdsourcing, and voice over IP, to name a
few. Many of these social media services can be integrated via social network aggregation
platforms.
Examples of social media based on their characteristics include:
Communication

Blogs: Blogger, LiveJournal, Open Diary, TypePad, WordPress, Vox, ExpressionEngine,

Xanga

Micro-blogging / Presence applications: FMyLife, Jaiku, Plurk, Twitter, Tumblr,

Posterous, Yammer, Qaiku

Social networking: Facebook, MySpace, Cyworld

Events: Upcoming, Eventful, Meetup.com,

Collaboration

Wikis: Wikimedia, Wikia, PBworks, Wetpaint

Social bookmarking (or social tagging): Delicious, StumbleUpon, Google Reader,

CiteULike

Social news: Digg, Mixx, Reddit, NowPublic

Multimedia

Photography and art sharing: Deviantart, Flickr, Photobucket, Picasa, SmugMug,

Zooomr

Video sharing: YouTube, Viddler, Vimeo, sevenload

Livecasting: Ustream.tv, Justin.tv, Stickam, Skype, OpenCU, Livestream

Music and audio sharing: MySpace Music, The Hype Machine, Last.fm, ccMixter,
ShareTheMusic, ReverbNation

Presentation sharing: scribd

Reviews and opinions

Product reviews: epinions.com, MouthShut.com

Business reviews: Customer Lobby, yelp.com

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Community Q&A: Yahoo! Answers, WikiAnswers, Askville, Google Answers

Entertainment

Media and entertainment platforms: Cisco Eos

Virtual worlds: [Active Worlds], Second Life, The Sims Online, Forterra

Game sharing: Miniclip, Kongregate

Brand monitoring

Social media monitoring: Attensity Voice of the Customer, Attensity360, Sysomos

Heartbeat

Social media analytics: Sysomos MAP

Other

Information Aggregators: Netvibes, Twine (website)

Online Advocacy and Fundraising: Causes

Benefits and Concerns

Social media, although not used by everybody, have been noted for some benefits. This is
especially in the business field where the use has been seen as an affordable marketing tool. The
level of social interaction might also suggest that social media contributes much to the
socialization process by giving access to customers, old friends, new friends and relatives.
Various forms of social media have been used as learning tools in some institutions and have
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proven to be of good use in assisting teaching techniques. Social media have also been used as
vehicles for political and humanitarian causes where the progression in interaction aids the
recruitment of supporters for a certain cause. However, these benefits do not erase the fears
associated with the usage of these forms of media. These fears range from privacy issues to the
fear that social media can be addictive, thereby eliminating interpersonal communication in its
most original form.

The Nigerian Youth and Facebook

The latest Facebook demographic data, as of July 3, 2010, indicates that there are about one
million, seven hundred and eighteen thousand

Nigerians on Facebook (less Diaspora).It is

among the top three most visited sites by Nigerians and the most popular age
demographic globally is 35-49." According to the BBC programme "Superpower", the Nigerian
internet population stood at about twenty four million people in 2008, information sourced from
the International Telecommunication Union (ITU). This data places Nigeria as Africas biggest
internet market (audience) dwarfing South Africa and Egypt. The internet offers a great platform
to reach millions of Nigerians with amazing targeting possibilities including age, gender, interest
and behavioral targeting. Despite the erratic power supply and expensive internet access,
Nigerian users on facebook .com, increased from 99,720 in 2008 to 569,180 in 2009, before
growing to the present number. This growth rate suggests that there exists some form of value or
meaning derived by the users, most of them youths.

Socialization & Communication

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Socialization is the process by which children and adults learn from others. Weidman, Twale and
Stein (2001) define socialization in a broad sense as the process by which persons acquire the
knowledge, skills and disposition that make them more or less effective members of the society.
People begin learning from others during the early days of life; and most people continue their
social learning all through life (unless some mental or physical disability slows or stops the
learning process). (John Weidman, Darla Twale & Elizabeth Stein, 2001).
John Baldwin and Janice Baldwin in the book, behavior principles in everyday life say natural
socialization occurs when infants and youngsters explore, play and discover the social world
around them. Planned socialization occurs when other people take actions designed to teach or
train others -- from infancy on. Natural socialization is easily seen when looking at the young of
almost any mammalian species (and some birds). Planned socialization is mostly a human
phenomenon; and all through history, people have been making plans for teaching or training
others. Both natural and planned socialization can have good and bad features: It is wise to learn
the best features of both natural and planned socialization and weave them into our lives.
The authors also define positive socialization as the type of social learning that is based on
pleasurable and exciting experiences. We tend to like the people who fill our social learning
processes with positive motivation, loving care, and rewarding opportunities. Negative
socialization occurs when others use punishment, harsh criticisms or anger to try to "teach us a
lesson;" and often we come to dislike both negative socialization and the people who impose it
on us.
There are all types of mixes of positive and negative socialization; and the more positive social
learning experiences we have, the happier we tend to be -- especially if we learn useful

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information that helps us cope well with the challenges of life. A high ratio of negative to
positive socialization can make a person unhappy, defeated or pessimistic about life. The
socialization type can also have an effect, in turn, on the persons ability to fit into the society
and perform optimally as a member of the society. Socialization also plays a significant role in
the development of our lives, personally and professionally, generally as citizens. (John D
Baldwin, Janice I Baldwin, 2000)

Technology and Communication

New technologies can lead to new types of media and the ability to use a given form of media is
related to the ability to use its related technology. Throughout history, developments in
technology and communications have gone hand-in-hand, and the latest technological
developments such as the internet have resulted in the advancement of the science of
communication to a new level. The process of human communication has evolved over the years,
with many path-breaking inventions and discoveries heralding revolutions or a lift from one level
to another.
1. The invention of pictographs or the first written communication in the ancient world
heralded written communication. These writings were on stone, and remained immobile.
2. The invention of paper, papyrus, and wax, culminating in the invention of the printing
press in the 15th century made possible transfer of documents from one place to another,
allowing for uniformity of languages over long distances.

14

3. The latest revolution is the widespread application of electronic technology such as

electronic waves and signals to communication, manifesting in the electronic creation and
transfer of documents over the World Wide Web.

Speed and Costs of Communication

The most significant impact of technology on communication is the spread of the internet and the
possibility of sending emails and chatting. In the pre-information technology days, a document
often required re-typing on the typewriter before the final version. Sending the letter across to
someone else required a visit to the post office and a postage stamp. Faster methods such as
telegrams had severe limitations in text, and remained costly.
Computers and the internet have made easy the process of creating and editing documents and
applying features such as spell check and grammar check automatically. Email allows sending
the document to any part of the globe within seconds, making telegrams, and even ordinary
letters mostly obsolete. The internet has thus increased the speed of communications manifold,
and reduced the costs drastically.
Quality of Communication
The huge amount of knowledge accessible by a click of the mouse has helped improve the
quality of communication. Translating a text from an unfamiliar language to a familiar language,

15

seeking out the meaning of an unknown word, and getting follow up information on an
unfamiliar concept are all possible thanks to the internet.
Technology allows easy storage and retrieval of communication when needed, especially verbal
communication, the storage of which was very difficult before. It now becomes easier to rewind
and clear misconceptions rather than make assumptions, or contacting the person again to clear
doubt.
Change in Communication Style
The invention of new gadgets such as mobile phones makes communication easier by allowing
people to communicate from anywhere. An underestimated impact of mobile gadgets is their
impact on the nature of communications. The nature of such impact includes the following:

The possibility of high quality communication from anywhere in the world to anywhere
else at low costs has led to a marked decline in face-to-face communications and to an
increased reliance on verbal and written communication over electronic mediums.

The small keyboards in mobile phone and other hand held devices that make typing
difficult has resulted in a radical shortening of words and increasing use of symbol and
shortcuts, with little or no adherence to traditional grammatical rules. Such change now
finds increasing acceptance in the business community.

Communication has become concise and short, and the adage brevity is the soul of wit
finds widespread implementation, though unintentionally.

16

Accessibility to Communication
The role of technology in the democratization of communication systems is one important way
that technology has changed communication. Technology has brought down the costs of
communication significantly and improved peoples access to communication. The proliferation
of online forums, live coverage of news, and other such media related initiatives have resulted in
world wide access and participation in news and information for almost everyone.
In the realm of business, access to communication or privileged information was hitherto a major
source of competitive advantage. Technology helps remove such barriers and ensure a level
playing field in this aspect for the most part.
Nature of Communication
The ease of communication and the spread of interactive communication methods such as instant
messengers and video conferencing has increased the volume of communications, but reduced
the average length of communications. People now communicate whatever comes up instantly,
and tend to break up different topics into different communications.
Finally, technologies such as the internet help spread the net of communication by tracking down
old friends, shedding light on new business opportunities, and the like.

History of Research on Social Media

17

Social media research has been a topic of interest in business and academic circles. The
dimensions that have been observed depend on the type of social media to the location where the
research is being carried out. Issues that have been researched into include:

Privacy
A number of social media platforms require the submission of personal information. Many
reports indicate that the majority of social media users post risky information online, without
giving due diligence to privacy and security concerns. At the same time, cyber criminals are
targeting social network sites with increasing amounts of malware and online scams, honing in
on this growing user base.
According to Consumer Reports' 2010 State of the Net analysis more than half of social network
users share private information about themselves online, opening themselves up to a variety of
online dangers. This research was carried out online across users around the world.The key
findings of the report include the following:

25 percent of households with a Facebook account don't use the site's privacy controls or
weren't aware of them.

40 percent of social network users posted their full date of birth online, opening
themselves up to identity theft.

18

9 percent of social network users dealt with a form of abuse within the past year (e.g.,
malware, online scams, identity theft or harassment). (Consumer Report, 2010)

Business
An online survey was conducted September 11-12, 2008 by Opinion Research Corporation
among 1,092 adults in America. According to the survey, 59 percent of American consumers who
use social media sites and tools are already interacting with businesses through social media.
Much of the researches in this area are based on the interface between social media and business
processes.

Workplace
There has been some research into how social media affects internal corporate communication
and improve organizational culture.
Community
The feeling of community and social interaction forms society and much research is being
carried out to analyze the possibility of any threat to the stability of the society. Such research
stems from the concern that electronic communication erodes the value of normal face to face
communication. Most of these researches also observe for attitudinal changes in the users of
these forms of media.
Politics and Active Citizenship

19

The use of social media by the presidential campaign team in the 2008 United States of America
has aroused interest and many scholars have studied this case and the possibilities within the use
of social media in politics and governance.

Self identity and Self Esteem

The concept of an online identity has raised many questions as to the possibility of a false sense
of self among the users of these media. Researches in America and other parts of the world have
also questioned the similarities or disparity between the online and offline identities.
Education
The high level of usage of social media was perceived as a distraction and as a result a deterrent
from satisfactory academic performance. Research looks into how social media and education
can co-exist and be beneficial to the users, especially young people. Some researchers have also
looked into the relationship between the usage of social media and the grades of the users in
school.

1.2

Objectives

The purpose of this report is therefore to provide evidence-based insights into the social media
phenomenon which can be used to inform current understanding of usage and behaviour in
20

Nigeria, and to help identify some of the current and potential future issues around peoples use
of social media. It seeks to understand how people are using social networking sites as well as
their attitudes to this form of communication.
The objectives of this report are as follows:

1.3

To understand the use of social media by young people in Nigeria.

To understand the attitudes towards social networking sites and the wider issues that may

arise from this.

To explore any effect of this form of media on the social skills of the Nigerian youth

Significance

Fundamentally, the media is a tool and its uses are a reflection of the people who use it. So
understanding the media itself and its dynamics will help in using it and in mitigating its
downsides. The rapid growth of social media sites, their popularity among young people and
their relative success in retaining users, has ensured that social media is never far from the
news. It is clear from the development of social media to date that further evolution is uncharted
territory for stakeholders and it is difficult to accurately predict what impact this will have on
communications, ICT skills and social issues. As users, policy makers, businesses, educators and
parents seek to understand many-to-many communication such as social media, it is essential we
understand current usage and behaviour and identify potential problems so that they can be
addressed.This can be seen in the amount of academic studies on social media within the last
seven years. However, Danah Boyd has gathered a collection of research about social networking
sites that lists approximately one hundred and fifty research papers, three

books, and seven

research reports published in theyears 2003-2010. (Boyd, 2010) None of these papers covers

21

Africa.This shows a lack of research that concerns the African region and especially Nigeria
where this form of media is greatly used. Therefore the overall motivation for conducting this
study is to contribute to research about social media in Nigeria. This research should also create a
platform for further research in this field and how it affects business processes as well other
spheres of life. This research should provide useful data for market researchers, marketing and
product development professionals as well as educators as to how they can maximize social
media for optimum benefit in their various fields.

1.4

Statement of the Problem

It is recorded that at least one million, seven hundred and fourteen Nigerians are on Facebook,
with a good number of them being young. (Facebook statistics, 2010) However, there is no
comprehensive knowledge of their activities as well as how this form of media can impact on
various aspects of life
This thesis examines the relationship between social media and its usage by Nigerian youths. The
study specifically focuses on the usage habits of young Nigerians and how social media has
affected their communication and socialization habits.
The future of communication has been predicted to depend to a great degree on electronic
modes. Academics, business men and professionals in various fields propose various uses of
social media and new media generally. These and many more decisions will be made based only
on available data concerning these media.

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1.5

Research Questions

1.6

How much time do youths spend on Facebook?

What are the reasons youths use Facebook in Nigeria?
What activities do youths engage in on Facebook?
What benefits do youths derive from Facebook?
What is the impact of Facebook on the lives of young people in Nigeria?

Operational Definition of Terms

For the purpose of this research report we have purposely focused on the social and
communications aspects of social networking sites. We have deliberately not included either
online networks dedicated to business networking, or only user-generated content (UGC) sites
(as the latters primary focus is on content creation and sharing rather than the development
of online social networks).
Social Media: A group of internet-based applications that build on the ideological and
technological foundations of web 2.0 and that allow the creation and exchange of user-generated
content. (Kaplan and Haenlein, 2010)
Social Skills: Any skills facilitating interaction and communication with others. Social rules and
relations are created, communicated and changed in verbal and nonverbal ways through a
process called socialization.
Cyberspace: This is the electronic medium of computer networks, in which online
communication takes place.

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Web 2.0: web applications that facilitate interactive information sharing, interoperability, usercentered design, and collaboration on the world- wide web.
Blogs: A blog (a contraction of the term "web log") is a type of website, usually maintained by
an individual with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such
as graphics or video. Entries are commonly displayed in reverse-chronological order.
Vlogs: Video blogging, sometimes shortened to vlogging or vidblogging is a form of blogging
for which the medium is video, and is a form of Internet television. Entries often combine
embedded video or a video link with supporting text, images, and other metadata.
Instant Messaging: Instant messaging (IM) is a form of real-time direct text-based
communication between two or more people using shared clients. The text is conveyed via
devices connected over a network such as the Internet.
Music-sharing: File sharing is the practice of distributing or providing access to digitally stored
information, such as computer programs, multi-media (audio, video), documents, or electronic
books. It may be implemented in a variety of storage, transmission, and distribution models.
Crowdsourcing: Crowdsourcing is a compound of Crowd and Outsourcing for the act of taking
tasks traditionally performed by an employee or contractor, and outsourcing them to a group of
people or community, through an "open call" to a large group of people (a crowd) asking for
contributions.
Voice Over IP: Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) is a general term for a family of transmission
technologies for delivery of voice communications over IP networks such as the Internet or other
packet-switched networks.

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Profiles:
Microblogging: Microblogging is a form of blogging. A microblog differs from a traditional blog
in that its content is typically much smaller, in both actual size and aggregate file size. A
microblog entry could consist of nothing but a short sentence fragment, or an image or embedded
video.

1.7

Scope of the study

This investigation focused specifically on the usage habits of users of facebook.com in Nigeria

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CHAPTER TWO

LITERATURE REVIEW

Most social scientists define our current society as a mass society and believe it was formed at
the end of the 19th century mainly by industrialization, urbanization and modernization. The
media's role in this society is fundamentally a function of how this society chooses to use the
media. Furthermore, the media's relationship with this society is both reflexivethe mass media
simultaneously affects and is affected by mass societyand varied.

2.1

Theoretical Literature

In psychology, communication theory and sociology, media influence or media effects refers to
the theories about the ways the mass media affect how their audiences think and behave.
Mass media plays a crucial role in forming and reflecting public opinion, connecting the world to
individuals and reproducing the self-image of society. Critiques in the early-to-mid twentieth
century suggested that media weaken or delimit the individual's capacity to act autonomously
sometimes being ascribed an influence reminiscent of the telescreens of the dystopian
novel 1984. Mid 20th-century empirical studies, however, suggested more moderate effects of
the media. Current scholarship presents a more complex interaction between the media
and society, with the media on generating information from a network of relations and influences
26

and with the individual interpretations and evaluations of the information provided, as well as
generating information outside of media contexts. The consequences and ramifications of the
mass media relate not merely to the way newsworthy events are perceived (and which are
reported at all), but also to a multitude of cultural influences that operate through the media.
The media have a strong social and cultural impact upon society. This is predicated upon their
ability to reach a wide audience with a strong and influential message. Marshall McLuhan uses
the phrase the medium is the message as a means of explaining how the distribution of a
message can often be more important than content of the message itself. It is through the
persuasiveness of media such as television, radio and print media that messages reach their target
audiences. These have been influential media as they have been largely responsible for
structuring people's daily lives and routines. Television broadcasting has a large amount of
control over the content society watches and the times in which it is viewed. This is a
distinguishing feature of traditional media which new media have challenged by altering the
participation habits of the public. The internet creates a space for more diverse political opinions,
social and cultural viewpoints and a heightened level of consumer participation. There have been
suggestions that allowing consumers to produce information through the internet will lead to an
overload of information.
A theory which places emphasis on audience reception, which is a major feature of the new
media is Denis McQuail's Uses and Gratifications model. This places emphasis on the various
reasons for which audiences consume media. The first reason outlined in the model is the need
to reinforce ones own behavior by identifying with roles, values and gender identities presented
in the media. Secondly, consumers need to feel some kind of interaction with other people which
is offered by text such as a soap opera or a lifestyle magazine. The third reason is the need for
27

security. Media offer a window to the world that allows education and the acquisition
of information. The final reason is the need for entertainment through both escapism, and the
need for emotional release, such as laughter. One major strength of the Uses and Gratifications
theory is the emphasis on the audience as active in the reception of media. However, this would
suggest no passivity within the audience whatsoever. A person may, for example, be too lazy to
turn off their television and as a result consume any media that is available, regardless of need.
But in the case of social networking, a person deliberately registers his or identity with the social
networking site, logs in when he/she decides to, and engages in activities he/she chooses to.
Historical criticisms situate the 'meta-narrative' of effects theory within a long history of distrust
of new forms of media, dating as far back as Socrates objections to the deleterious effects due to
the written alphabet.
Supporters of effects theory contend that commercials, advertising and voter campaigns prove
that media influence behavior. In the 20th century, aggressive media attention and negative
coverage of trials involving celebrities like Roscoe Fatty Arbuckle or Michael Jackson (in the
21st) have influenced the general public's opinion, before the trials effectively started. However,
these critics do point out that while the media could have an effect on people's behavior this isn't
necessarily always the case.

Theorists such as Louis Wirth and Talcott Parsons have emphasized the importance of mass
media as instruments of social control. In the twenty-first century, with the rise of the internet,
the two-way relationship between mass media and public opinion is beginning to change, with
the advent of new technologies such as blogging.

28

Social scientists have made efforts to integrate the study of the mass media as an instrument of
control into the study of political and economic developments in the Afro-Asian countries.
Daniel Lerner (1958) has emphasized the general pattern of increase in standard of living,
urbanization, literacy and exposure to mass media during the transition from traditional to
modern society. According to Lerner, while there is a heavy emphasis on the expansion of mass
media in developing societies, the penetration of a central authority into the daily consciousness
of the mass has to overcome profound resistance. (Lerner, 1958) (Katz, Mass communication
research and the study of culture, 1959)

The Uses and Gratifications Theory (a limited effects theory) is a popular approach to
understanding mass communication. The theory places more focus on the consumer, or audience,
instead of the actual message itself by asking what people do with media rather than what
media does to people (Katz, 1959). It assumes members of the audience are not passive but take
an active role in interpreting and integrating media into their own lives. The theory also holds
audiences responsible for choosing media to meet its needs. The approach suggests that people
use the media to fulfill specific gratifications. This theory would then imply that the media
compete against other information sources for the viewers gratification. (Katz, E., Blumler, J.
G., & Gurevitch, M. 1974).
Blumler and Katzs take a non-prescriptive and non-predictive perspective on media effects.
They postulate that individuals mix and match uses with goals, according to specific context,
needs, social backgrounds and so on. Thus, they are seen as active participants in the media
consumption process. Uses and gratification theory suggests that media users play an active role
in choosing and using the media. Users take an active part in the communication process and are
29

goal oriented in their media use. The theorists say that a media user seeks out a media source
that best fulfills the needs of the user. Uses and gratifications assume that the user has alternate
choices to satisfy their need.
Interest in the gratifications provided by media goes back to the beginning of empirical mass
communication research. The last few years have witnessed something of a revival of direct
empirical investigations of audience uses and gratifications, not only in the United States but also
in Britain, Sweden, Finland, Japan and Israel. These more recent studies have a number of
differing starting points, but each attempts to press toward a greater systematization of what is
involved in conducting research in this field. Each major piece of uses and gratifications research
has yielded its own classification scheme of audience functions. When placed side by side, they
reveal a mixture of shared gratification categories and notions peculiar to individual research
teams. The differences are due in part to the fact that investigators have focused on different
levels of study (e.g., medium or content) and different materials (e.g., different programs or
program types on television) in different cultures. Instead of depicting the media as severely
circumscribed by audience expectations, the uses and gratifications approach highlights the
audience as a source of challenge to producers to cater more richly to the multiplicity of
requirements and roles that it has disclosed.
The uses and gratifications research (Herzog 1944; McGuire 1974) has been useful in
understanding consumers' motivations and concerns in the context of traditional media such as
radio and TV. However, only a few researchers have explored uses and gratifications applications
in the Internet context (Chen and Wells 1999; Eighmey and McCord 1998; Korgaonkar and
Wolin 1999). For example, Eighmey and McCord (1998) noted that research participants who

30

browsed five commercial websites show uses and gratifications behaviors similar to those
reported in studies of traditional media such as TV.

New Media Theory

The New Media Theory investigates both media and new media as a complex ecological and
rhetorical context. The merger of media and new media creates a global social sphere that is
changing the ways we work, play, write, teach, think, and connect. Because this new context
operates through evolving arrangements, theories of new media have yet to establish a rhetorical
and theoretical paradigm that fully articulates this emerging digital life.

Social Media and The Uses and Gratification Theory

Recent research explaining Internet usage has both extended and challenged the uses and
gratifications approach to understanding media attendance by discovering new gratifications
and introducing powerful new explanatory variables. The present research integrates these
developments into a theory of media attendance within the framework of Banduras (1986)
Social Cognitive Theory. Respondents from 2 Midwestern states in the United States of America
were recruited by mail to complete an online questionnaire. Structural equation modeling
techniques were used to test a new model of media attendance in which active consideration of
Internet use and gratifications, moderated by Internet self-efficacy, joins habitual behavior and

31

deficient self-regulation as determinants of media behavior. The model explained 42% of the
variance in Internet usage.
Of the many theories that aim to explain how mass media impact society, it might be difficult to
validate many of them today, when mass media is slowly metamorphosizing into social media.
Or, in other words, if there has been a shift from one-to-many, to many-to-many communication
systems, it is worth finding out if the theories that explained the former, such as media
dependency, agenda setting, or knowledge gap, are still applicable to the latter.
2.2

Empirical Literature

Social Network for Socialization

Most research regarding potential internet-related harm relates to risky contact rather than
content, primarily that involving interaction with other internet users. Indeed, this update
found a number of studies that addressed the risk of inappropriate contact (e.g. bullying - for
which more research exists than for the first review, and also online contact with strangers).
The research suggests that such contact may put users at risk of harm, either directly (as in
meeting strangers in dangerous situations) or indirectly, from the consequences of their
online behaviour.
Research on social networking sites has concentrated on the internet, although these are
also available on mobile telephony as a delivery platform. There are differences in the
principal sites used in the UK, Bebo (and then MySpace) is currently more popular while in
the US much of the research has looked at Facebook, among others, partly because of
relative popularity, partly because US research tends to concentrate on university students
(who use Facebook). Research on the risk of harm has concentrated on social networking

32

sites (raising issues of privacy) rather than information uploaded onto user-generated
content sites. For social networking especially, the issue of verifiability and anonymity is a
problem. A significant proportion of young people communicate with strangers online and
post material about themselves which would be considered private in most circumstances.
The ability to restrict access to sites is known about but not always used. Thus, knowingly,
some young people give away inappropriate (private) information publicly (allowing access
to anyone). However, it seems likely that many more also do so inadvertently, as a result of
limitations in both internet literacy and interface design. This leads to concerns about the
possibility of underestimating the unanticipated or future consequences of making private
information public, especially since it appears that many young people have an inadequate
understanding of the long-term consequences of publishing such information (e.g. employers are
reported to look at social networking sites when considering employees) The risk of
inappropriate contact (especially in relation to sexual predation), harassment and bullying
(including the easy dissemination of harassment or bullying content to others in the network)
represent significant and growing policy concerns when considering the regulation of the
internet.
Research suggests that young people may be aware of the risks, especially regarding social
networking sites, but the awareness of these issues and problems is not always translated into
action. Thus there is growing evidence that, notwithstanding their many advantages and
pleasures, social networking sites permit young people to create profiles that expose the
individual or that ridicule or harass others, that using such sites for extensive periods of time (as
is common) may isolate users of these sites from contact with real people, albeit only for a few,
addicted users.

33

The Pew Internet survey finds that most young people in the world (91%) use social networking
sites to stay in touch with their circle of friends; 82% say they stay in touch with their wider
circle. Hargittai (2007) suggests that the choice of social networking site used may increase both
digital and social inequality. Digital inequality is a consideration as those who do not have access
to the Internet at a friends or family members home are far les likely to use such sites.
Further, Hargittai finds that high and low social status users in the US cluster together around
certain sites. Hinduja and Patchin (2008) undertook a content analysis of publicly available, but
randomised, MySpace profile pages (N=2423) produced by those under 18 years old. On average
they found that teenage users of the profiles they surveyed have 65 friends. They also examined
frequency of visiting the sites and found that about one-third of users had not logged on in the
three months prior to the coding period. Over a third (38%) had logged on in the previous three
days. The researchers question therefore the suggested high frequency of use of these sites as a
staple for young people. Hinduja and Patchin also find that a certain percentage of users, about
40%, restrict access to their site.
Mesch and Talmud (2007) in Israel found that relationships developed offline are stronger
than those created online, again supporting the view that offline interactions are not seen by
respondents as replacements for actual relationships and friendships. Other research also
suggests that these technologies are used to enable social relationships and the entire variety of
devices available is used. Similarly, Ellison , Steinfield and Lampe (2007) show that social
networking sites in the US are used to develop social relationships and may be a positive force
from those who otherwise have weak ties with people on the site they used (in this case the site
studied was Facebook).

34

As this report is concerned mainly with the effect of this act on the social attitudes of the youths
in Nigeria, this is an important area which underlines the finding that users of social networking
sites tend to communicate and interact predominantly with those within their social circle,
although the radius of that circle is rather wider than it might be in an offline world. In short,
social networking sites have a definite place in the lexicon of social interaction by providing
insights into, for example, ones own identity through the actual presentation of self and through
the way in which the network of relationships (of which such sites are one node) is developed:
Livingstone finds that teenagers present themselves in different ways, based on their ages.
Younger participants present a highly decorated, stylistically elaborate identity while older
participants aim to create a notion of identity lived through authentic relationships with
others (Livingstone, 2007). The creation of these identities, she argues, contains an element
of risk which public policy may try and manage.
Boyd and Heer (2006) also conducted ethnographic studies on the profile segment of the
social networking sites, Friendster. They found that the presentation of ones self is determined
and given structure by the identities of those with whom one is connected. The previously
mentioned issues of verifiability and anonymity are studied by Boyd (2004).
She describes the growth of Fakester, a false set of friends collected on Friendster sites,
which grew out of frustrations with the sites technological difficulties. As a result it is often
unclear who is and is not real on Friendster, Boyd argues, which can lead to confusion (at
its mildest).
The value of social networking sites is clear, both as an entertainment tool but also as a way
of creating and giving one self identity. Importantly the identities and profiles presented are
generally constrained by social expectations. However, teenagers will continue also to

35

practice some risk taking activities to push normative boundaries, something that is often
publicly performed rather than secret, as part of the process of identity construction. Moreover,
even when the potential misuse of social rules or norms is quite well-understood, it is not always
acted upon.
Boyd (2006) found that teenagers in the US are aware of adults on their sites, but that they ignore
them. Their attention is taken by those whom they know and for whom they are
trying to make an impression: Having to simultaneously negotiate youth culture and adult
surveillance is not desirable to most youths, but their response is typically to ignore the issue. So
these teenagers may post pictures of themselves scantily clad or drunk, but these are images
designed for their peers, not for the adults who may happen upon them. These subjects in
the research are not able to fast-forward to the possible regrets they may have about these
images at a later date, as Boyd suggests adults might.
In a study looking at video blogging, Ellison et al(2007) notes that women who share levels of
intimacy through their video blogs feel they are connecting with other people and with other
peoples ideas.The video blogs allow communities to be formed and for experiences to be
shared.
The research evidence shows that social networking sites are used widely and are used to
support and maintain existing relationships, not to create new ones. However, a proportion of
young people communicate with strangers online and post material about themselves which may
be considered private in most circumstances. The ability to restrict access to sites is known
about but not always used. However, this conclusion cannot be universal for many users of social
media because it would imply that users of social networking sites who have no friends offline
tend to have few friends online as well, thereby limiting the socialization benefits. This can only
36

be proven if the researcher has undertaken a study where he monitored the socialization habits of
the users both offline and online and compared both. It is however not easy to monitor the
number of friends particularly and the nature of the relationship.

Some authors tend to argue that the web and software are always social because they
incorporate certain meanings and understandings of society (Dourish 2001, Rost 1997). Their
understanding of the social can be seen as close to Durkheims notion of social facts , by which
he meansevery way of acting, fixed or not, capable of exerting on the individual an external
constraint; or which is general over the whole of a given society whilst having an existence of its
own, independent of its individual manifestation(Durkheim 1982: 59). This is a solid argument
which will be backed up with evidence from various other researches which prove the
representation of reality on social media. This would encompass the various social and also anti
social activities, behaviors and attitudes which reflect life in reality.
A second group of authors argues that the web and software are only social if they support
symbolic interaction (Boyd 2005, 2007a; Pascu et al. 2007, Shirky 2003). A third group of
authors sees social software and web 2.0 as tools that support community-building and online cooperation (Alby 2007, Burg 2003, Fischer 2006, Gillmor 2006, Miller 2005, OReilly 2005a, b;
Saveri/Rheingold/Vian

2005,

Stefanac

2007,

Swisher

2007,

Kolbitsch/Maurer

2006,

Tapscott/Williams 2006). These approaches can be connected on the one hand to

FerdinandTnnies concept of community, by which he understands the consciousness of
belonging together and the affirmation of the condition of mutual dependence (Tnnies 1988:
69), and on the other hand to Karl Marxs concept of co-operation By social we understand the
co-operation of several individuals, no matter under what conditions, in what manner and to what

37

end. It follows from this that a certain mode of production, or industrial stage, is always
combined with a certain mode of co-operation, or social stage, and this mode of co-operation is
itself a productive force(MEW 3: 50).
These theoretical understandings of the social that underlie definitions of web 2.0 and social
software are implicit, a theory of web 2.0 and social software is missing and can be
accomplished by dialectically synthesizing the three understandings of the social and applying it
to the web (Fuchs 2009, Fuchs, Hofkirchner, Schafranek, Raffl, Sandoval & Bichler 2008).

Second, there is an analogous relationship between the three forms in which information
processes occur in society: cognition, communication, and co-operation processes. These
processes relate to each other in a way that reflects and resembles the build-up of a complex
system. One is the prerequisite for the other in the following way: in order to co-operate you
need to communicate and in order to communicate you need to cognise.
Boyd and Ellison (2007) define social network sites as web-based services that allow
individuals to (1) construct a public or semi-public profile within a bounded system, (2)
articulate a list of other users with whom they share a connection, and (3) view and traverse their
list of connections and those made by others within the system. Boyds and Ellisons definition
clearly focuses on platforms such as Facebook. In network analysis, a network is defined as a
system of interconnected nodes (cp. e.g. Wasserman/Faust 1997).Therefore, based on a strict
theoretical understanding, all networked tools that allow establishing connections between at
least two humans, have to be understood as social network platform. This includes not only the
platforms that Boyd and Ellison have in mind, but also chats, discussion boards, mailing lists,
email, etc all web 2.0 and 3.0 technologies. Social network site is therefore an imprecise term.

38

Such imprecision can arise from a lack of social theory foundations in social media research:
Definitions are given without giving grounds to them.
David Beer (2008: 519) argues that the definition by Boyd and Ellison is too broad and does not
distinguish different types of sites such as wikis, folksonomies, mashups, and social networking
sites.
A certain category of approaches conclude that social media are dangerous and pose primarily
threats for the users, especially young people. One can also characterize this approach as
victimization discourse. Such research concludes that social media pose threats that make users
potential victims of individual criminals, such as in the case of cyberstalking, sexual harassment,
threats by mentally ill persons, data theft, data fraud, etc. Frequently these studies also argue that
the problem is a lack of individual responsibility and knowledge so that users put themselves at
risk by putting too much private information online and by not making use of privacy
mechanisms, for example by making their profile visible for all other users. Two papers written
by Alessandro Acquisti and Ralph Gross represent the ideal type of this kind of research.
Acquisti and Gross conducted an online survey of social users at Carnegie Mellon University
(N=294,

Acquist/Gross

2006)

and

data

mining

of

7000

social

media

profiles

(Gross/Acquisti/Heinz 2005). Privacy policy was considered as a very important issue (average
of 5.411 points on a Likert-scale of 7). Users also showed a high concern about the misuse of
personal information. The scholars did not find a direct relationship between the intensity of
privacy concerns and the likelihood of becoming a Facebook member.Users with higher privacy
concerns would be less likely to join Internet Storage Name Service, but not in the case of
undergraduates.

39

Privacy concerns may drive older and senior college members away from Facebook. Even high
privacy concerns, however, are not driving undergraduate students away from it. Non-members
have higher generic privacy concerns than Facebook members (Acquisti and Gross 2006: 47).
Those users who join the network would not be more likely to exclude personal information
from visibility if they have high privacy concerns. We detected little or no relation between
participants reported privacy attitudes and their likelihood of providing certain information,
even when controlling, separately, for male and female members(Acquisti and Gross 2006: 50).
This research seemed not to have found any benefits associated with the use of social media.

David Beer (2008b) argues that the research agenda outlined by Boyd and Ellison (2007) is too
much focused on the user and excludes macro-contexts. By focusing solely upon the user,
which is what Boyd and Ellison's closing section on 'future research' suggests, we are
overlooking the software and concrete infrastructures, the capitalist organisations, the marketing
and advertising rhetoric, the construction of these phenomena in various rhetorical agendas, the
role of designers, metadata and algorithms, the role, access and conduct of third parties using
social media, amongst many other things. Capitalism is there, present, particularly in the history,
but it is at risk of looming as a black box in understandings of social media This is what is
missing, a more political agenda that is more open to the workings of capitalism. At the moment
we are informed largely by accounts of these spaces where we can connect, spaces that are host
to new or remediated social connections, spaces that are democratic and mutually owned the
direction Boyd and Ellison intimate and their focus which is solely upon the user looks to
perpetuate this agenda even if unintentionally, at least, in my reading, that is the risk. My feeling

40

is that the dominant visions of the democratization of the web toward a model of collaborative
or collective intelligence needs to be questioned with some rigour (Beer 2008b: 523-526).
In short, Beers critique of Boyd and Ellison is that the approach is individualistic, too optimistic,
and ignoring that social media are embedded into capitalism and are primarily corporations with
capitalist interests. Beer, however, in his critique has put so much power into the software,
hardware and third parties, ignoring the fact that there can be no social network without a user.
Another survey (N=1440, Lampe, Ellison and Steinfield 2006a) at Michigan State University
showed that students have high confidence that their profiles describe them accurately
(mean=4.16 of 5). There was high agreement to the statement that one engages in keeping in
touch with old friends and checking out the Facebook profiles of people one has met in person.
Given these indicators, we find support for the idea that Facebook members are using the site to
engage in social searches, i.e. find out more about people in their offline communities. Social
browsing, finding people online for offline encounters, was widely reported as an unlikely use by
the survey respondents (Lampe/Ellison/Steinfield 2006a: 170).
Lampe, Ellison and Steinfield (2006b) analyzed 30773 Facebook profiles. They found thatthere
is an association between how many items a person lists in their open ended profile fields and the
number of friendship links they have. We found that populating profile fields on Facebook is
positively related to the number of friends a user will have listed. The amount of information
posted in open-ended fields does not affect the number of friends when added to the indices of
the presence of information in the profile fields (Lampe/Ellison/Steinfield 2006b:441).

Referent information (hometown, high school, residence, field of study) had the greatest positive
influence on the number of friends, followed by contact information (relationship status, type of

41

contacts one looks for, website, address, birthday, AIM, email), and interests (interests, music,
books, TV shows, movies, political views, favourite quotes, about me). Based on a synthesis of
definitions (Gandy 1982: 2, Hardt 1992: x, Kellner 1995: 4, Kellner/Durham 2006: xiv, Winter
2004: 118-120), critical media and communication theory and research can be defined as studies
that focus ontologically on the analysis of media, communication, and culture in the context of
domination, asymmetrical power relations, exploitation, oppression, and control by employing
epistemologically all theoretical and/or empirical means necessary in order to contribute at the
praxeological level to the establishment of a participatory, cooperative society. This definition is
fairly broad and allows to combine different concepts that come from different critical
backgrounds, such as for example to name just some of many audience commodity, media
accumulation

strategies,

commodity

aesthetics,

culture

industry,

true

and

false

consciousness/needs, instrumental reason, technological rationality, manipulation, ideology

critique, dialectical theatre, critical pedagogy, aura, proletarian counter-public sphere, multiple
publics, emancipatory media usage, repressive media usage, alternative media, radical media,
fetish of communication, ideological state apparatuses, the multitude, the circulation of struggles,
hegemony, structure of feelings, articulation, dominant reading, oppositional reading, negotiated
reading, capital-accumulation function of the media, commodity.This definition helps us to
understand that the reasons for using social media might vary from person to person and the total
network of a person will be a good determining factor in defining the values, interests and
attitudes of a person.
Social Network Theory by Emile Durkheim and Ferdinand Tonnies views relationships in form
of nodes and ties. Nodes are the individual actors within the networks while ties are the
relationships between the actors.

42

J.A Barnes 1954, using the concept of nodes and ties, states that the attributes of individuals are
less important than their relationships and ties with other actors within the network. This network
also summarizes the social capital of the individual actors: the value that an individual gets from
the network.
The study will use the Social Network theory as a Backbone to determine:

What variables to measure:

What statistical relationships to look for:

Why networks are being formed via the internet:

43

CHAPTER THREE

3.1

METHODOLOGY

Introduction

The study is a social scientific research focused on the young people in Nigeria. It is a study that
combines both quantitative and qualitative methods for revealing the empirical data which will
be interpreted to draw conclusions. Although there are many social media sites, the focus of the
study is based on users of Facebook.com due to its popularity at the moment and the presence of
a large number of Nigerians on the site. The scope of the study is therefore limited to users of
facebook.com and not necessarily conclusive for every social media site. The quantitative data
should provide unbiased, objective empirical data which will be supported by a qualitative
analysis of the usage online.
Scientific research as according to Aborishade (1997) is often used to imply the formalized
procedure for problem solving. The fact of the adoption of the formalized procedure in the social
sciences makes the endeavour scientific. However unlike in the natural sciences, social science
research does not always involve laboratory experiments. The formalized procedures include-:
1. Identifying and defining the problem
2. Reviewing existing literature
3. Formulating appropriate research questions
4. Collecting relevant data to answer the research questions
5. Analyzing the data to answer your research questions or test the hypotheses
44

6. Drawing necessary inference or conclusions based on the outcome of the analysis.

There are several types of research designs. The five major types are-:
1. Historical Research
2. Case Study Research
3. Causal comparative or Ex post Factor Research
4. Experimental Research
5. Survey Research
This thesis combined the case study and survey approach.
According to Aborishade (ibid), a case study research design is a type of research where the
researcher carries out an indepth study of a given social unit an individual or group of
individuals, a community or an institution. He notes that while a survey research covers several
units, case studies cover limited units and often involve only one unit. This is why case studies
are limited in terms of generalization. He defines the survey research as a type of research in
which the researcher is interested in studying certain characteristics, attitudes, feelings, beliefs,
motivations, behavior, opinions etc of a group of people or items.
This research being scientific and academic in nature, however, borrowed from the basic
principles that differentiate scientific research from all other types of research as outlined by
Wimmer and Domnick (2006) that it must:

45

1. Include information on sampling methods, measurements and data gathering procedures

for other researchers to verify or refute a given report.
2. Allow for correction and verification of previous research findings.
3. Be objective Researchers should deal with facts and not interpretations of fact.
4. Be empirical. Researchers are concerned with a world that is knowable and potentially
measurable.
5. Be systematic and cumulative.
This research is designed to use observation and questionnaires which are under demographic
differences such as age, gender, occupation. All these were given strong considerations.
A pilot test with 10 questionnaires will be administered to ensure a high degree of
comprehension by the respondents from which adjustments can be made on the necessary
questions.

3.2 Population and Sampling Procedure

The population of young Nigerians on Facebook

according to Nielsen is one million, seven

hundred and fourteen thousand and according to Facebook research page, the number of users
between the ages of eighteen and thirty four is 1,340,120. Using a confidence interval of 10 and a
confidence level of 95%, the sample size to be assessed was 96. Therefore, 100 questionnaires
were distributed.
For the sample chosen to represent a typical population it had the following characteristics
46

A. Males i.e. Men and Boys

B. Females i.e. Women and Girls
C. By occupation i.e. employed, self employed, unemployed and student.
A purposive sampling method was used to collect the primary data and the questionnaire had
close ended questions. The questionnaire was constructed from the research questions and
demographics.
Specifically, variables based on Uses and gratification theory are considered the antecedents of
attitude toward the web, while Web usage (e.g., the number of hours spent per week on the
Internet) and satisfaction are modeled as the consequences of attitude toward the Web
3.3

Instruments

A research instrument is a device used in collecting data (ibid 94). This study will make use of
questionnaire and observation. A questionnaire is a research instrument conducted such that
respondents answer questions about their opinions, attitudes, preferences, activities in a written
form. A questionnaire is usually structured based on scale adequate enough to obtain quantitative
analysis. Questionnaire can be open ended or close ended. Observation is the act of watching
individuals, events or situations, behaviors, etc, the way they occur in nature in order to collect
data. The need arises because there are some situations that cannot be studied using questionnaire
or other methods of data collection (Femi Aborisade, 1997)
However, having clearly defined the two instruments to be used in the course of the study, it is
pertinent to point out that the questionnaire was distributed to users online and offline.50% were

47

to users online while 50% were used for users offline. The observation had been carried out for a
period of four months. Participant observation was done and analyzed using the rating scale.
Jensen and Jankwoski (1991), note that data collection in qualitative research involves a variety
of techniques: in-depth interviewing, document analysis and unstructured observation. While
Montello and Sutton (2006) view quantitative data as consisting of numerical values measured at
least on ordinal or metric level while qualitative data are non numerical consisting of words,
drawings, photographs etc.
The method used is a questionnaire as well as observation. The questionnaire was distributed
both offline and online and the analysis was an observation of the accessible user profiles. The
observation was carried out on 20 random users.

3.4

Data collected

Secondary data
The secondary data was the profiles of the users whose profiles were accessible on Facebook and
therefore whose activities I have access to.
Primary data
The secondary data is the data gathered from the questionnaire based on the various attitudes and
usage patterns.

The questionnaire is below:

48

Questionnaire

I am a Masters student at the School of Media and Communication, Pan African University,
Lagos. I am conducting a survey on the usage of Facebook among Nigerian youths. These
questions will help me with data to understand the usage patterns as well as other important
factors. Please endeavor to fill it by ticking the corresponding responses. Thank you as you do so
candidly and quickly.

1. Gender
Male ( ) female ( )
2. Age
(18-24) (25-30) (30-35)
3. Occupation
Employee ( ) self employed ( ) unemployed ( ) student ( )
4. How long have you been registered on facebook?
Less than a year ( ) between 1 and 2 years ( ) 2 years and above ( )
5. How many friends do you have on facebook?
49

(1-200) (200-500) (500-1000) (1000 and more)

6. How many new friends do you think you made through facebook?
(1-200) (200-500) (500-1000) (1000 and more) (dont know) (none)
7. How many friends have you been able to reunite with on facebook?
(1-200) (200-500) (500-1000) (1000 and more) (dont know) (none)
8. How many hours per day do you spend on facebook
15 and above ( ) 10- 14( ) 6-9( ) 3-5( ) 1-2( ) less than1 ( )
9. Why did you join Facebook?
To make new friends ( )
To find old friends ( )
To communicate with existing friends ( )
To find someone I can share a relationship with ( )
To interact with people with common interests ( )
To run a business ( )
To promote a cause ( )
I was invited ( )
Others ( )

10. Which activity do you spend the most time doing?(tick one)
Posting messages and chatting ( )
50

Updating profiles and status updates ( )

Posting and viewing photos ( )
Writing notes ( )
Playing games ( )
Creating applications ( )
Looking for old friends ( )
Promoting Business ( )

11. If you were not using facebook, what would you have done to utilize that time?

Studying ( )
Hanging out with friends/socializing ( )
Doing more constructive (school or office) work ( )
Reading novels
Any others (please specify)__________
12. Have you ever met someone in person that you have come to know through
Facebook
a. Yes ( ) b. No ( )
13. Do you think facebook helps you to be friendlier?
a. Yes ( ) b. No ( )
14. In what way has facebook benefited you as a user?

a. I have more friends

( )
51

b. I am able to connect easily with my existing friends ( )

c. I have found a life-partner through these sites. ( )
d. I find it a great way to enjoy my leisure or whenever I am alone ( )
e. I run my business on facebook ( )
f. I express myself better ( )
g. I learn from other users ( )
h. I have enhanced my interpersonal skills ( )

15. Do you feel facebook has created any negative impact on your
personal life?
a. Yes ( ) b. No ( )(skip to question 17)
16. If yes, then what do you feel can be these impacts?
Loss of privacy ( )
Loss of time ( )
More reliance on electronic media ( )
Less emotional bonding in relations ( )
Emotional disturbance ( )
Increase in rivalry and competitiveness ( )
Any others (please specify)___________________________

17. Does facebook influence your lifestyle in any way?

a. Yes ( ) b. No ( )
52

If yes, in what way?

a. Career ( ) b. dressing ( )c. socializing ( )d. religion and spirituality ( )e education ( )
18. How did you become familiar with facebook?
TV ( )
Internet ( )
Radio ( )
Prints ( )
Friends ( )
Others ( )

19. Do you consider yourself addicted to facebook?

Yes ( ) no ( )
20. Do you use social media as an alternative to other communication media (telephone,
television, radio, newspaper etc )?
Yes ( ) no ( )
21. Which of these other social media sites do you use besides facebook?
Twitter ( ) LinkedIn ( ) Bebo ( ) MySpace ( ) Blackplanet ( ) Hi5 ( ) Zorpia ( )
22. Do you use any academic social media site?
Yes ( ) No ( )
Data analysis procedure

53

Observation of secondary data

Rating Scale
Activities
post

Frequently(4)

Occasionally(3)

Rarely(2)

Never(1)

personal

information
Post

on

other

profiles
Uploaded
pictures
Played games
Promoted

business or cause
Sent
compliments
Updated

status

message
Posted

an

inspirational

or

informative
message
Posted vulgar or
obscene
messages
Logged on for
54

more than hour

Frequently=4
Occasionally =3
Rarely=2
Never=1

3.5

Validity and reliability of instruments

The instruments used was designed cover the areas addressed by the research questions and
objectives highlighted at the beginning of this report. The instrument was also designed to cover
other areas which will support the responses for the main issues. The pilot study helped to ensure
that the questions were sufficient to cover all dimensions of the study and also that there was a
consistency in terms of responses.
3.6

Data Analysis Procedure

55

The data was collected from primary sources and the results of the observation. Conclusions
were drawn based on the reported results on the findings and related to the research questions.
Therefore correlations between the responses were highlighted.
A total of 100 questionnaires were distributed and all of them were answered appropriately. The
questionnaires were distributed to friends and colleagues at the School of Media and
Communication, Pan-African University as well as family members and friends through
Facebook mail. The secondary data was done by assessing the profiles and activities of friends
on Facebook over a period of four months. Throughout these months, participation was increased
to allow the researcher observe properly, the various activities. The secondary data was analysed
by using the rating scale, particularly, the summated rating scale. The various activities were
assigned numerical values and they were weighted accordingly. The responding degree of each
activity was then measured according to each profile. The results were summed up in order to
determine the most prominent activities over this period and also to reinforce the findings from
the questionnaire.
The questionnaire responses were analysed using basic statistical tools which produced
descriptive tables, charts and other descriptive data. This is based on the use of research
questions.

56

CHAPTER FOUR
4.1

PRESENTATION/ANALYSIS OF DATA AND DISCUSSION

Data analysis

The research questions posed at the beginning of the study were explored by administering the
questionnaire to the 100 respondents. The nature of the questions was such that it avoided
ambiguous responses from the respondents and it also helped in quick analysis of the data
collected. The analysis was done by treating each question, based on the research question, table
by table. Responses were coded as 1 for the first response, 2 for the second, 3 for the third, etc.
Table 1 for question 1
57

Gender Male (1) Female (2)

Gender

Number

Male(1)

48

Female(2)

52

Total

100

Interpretation
The females were 52% of this sample while the males formed 48
Although this was a random sampling of young Facebook users, it is important to note the
distribution among the sexes. The number of females is just a little above the male. This is not a
core issue to be examined by this study but it can help us examine some issues and if there are
differences between the attitudes of one gender and the other. The difference in number is not
significant and therefore cannot give deep insights into any differences between the uses by each
gender.
Question2
Age range
Age

Frequency

18-24(1)

15(15%)

58

25-30(2)

57(57%)

31-35(3)

28(28%)

From the results obtained, the respondents within the ages of 25-\ to 30 were of the highest
number. The ages 31 to 35 were 28% of the group while the lowest among this number were
between the ages of 18 and 24. In a study conducted by Facebook, this age group had the highest
registered users. The responses obtained from other questions in the instrument can be said to be
a reflection of this majority.

Question3
Occupation
Occupation

Frequency

employee

41

self-employed 6
unemployed

student

45

Due to the environment in which the questionnaire was distributed, 45% of the respondents were
students while 41% were employees from various walks of life. Only 6 % were self employed
and 8 % were unemployed. Facebook as a media form seems to be used by people irrespective of

59

their occupation. If eight unemployed people out of hundred use Facebook, then it can be said to
be an indicator that Facebook has become mainstream.

Question 4
How long have you been registered on Facebook?
Time

Frequency

less than a year

16

more than a year

38

years

and 46

above

Interpretation
From the table above, it is clear that a good number of young people in Nigeria have been using
Facebook for more than two years and it can be said to be a medium they are very familiar with.
This is quite clear from the 46% who have been registered for more than two years and also the
number of Nigerians on Facebook in the first place.
Based on gender: male

60

Female

From the results, 52% of males have joined Facebook for more than two years while 38% of the
females have joined it for more than two years. This may suggest that some females might have
been slower to join the network.

How many friends do you have on Facebook?

Number

Frequency

1-200

39

200-500

34

500-1000

20

1000+

61

Based on gender
Male

Female

62

Based on how long they have been registered:

Interpretation
From the table above, 7% have friends over one thousand even though 46% have been registered
for more than two years. 39% have between 1 and 200 friends while 34% indicated that they
have between 200 and 500 friends. This means than at least 73% of the sample have between 100
and 500 friends. The Facebook statistics page reports that the average user has 130 friends. This
suggests that the Nigerian user does not necessarily have fewer friends on Facebook than the
average user around the world.

63

Based on gender, 35% of the males have between 1 and 200 friends while 47% of the females
have between 200 and 500 friends. While 8% of the females have between 500 and 1000 friends,
27% of the males have this same number of friends. This may suggest that males tend to have
more friends than females.
In attempting to see if there is any relationship between the number of friends one has and the
number of years one has been a user; the charts show that the highest number were those who
have been registered for more than two years and have between 200 and 500 friends. The
collective number of friends is higher in those who have been registered for more than two years
although a few users who have been registered for less than two years also have this high
number. The results suggest that the more one is registered on Facebook, the more you are likely
to add new friends.

How many new friends do you think you made through Facebook?
New friends

Frequency

1-200

52

200-500

12

500-1000

1000 +

don't know

24

none

64

Interpretation
From the table above, 8% have made no new friends on Facebook while 52% have made
between 1 and 200 friends. The results show a tendency towards adding new friends. This also
supports the uses and gratification theory in which case the gratification here is socialization.

How many friends do you think you have been able to reunite with through Facebook?
Number

Frequency

1-200

62

200-500

14

500-1000

1000 +

don't know

16

none

65

From the results above, more people have been able to reunite with existing friends than find
new friends. This gives us insights into the reasons young people use Facebook and what they
spend time doing.

These results also confirm what previous research discovered in other

countries. (Mesch and Talmud 2007, Ellison, Steinfield and Lampe 2007)
How many hours do you spend on Facebook?
Time

Frequency

15+

10 <14

6<9

3<5

18

1<2

33

<1

39

The results above indicate that even though many young people in Nigeria are registered on
Facebook, they are not logged in most of the time. However, on a larger scale, one hour a day
will result in seven hours a week and then thirty hours a month. That is a long time to spend on
one communication channel and from the results above, 39% spend less than an hour while 33%
spend between an hour and two on Facebook.

Why did you join Facebook?

Why did you join Facebook

Fre

66

to make new friends

17

find old friends

25

communicate with existing friends

29

find someone I can share a relationship 2

with
to interact with people with common 10
interests
to run a business

to promote a cause

I was invited

12

Interpretation
From the table above, the implications are that a higher number of people join Facebook to
communicate with existing friends. 12% said they joined because they were invited and this is
also based on existing relationships because only friends who have the contact details of others
can invite them. Although 17% said they joined to make new friends, 23 % also said they joined
to find old friends. These results suggest that a large number of young Nigerians join Facebook

67

based on existing relationships and that it is a medium for maintaining those relationships and
new ones.
Which activity do you spend most time doing?
Activity

Freq

posting msgs and chatting

58

updating msgs and status

12

posting

and

viewing 12

pictures
writing notes

playing games

creating applications

looking for old friends

10

promoting business

Interpretation

68

58% said the activities they engage in most is posting messages and chatting. This suggests that
most use Facebook is to socialize in addition to other activities. No respondent ticked creating
applications as an option. This is an indication of the low rate of participation in technical
activities. It also indicates that the level of creativity and innovation among these users is very
low because one of the strongest features which youths around the world have used on Facebook
is the ability to recreate applications.

If you were not using Facebook, what would you have done to utilize that time?
act

number

studying

15

hanging

20

out/socializing
doing

more 45

constructive
reading novels

12

any others

69

Interpretation
45% of the respondents said if they were not using Facebook, they would have been doing more
constructive work. This shows that the usage of Facebook takes up the time which could be used
to do other things. This also shows that even though Facebook is very well used and accepted, it
is taking the place of some activities.

Have you ever met someone you have come to know through Facebook?

response number
yes

50

no

50

Interpretation
The number of respondents who have met someone who they have come to know through
Facebook is the same as those who have never had that experience. This suggests that there is an
equal chance of each situation occurring.
70

Do you think Facebook helps you to be friendlier?

Response

Number

yes

52

no

48

Interpretation
52% of the sample said Facebook helps them to be friendlier. Although there is no significant
difference between the total of both responses, the 52% that indicated that Facebook helps them
to be more confident shows that Facebook plays a role in contributing to social interaction and
making it easier for some youths who might not have such skills offline.

In what way has Facebook benefited you as a user?

benefits

number

I have more friends

16

I am able to connect with existing friends

58

71

I have found a life partner through these 0

sites
leisure when I am alone

14

I run my business on Facebook

I express myself better

I learn from others

I have enhanced interpersonal skills

Interpretation
The results from this also show that more of the respondents (58%) consider communicating
with existing friends the major benefit they have enjoyed while using Facebook. This also
corroborates previous research in other parts of the world with findings that social media are
used to maintain existing relationships.

72

Do you feel Facebook has created any negative impact on you?

Response Number
yes

19

no

81

From the results, it indicates that most of these young people do not see any negative impacts of
using Facebook.
Nature of negative impacts

impacts

number

loss of time

12

more reliance on e-media

increase

in

rivalry

and 2

competitiveness
emotional disturbance

For those who admitted that Facebook had some negative impacts on them, the most worrisome
form of impact for them was the loss of time and reliance on electronic media. This also
corroborates what was deduced from other results which indicated that the time being used on
Facebook could be used for other things.
Does Facebook influence your lifestyle in any way?
73

Response

Number

yes

40

no

60

Fewer people admitted that Facebook influence their lifestyles. This means that although a large
number of people are registered on and use Facebook, they decide how to live their lives and
even though they come in contact with various messages, they are able to live lives without
living according to these messages. This also relates to the uses and gratifications theory which
shows that the consumer is not passive and makes decisions based on his or her own needs and
wants.

Nature of influence

influence

number

career

dressing

& 2

education
socializing

30

74

education

The highest way in which Facebook has influenced the youths lifestyles is through socializing.
This is also a proof of the results from previous questions which showed that most youths used
Facebook to communicate with friends.

Source
source

number

Internet

41

Friends

57

Others

The friends option was the highest selected source of familiarity with Facebook. This also
indicates that a large number of Facebook relationships are based on existing relationships.

Do you use social media as an alternative to other communication media?

Alternative num
yes

74

no

26

75

This result shows that many of the users tend to use Facebook over other communication tools
from time. It also indicates that they are likely to rely very much on such social media to
maintain their relationships.

What other social media sites do you use?

Responses number
yes

76

no

24

76% of the respondents use at least one other social media site. This indicated that social media
is very widespread and very few people use only one social media site. It also shows that people
tend to use social media sites that meet their various needs and in which people who have
common interests use.
Do you use any academic social media site?

Responses number
yes

41

no

59

76

There are many academic social media sites and even though the sample had a large percentage
of students, 59% do not use any academic social media site. This means that very few people are
aware of the usefulness of the use of social media for education or in education.

From the observation of the accessible profiles of users, the following were the sum totals of
each activity by these users:
Post personal information: 24 /10= 2.4
Post on other profiles: 30/10=3
Uploaded pictures: 25/10=2.5
Played games: 17/10=1.7
Promoted a business or cause: 23/10=2.3
Sent compliments: 29/10=2.9
Updated status message: 28/10=2.8
Posted an inspirational or informative message: 29/10=2.9
Posted vulgar or obscene messages : 11/10=1.1
Logged on for more than an hour: 27/10=2.7
From the results above, the activity with the highest weight is posting on others. This also
corroborates the results from the questionnaire which indicated that the most activity carried out
on facebook is communicating with friends, especially existing friends. The other activity which
77

forms part of relating with others is the sending of compliments or greetings. This is very evident
on birthdays, weddings and other celebrations. Other activities which also have a high weight
include posting inspirational or informative messages. The weight of the vulgar messages is very
low and corresponds to never. From this, it is also indicative that the likelihood of
communicating with vulgar or obscene information is very low and facebook tends to be used by
the youths for socialization in a positive way.

4.2

Discussion of findings

This study was intended to give answers to the research questions raised in chapter one. The
answers derived from respondents through questionnaire were used to find out if the problems
raised by the research questions were resolved.
A careful examination of the data collected revealed that the research questions received
adequate answers as follows:

Research questions

How much time do youths spend on Facebook?

From the questionnaire, with regard to time spent, the results showed that 39% of the
youths spend less than an hour on Facebook. About 33 % spent more than an hour and
less than two hours logged on. From direct observation, it can be deduced that most

people are logged in for more than one hour only occasionally.
What are the reasons youths use Facebook in Nigeria?

78

The results indicated that 29% of the youths joined Facebook to communicate with
existing friends. 25% of the youths said they joined to find old friends. This shows that a
significant number of young Facebook are attracted to Facebook based on existing
relationships and join it to maintain these relationships. The 12% who said they joined
Facebook because they were invited confirms the use of Facebook based on existing
offline relationships.17% also joined to make new friends. This shows that Facebook is

mostly used as a socialization tool.

What activities do youths engage in on Facebook?
The results showed that 58% (most of the group) post messages and chat more than they
do other activities. This also shows that socialization is the highest activity being carried
out on Facebook. The results from the observation rating scale also shows that this is true

as the highest rating were for social interaction via Facebook.

What benefits do youths derive from Facebook?
The results show that a higher number of the youths: 52% admit that Facebook has
helped to make them friendlier. This indicates that Facebook helps to enhance
interpersonal skills. Further responses also tell us that 58% of the youths see the fact that
they are able to communicate with their friends as the most important benefit. Only 2%
see the fact they can run their businesses on Facebook as a benefit. This also indicates
that although there have success stories of the use of social media to run businesses,
many Nigerian youths do not place importance on it. Also, 75% of the respondents who
indicated that Facebook influence their lifestyles said their socialization habits were
influenced.

What is the impact of Facebook on the lives of young people in Nigeria?

The responses to benefits and influences show that Facebook has a positive impact on
the lifestyles of youths in Nigeria, especially in terms of social interaction. The results

79

show that the youths need to make good use of other beneficial features of this social
networking site. 81% of the sample says that there has been no negative impact from
Facebook. For the 19% of those who admit there are negative impacts, 52% express the
impact as loss of valuable time. This is also supported by the responses which indicated
that if they were not using Facebook, they would have been doing more constructive
work, studying or socializing offline. This shows that these media sites might be leaving
the students with less time to study, read books and novels. With regard to the use of
Facebook as an alternative mode of communication, 74% admitted to using Facebook as
an alternative to other kinds of communication channels which also emphasizes the
reliance on electronic media for communication needs.

80

CHAPTER FIVE

SUMMARY OF FINDINGS

The purpose of this project as stated in the initial chapter was to understand the usage of social
media by Nigerian youths. It was also set to understand their attitudes towards this form of media
and the impact on their lifestyles. The study explored existing literature, based on various
dimensions of the case in study. It also looked at the relationship between the youths in Nigeria
and Facebook as well as how the uses and gratification theory relates to the use of media. The
study carried out a primary research on users of Facebook between the ages of 18 and 45 to
understand their activities on this site and how they might be deriving some form of benefit from
the use of this social media site. An observation of the users of this site was also carried out and
their various activities were weighted to find out which activity was most prominent. This was
done to support the results obtained from the questionnaire.
Therefore the findings are presented in the two categories of:
a. Findings from the literature review
b. Findings from the field research.
This is to enable easy and clear comparison of both categories of findings since the literature
review is more international and global than the field research which is limited to Nigeria.

5.1

Key Findings from Literature Review

Social media have become a worldwide phenomenon and various parts of the world have
responded to it as most people will to any kind of development. From Facebook statistics,
at least one million, seven hundred and fourteen thousand Nigerians are on Facebook.
81

Social media has become a mainstream activity and has become a major mode of
communication especially for youths, who form about 50% of the world population on
Facebook.

Social media has moved from being just interactive to a form of mass media. Therefore,
there have been attempts to extend to social media, those theories that applied to mass

media.
Social media has been predicted as a strong force in shaping public opinion especially in

issues of politics, social causes and sexuality.

Social media has also been an expression of the complexities between the media and

society. This stems from the fact that much of social media is user-generated content.
Although there have been a great amount of reception of this new media, a lot of it is met

with suspicion especially regarding issues of privacy and security.

Many of the researches carried out on internet media have explored the uses and
gratifications theory. These researches have been fruitful in understanding consumer

behaviors based on motivations.

Evidence from various researches shows that social networking sites are used widely and

are used to support and maintain existing relationships, not to create new ones.
Many users of social media use it to communicate based on existing relationships.
Facebook is one of the most popular social media sites and social networking on
Facebook is one of the most popular activities on the internet.

Relationships developed offline have been discovered to be stronger than those developed
online.

Technologies are used to enable social relationships.

Social media interaction tends to widen the circle of relationships which the user has
offline.
82

Research has also shown that people who had fewer friends offline tend to have few
friends online as well. This has been suggested to limit the socialization benefits of social
media.
5.2

Key Findings from Primary Data Survey

Youths in Nigeria use social media to maintain existing relationships and make
new friends.

Most youths in Nigeria spend an average of between 0 and 2 hours per day on
Facebook.

Most youths in Nigeria joined Facebook to connect with old friends, existing
friends or because they were invited by friends.

Most Nigerian youths on Facebook have little or no privacy concerns associated

with Facebook

Facebook is seen by Nigerian youths as a beneficial tool for socialization

Most youths on Facebook spend more time chatting and posting messages than
they do other activities.

Social media tends to take time and keeps young people from doing other
activities such as studying or socializing offline.

Young people have also come to depend on electronic media more than before to
meet their communication needs.

83

5.3

Conclusion

This study has been able to confirm that most Nigerian youths use Facebook for socialization
purposes. This study is based on the uses and gratifications theory which says that media
consumers use media for various purposes based on their goals and needs. Students use social
networking to suffice their social needs like friendship. They are motivated and goal oriented to
preserve their self-confidence. They use is to get in touch with some of their friends, to discover
and establish new friendships and at the same time to achieve their social belongingness.
Therefore, this study concludes that there is an existing positive relationship between the social
networking services and the youths who use it. The habitats and attitudes formed according to
their aspirations were evidences that they have gratifications from using the social networking
sites. It serves as their prostheses. It enhances their interpersonal skills through frequent
communication and expression. It preserves their pre-existing cultural ideologies on society.
They tend to interact with different people and show their character.
Social belongingness was one of the motives and achievements of the students as they use those
social networking sites. This is also corroborated by the low number of people who expressed
privacy concerns or any form of negative influence or impact. It is evident that the ability to use
this site as they choose gives them the active power to decide what to do with the site.
The other dimensions to this are the issues of reliance on electronic media for communication
and how this might increase in the near future. Another issue that arises from this is the lower
number of youths who use academic social media. It would appear that the goals and needs of
the young users are based mainly on socialization.

84

5.4

Recommendations

This study was able to expose various insights into the uses of Facebook by Nigerian youths and,
also, other issues that may arise. Therefore, the following recommendations have been made for
obtaining maximum benefits from this form of media:
For Facebook users:

There is a need for Facebook users to ensure they understand why they are joining the
social media site in the first place so that they would not be overcome by any negative
impacts but rather they can use these sites for maximum benefit.

Young Nigerian users need to also make efficient use of such social media sites for other
benefits such as education or business and also to create applications so that they can
participate as full producers rather than consumers who only create content from a
limited point of view.

Young Nigerian users should also make good use of converged media so that they are not
limited to one or few sources of information when there are numerous sources.

Young Nigerians should also ensure they maintain their existing offline relationships
while creating value even though these forms of electronic media are available.

Young Nigerians on Facebook should also use these media to promote their talents,
interests and causes since they are available at little or no cost.

85

For Facebook owners

The Facebook owners need to see Facebook as a service and not just a business and ensure they
bring value to all their users
Another future tool social networking websites could use would be a licensing agreement with
certain parties to prevent copyright infringement from happening on the Internet.

Adults and older citizens

It is important to bridge the digital divide between the young and old to allow the best use of
these media. Social media has become mainstream media and is likely to be used in many areas.
Parents and guardians need to understand the use of these forms of media and, if possible,
attempt to use them, and try to be involved. This is because the use of social media by youths is
worrisome to some parents who are not sure of the reasons the youths use these media. Various
ways of achieving this can be through the use of social media in delivering news, education, in
small business managements and others.

To other researchers:
1. Researchers should conduct surveys that will trigger the students to talk about such personal
issue like social identity.

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2. Other researchers can explore the role of social media in the upcoming 2011 elections in
Nigeria as a measure of the role it plays in politics.
3. Researchers can also conduct a study which will compare the way social media is used in
various parts of the country and how this might relate to various cultures.
4. With the growing interest in social media, other researchers can also study the impact of social
media in marketing and advertising especially in third world countries like Nigeria.

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