The Influence of Social Media Influencers on Nigerian Youths
CHAPTER ONE
Objective of the study
The main objective of this study is to examine the influence of social media influencers on Nigerian youths. Specially, the study aims:
- To determine how the youth use social media in their daily lives
- To determine if the youth prefer social media as means of communication as opposed to traditional methods.
- To find out the impacts social media influencers has on behavior changes among the youths.
- To determine the risks that comes with use of social media on the youth.
CHAPTER TWO
LITERATURE REVIEW
Introduction
Social media is the integration of digital media including combinations of electronic texts, graphics, moving images and sound into a structured computerized environment that allows people to interact with the data for appropriate purposes. The digital environment can include the internet, telecoms and interactive digital television. The web is becoming part of general business for communication, sales and services. It is changing business practices. Its technical limitations affect the amount of material and speed of access to material. The web primarily depends on phone line connections, so the better these are across a territory, the more reliable the service. The inherent limitations of passing large amounts of digital information down phone lines have affected the type and quality of media that can be used effectively, as well as the nature of the interaction allowed by the web. There are ways to increase the performance by improving the technical limitations which depends on having a readily available infrastructure that can deliver more data faster and reliably, called Broadband.
Conceptual Review
It is evident that there exists a relation between social media and their impact on the youth‘s change in behaviour. Consequently, messages can reach audiences and target groups in real time and they can generate changes and tendencies. Today, young generations grow up having great contact with different kinds of social media. They are easily acquiring ―digital literacy‖ and live in a digital world to which adults are only ‗naturalized citizens‘.
CHAPTER THREE
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Introduction
In this chapter, we would describe how the study was carried out.
Research design
Research design is a detailed outline of how an investigation took place. It entails how data is collected, the data collection tools used and the mode of analyzing data collected (Cooper & Schindler (2006). This study used a descriptive research design. Gill and Johnson (2002) state that a descriptive design looks at particular characteristics of a specific population of subjects, at a particular point in time or at different times for comparative purposes. The choice of a survey design for this study was deemed appropriate as Mugenda and Mugenda (2003) attest that it enables the researcher to determine the nature of prevailing conditions without manipulating the subjects.
Further, the survey method was useful in describing the characteristics of a large population and no other method of observation can provide this general capability. On the other hand, since the time duration to complete the research project was limited, the survey method was a cost effective way to gather information from a large group of people within a short time. The survey design made feasible very large samples and thus making the results statistically significant even when analyzing multiple variables. It allowed for many questions to be asked about a given topic giving considerable flexibility to the analysis. Usually, high reliability is easy to obtain by presenting all subjects with a standardized stimulus; observer subjectivity is greatly eliminated. Cooper and Schindler (2006) assert that the results of a survey can be easily generalized to the entire population.
CHAPTER FOUR
DATA ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION OF FINDINGS
Introduction
This chapter dealt with data analysis, presentation and its interpretation. The results of the study were presented and discussed in relation to the research questions outlined in chapter one. This study aimed at investigating the influence of social media influencers on Nigerian youths.
In analysis, data from questionnaires was coded and analysed into quantitative summary reports using the statistical package for social sciences (SPSS) version 20. Data was keyed into the program under specific category from which analysis was run to obtain descriptive statistics in the form of frequencies and percentages.
CHAPTER FIVE
SUMMARY, CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
Summary of the study
As stated above, the study sought to find out the influence of social media influencers on Nigerian youths. Study objectives were formulated and research questions were derived from the objectives. Questionnaires were the instruments used in collection of data. Quantitative data collected, was then coded and inputted in statistical package for social science (SPSS). The results were carefully analyzed and presented to represent the actual situation on the ground. Qualitative data was closely analyzed qualitatively and important information extracted from what the respondents said. The data was then presented making relevant citations in comparison with the studies that had been done earlier and that related to the topic of study. Summary and conclusions were derived from the findings of the study.
Conclusion of the study
In view of the above summary, it was evident that social media influencers played a major role on behavior change of the respondents. The youths mostly used social media for communicating between their friends and families. The fact that social media is part of them especially having been born in this era of emerging technology, most felt that they could not do without it. They depended on it for various positive things such as research and contacts with old friends and getting on the loop of what was happening either in their circles, nationally or internationally.
Major recommendations from the study
- The youths need to be trained on better usage of the social media so as to minimize time wastage on chatting and other irrelevant engagements that are not of major importance on their lives.
- All the stakeholders and especially Communication Commission and network providers’ needs to come up with means of filtering information that reaches the young people through social media platforms. This will help minimize exposing them to pornographic and other unwarranted materials.
- Parents and security agencies should monitor activities of the young people on social media in order to protect them from sex pest and pedophiles.
- In order to communicate effectively to the young people schools and government agencies should adopt social media as one of their means of communication.
- To avoid having a generation that does not have face to face communication skills, all the stakeholders should consider organizing social events that the youth will use to interact and mingle with each other physically.
- The findings of this study should be used in policy formulation at levels of learning that the youths are inclusive such as high schools and universities and in government agents that deal with the youth.
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