ASSESSMENT OF NEGATIVE IMPACTS OF SOCIAL MEDIA

ON NIGERIAN YOUTHS
(A STUDY OF STUDENTS OF IMT ENUGU)

BY

OBIDINMA, OGECHUKWU CHIAMAKA

IMT/MC/H2018/078

SUPERVISOR
DR. JOSEPHAT I. OKOYE
Background of the Study
The nature of social media within mass media is a form of electronic
communication which uses web-based technologies to transform and
broadcast media menologies into social dialogues. They support the
democratization of knowledge and information and transform people from
content consumers to content producers. 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 overthrown other aspects of mass
media. Though social media started as a concept many years ago but has
evolved into sophisticated technology. There is no doubt that the effects of
social media on undergraduate students are something damaging. Some
students do not make or write complete sentence and inappropriate use of
grammatical methods while writing text messages. These explain why the
social media should be given a closer look.
 Statement of the Research Problem
Several studies revealed that social media have both positive and negative impact on
students. Some researchers acknowledge that social media sites not only engage
learners with their studies but also enhance their academic performance. For
instance, Onyeka Sajon and Bulus (2013) argue that the frequent use of social media
sites have no negative effects on the student's studies. Students can easily send and
receive message from friends instantly. They can also get quick update on current
burning issue as students immediately post on the site any information gathered.

Some studies conclude that most of the students use social media just to
communicate with friends. This distracts their studies. This present study will help
us to identify if social media really distract students from their education pursuit.
The problem of this study is to ascertain the negative impact of the social media on
youths with focus in IMT students.
Objectives of the Study
The objectives of this study are to:

 To determine the level of damage social media has done

on IMT students.

 To ascertain the negative impacts of social media on

students’ academic performance.

 To determine the extent to which social media have

negative impacts on Nigerian youths
Research Questions
The research questions for this study are:
 Do
social media have negative impacts on students of
IMT, Enugu?

 Whatlevel of damage have social media done on Nigeria

youths?

 Towhat extent do social media have negative impact on

Nigerian youths?
 Research Hypotheses
Ho: Social media do not have negative impacts on students of IMT,
Enugu
H1: Social media have negative impacts on students of IMT,
Enugu

Ho: Social media have not done great damage on Nigerian youths
H2: Social media have done great damage on Nigerian youths

Ho: The social media to a minimal extent have negative impacts on

Nigerian youths.
H3: The social media to a large extent have negative impacts on
Nigerian youths.
 Significance of the Study
The study has a lot of significance that it represents a symbol of
academic achievement as having contributed to the already record or
research in communication art. The study will also be of immense
benefit to the entire society spectrum of Nigeria and beyond as it
will allow appropriate authorities, social institutions to access. The
outcome of this study will be for future researchers and the entire
undergraduates, as data relating to social media. Parents and
guardians will benefit from this research work as it will enlighten
them on how social media influence their children and wards
negatively.
 Operational Definition of Terms
Impact: The negative effect that social media have on the students of
IMT, Enugu.

Social Media: These are computer mediated tools that enable the
students of IMT to exchange information. These tools are 2go,
WhatsApp, Facebook, and twitter which influence IMT Students
negatively.

Youth: This refers to the students of the Institute of Management and

Technology, (IMT), Enugu.

Negative: This refers to the unpleasant effects social media exerts on

the students of IMT Enugu.
Theoretical Framework
 Uses and Gratification Theory
 Cultivation Theory
Theoretical Framework CONT’D
 Uses and Gratification Theory
Uses and gratification theory is an approach to understand why and how people
seek specific media to satisfy and meet their needs. Wimmer and Dominick (1994)
proposed the uses and gratification theory which began in the 1940's when
researchers become interested in why audiences engaged in various forms of media
behaviour, such as listening to the radio or reading newspaper still others credit the
uses and gratification perspective to Schramm's (1949) immediate reward and
delayed reward model of media gratification (Dozier & Rice, 1984).

 Relevance
Uses and gratification theory is pertinent to the explanation of this study because
the youths often use the different social media due to the level of satisfaction they
drive from them.
Theoretical Framework CONT’D
 Cultivation Theory
Cultivation theory on the other hand, was a theory composed originally by G.
Gerbner and later expanded upon by Gerbner and Gross in 1976. They began
research in the mid 1960s endeavoring to study media effects. Cultivation theory
states that high frequency viewers of television are more susceptible to media
messages and the belief that they are real and valid. Cultivation Research is one
that studies media effects - their primary focus falls on the effects of viewing in the
attitudes of the viewer as opposed to created behaviour.

 Relevance
Cultivation theory as discussed is pertinent in the explanation of this study as the
youths learn violent acts and other social evils they perpetrate in the society today
from the videos and other material they share and view on social media
Research Methodology and Design

The research methodology for this study is the survey

research methodology. The research design is the qualitative
research design.

The particular qualitative design that is used is the non-

experimental research design, which does not involve a
manipulation of the situation, circumstances or experience
of the participants.
 Area of Study
The area of study for this work is IMT Enugu.
Population, Sample Size and Sampling Technique

The population of this study was drawn from IMT

Enugu

The sample size is 392 which was drawn from the

population using Taro Yamane formula.

The researcher adopted the simple random

sampling technique.
Measuring Instrument

The instrument of data collection in this study is the

questionnaire.

The questionnaire is a structured one and is designed

with close-ended and open-ended questions.
Method of Data Collection
The methods of data collection adopted by the researcher in
this study are primary and secondary data collection
methods.

The primary source of data includes interview, discussions

and observations. The secondary source of data includes the
consultation of books, related and relevant works on the
subject matter of this study.
 Summary of Findings
 Students of the Institute of Management and Technology (IMT), Enugu make use
of social media in its apogee, though for various sort of gratifications.

 Students make use of social media to get new dates online, stay connected with
distant friends for pleasurable leisure and escapist aura.

 Students are addictive to social media like Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and
Twitter as they cannot do without it which is a major distraction.

 The negative influence of social media among students of IMT, Enugu is in its
apogee and higher extent with an addictive subliminal effect on the students.
Conclusion
The research outcome clearly point out that the negative impacts of social media
among the students of IMT has gained much prevalence, patronage and vehement
addiction since its maiden launch in later 1990's and early 2000s. Also the study
found out that almost all the students of IMT, Enugu are on Facebook, 2go,
WhatsApp and twitter owing to their use of sophisticated phones of all sorts.

Based on the findings of this study, one can conclude that the use of social media
(Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp and 2go) among students of IMT, has gone
sublime both in usage and prevalence. Everyone is connected and online too. But
the question is why are you connected? What impact do these social media
platforms have on you? To this end, the researcher concludes that social media
has done more harm than good to students of IMT.
 Recommendations
 A more extensive and detailed study should be carried out in this area of study so
as to ascertain more findings on the negative impacts of social media among
Nigeria youths.
 Parents and guardians should check on the rate of usage of different social media
platforms by their children\wards to give limit to the addictions x-rayed from the
study.

 Government on their own part should devise a social media usage regulator to
restrict over usage among Nigerian youths.

 Seminars and educational workshops should be carried out on the prevalent use
of social media platforms like Facebook, twitter, 2go to know their negative
sublime effects on students and youths.
 Students on their own should devise a priority schedule on how to use these
social media networks to stop interference in between their choice of study and
academic objectives.
THANKS