INTRODUCTION

Background to the Study

(Boyd, 2010 says 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.
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 isn’t 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. .
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 Harvard’s data base 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, 2012)

1.2 Statement of the Problem

It is recorded that at least four million, seven hundred and fourteen Nigerians are
on Facebook and other social media with a good number of them being young.
(Facebook statistics, 2012).
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

Objectives of the Study

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 Nigeria,
1. To help identify some of the current and potential future issues around
people’s use of social media.
2. It seeks to understand how people are using social networking sites as well
as their attitudes to this form of communication.
3. To understand the use of social media by people in Nigeria especially the
youth.
4. To understand the attitudes towards social networking sites and the wider
issues that may arise from this.
5. To explore any effect of this form of media on the social skills of the
Nigerian youth
Significance of the Study
Fundamentally, it is essential we understand current usage and behaviour and
identify potential problems so that they can bead dressed. This can be seen in the
amount of academic studies on social media within the last seven years.

LITERATURE REVIEW
It is evident that there exists a relation between social media and their impact on
Nigeria youth. 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‘. 9 Tapscott (1998) talks of growing up in a
digital environment referring to the youth as the ― Net Generation.

Children are socializing in a hybrid virtual space, learning in innovative ways,

creating a new language and practicing multicultural values (Tappscott, 1998).

Survey results suggest that gaps between parents and children happens in
different ways: Internet expertise, awareness of risk, acknowledgement of
domestic regulations in place, and in what parents believe their children are doing
versus what they are actually doing (Livingstone and Bober, 2005). Anxieties
about the safety, health and balanced use of social media can be classified in
three main groups: worries about the exposition to unwanted material, online
victimization and the practice of dangerous online behaviors.
Also, technological modern developments have contributed to the
democratization of the family, especially in countries that are pioneers in
Information Communication Technologies (ICT.) The domestication of media used
by youth can be seen across ―diverse individuals versus socially stratified culture,
and nationally versus global identities and community‖ (Livignstone and Bober,
2005).

Therefore, social media has an impact on the youth in various ways. For instance,
with regard to exposure to problematic material, the Internet has changed the
way the consumption of pornography takes place. People have greater possibility
to access pornography through their own initiative or accidentally. Research has
revealed that the 57 percent of 9 to 19 years old, have come into contact with
online pornography. Their encounters with pornography happened in different
ways. The most common was in pop-up advert, open porn site accidentally when
looking for something else or in junk mail. Also 22 percent of 9-19 year old, daily
and weekly users have accidentally ended up on a site with violent or gruesome
pictures, and 9 percent on a site that is hostile or hateful to a group of people.
(Livingstone and Bober, 2005).

Additionally, a survey of risk, impact and prevention found that using the internet
intensively, taking risk online, going to chat rooms, and using the computer in
other people‘s homes are the most predictive behaviors associated with exposure
to sexual material on the internet. In addition, exposition to advertising and
consumption of virtual items is also on the rise.
Thus, the youth are constantly exposed to different types of marketing, not only
by visiting web pages, but also through the practice of their favorite hobbies.
Virtual online communities and video 12 games include exposition of real life
marketing inside the virtual settings. Some communities transform children‘s play
into a way of gathering information. (Chung and Grimes, 2005). New kinds of
games and virtual communities come into the picture when the user spends
money to enhance the gaming experience (e.g. subscriptions, purchasing virtual
items). Many of these virtual spaces are based on a real economic infrastructure
where users Real Trade money (RTM) in order to buy, sell, and exchange virtual
items or virtual money. (Ortiz, A, 2007). Social media has also resulted in online
sexual victimization among the youth.

The Youth Internet Safety Survey, conducted by Crimes Against Children Research
Center at the University of Lagos, interviewed 1,501 youth ages 10 to 17 years
that frequently use the internet found that the 19 percent of youth (77 percent
were 14 years or older) have received an unwanted sexual solicitation via the
web; only 24 percent of teens told a parent about the solicitation (29 percent told
a peer); and 75 percent of teens were not worried by the sexual online
solicitation. Consequently, harassment among peers has become unlimited
thanks to the youth‘s access to the modern technologies. This technology has also
resulted in the development of dangerous online behaviour.

SOCIAL MEDIA AND THE YOUTH

There has been a virtual explosion of the use of technology in making

interpersonal connections. This is particularly the case for young people. As early
as elementary school, many students are carrying cell phones. With ready access
to the internet and mobile phone technology, social networking has become a
phenomenon of unprecedented proportions and is expanding the concept of a
social network.

RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODOLOGY

Research methodology refers to the approach by which data is extracted to be
clearly understood. Wiersman (1996), states that the development of strategy for
conducting research is the third step after identifying a problem and completion
of the literature review. This chapter will therefore discuss the following: research
design, target population, sampling strategy, data collection instruments and
process and analysis of the data. This study will be conducted in one selected
universities within Nigeria County.

Research Method
There are two general methods in the social sciences: quantitative and qualitative
research. Mouton and Marais (1990) define the differences between quantitative
and qualitative research on the basis of the operational specificity of concepts,
hypotheses and methods of observation. It is, however, important to bear in mind
that these approaches to research do not represent mutually distinct components
of a typology. It is better to conceive of them as representing relative points on a
scale. While a qualitative study may conclude with tentative answers, these
answers can form the basis of future quantitative studies (Leedy, 1993).
The qualitative analysis will aim to give a complete, detailed description in the
form of words, pictures or objects while the quantitative analysis will classify
features, count them and construct statistical models in an attempt to explain
what is observed (Price, 2001; Hurley et al., 2007; Ton et al., 2008). In this study
there is a blending of both approaches with a greater leaning towards the
qualitative method. 39 Qualitative research is an umbrella term that covers a
variety of styles of social research. What actually separates qualitative research
and gives it its distinctive identity is the fact that it has its own approach to the
collection and analysis of data that marks it as quite different from its quantitative
counterpart.

According to Denscombe (2003), qualitative research is a method of

understanding meaning and patterns of behavior. Leedy (1993) expands on this
definition by viewing qualitative research as an inquiry process of understanding a
social or human problem, based on building a complex, holistic picture formed
with words, reporting detailed views of a smaller number of informants, and
conducted in a natural setting. Qualitative research, then, is a broad approach to
the study of social phenomena, its various genres are naturalistic and
interpretative, and it draws on multiple methods of inquiry.

Research Design
Research design involves the planning, organization, collection and analysis of
data so as to provide answers to questions such as: what techniques will be used
to gather data? What sampling strategies and tools will be used? And how will
time and cost constraints be dealt with? (Leedy, 1993). The researcher proposes
to use the descriptive survey design to gather data relating to the impact of social
media among the youth on behavior change, attitude and perception. A
descriptive survey aims at describing the distribution of a phenomenon in a
population and thereby establishing the facts (percentages and frequencies).
According to Saunders et al., (2003) descriptive survey has a broad appeal for
planning, monitoring and evaluating policies.

H0: There is no association on time spent in networking and the act of youth
H1: There is association on time spent in networking and the act of youth Positive
-51, Negative -99
S/No Average Time Spent Impact on performance
YES NO TOTAL
1. 1 1hr 9 12 21
2. 3 hours 14 31 45
3. More than 3 hours 28 56 84
TOTAL 51 99 150

Inference: The Tabulated values ψ2 α = 0.05 for 2 differences is 5.99. The

calculated value is 28.9, more than the table value, H1 accepted and H0is
rejected. There is association on time spent in networking and the act of youth.
H0: There is no association on networking and lack of critical thinking skills
H1: There is an association on networking and lack of critical thinking skills
S No Social media Impact on critical thinking
YES NO TOTAL
1. WhatsApp 13 46 21
2. FaceBook 26 35 45
3. Instagram 7 23 84
TOTAL 46 104 150

Positive – 97 / Negative - 53 Inference: The Tabulated values ψ2 α = 0.05 for 2

differences is 5.99. The calculated value is 12.8, more than the table value, H1
accepted and H0is rejected. There is association on networking and lack of critical
thinking skills.

SAMPLING SIZE AND TECHNIQUES

A sample is a smaller number or the population that is used to make conclusions
regarding the whole population. Its purpose is to estimate unknown
characteristics of the population. Sampling therefore is the systematic process of
selecting a number of individuals for a study to represent the larger group from
which they were selected (Gay, 2011). The process of sampling takes in to
account various issues and will depend on the organization type, purpose,
complexity, time constraints and previous research in the area. There are two
types of sampling techniques employed by researchers - probability and
nonprobability sampling.
Probability sampling, as the name suggests, is based on the idea that people
selected as the sample will be representative of a cross-section the population
under study.
Non-probability sampling is conducted without such knowledge about whether
those included in the sample are representative of the population (Denscombe,
2003). The study proposes to use probability sampling. Probability sampling
methods are those in which every item in the entire population has a known
chance of being included in the study sample. The selected process is chiefly
random and independent of the person doing the research. This method
produces unbiased estimates with measurable precision that requires relatively
little knowledge about the population. Due to time and cost constraints, the
sample will be purposively drawn in the urban areas of the Nigeria County.
Nigeria has been preferred because they have the highest number of public and
private universities which is estimated to be 60% of the total. A total of 20
students from each selected university will be issued with a questionnaire to fill in
for the study.

Data Collection Tools and Procedures

There are numerous ways of collecting data and these depend on the purpose
and aims of the research. In this study data is collected by means of
questionnaires and interviews. The researcher will employ the services of
research assistants who will be given a time frame for collection of the data for
analysis.

Data Analysis and Presentation

Data analysis consists of the examining, categorizing, tabulating or otherwise
recombining the evidence to address the initial propositions of the study. The
data obtained from the questionnaires are analyzed using a technique called
"open coding".
This technique involves a process of breaking down, examining, comparing,
conceptualizing and categorizing data (Leedy, 1993). Open coding enables the
researcher to classify and categorize data so that patterns can be discovered and
conclusions drawn. The researcher makes up codes as she progresses through the
data. In this way the researcher searches for common dominant themes that
appear in the transcripts of the data. Once codes are awarded to different
segments, the researcher groups and categorize related 43 codes. Once the
researcher has saturated themes that have emerged from the analysis, these
themes become a basis for discussion. Descriptive statistics will be used in
analysis of the data and this will be presented in frequencies and percentages.

SUGGESTIONS
 Youth must be taught to analyze the data and able to judge the information
that contaminates our values which will certainly benefit our country, the
companies with a sense of greatness in life.
 Young people should not provide their personal information in social media
as it will be misused by third parties.
 Minimize negative effects of social media while chatting
 To safe guard the future generation, teachers and parents should make
sure what the children are doing in social media
CONCLUSION
This study was mainly conducted to check the impact of networking on
youngsters. It is understood that they are wasting the precious time and also
leads to health problems due to sleepless nights. When posting information in
social media cultural and religious values must be kept in mind and should not
affect anyone