The Role of Social Media in Development Communication

Seminar paper from the year 2016 in the subject Communications - Public Relations, Advertising, Marketing, Social Media, grade: B, , language: English, abstract: This study was carried out to investigate the use of social media in development communication and how undergraduate students of Akwa Ibom State University perceived the usage. The specific objectives were: to find out if Akwa Ibom State University students are aware of the potential of social media for development communication and effect. Ascertain the specific social media that can be used for development communication. Determine the kind of development communication message that social media can be used for. Examine the constraints facing the use of social media for development communication and solutions.

The study adopted the survey research design which was employed to derive responses from a sample size of 200 undergraduate students of the Department of Mass Communication Akwa Ibom State University who were selected via random sampling techniques. Data were collected from this population using questionnaire.

The study revealed that: Akwa Ibom State University students are aware of the use of social media for development communication to a large extent; over half of the respondents use Facebook to send and receive information more than any other social networks; education messages were mostly communicated through the social media followed by messages on rural development; the use of the social media to communicate development was constrained greatly by lack of access to computers and high cost of subscription for internet access. Drawn from the findings, it was recommended that more enlightenment should be done in terms of using the social media to trigger development consciousness among the citizens.