media usage in nigeria vincent oghenevweta diakpomrere, ph
TRANSCRIPT
International Journal of Humanitatis Theoreticus. Vol. 4. (Issue: 1); Sept., 2020
1
Relationship Between the Behavioural Patterns of Undergraduates in Uniben and Social
Media Usage in Nigeria
By
Festus Prosper Olise, Ph.D
Department of Mass Communication,
University of Benin (UNIBEN),
Benin-City, Nigeria
E-Mail – [email protected]
Mobile No: 08032067241
Abstract
The line between the behavioural patterns undergraduates in tertiary institutions exhibit and
their usage of social media in Nigeria may be blurred. This situation may be further widened
depending on the gender, age and disposition of the students towards social media usage.
Accruing from this disposition and based on the tenets of the theory of planned behaviour, this
study adopted cross-sectional research design. Krejcie & Morgan (1970) formula was
employed in selecting 382 participants for the study. The participants were proportionately
selected to reflect all the undergraduates in the 14 faculties of University of Benin (UNIBEN)
for the 2019/2020 academic session. The research instrument for this study, which was the
questionnaire, was tested using Cronbach Alpha and the instrument yielded a co-efficient of
0.89. Data obtained were subjected to descriptive and inferential statistics which included
frequency Tables, charts, simple percentage, means scores, standard deviation, Pearson Chi-
Square, independent sample t-test and Phi-Cramer using Statistical Package for the Social
Sciences (SPSS) version-20 software. Findings revealed that undergraduates within the age of
18-29 years were heavy users of social media; and the more undergraduates use social media,
the less likely they would read their books frequently. It was also discovered that
undergraduates who sleep after midnight were more likely to exhibit social media related
behaviour. The study also found that male and female undergraduates exhibit different
behaviours accruing from their usage of social media in Nigeria. The study concluded that
human behaviour changes more and more when they use social media because social media
have capacity and capability to alter human behaviour either negatively or positively depending
on usage. It was recommended among other things that self-discipline and proper time
management are paramount in the use of social media among undergraduates so as to avoid
detrimental effects associated with the use of social media.
Keywords: Behavioural Patterns, Social Change, Social Media, Nigeria, Undergraduates
Introduction
The number of social media users in Nigeria keeps increasing exponentially. Reports
from Statista (2020) showed that in 2019, there were approximately 30.3 million social media
users in Nigeria, and this figure is projected to grow to 36.8 million in 2023. Interestingly,
students and the young constitute majority of this chunk of social media users. Students use
social media to gain wider knowledge (De La Cruz, 2017), to engage in romantic relationships
(McDaniel, Drouin & Cravens, 2018), improve learning, for research, building social
credibility (Dlamini, 2019), communication, etc. Indeed, social media provide students with a
more engaging and rewarding social experience, thus increasing user retention and adoption.
Vincent Oghenevweta
Diakpomrere, Ph.D
Department of Theatre Arts,
University of Benin (UNIBEN),
Benin-City, Nigeria
E-Mail – [email protected]
Mobile No: 0805508021
International Journal of Humanitatis Theoreticus. Vol. 4. (Issue: 1); Sept., 2020
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More importantly, social media are often seen as a means to rejuvenate the user base and attract
younger “social-savvy” users (Zhang & Pennacchiotti, 2013).
With these overwhelming patterns of usage of social media in Nigeria especially among
students, certain behaviours may emanate. A number of studies like that of Cheok, Edwards &
Muniru (2017) have shown that technology, social media inclusive, changes the behaviour of
people. Unarguably, social media may form the behaviours of its users both positively and
negatively. Human behaviour have been described by Cheok et al (2017) as the ways in which
humans act and interact, and it is influenced by several factors including genetic make-up and
socio-cultural factors or the interaction of these.
Social media have definitely changed the way people do things. These emerging media
such as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram etc, have impacted on people and their
behaviour in enormous ways. Hamid (2017) observes that this impact is predominantly
positive, but it must be borne in mind that there are or may be negative aspects as well. For
instance, Christakis & Fowler (2007) while investigating the spread of obesity in a large social
network over 32 years found that if someone on social media became clinically obese, their
friends were 57% more likely also to become obese. A friend of a friend of that obese person
was about 20% more likely to become obese, and this was the case even if the weight of the
linking friend remained unaltered. Also, Christakis & Fowler researched smoking, which
contained similarly arresting ties. They found that if a person began to smoke for the first time,
the chances of their friend doing the same increased by 36%. The implication of this finding is
that social media have indirect influence on the behavioural traits of it users. Obesity and
smoking, just like every other behavioural trait, tend to spread over the social networks.
Bearing this in mind, it therefore becomes pertinent for the researcher to investigate the
relationship between behavioural patterns of undergraduates in University of Benin
(UNIBEN); a tertiary institution in which the staff and students cut across every state in the
country, and social media usage in Nigeria.
Statement of the Problem
Changes in human behaviour increases the more people use technology, with special
emphasis on social media. The frequent uses of social media among Nigerians especially the
youths have inculcated inflections in the behaviour of people. Studies have found a number of
positive and negative effects of social media on the behavioural patterns of individuals. Cases
of social media usage causing depression, self-esteem problems, violence, building social
connections, etc have been found. From the researcher preliminary observation and
interactions, some students tend to live a fake life on social media, exhibit some negative
emotions such as envy, isolation. Yet, some students have improved interpersonal
relationships. Could these behaviours be a product of social media usage in Nigeria?
Furthermore, there have been a number of theoretical studies on the effects of social
media on human behaviour. However, empirical evidence on the impact of social media usage
on human behaviour is very scarce. There have been also been little efforts on understanding
the relationship between social media usage and the behavioural patterns of students. Thus the
need to establish the behavioural patterns of undergraduates as it relates to social media usage
in Nigeria becomes an issue of empirical investigation.
Objectives of the Study
The objectives of this study are to:
1. Ascertain the behavioural patterns undergraduates in University of Benin (UNIBEN) exhibit
as a result of social media usage in Nigeria.
2. Determine the usage of social media in Nigeria that affects the behavioural pattern of
undergraduates in UNIBEN
International Journal of Humanitatis Theoreticus. Vol. 4. (Issue: 1); Sept., 2020
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3. Establish the relationship between the behavioural patterns of undergraduates in UNIBEN
and social media usage in Nigeria.
Research Hypotheses
The hypotheses formulated for this study are:
Ho1: There is no significant difference between the behavioural patterns of male and female
undergraduates
Ho2: There is no significant difference between male and female undergraduates’ usage of
social media.
Literature Review
Social media have become the centre of the lives of many. People use social media on
the computers, on their smartphones, on their Tablets etc. It has become part of the
subconscious life of people. These emerging media are definitely taking over networking
socially. Notably, social media are web-based technologies that have come to stay. Palvik &
McIntosh (2011) write that social media involve the use of technology combined with social
interaction to create or co-create value. They are shifts in how people discover, read shared
news, information and content. It is a fusion of sociology and technology, transforming
monologue (one-to-many) into dialog (many-to-many). Dominick (2011) notes that social
media are online communication technologies that uses special techniques which are propelled
by participation, conversation, sharing, collaboration and linkage. Evidently, one thing is
certain from these definitions of social media. Social media is a product of web-based or
internet technologies and they depend on these online and mobile technologies to operate.
On the other hand, the different types of social media are Facebook, blogs, micro-
blogging, YouTube, Twitter, Wikis, Mash Up, Digg, Delicious Second Life, Flickr, Picasa,
amongst others. These rapidly growing technologies have influenced the way people do things
and the way people behave. This is because the behaviours of individuals are greatly influenced
by environmental factors. For instance, most of what we do, from what we eat to who we sleep
with, and even the way we feel, is significantly influenced by those around us’ and those around
them, and those around them. Our actions can change the behaviours, the beliefs, and even the
basic health of people we have never met. In a subtle fashion, social networks help spread
contagions; create “epidemics” of obesity, smoking (Link, Cawkwell, Shelley, Sherman,
2015); and substance abuse, disseminate fads and markets, alter voting patterns, and more
(Kasteler, 2010).
One behavioural pattern of students that have attracted the attention of researchers in
Nigeria is their learning and reading habits. It is however believed that social media may affect
the reading and learning habits of the typical Nigerian student. While some scholars opined
that social media will reduce the reading and learning behaviours of students, Cheok et al
(2017) argue that one of the major impacts of social networks will be the way students will
read and learn in the future. Reading, which is generally an isolated and linear activity will
become a nonlinear and collaborative activity. Cheok et al further note that the main skill to
obtain for learning will be how to collaborate, search, and extract knowledge. Learning in a
linear fashion and by memorization will become less and less important. This implies that the
learning activity becomes active. In the social media era, the most effective way of learning is
by doing and by tinkering.
In another line of thoughts, social media could also affect the self-esteem of students as
well as their mental health. It could be argued, therefore, that adolescents with lower self-
esteem are more likely to engage in frequent social media use than those with higher self-
esteem (Baker & White, 2010). Research has also shown that people who use social media
frequently have increased levels of negative emotions such as envy and isolation. This happens
International Journal of Humanitatis Theoreticus. Vol. 4. (Issue: 1); Sept., 2020
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when people make selective postings on social media thereby causing some to feel that
everyone else has a better life than the viewer/reader. This can lead to feelings of envy.
However, it is actually quite common for people to embellish (or fake) aspects of their lives on
social media in an effort to appear to be more than (or better than) what they are. Other
influence of social media on people especially students are: health related issues (Vaterlaus,
Patten, Roche, Young, 2015); buying behaviour and social changed (Zhang & Pennacchiotti,
2014; & Agnihotri, Kothandaraman, Kashyap, & Singh, 2012).
Theoretical Framework
This study was anchored on the theoretical stipulations of the theory of planned
behaviour. The theory was propounded in I980 by Martin Fishbein and Icek Ajzen. The theory
of planned behaviour can be applied to students' intentions to use of social media and how it
affects their behaviours. According to the TPB, behaviour is determined by one’s intentions to
perform the behaviour. Intention is influenced by attitude, subjective norm, and Perceived
Behavioural Control (PBC). PBC is also said to impact directly on behaviour). Attitude reflects
an individual’s positive or negative evaluation of performing the behaviour. Subjective norm
is the perceived social pressure to perform or not perform the behaviour. PBC is the perceived
ease or difficulty that the individual attaches to performing the behaviour (Pelling & White,
2009). This means that attitude towards social media usage, subjective norm, and perceived
behavioural controls are likely to determine individual's intention to use social media and the
behavioural changes therein, which, eventually, metamorphose into behavioural patterns.
Methodology
The cross-sectional research design was adopted for this study. From the official
website of the University of Benin (UNIBEN), it was revealed that the University of Benin is
a very large educational institution with about 75,000 students. The students in UNIBEN cut
across every state of the nation, Africa and the rest of the world. Based on this, the population
of this study was hinged on 75,000 and the sample selected for the study was 382. To arrive at
the 382 as the sample, Krejcie & Morgan (1970) formula for determining sample size for
research was employed. As indicated on the Krejcie & Morgan’s formula for determining
sample size of a known population, 382 was adjudged appropriate and suitable for any study
with 75,000 as in the case of this study, as its population. Furthermore, the 382 students were
selected to reflect and represent all the 14 faculties in UNIBEN using proportionate sampling
technique
A self-designed questionnaire was used to gather data from the selected sample. The
questionnaire was tested using Cronbach Alpha and a reliability coefficient of 0.87 was yielded.
The implication of this was that the items in the questionnaire were internally consistent and
reliable. Data collected were analyzed using inferential statistics, mean score, stand deviation
simple percentages etc with the aid of SPSS version 20. All Tables were designed using
Microsoft excel to enhance pictorial and graphical illustration and presentation of data for easy
understanding.
Analysis/Results
Table 1: Demographic Variables of Underaduates (n=382)
Variables Frequency Percent
International Journal of Humanitatis Theoreticus. Vol. 4. (Issue: 1); Sept., 2020
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Gender Male 216 56.5
Female 166 43.5
Age in Years 18-23 years 187 49.0
24-29 years 184 48.2
30-35 years 8 2.1
36years and above 3 .8
Level of Study 100 66 17.3
200 48 12.6
300 35 9.2
400 161 42.1
500 51 13.4
600 21 5.5
Religion of
Respondents
Christianity 357 93.5
Islam 12 3.1
Traditional 11 2.9
non-believer 2 .5
Marital Status
of
Respondents
Married 43 11.3
Single 329 86.1
In a relationship 3 .8
separated 3 .8
Divorced 4 1.0
Table 1 indicates that more responses were received from male students (56.5%) than
female students (43.5%). There were also more responses from 400 level students (42.1%) as
well as students within the age range of 18-23 years (49.0%). Majority of the respondents
were Christians (93.5%) and single (86.1%)
Behavioural patterns undergraduates exhibit as a result of social media usage in Nigeria.
In this part of the questionnaire, the perceptions of the participants were sought on the
behaviours they had as a result of their social media usage. The items focused on respondents
sleeping behaviour, drinking, feeding, smoking, religious activities, academic and social
behaviours as well as their self-esteem.
International Journal of Humanitatis Theoreticus. Vol. 4. (Issue: 1); Sept., 2020
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Table 2: Sleeping and Feeding Behaviours of Undergraduates (n=382)
Behaviours/Perceptions Frequency Percent
The time you usually
sleep on a daily basis is
Before mid-night 141 36.9
After mid-night 210 55.0
Not able to sleep 9 2.4
Not sure 22 5.8
You smoke cigarette
from time to time
Strongly
Disagree
360 94.2
Disagree 15 3.9
Agree 5 1.3
Strongly Agree 2 .5
You
sometimes/regularly
drink alcohol
Strongly
Disagree
180 47.1
Disagree 99 25.9
Agree 84 22.0
Strongly Agree 19 5.0
One of these reveals
your eating habit
I eat once a day 25 6.5
I eat twice a day 67 17.5
I eat thrice a day 205 53.7
I eat more than
thrice a day
85 22.3
Majority of the respondents were found to sleep after mid-night (55.0%). Very few
respondents were not able to sleep at all (2.4%). Nevertheless, 38.9% of the respondents had
the behaviour of sleeping before mid-night. Also revealed in Table 2 is that majority of
respondents were in strong disagreement that they smoke from time to time (94.2%) and drink
alcohol as well (47.1%). With regards the pattern of their feeding, 53.7% of respondents eat
thrice a day, 22.3% eat more than thrice a day, 17.5% eat twice a day while 6.5% eat once a
day.
Table 3: Undergraduates’ Social and Academic Behaviours (n=382)
Behaviours/perceptions Frequency Percent
You read your
books on a
Daily basis 278 72.8
Weekly Basis 95 24.9
Only when it is time for
examination
9 2.4
You attend all
your lectures
everyday
Strongly Disagree 1 .3
Disagree 3 .8
Agree 334 87.4
Strongly Agree 44 11.5
International Journal of Humanitatis Theoreticus. Vol. 4. (Issue: 1); Sept., 2020
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You attend
church/Mosque
from time to time
Strongly Disagree 13 3.4
Disagree 21 5.5
Agree 189 49.5
Strongly Agree 159 41.6
You are involved
extra curriculum
activities/social
clubs
Strongly Disagree 113 29.6
Disagree 172 45.0
Agree 62 16.2
Strongly Agree 35 9.2
As shown in Table 3, out of the 382 students surveyed, 72.8% were found to read their
books on a daily basis. Also, 87.4% were in agreement that they attend their lectures every day.
Majority of respondents (49.5%) also agreed that they attend church and mosque from time to
time. Meanwhile, more respondents were in disagreement that they were involved in extra
curriculum activities/ social clubs (45.0%).
Usage of social media in Nigeria that affects the behavioural pattern of undergraduates
in UNIBEN
This section of the questionnaire presented items that sought responses on the patterns
of social media usage that could affect the behavioural patterns of undergraduates. Table 4
shows frequency of social media usage among undergraduates
Figure 1: Pie-Chart showing the Frequency at which Undergraduates Use Social Media
Figure 1 shows that there is a preponderance of respondents who used social media
daily, that is, an overwhelming 356 (93.2%) out of the 382 respondents. Only 6.8% used social
media on a weekly basis while no respondents said that never use social media. Evidently, the
undergraduates were heavy users of social media.
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Figure 2: Bar Chart showing the Uses of Social Media among Undergraduates
Participants were also asked to state what they use social media for by ticking the given
options displayed in Figure 2. As indicated, 219 of the respondents, that is 57.5% opined that
they use social media for research and 215 (56.3%) used social media for chatting. Other uses
indicated were social media is used for pornography (18.6%), Sourcing news (26.7%),
advertising (18.1%), sharing pictures/video (27.5%), searching for partner (22.3%) and for
communication with alternative partner (21.7%).
Relationship between the behavioural patterns of undergraduates in UNIBEN and Social
Media Usage in Nigeria.
Pearson Chi-Square test of contingencies was used to check the relationship between
the behavioural patterns of undergraduates in UNIBEN and social media usage in Nigeria.
Table 6 shows only the significant results.
Table 4: Relationship between the Behavioural patterns of Undergraduates and Social
Media usage in Nigeria Social Media
Usage
Behaviours N X2 Df P Phi-
Cramer
V
Interpretat
ion of
strength
Research The time you usually sleep
on a daily basis is
382 155.44 3 .000 .638 Very
strong
Chatting The time you usually sleep
on a daily basis
382 163.874 3 .000 .655 Very
strong
Pornography The time you usually sleep
on a daily basis is
382 71.099 3 .000 .431 Strong
Sourcing news The time you usually sleep
on a daily basis is
350 137.317 3 .000 .626 Very
strong
Communication
with alternative
partner
The time you usually sleep
on a daily basis is
348 84.980 3 .000 .494 Very
strong
Sourcing news You read your books on a
daily basis
350 49.073 2 .000 .374 Moderately
Strong
Sourcing news You are involved in extra
curriculum/social club
activities
382 201.734 3 .000 .759 Very
strong
International Journal of Humanitatis Theoreticus. Vol. 4. (Issue: 1); Sept., 2020
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The frequency at
which you use
social media
One of these reveals your
feeding habits
382 20.401 3 .000 .231 Weak
The frequency at
which you use
social media
You read your book on a
daily basis
382 25.303 2 .000 .257 Moderately
strong
The serial wise interpretations of results in Table 4 are:
1. Undergraduates who slept after midnight were likely to be carrying out research on
social media platforms. The strength of association using Phi-Cramer value was found
to be very strong.
2. Undergraduates who slept after midnight were likely to be using social media to chat.
The relationship between both variables is also very strong.
3. Those who could not sleep at all or slept after midnight are likely to be those who used
social media for pornography. The association is found to be strong meaning that people
who use social media for pornography are likely to display unstable sleeping
behaviours. Evidently, those who sleep after midnight were more likely to exhibit more
social media related behaviour
4. Those who cultivate the habit of reading everyday were more likely to use social media
to source for news. Invariably undergraduates who read their books daily were likely
to use social media basically for news sourcing. No significant relationship was found
between students who used social media for research and their reading behaviours.
5. A relationship was also found between students who used social media on a daily basis
and those who eat thrice a day although the effect was a weak one. Apparently, students
who used social media frequently were likely to eat at least thrice daily.
6. Those who used social media weekly were likely to read their books daily while those
who used social media daily were likely to read their books weekly
Testing of Research Hypothesis
Ho1: There is no significant difference between the behavioural patterns of male and
female undergraduates
Table 5: Differences in the Behavioural Patterns of male and female Undergraduates Independent Samples
Test
Levine’s Test for
Equality of
Variances
t-test for Equality of
Means
F Sig. T df Sig.
(2-
tailed)
Mean
Differ
ence
Std.
Error
Differ
ence
95% Confidence
Interval of the
Difference
Lower Upper
The time you
usually sleep
on a daily basis
is
Equal
variances
assumed
88.643 .000 8.433 380 .000 .605 .072 .464 .746
You smoke
cigarette from
time to time
Equal
variances
assumed
5.697 .017 -1.285 380 .199 -.048 .038 -.122 .026
You read your
books on a
Equal
variances
assumed
14.329 .000 -2.775 380 .006 -.170 .061 -.291 -.050
One of these
reveals your
eating habit
Equal
variances
assumed
4.815 .029 2.977 380 .003 .246 .083 .084 .409
International Journal of Humanitatis Theoreticus. Vol. 4. (Issue: 1); Sept., 2020
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The independent sample t-test was used to test the significant relationship/difference
between the behavioural patterns of male and female undergraduates. However, since the
standard deviations for the two groups (male and female) were similar, only the equal variances
assumed test was used. The results indicate that there is a statistical significant difference
between the mean scores for male and female with regards the time they sleep (t=8.433, p=.
000); the frequency at which they read their books (t=-2.775, p=.006), and their feeding habits
(t=2.977, p=.003). In other words, males have a significantly mean score higher on the time
they sleep (2.03) and feeding habits (3.02) than female undergraduates (1.43), (2.78)
respectively. Hence the null hypothesis- “There is no significant difference between the
behavioural patterns of male and female undergraduates” is rejected. This means that male and
female undergraduates have different behaviours accruing from their social media usage.
Ho2: There is no significant difference between male and female undergraduates usage
of social media
Table 6: Differences in the usage of Social Media between male and female
Undergraduates
Since the standard deviations for the two groups (male and female) were different, only
the equal variances not assumed test was used. The results indicate that there is a statistical
significant difference between the mean scores for male and female with regards the frequency
at which they use social media (t=5.536, p=. 000). Invariably, male undergraduates have a
significantly mean score higher (4.00) than female undergraduates (3.84) with regards the
frequency at which they use social media. Hence, the null hypothesis is rejected. This means
that there is a significant difference between male and female undergraduates usage of social
media.
Discussion of Findings
There are obviously more male respondents than females. However, since the
researcher did not verify that there are more male students than female students in UNIBEN, it
cannot be categorically state that there are more male undergraduates than females in UNIBEN.
With regards to age, the results can be interpreted thus that the majority of UNIBEN
undergraduates are within the age range of 18-29 years. More responses was also received from
singles, Christians and 400 level students,
Independent Samples Test
Levene's Test
for Equality of
Variances
t-test for Equality of
Means
F Sig. T Df Sig. (2-
tailed)
Mean
Differe
nce
Std.
Error
Differe
nce
95% Confidence
Interval of the
Difference
Lower Upper
The
frequency at
which you
use social
media is
Equal
variances
assumed
240.727 .000 6.317 380 .000 .157 .025 .108 .205
Equal variances not assumed 5.536 165
.00
0
.000 .157 .028 .101 .212
International Journal of Humanitatis Theoreticus. Vol. 4. (Issue: 1); Sept., 2020
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Most undergraduates sleep after midnight (55.0%), eat thrice a day (53.7%), read their
books on a daily basis (72.8%), attend their lectures everyday (87.4%) and attend church/
mosque from time to time. They however are not commonly involved in extra curriculum
activities/ social clubs, do not smoke cigarette from time to time and do not drink alcohol
regularly. Contrarily, Akinfenwa (April, 2019) states that the reading culture of Nigerian
students has been declining over the last couple of years. Akinfenwa further submits that young
people just are not ready much to the detriment of scholarship in the society. This finding is
however not empirically determined and may have amounted to the reason for the differences
between Akinfenwa submission and some of the findings in this study. With regards the
frequency of social media usage among undergraduates, findings revealed that undergraduates
are heavy users of social media. They use social media daily and some times weekly for
research, chatting, sourcing news, searching for partners, communication with alternative
partner etc.
In ascertaining the relationship between the behavioural patterns of undergraduates and
social media usage in Nigeria, cross tabulations and Pearson Chi-Square test of contingencies
was used. Findings revealed that undergraduates who slept after midnight were likely (a) to be
carrying out research on social media platforms (b) to be using social media to chat. Those who
could not sleep at all or slept after midnight are likely to be those who used social media for
pornography. The implication of this is that undergraduates who sleep after midnight were
more likely to exhibit more social media related behaviour. Those who cultivate the habit of
reading everyday were more likely to use social media to source for news. Invariably,
undergraduates who read their books daily were likely to use social media basically for news
sourcing. Students who used social media frequently were likely to eat at least thrice daily.
Those who used social media weekly were likely to read their books daily while those who
used social media daily were likely to read their books weekly. The implication of these
findings is that the more students use social media, the less likely they would read their books
frequently. No wonder, Cheok et al (2017) argue that one of the major impacts of social media
will be the way students will read and learn in the future.
A significant difference between the behavioural patterns of male and female
undergraduates was found. Male undergraduates had a significantly mean score higher on the
time they slept and feeding habits than female undergraduates. There was a significant
difference between male and female undergraduates’ usage of social media. This means that
male and female students have different behaviours accruing from their social media usage.
Conclusion
The study has been able to discover the behavioural patterns of undergraduates, their
social media usage and the relationship between the behavioural patterns and their social media
usage. Undergraduates were empirically found to be heavy user of social media. More so, social
media usage in Nigeria was found to have significant relationship with the behavioural patterns
of undergraduates. Apparently, existence of social media related behaviour among heavy users
of social media is inevitable. These behaviours differ in both male and female undergraduates
as statistically found in this study. Nonetheless, human behaviour changes more and more when
they use social media regardless of gender, age or religion. Since social media usage have been
found to have both positive and negative influences on the behavioural patterns of
undergraduates, caution must not be thrown to the wind in the patterns of usage of the trending
platforms.
Recommendations
Based on the findings of this study, the following recommendations are made:
International Journal of Humanitatis Theoreticus. Vol. 4. (Issue: 1); Sept., 2020
12
- Self-discipline and proper time management are very paramount for the use of social
media among undergraduates so as the trending platforms would not have detrimental
effects on students.
- Since majority of undergraduates use social media for research and for chatting,
lecturers and academics should take advantage of the media to for enriching the
teaching and professional experience with students.
- University management should build an online community comprising of students,
lecturers and counsellors with a view to creating a healthy social media usage which
would have positive effect on the behavioural patterns of both male and female
undergraduates as well as all other students in tertiary institutions.
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