Use of Social Media Platforms for Citizen Journalism on Security Challenges in Nigeria among The Polytechnic Ibadan Students
Keywords:
Use, Engagement, Social Media, Security ChallengesAbstract
The immediacy of social media gives citizens the ability to monitor realworld events and security issues and get immediate feedback that can
help shape their responses and priorities, which can also be valuable in
promoting security in general. Through its constant use, social media has
played a significant role in fostering both positive and negative facets of
insecurity. Therefore, this study investigated the use of social media
platforms and engagement in citizens' journalism regarding security
challenges in Nigeria among The Polytechnic Ibadan Students. The study
adopted a descriptive survey research design, multi-stage sampling
procedure was adopted in the sample selection of 403 respondents. A
validated instrument named; the Citizen Journalism Social Media
Questionnaire(r=0.874) was used for data collection, and data was analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics. Findings revealed
that students of The Polytechnic Ibadan made use of popular social media
platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp (weighted x? 1.40)
respectively, and engaged in online discussion of security challenges to a
large extent using Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube,
Telegram, and others (weighted x? 2.11). Also, there was no significant
difference (r = 0.053, p<0.05) in the level of engagement in online
discussions on security challenges in Nigeria. Thus, the study concluded
that The Polytechnic Ibadan students' social media use does not have any
influence on security challenges in Nigeria. The study recommended that
security information should be promptly disseminated virtually by
security operatives to avoid spreading fake security news through social
media platforms.