Use of Social Media Platforms for Citizen Journalism on Security Challenges in Nigeria among The Polytechnic Ibadan Students

Abstract

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.