– The Influence of Social Media on Peace Building in the Niger Delta Area of Nigeria –
ABSTRACT
The study was carried out to ascertain the extent of social media influence on peace building and peace process in the Niger Delta area of Nigeria. The study explored the perceptions of different segments of people that reside in the Niger Delta region on the use of social media for peace building. It probed the potency of various social networking sites in peace building activities in a volatile environment such as the Niger Delta, a region prone to violent conflict and economic challenges.
Survey research design was used to collect data from the residence of the Niger Delta area. The study location was divided into two clusters. In each cluster, two states were selected because of their geographical closeness and cultural affinity. In the first cluster, Bayelsa and Rivers states were selected as the study area, while the second cluster comprised of Edo and Ondo states. The four states are oil producing areas in the region.
The four states at different time have experienced conflict caused by economic, environmental and ethnicity factors. Due to the largeness of the population size for the study, the researcher selected a manageable but representative sample size that make up the study size. Using Yaro Yamane’s formula for calculating the sample, four hundred respondents form the sample of the population.
Five research questions were drawn from the five objectives which subsequently guided in formulating the number of questionnaires of the study. Simple percentage and chi-square chart were used to interpret the data generated. Media System Dependency Theory, Uses and Gratification Theory, and Frustration-Aggression Theory anchored the study. The findings showed that the people of the Niger Delta area were aware of the importance of social media in social integration.
INTRODUCTION
There is hardly any country in the world where the influence of social media has not been touched, as millions of people in rural and urban places share information with one another, either by text, photo or video through various networking sites. Nwabueze (2014) says over three million Nigerians used social media in 2006 in cities, towns and villages across the country. The users of social media in Nigeria have increased in number due to the advancement in communication technology.
There are many brands of mobile phones that have developed with in-built social networking applications. Statistics showed that at least 7.1 million people are using Facebook daily in Nigeria on their mobile phones. This development has made Nigeria to become Africa’s biggest user of Facebook platform. The statistics also showed that almost 100 percent of the total Facebook’s fifteen million active monthly users in Nigeria do so regularly on their mobile phones (Premium Times, September 11, 2015).
Furthermore, part of the statistics released by Nigeria’s National Communication Commission in April 2015, have shown that the number of Nigerians accessing social media on the Internet through mobile phones increased to 80.3 million (Premium Times, September 11, 2015). This confirmed the assertion of Mc Quail, (2010) that mobile phones offer user’s real time information, education, entertainment and escape.
Therefore social media is a growing communication instrument for all classes of people in the society (Goldstein, 2002, p.432). Some observers have linked the expansion of social media to its capability to promote freedom of expression, enhance social relationships, and extend human communication. So, social media is becoming a modern communication instrument for building social structures, social relationships, group networking, and social interaction (Littlejohn & Foss, 2008, p.324).
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StudentsandScholarship Team.
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