SOCIAL MEDIA USAGE AND POLITICAL PARTICIPATION AMONG UNIVERSITY UNDERGRADUATES FOR POLITICAL STABILITY IN NIGERIA
SOCIAL MEDIA USAGE AND POLITICAL PARTICIPATION AMONG UNIVERSITY UNDERGRADUATES FOR POLITICAL STABILITY IN NIGERIA

Summary/Abstract: This paper is an empirical treatise which examined the impact of social media usage on political participation of university undergraduates for political stability in Nigeria. It raises questions about the interplay of indispensable social media usage which also grants greater access to information that stimulates political participation for political stability in Nigeria. This study is a descriptive survey research. The population of this study consisted of all undergraduates in universities in Oyo State. The target population for this study was all 400 level undergraduates from two purposively sampled universities in Oyo State. The multi-stage sampling procedure was adopted for this study, as different sampling techniques were used at different stages of sampling in this study. Proportionate sampling technique was adopted in the selection of 387 respondents from the two sampled universities. A researchers’-designed questionnaire with psychometrics properties of content validity and 0.84 reliability index. Percentage, mean and standard deviation, and bar chart were used to illustrate the results. Results show, that social media is indispensable among university undergraduates and has a greater impact on their political participation in political stability. It shows that utilizing social media is an effective strategy for arousing the interest of university undergraduates in political participation. University undergraduates do not want social media to be regulated as it provides them with the tool to engage in governance and ensure the country remain politically stable. It also instituted the importance of a holistic approach to social media development, in terms of research and practice.

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