CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background of the Study

In every democratized society, the quest for power and the agitation for change have been

recurrent decimals (Jeffry et al., 2012). Politicians who seek for control seek to achieve their

aims through political parties that support their ideologies, visions, and aspirations. In the same

vein, those who seek to change the status and champion the ideas of revolution also form groups

to actualize their visions (Folorunso, 2019). Both parties however cannot achieve their aims and

ambitions without getting the support of the generality of the people. However, the target

supporters need convincing information before they could also join the train. This is where the

media comes in as a veritable tool of political socialization.

The entrance of globalisation into world politics has changed the socio-political milieu of global

politics. Globalisation stands as an Octopus with its tentacles in every aspect of human activities

and interactions. However, the strength of globalisation lies in transformations and technological

advancements in the nature, timing, and efficacy of the internet. The internet, which supports

various social platforms such as the Facebook, twitter, Whatsapp, Instagram, telegram, and many

others, are faster and open to quicker response than the orthodox media forums such as the print

media, television, radio, and telephony, and therefore has become veritable instrument of

information gathering, dissemination, and evaluation. With social media, one is wont to align

with Friedman (2007).

Therefore, the internet and social media in this era of globalisation plays a vital role in shaping

political attitudes, promoting political involvements and influences voting behaviour globally.

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The social media is defined as “the new information network and information technology, using

a form of communication utilizing interactive and user- produced content, and interpersonal

relationships are created and maintained. (Sanatokeskus TSK: Sosaalisen median sanato.

Helsinki 2010). Social media therefore promotes interaction and public participation over various

issues of human concerns. Therefore, the unhindered interactive nature of social media has given

vast opportunities to the public to engage in interactions over several issues that relates to

Nigeria, most recently, the #EndSARS protest.

Since early October, 2020, large youth-led protests against police abuses have shaken cities

across Nigeria, Africa's most populous country. The demonstrations emerged after video

circulated on social media purporting to show an extrajudicial killing by members of the Special

Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS), a unit of the national Nigeria Police Force (NPF) responsible for

investigating violent offenses. SARS personnel previously had been implicated in extensive

human rights abuses by what the U.S. State Department describes as “credible international

organizations.” (Acute et al., 2020).

In response to protesters’ calls to disband SARS—a demand amplified on Twitter and other

social media via the hashtag #EndSARS—President Muhammadu Buhari announced on October

11, 2020 that the unit would be dissolved and its officers retrained and redeployed as part of a

new task force (Squad, 2020). Demonstrations and social media campaigns have continued, with

activists criticizing SARS’s dissolution as insufficient and calling for additional reforms,

including accountability for past abuses and higher police salaries to reduce incentives for

extortion. The government has cracked down on the unrest; since mid-October, security forces,

including military personnel, reportedly have killed dozens of protesters.

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In communication research, the credibility of the communicator has widely been suggested to

influence the processing of the communicated content and the change of audience attitudes and

beliefs (Kang, 2010). Also, it has been suggested that the credibility of the channel/medium of

communication influences the selective involvement of the audience with the medium (Metzger

et al., 2010; Metzger et al; 2003). Accordingly, individual audiences are paying closer attention

to the media that they perceive to be credible (Johnson and Kaye, 2010). When individual

audiences rely more on a certain communication medium for information seeking, they are likely

to rate the medium more credible than other media (Johnson & Kaye, 2010; Kiousis, 2010;

Kiousis, 2001).

Generally, credibility refers to the objective and subjective components of the believability of a

source or message. News credibility has traditionally been considered a multidimensional

construct, although the composition of credibility dimensions has been inconsistent across

studies (Mitchelstein & Boczkowski, 2010; Mertzger et al; 2010; Rahman et al; 2009; Kiousis &

Dimitrova, 2006). Along with believability, the most common components of media credibility

emerging from past studies are accuracy, fairness, lack of bias, completeness, depth, and

trustworthiness (Flanagin & Metzger, 2001; Johnson & Kaye, 1998, 2002).

The concept of credibility has been researched along source, message, and media dimensions,

and most literature on new media relies on these measures (Metzger et al., 2003). For example,

early research focused on source credibility by examining the accuracy of reporting in news

(Gaziano & McGrath, 1986). Internet-related credibility research draws mainly from source

credibility and the interpersonal communication literature, but also includes items from the

traditional media credibility literature. Common variables include the extent to which websites

and information online is believable, trustworthy, unbiased, etc. Other dimensions include

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assessments of accuracy, relevance, and comprehensiveness (Metzger et al., 2003). However,

since Hovland, Janis, and Kelly (1953) first began studying credibility, communication scholars

have identified trustworthiness and expertise as two primary dimensions of credibility

assessment (Chung et al., 2010; Fogg & Tseng, 1999).

The credibility of the interpersonal channels became a subject of debate among communication

scholars recently (Chung et al, 2012). Gradually, the modern media systems emerged to close the

obvious gaps of audiences’ inability to promptly get the news as they break while putting some

checks in place to ensure credibility of the news items they communicate. However, ownership

factor and other interests led to the politicization and commercialization of news items among

the conventional media. At a point, audience members took the news from these media with a

pinch of salt. Today, various social media have emerged and they have become sources of news

dissemination. Some of such media are: Blackberry, Facebook, YouTube, Skype, Badoo,

Nimbuzz and Whatsapp.

The traditional media have been acknowledged for years as reliable sources of getting news

(Mitchelstein & Boczkowski, 2010), but the same cannot be said of the social media. Recently,

some rumours spread like wild fire among Nigerian undergraduates. These rumours later turned

out to be untrue. For example, a popular pop singer in Nigeria, Tu Face Idibia, was said to have

died and the longest bridge in Nigeria, Third Mainland Bridge, was also going to be blown up by

the terrorist group known as Boko Haram. Social network users also circulated the rumour that

certain food items from northern Nigeria have been poisoned, causing panic among people.

Since social networks involve users‟ generated content, the sources and truthfulness of these

contents are hardly ascertained. Notwithstanding, news are continuously spread via these social

media, some of which many times have been discovered to be false.

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Fast-developing technology, especially in the digital media environment, has empowered

individuals and other stakeholder organizations to be creators of communication messages rather

than remaining as the static receiver of communication content (Kang, 2010; McClure, 2007).

This has raised serious credibility issues due to the problem of checks and verification of the

credibility of such news contents and the sources. Therefore, this study seek to investigate social

media and credibility questions in the #EndSARS protest.

1.2 Statement of the Problem

Social media are increasingly relevant to the basic right of communication, and also an aid to

protecting human rights in general because of the opportunity they present in terms of

information dissemination and freedom of expression (UN Human Right Council, 2015).

Conversely, social media are also seen as undermining authoritative accurate verifiable reporting

because the uncertain provenance of articles based on hearsay or plagiarism poses a challenge to

veracity, and therefore, the creation of a well-informed audience, while conventional journalism

relies on persistence and objectivity to separate fact from fiction (McPherson, 2015; Fuchs,

2015).

News and source credibility over time has engaged the interest of research in communication.

Because of technological affordances, resulting in the advent of the internet and other online

media-generally referred to as alternative media, the research focus has shifted to investigating

the credibility of information emanating from these alternative news sources. This new trend has

generated corpus body of debate in the research literature. However, despite the fact that findings

show the existence of misinformation on the internet, other researchers found that the online

media has believability as high as the traditional media in certain circumstances. For instance,

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Internet users judged online political information sources as more credible than traditional media

counterparts like newspapers and radio.

The Internet’s credibility is a major concern since information seeking is one of the main

purposes of using the Internet. Online users have easy access to abundant sources but also run

the risk of getting false information. Apparently, there is less control and gate-keeping on the

web than for print publications. For example, as a result of the recent Ebola outbreak in Nigeria,

Nigerian citizens mobbed stores to purchase salt, fueled by a rumor sent via social media.

“People were under the false impression that consuming enough iodized salt would protect

against infection of Ebola virus disease (Pierson, 2011).

Previous researches have focused more on the perception of credibility of content and news

sources in the mainstream media, meanwhile not much is known about the credibility challenge

introduced by alternative media of facebook, twitter, blogs, etc. This credibility problem

associated with social media news is of much concern to the questions of trustworthiness,

objectivity, believability and expertise input on social media content, etc, which are cardinal

issues in ethics of communication.

It is on this premise that this study became imperative, to determine the extent to which social

media users perceive the news content on social media as credible.

1.3 Objectives of the Study

The main objective of this study is to examine the social media and credibility questions in the

#EndSARS protest; examination of the views of Academia in ESUT and Federal College of

Agriculture Ishiagu.

Specific objectives include to;

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 i. Determine users’ level of dependence on social media for information needs.

ii. Ascertain the level to which social media users perceive social media news as

trustworthy.

iii. Examine the level to which social media users perceive professionalism in social media

news content.

iv. Evaluate the extent to which social media users perceive social media news as objective.

v. Determine the extent to which users believe social media news content.

1.4 Research Questions

To meet the above stated objectives, the following research questions will guide the study:

i. to what extent do users depend on social media for information needs?

ii. to what level do social media users perceive social media news as trustworthy?

iii. What is the extent to which social media users perceive professionalism in social media

news content?

iv. to what extent do social media users perceive social media news as objective?

v. to what extent do social media users believe social media news content?

1.5 Hypothesis

The following hypotheses were predicted in relation to the research questions and the

demographic variables:

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 i. H1: There is significant difference between dependence on social media for news and

respondents’ gender.

ii. H1: Perception of social media as credible news source will be dependent on level of

education.

iii. H1: There is positive significant difference in the perception of social media as objective

news sources across age variable.

1.6 Significance of the Study

The study has both theoretical and practical uses.

Practically, the findings of the study will shed more light on an understanding of how social

media could serve creditably as an alternative news source to users and the entire citizenry.

Especially, it will help reveal the preference of young people between the social networks and

traditional mass media as news sources and the extent to which young people believe social

network news/information.

To the government, as policy makers, the findings of the study will be useful in providing

information on the use of social media to disseminate government news for better governance.

Also, without valid and reliable measurement of credibility, the management of credibility in

social media will be hardly feasible for policy action.

For the media industry in general, this study will unravel best ways to improve the credibility of

alternative media content.

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Theoretically, this study will contribute social scientific literature on credibility of the use of

social media as sources of news. Finally, the academia will benefit from the study, as the

findings will discover other areas rich for further researches to help commemorate the study.

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1.7 Limitations of the Study

So far, the only limitations experienced in this study is the problem of insufficient reference

materials that cover detailed information concerning the #EndSARS protest.

1.8 Definition of Term

Credibility: Credibility comprises the objective and subjective components of the believability

of a source or message

EndSARS: End SARS is a decentralised social movement, and series of mass protests against

police brutality in Nigeria. The slogan calls for the disbanding of the Special Anti-Robbery

Squad, a notorious unit of the Nigerian Police with a long record of abuses.

Internet activism: is the use of electronic communication technologies such as social media, e-

mail, and podcasts for various forms of activism to enable faster and more effective

communication by citizen movements, the delivery of particular information to large and specific

audiences as well as coordination.

Internet: The Internet (or internet) is the global system of interconnected computer networks

that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It

is a network of networks that consists of private, public, academic, business, and government

networks of local to global scope, linked by a broad array of electronic, wireless, and optical

networking technologies.

Protest: A protest (also called a demonstration, remonstration or remonstrance) is a public

expression of objection, disapproval or dissent towards an idea or action, typically a political

one.

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Social Media: Social media are interactive digitally-mediated technologies that facilitate the

creation or sharing/exchange of information, ideas, career interests, and other forms of

expression via virtual communities and networks.

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 CHAPTER TWO

LITERATURE REVIEW

The review of relevant literatures will examine the following issues;

2.1 Social Media and Situational Awareness: An Overview

2.2 Social Media and Fast Information

2.3 Social Media as Channels of Public Communication

2.4 Social media use in Nigeria

2.5 Conventional media and Social Media systems: a Convergence

2.6 Credibility: Empirical Literature

2.7 Theoretical Framework

2.1 Social Media and Situational Awareness: An Overview

The term “social media” refers to Internet-based applications that enable people to communicate

and share resources and information. Some examples of social media include blogs, discussion

forums, chat rooms, wikis, YouTube Channels, LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter. Social media

can be accessed by computer, smart and cellular phones, the use of social media is an evolving

phenomenon. During the past decade, rapid changes in communication as a result of new

technologies have enabled people to interact and share information through media that were non-

existent or widely unavailable as recently as 24 years ago (Bruce, 2011).

Social media have been used to disseminate a wide range of public safety information before,

during, and after various incidents. Prior to an incident (or in the absence of an incident), many

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emergency management organizations provide citizens with preparedness and readiness

information through social media. Social media are also used for community outreach and

customer service purposes by soliciting feedback on public safety-related topics (Bruce, 2011).

Social media also play an informational role during emergency situations. For instance, in 2009

the U.S. Army used its Twitter account to provide news and updates during the Fort Hood

shootings; the American Red Cross similarly uses Facebook to issue alerts of potential disasters.

However, the main source of information disseminated and sought after is generally posted by

citizens, rather than emergency management agencies or organizations. For example, warning

messages via the Internet during the Virginia Tech shooting in April 2007 came primarily from

students and unofficial sources, and during the 2007 Southern California Wildfires, citizens

sought information through social media because they felt media sources were too general or

inaccurate (Leysia, 2008).

In recent years, social media has emerged as a popular medium for providing new sources of

information and rapid communications, particularly during natural disasters. Twitter is one such

service that allows users to broadcast short textual messages, or tweets, of up to 140 characters to

an audience of followers using Web- or mobile- based platforms. An important characteristic of

Twitter is its real-time nature Users frequently post what they are doing and thinking about and

repeatedly return to the site to see what other people are doing. This generates numerous user

updates from which we can find useful information related to real-world events including natural

disasters such as earthquakes, bushfires, and cyclones. This growing use of social media during

crises offers new information sources from which the right authorities can enhance emergency

situation awareness. Survivors in the impacted areas can report on the-ground information about

what they are seeing, hearing, and experiencing during natural disasters. People from

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surrounding areas can provide nearly real-time observations about disaster scenes, such as aerial

images and photos. This is particularly useful during severe emergency situations, in which

people within blackout areas would experience limited communication ability. By leveraging the

public’s collective intelligence, emergency authorities could better understand “the big picture”

during critical situations, and thus make the best, most informed decisions possible for deploying

aid, rescue, and recovery operations (Bruce, 2011).

Social media could be used to alert emergency managers and officials to certain situations by

monitoring the flow of information from different sources during an incident. Monitoring

information flows could help establish “situational awareness.” Situational awareness is the

ability to identify, process, and comprehend critical elements of an incident or situation.

Obtaining real-time information as an incident unfolds can help officials determine where people

are located, assess victim needs, and alert citizens and first responders to changing conditions

and new threats (Vieweg et al., 2010). Another potential benefit of social media cited by Fugate

and others is that it may increase the public’s ability to communicate with the government. While

current emergency communication systems have largely been centralized via one-way

communication—from the agency or organizations to individuals and communities—social

media could potentially alter emergency communication because information can flow in

multiple directions (known as backchannel communications) (Bruce, 2011). And most of the

government officials from then president to his special advisers and ministers have active twitter

handles and use these handles to disseminate information to the general public and these handles

are being updated every now and then, with the trend of the matter on twitter, they got to have

access to the information faster, which they cannot claim not to see.

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In recent times, the social media have come to raise credibility questions. For instance, there was

a time the social media reported the supposed deaths of Chimaroke Nnamani, Sullivan Chime,

Olusegun Obasanjo, Liyel Imoke amongst other. The social media then carried catchy headlines

and photos of such rumored deaths. Today, these people are very much alive. However, there are

stories reported by the social media that actually passed the credibility test.

As the world is increasingly connected through different communication channels, social ties can

play an even more important role for information dissemination, particularly in crisis information

dissemination, where information can be relayed in near real-time. However, in many cases the

source of information from social media cannot be verified and thus misinformation is

commonly distributed, whether by intention or by ignorance (Awake, 2011).

The social media mingled with the internet have variously and tremendously impacted positively

on the mass media, their audience as well as practitioners. “The internet therefore connects every

individual user to a complex network whereby information can be accessed with total disregard

for time and space,” Amodu (2007, p.177). A prominent communication media scholar, McQuail

(2008, p.39) observes that “traditional mass communication was essentially one-directional while

the new forms of communication (social media) are essentially interactive.” The emergence of

social media which are in vogue now with their unique characteristics in the communication field

may be creating a distinct perception of what news is in the minds of the audience and ultimately

how they make use of the media. This is very much in sync with the position of Nwammuo

(2001, p.106) who stated that, “the primary channel of communication changes the way we

perceive the world. The dominant medium of any age, no doubt, dominates the people.” The

social media by their nature have the capabilities of educating, informing, entertaining and

`inflaming’ the audience. Above all, they possess a `contagious and far-reaching influence’

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which the conventional media lack. This potential is what Osahenye refers to as “unstoppable

power of the social media” (2012, p.52). While acknowledging the power of the social media,

Onomo (2012, p.38) stated that they (social media) have become “a widespread tool for

communication and exchange of ideas, helping individuals and organizations with just causes to

reach a phenomenally vast audience that could hitherto not be reached by traditional media.”

Perhaps, the contemporary conventional media lack or have lost such prowess of immediate

conscientization of the audience, no wonder people turn massively to the use of the new media

forms in a bid to quench their information thirst.

In line with the above reasoning, Aja (2011) argues that “traditional media organizations such as

radio, television, newspapers and magazines seem to have lost prominence and their

audience( p.4) .The news and information of the conventional media, according to the European

Society of Professional Journalists (2001, p.1) , are being increasingly circumvented by users

who “use alternative media sources.” The social media mainly are part of the major alternative

media sources in use in the world. The impact of the new media genre is yet to be equaled

globally, particularly in Nigeria. The social media have indeed carved a niche for themselves in

the realm of human communication.

The social media are easy means of interpersonal communication, even as they depict social

interaction through messages. The new media channels have form a global interactive web

community where connected people can easily share ideas, messages and update themselves on

any unfolding happening in the world. Through this, people easily get informed more than any

other source.

Over the years, communication in Nigeria was basically through, visitation, letter writing and

through the use of various “folk media or Oramedia” as in the words of Ugboaja cited in Ebeze

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(2002, p.29). Means of human communication are essentially dynamic in nature, meaning that,

they are constantly in transition. Human communication from the pre-historic era has been in

constant dynamics. Its transition has progressively moved from those simple stages of

interpersonal means of communication to the sophisticated era of the uses of the print and or the

broadcast media; then finally the era of internet and state-of-the art telecommunications through

which communication engineering and technological advancement gave birth to the social

media.

Contemporarily, the apogee of man’s ingenuity and inquisitive to improve on his modes of

communication is climaxed in the discovery of the technologies which gave birth to the social

media. This is the phenomenon that emanated essentially from computer, the internet and other

modern technologies. Awake! (2012, p.4) observes that “never have there been so many options

for keeping in touch.” Awake! (2010, p.3) also adds, “text messages, online social networks, chat

rooms- there has never been a time when the means of communicating were so numerous and

easy to come by.” The arrival of social media and their uses are indeed great technological

breakthroughs in the annals of transition of human communication. Precisely, they are re-

defining public communication. By examination of the inherent instantaneous feedback,

participatory characteristics, the ubiquity (availability) and the brand of audience the social

media carved, it is apparent that they are distinctively novel genre in the world of mass

communication.

The communication pattern engineered by the social media is identical, if not exactly the same

with what Castells believes that takes place on the internet when he noted that, “the kind of

communication that thrives on the internet is related to free expression in all its form….it is open

source, free-posting, decentralized broadcasting, serendipitous interaction…(2001, p.200)”

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2.2 Social Media and Fast Information

Clay Shirky (2009) writes about the terrible earthquake that rocked the Sichuan province in

China on May 12, 2008. With 70,000 deaths; 350,000 wounded and 5 Million left homeless; this

was a major, international news story but, according to Shirky (2009), the first reports came not

from traditional news media but from Sichuan residents who sent messages on QQ, China’s

largest social network, and on Twitter, the world’s most popular micro-blogging service. Initial

reports were transmitted while the ground was still shaking and long before the earthquake was

reported via any of the more traditional news media. In fact, Shirky (2009) claims, Rory Cellan-

Jones, who filed initial reports of the tragedy on the BBC, first learned about the quake from

Twitter. This was neither a unique nor isolated incident. Twitter has been cited as the first

medium to provide news seekers with information about the 2008 terrorist attacks in Mumbai,

India, and as the first medium to provide both written words and video when the US Airways

Flight 1549 landed in the Hudson River on January 15, 2009 (Wright & Hinson, 2009).

This same sort of scenario also is playing out within the public relations industry. When the

Institute for Public Relations elected Robert W. Grupp to become its President and CEO

effective July 2009, the Institute’s first official announcement of the appointment on March 5,

2009 was made via Twitter. Keith O’Brien (2009), the Editor of PR Week, says Twitter has had

a dramatic impact on some aspects of public relations. Mike Elgan (2009), a technology writer

and former Editor of Windows magazine, says social media have replaced television as the main

news source for Americans. Since first appearing about many years ago, social media

networking sites have become increasingly popular each year (Wright & Hinson, 2009). Though

other Social Networking Sites like Facebook, Instagram, Whatsapp also pass across information

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but in my years of accessing these sites, it was studied that they got their information from

Twitter, because most the Government officials update their Twitter account more often and

first, before they consider posting the same information to other Social Media platform.

Nigeria has a median age of 17.9, and the Nigerian youths used their tech-savvy influence to

draw international attention to the brutality on protesters. This escalated after reports of the

Lekki shooting which has drawn widespread condemnation from international figures such as

Rihanna, Kanye West, Joe Biden, Hillary Clinton, Lewis Hamilton, Pope Francis, and many

others. The #EndSARS movement dates back to 2017, when Nigerian youths used the hashtag to

share their experiences on violence and assault perpetrated by the defunct Special Anti-Robbery

Squad (SARS). However, the movement only revived in early October, after a video emerged of

police officers thought to be members of the SARS unit, allegedly killing an unarmed young

man. This prompted Nigerian youths to troop to Twitter, calling on the Federal Government to

dissolve the notorious police unit and effect police reform, with the hashtag, #EndSARS,

#Endpolicebrutality, and many others. The hashtag trended continuously on Twitter as Nigerian

youths aired their pains and experiences online. According to Emmanuel Dan-Awoh(2020)

Twitter only commands 21% usage of Nigeria’s 82 million internet subscribers. Facebook is

leading with 55.94% while Instagram and Youtube are at 5.02% and 3.72% respectively.

“Twitter is by far the most useful social media platform for Nairametrics accounting for more

than 90% of page views and visits,” Twitter is the most effective channel for social movements

because relationships on the platform are not personalized to fit with the real-life connections of

its users,” The feed isn’t dictated by personal interests or contacts to the same extent as other

platforms. The user also has more control over his twitter feed due to the democratization of

popular topics. Twitter achieved this through its trending vertical where the most popular topics

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within a locality are ranked. This serves to draw more people into a digital version of

marketplace chatter. This enables the platform to be better suited for the nurturing of a herd

mentality within the society. This is why Twitter as a platform is more socially and politically

significant than its counterparts. Twitter isn’t for very personal connections compared to

Facebook, and also gives its users more powers to control what goes on their news feed through

the democratization and localization of trending topics, this gives users more information on

their surroundings (Emmanuel, 2020).

According to Wright and Hinson (2009) many (85% in 2009 compared with 72% in 2008)

believe social media complement traditional news media, and an even higher number (92% in

2009 compared with 89% in 2008) think blogs and social media influence coverage in traditional

news media. Most (88% in 2009 compared with 84% in 2008) believe blogs and social media

have made communications more instantaneous because they encourage organizations to respond

more quickly to criticism. Results continue to show that traditional news media receive higher

scores than blogs and social media in terms of accuracy, credibility, telling the truth and being

ethical. Findings also show most (80% in 2009 and 75% in 2008) expect traditional news media

to be honest, tell the truth and be ethical. Fewer than half (41% in 2009 and 44% in 2008) hold

these same expectations for blogs and other social media (Wright & Hinson, 2009).

Bruce R. Lindsay (2011) concluded that, Social media appear to be making inroads into

emergency management for a variety of reasons. For one, accurate, reliable, and timely

information is vital for public safety before, during, and after an incident. As people continue to

embrace new technologies, use of social media will likely increase. Moreover, as its popularity

grows, a significant number of people will likely choose social media as their main source of

information. They may also increasingly expect that agencies will also use social media to meet

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their informational needs. Many emergency managers and agencies have already adopted the use

of social media to meet this expectation. However, they also started using social media because

they believe it provides another tool to disseminate important public safety information (Bruce,

2011).

In addition, beyond informational purposes, the use of social media not only allows people to

interact and communicate in ways that are not possible through other media, but in some cases it

has allowed response organizations and victims to interact and communicate with each other

when traditional media were unavailable. Some would say that social media can be used to

improve emergency management capabilities and that the promise of such positive results merit

further use of social media for emergencies and disasters.

2.3 Social Media as Channels of Public Communication

Presently, there has been an upsurge in the availability of Information and Communication

Technology (ICT) devices in Nigeria. This is particularly evident in the contemporary Nigeria,

with the prevalence of internet services as well as the use of hi-tech mobile or smart phones.

These devices have consequently promoted the use of the social media in the country. So, with

the presence of internet which is the major drive of social media engines, the use of the social

media in Nigeria has no doubt been enhanced. An empirical study conducted by Idakwo in 2011,

among other things, upholds the fact that the use of the social media as means of communication

has been adopted in Nigeria. The study examines ‘the use of Social Media among Nigerian

Youths’. From the title, it is obvious that some findings of the study shall be relevant here. In his

study, Idakwo, among other things discovered that most people use Facebook more than other

social media channels in Nigeria. Also, most respondents concurred with the fact that they use

the social media especially Facebook, as an alternative to other conventional communication

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media. In the words of the researcher, “with regard to the use of Facebook as an alternative

mode of communication, 74% admitted to using Facebook as an alternative to other kinds of

communication.: In a nutshell, the author summarizes other key points of his findings as follows:

Social media have become a mainstream activity and have become a major mode of

communication especially for youths, who form about 50% of the world population on

Facebook. Social media have moved from being just interactive to a form of mass media. Social

media have been predicted as a strong force in shaping public opinion especially in issues of

politics, social causes and sexuality. Social media have also been an expression of the

complexities between the media and society (Dakwo, 2011:23)

In addition, Haridakis and Hanson in 2009 examined one of the social media, YouTube, in a

study entitled. ‘Social Interaction and Co-Viewing: Blending Mass Communication Reception

and Social Connection’. The major finding of the researchers is that, “…while people watch

videos and YouTube for some of the same reasons identified in the studies of television viewing,

there is a distinctly social aspect to YouTube use that reflects its social networking

characteristics” (Haridakis and Hanson, 2009, p.317). Therefore the study reveals that the

viewers of the YouTube medium perceived it as sharing certain features with television but in

addition it has some social media properties. According to Haridakis and Hanson (2009, p.330)

But there is also a distinctly social aspect of YouTube. That social component was reflected in

two specific motives: social interaction and co-viewing. The underlying elements of the co-

viewing motive suggest that people watch, share, and discuss videos they like with family and

friends. (Focus group discussions with college students prior to the data collection indicated that

they sometimes called friends, roommates, and others in their dormitory to watch videos with

them).

22
The finding above showing the various social reasons for people’s use of YouTube supports some

prior studies. Co-viewing has been studied in the context of parents helping their children to

understand and to be more literate (e.g. Nathanso, 2001) cited by Haridakis and Hanson, (2009,

p.228). According to these researchers, “the result of this research suggest that co-viewing is a

means of sharing content with others, and supports Lull’s (1980) research regarding the social

uses of television.”

Some of the few existing empirical studies conducted in Nigeria so far on social media, show

that millions of Nigerians are users of the media: yet no scientific research has been conducted to

ascertain the credibility of these social media and the possibility of assuming an alternative

channels to the conventional media.

In Nigeria, Social media have been variously and popularly deployed as veritable instruments of

communication, regardless of the fact that it has not been long they emerged as channels of

human interaction in the country, the level of their usage is quite incredible cutting across all

strata of the nation.

The uses of the media could be summarily grouped into three namely interpersonal uses, mass

communication uses and organizational uses. This aptly falls into Bale (1985) formulation of the

“Social Communication Traid” as cited by Folarin (2002, p.12).

23
Figure 1: Bale’s “Social Communication Traid” as visualized by Folarin

Mass Communication Organizational or

Institutional

Interpersonal
Communication

Area of Central Overlap

Source: Folarin (2002, p.12)

2.4 Social media use in Nigeria

In contemporary Nigeria, the social media are mainly being effectively deployed in three

categories by the audience. The categories include mass communication, organizational or

institutional and interpersonal communication. Each of these categories of uses of the social

media need to be expatiated.

The interpersonal usage category of the social media in Nigeria is mostly exemplified by the

online-chatting and transmission of interpersonal messages by the various users on the different

social media platforms. Chatting is basically a form of online interpersonal communication. It is

most often a popular means of youths’ conversation or dialogue where they share ideas, feelings,

experiences and information with others, who are connected to one of the social media like

Facebook, Twitter Blackberry Messenger, Whatsapp etc. So, the chatting facility in the social

media is more like the common internet chat rooms, which Straubhaar and Larose (1997, p.334)

explain as where “internet users can engage in on-line dialogue with other users from all over the

world by typing messages back and forth inside private rooms.”

24
Another way of using the social media for interpersonal communication purposes is through

sending of messages mainly from one individual to others who may be friends and acquaintances

or kith and kin. In Facebook, for instance, such messages could be sent to the user’s personal

inbox, which no other person has access to open. In another angle, when such a message is

posted on the wall, the public members which include all his friends and their friends on the

medium could view it and respond to it (reply). The usage of the new or social media creates

platform for better and easier generation and exchange of ideas as well as interaction of ideas by

the people. This way, the users generate and discuss information of public interest among

themselves. In the view of McQuail (2010), the social media do almost the same thing as the

conventional mass media do. He believes that, “mass media often provide topics of conversation

for discussion and thus help to lubricate social life in families, workplaces and even among

strangers (p.149).” In the same context, within the social media platforms, people raise burning

issues for public discourse and the users would deliberate on them extensively.

Furthermore, institutional use of the social media is simply their usage by various private and

public institutions as means of reaching their `public,’ for instance institutions like Independent

National Electoral Commission (INEC), educational institutions, banks among others, make use

of the social media to connect to the people. Even a big institution like state governments in

Nigeria have continued to create a multi-media digital channel, including improved social media

platforms. This was a great impetus to the contemporary use of the social media.

In fact, the use of the social media in Nigeria particularly has ushered the most populous black

nation into what (Grossman, 1996) cited by (Wang, 2008, p.9) refers to as “Electronic Republic”

democratic system where media technologies are used to increase people’s power and influence

on the decisions of the state.”

25
This was amply portrayed in the consequent use of the social media during the 2011 political

revolutions in North Africa, of which Norbrokk (2012, p.26) observes that, “social networks…

circulated information about the regimes and how…to confront state repression.” There is no

doubt that the use of the social media in the political climate in the African continent generally

created what Scott & Marshall, (2005, p.426) refer to as “moral panic,” that is, arousal of social

concern; by engineering new political and social traditions among the people. This is what the

conventional media have been known for over the years.

2.5 Conventional media and Social Media systems: a Convergence

No doubt, one of the observed gains of using the social media and other new technological

devices in communication is the ability to produce media convergence. Simply put, it mean the

coming together of all media platforms, be it print, broadcast or electronic. With the current

wave of convergence, media practitioners and non-practitioners as well as media organizations

are coming together as partners in information dissemination.

Johnson et al see media convergence as “joining together of different industries in terms of

product development” (2008, p.67). But for Fransman (2002, p.39), convergence means “the

blurring of borders between telecoms, computing and media.” In the view of Ciboh (2005,

p.148), Mass communication media in modern age are blurring and blending together into what

is really a single system or set of interrelated systems. We are witnessing media convergence.

Generally, the internet is the main engine that engineers the convergence. Today, the use of the

social media is radically re-shaping and expanding the horizon of the convergence trend seen in

the traditional mass media. Dwyer (2010, p.11) observes that media convergence arises because

social networking is based on `sharing’ while media industries repurpose shared content.

26
In a bid to better reach their target audience effectively, most mass media organizations

(broadcast and print alike) are presently connected to the social media in much similar manner

like the individual members of the society. Conventional media systems value the new media

technologies and use them as veritable tools for reaching their audiences, locally and

internationally. The UNDP (2010, p.69) while looking at media convergence in Nigeria stated

that:

There is considerable convergence in some media organizations in Nigeria. For instance, Radio

Nigeria is available for listeners online; Next Newspaper has a `Next TV’ – a set of video clips

that can be watched online free. Radio Nigeria also features stories- much like print media

stories- on its websites. Several Nigerian newspapers are available online. As it is globally, the

traditional boundaries are collapsing.

In Nigeria today, almost all the conventional media systems are connected to either one or more

social media channels. For example, during the 2011 general elections, some of the traditional

media utilized the social media. Asuni & Farris (2011, p.10) rated Next Newspaper and

Channels Television as being among the top ten media that used social media during the

elections. They also added:

Channels Television features regular live coverage through their website, Ipod, Iphone, and other

devices. During the April elections, it established a four-person social media team, with one each

handling the website, Twitter, Facebook and the fourth feeding information from the newsroom

to the other three members of the team. This enabled simultaneous presentation on television,

Facebok, and Twitter. Viewers were asked to comment and the station aired social media

feedback several times a day (Asuni & Farris 2011, p.10).

27
Other mainstream media like the print media organizations in Nigeria applied the services of the

social media. Tell magazine being a weekly publication put up its websites in 2010 for the 2011

general elections.

Their reporters around the country submitted reports through blackberry messenger…Daily

Trust newspaper has been on Facebook since June 2010. Its number of fans has increased from

32,000 before the election to 65,000 immediately after the elections. Now up to 89,000 fan

base…This compares with the paper’s total print distribution of 50,000 (Asuni & Farris, 2011,

p.10).

Most importantly, some other media organizations in Nigeria link up with the social media

channels especially the Facebook. In Nigeria, most news media organizations understand how

social media work and have therefore integrated Facebook into their digital media/content

strategy. Some Nigerians media organs on Facebook, according to Okezie (2011) are presented

below:

Table 1: Nigerian Media organisations on Facebook

S/No Media Facebook Address

1. 234NEXT http://www.facebook.com/pages/234NXTcom/114689570833
2. Business Day http://www.facebook.com/pages/I-Read-usinessDay/558851305915
3. Daily Trust http://www.facebook.com/dailytrust
4. Nigerian Tribune http://www.facebook.com/nigeriantribune
5. PMNews http://www.facebook.com/pmnews
6. Sahara Reporters http://www.facebook.com/saharareorters
7. The Guardian http://www.facebook.com/pages/the  guardian-
newspapers/176502461635
8. The Punch http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-punch-Newspapers
206270189411151
9. ThisDay http://www.facebook.com/thisdaynewspapers
10. Vanguard http://www.facebook.com/vanguardngr.
Source: Okezie (2011)

28
Presently, most of the media organizations in Nigeria are also connected to other social media

like Twitter, beside their creation of account on social media platform to enable their users to

access them through the social media channels’ link.

The coming of the social media channels with other related modern communication devices has

not only aided the efficiency of sourcing information, but has equally revolutionized the

information gathering, assembling and dissemination systematically globally, and Nigeria in

particular.

Research has begun to focus on how news practices and professional identity are changing in the

wake of new technological capacities. Robinson in 2006 carried out an empirical study ‘The

Mission of the J-Blog: Re-Capturing Journalistic Authority Online’, his findings which firmly

support the above submission. He examined non-journalists’ and journalists’ use of blogging in

reportage nowadays. The result of the work depicts that the use of internet blogs has changed

news format. The study upholds that perhaps, social media are forming another structure of

realism in what news is today to the opinion of the media audience (Robinson, 2006, p.68).

Conventionally, the use of the new media simultaneously makes public communication more

‘democratic’ and participatory for all and sundry. This phenomenon has tremendous impact on

the mass media practitioners. At the moment, almost all of them are connected to some social

media channels like Twitter, MySpace, and Facebook. Through the use of these social media

channels, the people (non-journalists) could cover an unfolding newsworthy episode and report

via the same channels, even before conventional journalists could have a hint of it. People can

report to a journalist who is on their social media friend list about an incidence they witnessed, it

behooves the pressmen to nose more and unearth more facts that could aid their publication.

29
The social media channels more than any other discovery, provide the opportunity for the

audience to satisfy their information curiosity. The social media gateways make the audiences

‘producers and disseminators’ of information.’ According to Ciboh (2005, p.146) “anybody with

a computer can now become a reporter, editor and publisher.” So, the use of the social media has

democratized information assemblage and delivery, more than any other innovation. This brings

to the fore realism of the averment of Habermas, a communication philosopher, who stated that

“free communication of ideas and opinions is one of the most precious rights of man. Everyone

can therefore speak, write, and print freely… (2008, p.70)” .In support of the above views,

Akpan and Nnaane (2011, p.34) enthused:

Some of the latest mobile phones allow users to take still pictures or video clips. For instance,

when breaking news occurs, people in the area can take video and still pictures, before the media

arrive on the scene. In no distant time everybody will become a reporter.

Nowadays, modern mobile phones like Ipods, Androids and Blackberries and other 3G (Third

Generation) phones are powerful media gadgets in the present whirlwind of information and

communication revolution. This trend has now altered the mass mediated communications’

feedback which have been traditionally known to be delayed in time past. Today, the audiences

respond to media messages almost instantaneously, as virtually all the mainstream media are

linked to one social network or the other which the audience themselves are connected to. This

encourages the audience to have more input in the content of media. This was confirmed by

UNDP (2010) study which discovered, among other things, that “41.8% and 47.5% of Nigerian

audience participate actively and very actively in the media content production” (UNDP, 2010,

p.34).

30
The use of the social media, besides creating a platform for the people to inform themselves,

also, empowers the people (the audience) to involve themselves in packaging the contents of

even the conventional media.

2.6 Credibility: Empirical Literature

A research on how the effects of different online or social media affects perceived credibility is

one of the major focus of this study. Efforts in this research therefore, were to determine the

extent to which the social media are credible as sources of news.

Credibility, according to Johnson and Kaye (2004), is the worthiness of being believed,

accuracy, fairness, and depth of information. To judge the credibility of a social media, a

Recipient must have prior reliance on the different news outlets. Johnson and Kaye (2004)

investigated how traditional media and Internet reliance influenced the way blog users perceived

the credibility of weblogs. The independent variable for the research was the type of different

news outlets and the dependent variable was how the weblog users viewed the credibility of the

different outlets. Johnson and Kaye’s (2004) study relates to this research, in that understanding

how different users of media sources view credibility and what prior experiences can shape their

view of the news outlet. They under took a survey of Weblog readers, which was posted for a

month in 2003. The survey was linked to 131 different Weblogs, 14 Weblog oriented bulletin

boards. This has a direct relationship with this research in understanding how different users of

media sources (social media) view credibility and what prior experiences can shape their view of

the news outlet. The key finding of the (Johnson & Kaye, 2004) research was that a participants’

reliance on Weblog use was a strong and positive predictor for the perception of Weblog

credibility. Most Weblog readers viewed the medium as moderately or highly credible. Evidence

31
from that research makes one to believe that the more a person uses a source the more likely they

are to view the source as credible.

Another empirical study as related to this research was conducted by Sutton, Palen, and

Shklovski (2008). This study was conducted by first operationalizing the various social media

outlets used, including photo sharing websites, personal blogs, web discussions and forums, and

mobile phones. They then gathered information from respondents via an online questionnaire

about information and communications technology use before and during disaster situations, and

the perceived legitimacy of the social media and backchannel media outlets. The independent

variables for this study (Sutton, Palen, & Shklovski, 2008) were the respondents’ use of

backchannel communication and the use of other social media outlets. The dependent variables

were the prominence of social media and backchannel media outlets and the perceived

legitimacy of the information gained using these types of media, both of which were measured

using open-ended response questions on the online questionnaire. Similarly, this research

focused on the perceived credibility of various social media outlets. The overall results of their

study (Sutton, Palen, & Shklovski, 2008) showed that the use of backchannel media outlets and

social media channels, including web forums, blogs, photo sharing websites, etc. is increasingly

popular during times of disaster. The accessibility of these outlets encourages citizens to use and

rely on information gained from alternative media sources. The backchannel media outlets seem

both credible and reliable in disaster situations because the information is current and personal.

Respondents complaining of incorrect information being broadcast through typical, larger media

channels were appeased by the “close to home” nature of backchannel media. Backchannel

media appears to be a credible source for spreading information during disaster situations, and

may be an important tool in spreading news and other information quickly to a large number of

32
people in various situations. This study (Sutton, Palen, & Shklovski, 2008) indicates that

backchannel and social media outlets are perceived to be reliable by the general population. They

also appear to be an accessible and current source for breaking news and updates which can be

an explanation for the reason as to why people may perceive social media as a credible source

for news which is pertinent to this current study.

2.7 Theoretical Framework

In every academic discipline, there is a body of theories that provide explanation for observable

phenomena in that field. Ohaja (2003, p.63-64) argues that “knowledge does not exist in

vacuum”. This study was anchored on the technological determinism theory and the alternative

media theory.

 Technological Determinism Theory:

This theory was propounded by a renowned Canadian communication researcher, McLuhan

(1962), who Baran and Davies (2012, p.273) cited as stating that “changes in communication

technology inevitably produce profound changes in both culture and social order.” According to

Adler (2006), Technological determinism theory is the idea that technology has effects on our

lives. The bearing of this theory to this work stems from the fact that social media as

technological inventions are making dramatic influences on the users’ communication today. In a

nutshell, the new media are transforming the manner Nigerians’ interact and exchange feelings,

experiences and ideas. So, apparently, they go a long way to determine how and what the users

communicate. McLuhan as cited by Agba (2002, p.255) asserts;

33
The medium is the message…each medium activates a particular mixture of the senses, which

makes the form of the medium, rather than the message, determine ways of perceiving and

articulating understanding.

The social media command a unique perception in sending and receiving of information,

messages and ideas. This would be different from the perception other mass mediated messages

could ignite in their audiences. The significant immediate effects of the new media on the lives

of the people is not in doubt. This could redefine credibility of the social media as alternative

news sources. This was why the technological determinism theory was applied in this study as a

relevant theoretical pedestal or base befitting it.

With regard to technological determinism theory and the influence of new technologies on their

users, Bakker and Sadaba in their 2009 study entitled ‘the impact of the internet on users’,

submit that:

The fact that technologies are used in a social context and have to fulfill existing needs cannot be

emphasized enough (Castells, 2001). The use of a technology is better explained by looking at

the user than at the possibilities and potentials of the technology. Choosing a ‘Uses and

Gratifications’ approach (Katz, Blumler & Gurevitz, 1974; McQuail, 2005) instead of a

technological-deterministic perspective, however, does not mean that technologies have no

impact on users. It would be very hard to argue that the Internet has not affected the way in

which people work, study and look for information or communicate with others. (Bakker &

Sadaba, 2009, p.86).

The social media are exerting influences on their users. That is, means of exchanging messages,

information and ideas. This could be seen in the interactive characteristics of the social media; as

34
such they give the users a different taste of communication other than what has been. The above

study found out that the internet has some effects on their users’ use of other media. In general,

the younger generation’s use of traditional media, particularly newspapers, radio, and television

has dropped as a result of emerging social media.

Moreover, one of the propositions of technological determinism theory that makes it germane to

this study is that “each technology has a …particular communication forms, contents and forms

which distinguish them from other conventional media”. These characteristics are perhaps what

give the social media their own special appeals which is why their audiences make use of them.

For example, it is a common knowledge that the social media are highly interactive and

participatory media genres.

Also, Capra (1990) cited in the same study by Laskewicz (2008, Paragraph 7) comments on what

the modern means of communication has wrought in human society. Part of his finding is that,

“technological growth is seen as determining our lifestyles, our social organizations, and our

value systems. This has led people to believe that technology determines the nature of our social

relations.”

By and large, the forms, contents and uses of the social media ultimately have phenomenal

influences on the users’ lives and their perception of contemporary human communication. The

use of the social media has significantly redefined the information dissemination and

consumption patterns among the audience as well as altered the services of the conventional

mass media systems. This is quite different from what used to obtain before now, particularly in

the realm of traditional journalism.

 Alternative Media Theory

35
Alternative media theory, defined by Atton (2002:7), is described as both alternative and radical,

but not limited to political and resistance media. He also includes hybrid electronic media and

fanziness. Alternative media is also defined as media produced by the socially, culturally and

politically excluded (Coyer et al. 2007:3).

The diversity of alternative media is captured by Bailey et al. (2008) in their four approaches to

alternative media: “Serving the community”, “An alternative to mainstream media”, “Linking

alternative to the civil society” and “Alternative media as rhizome”. Fuchs (2010) defines

alternative media as critical media (in contrast to mainstream media, which are ideological)

where the contents produced by grass-roots citizen journalists are counter-hegemonic. Atton

(2002:159) asks if it makes any sense to talk of alternative media in cyberspace, as web media

offer a horizontal networked information flow whereby everyone can become his or her own

producer, hence the characteristics of alternative media are inherent in the media format.

Atton (2004) also opens the door to an approach whereby one media form one point in time or in

one context is mainstream and in another is alternative. The difficulty in defining media as

alternative or mainstream is also expressed by alternative media practitioners in a study by

Harcup (2011).

Most alternative media participants are not part of a group that produces alternative media

together, but are rather individual writers on a for-profit citizen media website. The social media

website is alternative in the sense that it offers an alternative to mainstream media and to some

extent, gathers those who are excluded from it, hence in line with the second approach by Bailey

et al (2008) and Fuchs’ (2010) definition. It, to some extent, also gathers controversial and

radical bloggers, in accordance with Atton’s definition (2002) and also suggested by the analysis

36
of the writers’ objectives. Alternative media are also characterized by having low barriers for

people to participate in content production.

Alternative media theory and the use of concepts such as power and hegemony contribute to

answering the overarching research question regarding participation and restraining factors for

participation and debate on the Web. This approach enables an understanding of their practices

as part of the broader politics, with focus on power, compared to a more narrow analysis of their

practices as a form of journalism.

In this study, alternative journalism research is nevertheless also of interest, as some informants

describe their writing using a journalistic discourse, and the website on which they are active has

a news web format. Some definitions of alternative media emphasize the independence from

professional journalism – that producing a news product should be unpaid work (Nip 2006) and

others include the contribution to the community (Carpenter 2010). One of the proponents of

alternative media is Gillmor (2006), who describes the potential of citizen journalism to

empower what he calls the “former audience”. In his view, the consumer can now be a citizen

journalist, and he expects that some will develop into professionals: “In the end, we’ll have more

voices and more options” (Gillmor, 2006).

2.8 Summary of Literature Review

Literature points to the fact that the social media mingled with the internet have variously and

tremendously impacted positively on the mass media, their audience as well as practitioners. The

internet therefore connects every individual user to a complex network whereby information can

be accessed with total disregard for time and space,” Amodu (2007, p.177). In the view of

37
McQuail, “traditional mass communication was essentially one-directional, while the new forms

of communication (social media) are essentially interactive (2008, p.39)”

Literature also reveals that the social media by their nature have the capabilities of educating,

informing, entertaining and `inflaming’ the audience. Above all, they possess a `contagious and

far-reaching influence’ which the conventional media lack. This potential is what Osahenye

referred to as “unstoppable power of the social media” (2012, p.52).

Aja (2011) argues that “traditional media organizations such as radio, television, newspapers and

magazines seem to have lost prominence and their audience( p.4) .The news and information of

the conventional media, according to the European Society of Professional Journalists (2001,

p.1) , are being increasingly circumvented by users who “use alternative media sources.” The

social media mainly are part of the major alternative media sources in use in the world.

Presently, there has been an upsurge in the availability of Information and Communication

Technology (ICT) devices in Nigeria. This is particularly evident in the contemporary Nigeria,

with prevalence of internet services as well as the use of hi-tech mobile or smart phones. These

devices have consequently promoted the use of the social media in the country. So, with the

presence of internet which is the major driving force of social media engines, the use of the

social media in Nigeria has no doubt been enhanced. An empirical study conducted by Idakwo in

2011, among other things, upholds the fact that the use of the social media as means of

communication has been adopted in Nigeria. In Nigeria, Social media have been variously and

popularly deployed as veritable instruments of communication. Regardless of the fact that it has

not been long they emerged as channels of human interaction in the country, the level of their

usage is quite incredible cutting across all strata of the nation.

38
In a bid to better reach their target audience effectively, most mass media organizations

(broadcast and print alike) are presently connected to the social media in much similar manner

like the individual members of the society. In Nigeria today, almost all the conventional media

systems are connected to either one or more social media channels.

Presently, most of the media organizations in Nigeria are also connected to other social media

like Twitter, beside their creation of account on social media platform to enable their users to

access them through the social media channels’ link.

The coming of the social media channels with other related modern communication devices has

not only aided the efficiency of sourcing information, but has equally revolutionized the

information gathering, assembling and dissemination system globally, and also in Nigeria.

The social media channels more than any other discovery, provide the opportunity for the

audience to satisfy their information curiosity. The social media gateways make the audiences

‘producers and disseminators’ of information.’ According to Ciboh (2005, p.146) “anybody with

a computer can now become a reporter, editor and publisher.” So, the use of the social media has

democratized information assemblage and delivery, more than any other innovation.

This study’s theories are assumed appropriate for the specific objectives of the study. For

instance, technological determinism theory discusses media technologies as determinants of the

retrieval and dissemination of information. The use of the social media has significantly

redefined the information dissemination and consumption patterns among the audience as well as

altered the services of the conventional mass media systems. This is quite different from what

used to be obtainable, particularly in the realm of mainstream journalism. This is what the

technological determinism theory upholds. Also, the alternative media theory shades light on the

39
innovation introduced by the internet and other social media technologies which have provided

users with options for use and exposure to communication content. Such options serve as

alternative to the mainstream media.

40
 CHAPTER THREE

METHODOLOGY

3.1 Research Design

This study adopted the explanatory mixed research method. This “consists of first collecting

quantitative data and collecting qualitative data to help explain or elaborate on the quantitative

results (Creswell, 2002, p. 566). The advantage in using the mixed method is that the strength of

one can offset the weakness of the other method.

The first research design is the survey method which is “a study of the characteristics of a sample

through questioning that enables a researcher to make generalizations concerning his population

of interest usually employed in studies of attitudinal and behavioural trends with the researcher

seeking to uncover their demographic or psychographic underpinnings” (Ohaja, 2003, p. 112).

The survey design was complemented with in-depth interview of few selected respondents on the

perception of social media as credible sources of news.

3.2 Population of Study

Since this study focuses on social media and credibility questions in the #EndSARS protest, the

universe of study comprised all the social media users within the academia in ESUT and Federal

College of Agriculture Ishiagu.

3.3 Sample Size

The sum total of the sample size for this study was 222. This number comprises both

questionnaire participants and interviewees. The sample size for the questionnaire respondents

was calculated by means of the Australian Sample Size Calculator of the National Statistical

41
Service (NSS). This was done using a confidence level of 95 percent, 0.05 percent precision

level and an estimate of variance of 5 percent (NSS, 2013, para. 2).

The NSS states that the Australian calculator allows the researcher to calculate the required

responding sample size, standard error, selective standard error and confidence interval,

proportion estimate using just one of these criteria as an input” (para. 2). If for instance one

knows the minimum standard error one requires to ensure the precision of one’s estimate the

calculator will supply the corresponding sample size. Conversely, if the sample size is known,

the standard error and confidence interval can be estimated.

However, since there is no guarantee of a 100 percent response rate, NSS (2013) suggests that

the number of individuals who will not respond to a researcher’s survey be taken into account in

calculating the sample size (para. 9). Therefore, the sample size is further increased to

accommodate for contingences such as non-response or recording error. Bertlett, Kotrlik and

Higgins (2001 as cited in Ekwe, 2012) suggest that “if the researcher decides to use over

sampling, let him estimate the response rate as a means of calculating for it” (p. 59). To calculate

for the sampling therefore, the researcher assumed a response rate of 95 percent. The calculation

is presented below:

N2 = Minimum sample size

Anticipated response rate

Where anticipated return rate = 95%

Where n2 = sample size adjusted to response rate.

Where minimum sample = 211

42
Therefore:

N2 = Minimum sample size = 211

Anticipated response rate = 95%

N2 = 211

1.95 = 222

The sample size for the questionnaire respondents was therefore 222.

3.4 Sampling Technique

The researcher used multi-stage sampling technique for the research work. First, the cluster

sampling technique will be employed by the researcher because the population is large and

widely spread. The area of study was divided into two zones: Enugu State University of

Technology (ESUT) and Federal College of Agriculture Ishiagu (FCAI).

At the second stage, because of the sheer impracticability of studying the whole population, the

researcher formulated two groups to represent academic staff and students for both institutions.

At the third stage, the proportionate sampling technique was used to determine the sample sizes

for the selected groups. This involved apportioning of sample sizes according to the number of

sub groups in a population. The sample sizes were determined by the following equation:

nh = ( Nh / N ) * n

Where nh is the sample size for stratum h, Nh is the population size for stratum h, N is total

population size, and n is total sample size (Stat Trek, 2014 p 1).

43
Therefore, the proportionate sampling technique was used in this order to assign the elements to

each of the subsets of the study area. To select the sample in each area, the simple random

technique was adopted through a ballot selection process.

3.5 Instruments for Data Collection

Total copies of 222 of the questionnaire were used for data collection in this study. The survey

instrument was a twenty (20) item structured questionnaire containing demographic and

psychographic variables pertaining to the research questions. Items in the questionnaire

instrument were measured on nominal scales as well as interval scales. All the demographic

variables in the questionnaire instrument were measured on nominal scales, while the variables

addressing the research questions were ordinal scales, indicating, “ Very high extent”; “high

extent”; “little extent”, “No extent”.

Three alternate hypotheses were formulated to test level of significance in the mean differences.

The data were drawn from demographic variables like: gender, age and education. These were

used to test independent variables like: dependence on social media; perception of respondents of

social media as credible news sources and perception of social media as objective news sources.

The alternate assumptions were:

1. H1: There is significant difference between dependence on social media for news and

respondents’ gender

2. H1: Perception of social media as credible news source will be dependent on level of

education.

3. H1: There is significant difference in the perception of social media as objective news

sources across age variables.

44
3.6 Validity of Research Instruments

The validity of the questionnaire and the interview guide were established through face and

content validation. They were submitted to the research supervisor, an expert in communication

research for his input and correction where necessary to ensure that the questions are relevant

and appropriate for eliciting the required information. Issues addressed in the validation effort

included: clarity, ambiguity, conciseness and grammar.

3.7 Reliability of research Instruments

For reliability, a pretest was conducted in two universities in Enugu state using a sample of 20

respondents in each. The instrument was re-administered after one week interval. The results

were compared and tested for reliability using Cronbach Alpha coefficient statistical method.

The reliability result for the questionnaire is given as follows:

Reliability

Scale: All Variables

Table 4: Reliability Statistics

Cronbach's Alpha No of Items

.831 20

From the above result it shows that the instrument after being administered to twenty (20)

respondents recorded .831 Cronbach’s Alpha co-efficient indicating that the instrument’s level of

reliability was high (a=.831).

3.8 Method of Data Presentation and Analysis

45
The quantitative data generated through the questionnaire were presented in simple frequency

distribution tables, numbers and percentages. The data were analyzed in relation to how they

were answered in each research question. Therefore, questions that answer a particular research

question were grouped together under the relevant research questions.

The three alternate hypotheses were tested with a combination of T-test and Analysis of variance

(ANOVA). While the t-test examined if there was dependence or independence of one variable

on the outcome of another variable between two groups, the ANOVA tested mean differences

among several groups. The level of significance of the mean differences was at 0.5. Further, a

post-hoc analysis was conducted to ascertain the level of positive and negative relationships that

the independent variables had with the dependent variables.

46
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