Scholarly Works Communication & Language Arts
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Item Perception of social media credibility and health information seeking behaviour: a cross-sectional online survey of youths in south west Nigeria(Kampala International University, 2023) Onyechi, N. J.There is a growing need to understand the credibility of social media especially in relation to users’ health information seeking behaviour. The social media provide unprecedented level of information on diverse matters, including health, to the youths since they have difficulties accessing traditional health services. This study, therefore, investigated the relationship between perception of social media credibility and health information seeking behaviour among youths in South West Nigeria. The study was anchored on source credibility theory, while adopting a cross-sectional survey and focus group discussion (FGD) as research designs. Non-probability convenient, purposive and snow ball sampling procedures were used in selecting(n=407) respondents who participated in the survey and (n=48) discussants who took part in the FGD. Results revealed that respondents are very active in their search for health information on social media. Results also showed that there is a significant relationship between perception of social media and health information seeking behaviour among youths in South West Nigeria. It is also recommended that relevant government regulatory agencies should develop clear policy frameworks and guidelines that will ensure that both governmental and nongovernmental health organizations/institutions leverage on the potentials of social media in their provision of medicare. These are expected to enhance robust medical coverage with better health outcomes for all patients, especially the youths.Item From digital advocacy to age reduction legislation, the story of Nigeria’s #nottooyoungtorun(Department of Mass Communication, Imo State, Owerri, 2021) Egbunike, N. A.; Onyechi, N. J.The #NotTooYoungToRun, a global campaign to expand youth inclusivity in politics. The Nigerian campaign, championed by the Youth Initiative for Advocacy, Growth and Advancement (YIAGA), employed both digital and offline advocacy to demand a reduction in the constitutional age limit for contesting elections in the country. With the aim of making politics, especially the right to be voted for, more accessible for young people. This paper employed qualitative content analysis of 904 manually purposively selected tweets from the #NotTooYoungToRun Twitter hashtag. Six dominant themes: victory/inspirational youth movement, activism, youth participation, solidary/endorsement, partisan bickering, and ageism. The context of the representative tweets were provided by exemplar tweets provided under each theme. The finding revealed that Nigerian youths demanded and achieved the signing of the 2018 Age Reduction Act. This victory was based on a systematic social media campaign in which the youths advanced their message. In so doing, they set public agenda by getting influential young Nigerians to either endorse their message or/and highly placed publicly show their solidarity. In addition, Nigerian youths engaged politicians who pushed the legislation through parliament, until it was signed into law by the Nigerian president. The #NotTooYoungToRun campaign is an exemplar of how youth driven movements have harnessed digital media for social and political change.Item Taking their destiny in their hands: Social media, youth participation and the 2015 political campaigns in Nigeria(UNISA Press, 2018) Onyechi, N. J.The issue of youth participation in political activities, including campaigns, has dominated scholarly discourse across the globe. The youth’s seeming apathy towards politics has continued to resonate among researchers, policy makers and other stakeholders. However, the emergence of social media has opened up new frontiers for citizens, especially for youths who are known to be social media savvy, to engage in political participation. This study investigated the relationship between social media use and University of Ibadan students’ participation during Nigerian political campaigns in 2015. Anchored on the uses and gratification theory, the study used a survey and focus group discussions (FGD) as the research design. Respondents, systematically selected (N = 588) took part in the survey while discussants, purposively selected (N = 24) participated in the FGD. Results revealed that cognitive, social and tension-free needs were motivations for using social media during the 2015 political campaigns by the respondents. Results also showed that there is a significant relationship between social media exposure patterns and students’ participation during the 2015 political campaigns. These results provide an important window of understanding on the relationship between social media use and political participation amongst Nigerian university students and have implications for the political development of Nigeria.Item Potentials of Social Media for HIV/AIDS Campaign among Nigerian Youths(Association of Media and Communication Researchers of Nigerisa (AMCRON), 2015) Onyechi, N. J.; Obono, K.Youths constitute a vibrant, critical resource input in the development process of any nation. It is, therefore, imperative that their health and wellbeing be safeguarded in the pursuit and sustenance of the socio-economic transformation of any society. With the unabated high prevalence of HIV and AIDS among this age cohort, communication campaigns must be restrategized, diversified and focused on effecting change in the behaviours that predispose young people to HIV infection. Providing youths with requisite information through social media has the potential of stemming the scourge of the virus. The paper critically examines the use of social media as a potentially veritable tool for campaigns aimed at combating the spread of HIV among Nigerian youths.Item Potentials of social media for HIV/AIDS campaign among Nigerian youths(Delmas Communications Ltd., 2015-04) Onyechi, N. J.; Obono, K.Youths constitute a vibrant, critical resource input in the development process of any nation. It is, therefore, imperative that their health and wellbeing be safeguarded in the pursuit and sustenance of the socio-economic transformation of any society. With the unabated high prevalence of HIV and AIDS among this age cohort, communication campaigns must be restrategized, diversified and focused on effecting change in the behaviours that predispose young people to HIV infection. Providing youths with requisite information through social media has the potential of stemming the scourge of the virus. The paper critically examines the use of social media as a potentially veritable tool for campaigns aimed at combating the spread of HIV among Nigerian youths.