EFFECT OF SOCIAL MEDIA NETWORK ON PERFORMANCE OF COMPUTER

ACCESSORY BUSINESS IN ILORIN

BY

AFOLAYAN ZAINAB OMOTAYO

17D/27ECMB/138

BEING A RESEARCH PROJECT PROPOSAL SUBMITTED

IN PARTIAL FUFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS
FOR THE AWARD OF BACHELOR OF SCIENCE (B.Sc.) (Hons).
IN BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION, IN THE DEPARTMENT
OF BUSINESS AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP,
SCHOOL OF BUSINESS AND GOVERNANCE,
COLLEGE OF HUMANITIES, MANAGEMENT
AND SOCIAL SCIENCES,
KWARA STATE UNIVERSITY, MALETE

DATE; OCT, 2019

SUPERVISOR:

DR. RAHMAN MUSTAPHA

I
 Chapter One
Introduction
1.1 Background of Study
The use of social media applications has become a widespread phenomenon among all age
groups. Social media is a phenomenon that has drawn a lot of attention both to companies and
individuals interacting on the networking landscape. However, when it comes to giving a clear
definition of what social media really is, the understanding of the term is very minimal.
Managers and academic researchers seem to differ on how social media differ from
interchangeable related concept, social media is all about facilitating people to express and share
ideas, thoughts, and opinions with others. It is also about enabling people to connect with others,
like they were doing for the last thousands of years.
Social media has been defined as ‘a collection of internet websites, services and practices
that support collaboration, community building, participation and sharing’. It has attracted the
interest of different people including educators who desire to engage their students. This interest
has led to attempts to integrate social media tools into the learning process.

There are numerous online networking platforms that include Facebook, twitter, Instagram,
WhatsApp, Pinterest, YouTube, LinkedIn, Google+ e.t.c. The main purpose of social media is to
give access to its clients and users. They can have conversation with individuals and construct
social relations on the web. They can likewise share their contemplations and individual data on
social media including everyday happenings, suppositions, pictures, recordings and weblinks.
Also, individuals can promote their business and individual aptitudes. The capacity of online
networking to spread valuable data quickly has made it the quickest developing method of
association. Social media networking has changed numerous businesses, however the most
striking impact of it is in the classrooms and the overall education system. Whether it's using
private social gatherings, Facebook Pages, classroom Twitter profiles or web journals, school
after school has grasped long range of interpersonal communication using some form of social
media. With such a high rate of students using social media networking on daily basis, there is a
strong need to analyze the extent to which social media is having its impact on tertiary
institutions.

1
 There is no doubt that online networking sites specially the social media have conveyed
individuals closer to one another more than ever, yet specialists and researchers around the globe
have been searching for the weaknesses that might have been faced by its users. After the
presentation of cell phones, the utilization of online networking has risen exponentially. With the
ascent in the utilization of long range interpersonal communication locations, the edge of
customary individual collaboration had been changed and will be more distinctive for the up and
coming era. The long range interpersonal communication has its consequences for society inside
and out for instance, specialized techniques, self-expression, disengagement, relations and the
sense of humanity.

It has been a well-known truth that in order to utilize social networking websites, one needs
to create an account and sign in every time they want to access the website. Every social
networking site does not give its clients a choice to keep their online appearance private. In
addition, there is an absence of mindfulness on approaches to hide the private data of the clients.
Due to this reason, individuals face various privacy and accountability issues while utilizing
online networking. Besides, there have been questions on the quality and dependability of the
data that is accessible on the online networking in view of the absence of following back the
realities. Individuals want to get the news instead of checking it. This makes them deceived and
once in a while prompts mistaken assumptions. Moreover, it gives them a misguided feeling of
being progressive.

1.2 Statement of Research Problem

We are currently in the challenging business era where every organization are trying in
one way or the other to gather enough market share, increased growth, profit maximization and
many more. Every organization in one or the other needs to be connected beyond their
geographical location if such organization needs to be recognized globally. It has been identified
that the reason why most business organization are having challenges on how to grow and to also
have a greater market share is that customers this day like to make orders directly from their
internet site most especially from social media platforms like Facebook advert, google advert and
many more.

As there is a rapid advancement of media technology on the way people communicate on

a daily basis. The growing dimension of the use of the social media among the its users cannot
2
 be over emphasized. Over the years, social networking among various organizations has become
more and more popular. It is a way to make connections, not only in connecting with customers
but with friends outside of business. Jacobsen & Forste, (2011), believe that the use of
technology such as internet is one of the most important factors that can influence business
performance positively or adversely. Many organizations are worried that staffs are spending too
much time on Facebook and other social media sites and have not enough time to participate in
the main goals and objectives of the organization. Though organization are worried about
workers’ constant use of the social media sites, many employees continue to utilize these sites on
a daily basis. It is against this background that this research is being conducted to ascertain the
impact of social media use sites on their business performance.

1.3 Research Objectives

The aim of this research is to investigate the Effect of Social Media Network on
Performance of Tertiary Institutions Kwara State, while other objectives are to;

1. Explore the impact of WhatsApp Platform on the Effectiveness of computer accessories

business in Ilorin
2. Determines the extent at which WhatsApp Platform affect the Efficiency of computer
accessories business in Ilorin.
3. Examine the extent at which G-Mail affect the Effectiveness of computer accessories business
in Ilorin.
4. Identify how G-mail affect the Efficiency of computer accessories business in Ilorin.

1.4 Research Questions

The following questions guide the study and some of which are.
1. What is the effect of WhatsApp Platform on the Effectiveness of computer accessories
business in Ilorin?
2. How has WhatsApp Platform on the Efficiency of computer accessories business in Ilorin?
3. To what extent has G-Mail affect the Effectiveness of computer accessories business in
Ilorin?

3
4. What is the effect of G-mail on the Efficiency of computer accessories business in
Ilorin?

1.5 Research Hypothesis

The following research hypothesis will be formulated for the study.
H01: WhatsApp Platform does not affect the Effectiveness of computer accessories business in
Ilorin.
H02: There is no significant effect of WhatsApp Platform
on the Efficiency of computer accessories business in Ilorin.
H03: G-mail does not affect the Effectiveness of computer accessories business in Ilorin.
H04: G-mail does not affect the Efficiency of computer accessories business in Ilorin.

1.6 Significance of the Study

The study provides suitable suggestions to the impact of social media network on performance
of computer accessories business in Ilorin. This research work is suitable for computer
accessories business in Ilorin to understand the effect of social media networking on the
performance of their business towards the set goals of the organization. Social media network
like WhatsApp group chats involving business organization and some of its customer’s
particular has made dissemination of information easy from the organization to hundreds of
customers and even more. There have been various means and research work on how social
media networking has impacted organization, but little has been written on computer accessory
business, this research work shall serve as a supplement to existing literatures relating to this
research topic.

1.7 limitations of the Study

This study is limited to the issue of social media networking on computer accessories business in
Ilorin. The reason for this restriction is due to limited time available and unavailability of
resources for the submission of this research work. The limitation also covers inability to change
the outcome of the data analyzed.

4
1.8 Scope of the Study
This research work, the effect of social media network on performance of computer accessories
business in Ilorin, will be using Femtech I.T and Afatech I.T company as the case study because
this research work tends to know if social media network has been effective and efficient
towards the growth of computer accessory business in Ilorin, Femtech I.T and Afatech I.T are
the major computer accessories business in Ilorin, this research proposal decide to make them as
case study because of the easy access of data and they are as well known to the general public,
this research work will be covering from the last four years i.e. 2016-2018 of this organization
for proper planning

1.9 Chapterization
This research work is mainly concerned with the effect of social media network on performance
of computer accessories business in Ilorin. The overriding objectives of this research are to
investigate the impact of social media network on performance of computer accessories business
in Ilorin. To achieve this, this study is divided into five chapters.
Chapter one; dealt with the Background of the Study, Statement of the Problem, Objectives of
the Study, Questions of the study Justification of the Study, Limitation of the Study, Scope of
the Study, Outline of the Study, Operationalization and Definition of Terms.
Chapter two: Literature Review, Conceptual Review, Theoretical Framework, and Gaps
in literature and Chapter three: focused in Research Methodology, Instruments that will be used
in Data Collection,

1.10 OPERATIONALIZATION

Topic: the effect of social media network on performance of computer accessories business in
Ilorin.
The two construct include:

1. SOCIAL MEDIA NETWORK

2. PERFORMANCE OF COMPUTER ACCESSORY BUSINESS
5
 Y=f (X)

Where Y = Dependent Construct (Variable)

Where X = Independent Construct (Variable)

Where:

X (Independent Variable) Y (Dependent Variable)

Social Media Network Performance of Computer Accessory Business

1. WhatsApp Platform 1. Effectiveness
2. G-mail 2. Efficiency
3. Instagram 3. Increase Sales
4. Facebook 4.Market Share

Selected Variables
Social Media Network Performance of Computer Accessory Business
1. WhatsApp Platform 1. Effectiveness
2. G-mail 2. Efficiency

1.11Definition of Terms
There are different definitions depending on the perspective to which individual author views it,
but for the purpose of this study, I would like to use interpretations that best fits into the subject
matter.
SOCIAL MEDIA: Social media has been defined as ‘a collection of internet websites, services
and practices that support collaboration, community building, participation and sharing’.

NETWORKING: This is a means of transferring and exchanging of data between nodes over a
shared medium in an information system or exchange of information and ideas among people
with a common profession or other interest.

6
PERFORMANCE: The free online business dictionary defines this as the accomplishment of a
given task measured against preset known standards of accuracy, completeness, cost, and speed.
In this study, performance is deemed to be the fulfillment of an obligation, in a manner that
releases the performer from all liabilities under the contract.

Chapter Two

Literature Review

2.0 Introduction
The chapter presents a review of the literature related to the study. Past studies are
important as they guide the researcher on other studies done on the same topic. From this
review, a conceptual review using the dependent and the independent variables in the survey is
developed, which lays a framework for the study. The chapter has four parts; conceptual
definitions, the theoretical review, the empirical review, and Gaps in Literature.

2.1Conceptual Clarification
Social Media Networking

Social media networking comprises of activities that involve socializing and networking
online through words, pictures and videos. Kaplan and Haenlein (2010) defined social media as a
group of internet based applications that build on the ideological and technological foundations
of user generated content. In line with this, Salter (2012) stated that social media introduced
substantial and pervasive challenges to communication between organizations, communities and
individuals the availability of high-speed internet broad band connection between connection
with massive use of desktop, computer, laptops, e-readers, text messaging, Facebook, you tube,

7
and smart phones enables millions of people to actively engage in media, text messaging, content
sharing, on-line-learning and much more.
Social networking sites are web-based services that allow individuals to construct a
public or semipublic profile within a bounded system, to articulate a list of other users with
whom they share a connection, and view and traverse their list of connections and those made by
others within the system (Boyd and Ellison, 2007). Different social groups in Nigeria such as
Nigerian Library Association (NLA) can establish contacts and online forum. Social Network
Sites (also called Social Networking Services or Social Networking Communities), are those
Internet systems that have at their heart the personalized profile (Tapscott & Williams, 2006,).
Some of the prominent examples include: Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and MySpace. Social
networking sites are two-way transparent communication that encourage a feedback mechanism;
connecting people with shared interest. Social networking sites allow librarians to adopt a new
role by placing themselves into a social realm with users.

2.1.1 Types of Social Media Network

WhatsApp Platform
Mobile applications provide a platform for dialogic communication (Campbell & Park,
2008). Amongst them is the WhatsApp platform, which offers a wide array of opportunities for
the users. Just like many social media platforms, it provides a platform for entertainment,
education, collaboration, instantaneous sharing of information as well as maintenance of a
community (Jebakumar & Jisha, 2014). Unlike the network operator’s short message service
(SMS) where the message sent is delivered to the recipient with or without their consent,
WhatsApp gives the message recipient the leeway to accept or reject messages from different
recipients. In addition, WhatsApp has the capability of group-formation where a message can
reach different recipients. The maximum number of group members that WhatsApp can
accommodate currently stands at 256 (WhatsApp, 2016).
WhatsApp appeal amongst its users is attributed to its capability and features. Sultan
(2014), in an investigation related to mobile text messaging, suggested that users of WhatsApp
turn to it as a medium that enables them to keep contact with family members and friends, as
well as for entertainment and acquiring information. As part of its uses, WhatsApp has the
capability of sending location information to the recipients (Church & de Oliveira, 2013). In the

8
same study, it was found out that one of the benefits of using WhatsApp include its affordability.
Cost is seen as a factor that influences people’s behaviour when choosing which medium to use
in sending messages. Secondly, WhatsApp was seen to give them a sense of connection. It was
seen that WhatsApp was used more between partners than with other communities.

WhatsApp as a communication medium but it was instead focused on students’ learning

outcomes. Conversely to the Yeboah and Ewur (2014) study, Salem and Soliman (2014)
conducted a research on WhatsApp use amongst college student with the objective of finding out
the factors that influence intention to use mobile instant messenger such as WhatsApp. They
used a sample of 450 students in their research and concluded that, “in addition to perceived
usefulness and perceived ease of use of mobile instant messenger, sociability, perceived self-
expressiveness, and enjoyment established by using mobile instant messenger can be considered
as predictors of use of mobile instant messenger (p. 292). Additionally, a study conducted in
similar context by Ahad and Lim (2014) revealed that WhatsApp benefited the undergraduate
students in Malaysia by enabling them to discuss and share information pertaining to their
studies, as well as facilitate their everyday communication with friends and family.

From the above reviewed studies, it is seen that the focus on WhatsApp studies has been
on how different users utilize it and also the effects that come from the usage. From the studies
that the researcher came across on WhatsApp usage, there was none that was addressing its
usage in the corporate organizations. For instance, the studies that mention WhatsApp and are
communication-based which have been done locally in Kenya cover social media in general
without specifically narrowing down to WhatsApp platform (Barasa, 2012; Mwongela, 2015).
Therefore, this leaves a gap in this field of research. By studying how WhatsApp is used to
gratify social needs in organizations would be crucial in bridging the identified literature gap
that exists and also examine the application of the uses and gratification theory in the
organization context.

2.1.1.1 Other Types of Social Media

Blogs:

9
Are a form of online journal. They can have a single author, or several. Most blogs allow readers
to post comment in response to articles or posts. Reuben (2014) stated that blogs are being used
by some colleges to post news articles to open conversations about them.
Twitter:
According to Reuben (2014), twitter is a social networking and micro blogging service, utilizing
instant messaging, signs or a web interface enabling its users to send and read messages.

YouTube:
YouTube is a popular video sharing website where users can upload, view, and share video
clips. YouTube has become an enormously popular form of web 2.0 new media. A recent article
in Wired cites an average of 65,000 upload and 100 million videos viewed per day on YouTube
(Godwin-Jones, 2007).

Myspace:
Is an online community that lets people to meet their friends’ friends, share photos, journals and
interest. Unlike facebook, myspace allows users to fully customize their profile by completey
changing the appearance, background and format of their pages (Reuben, 2014).

Wiki
is a group of Web pages that allows users to add content, similar to a discussion forum or blog,
but also permits others (sometimes completely unrestrictedly) to edit the content. Arreguin
(2004) said that what distinguishes wikis from blogs, discussion form, or other content
management systems is that there is no inherent structure hard-coded: wiki pages can be
interconnected and organized as required, and are not presented by default in a reverse-
chronological, taxonomic-hierarchical, or any other predetermined order. In essence, the wiki
offers a vast simplification of the process of creating HTML pages, and thus is a very effective
way to build and exchange information through collaborative effort (Arreguin, 2004).

2.1.3 Social Media Characteristics:

Social media have significantly changed the relationships among customers and
organization by creating and allowing a two-way communication (Hoyer, and MacInnis, 2010).

10
Social media websites provide organizations the potential to interrelate with prospect and
present customers, to boost the sense of intimacy of the customer relationship (Mersey et.al,
2010). Social media developed the one-to-many communicating tools into the many-to-many
interacting style. There are assured characteristics that all social media applications primarily
share. Khatib, (2008) identified five specific characteristics that highlight the operations of all
social media as the following:

2.1.3.1 Ease of Use

Acknowledged ease of use by users is much associated and connected with present usage and
future usage of social media. Convenience and ease of use for the most part is one of the mainly
vital reasons to prefer online shopping site as well as information quality (Kim and Lim, 2011).
Ease of use is confirmed as one of the largest part of quality criteria of an Internet shopping site
that sway the shopper attitudes and behaviors (Yoo and
Donthu, 2000).

2.1.3.2 Interaction and Broad Participation:

Interaction refers to straight communication and contribution among users and system interface
(Palmer, 2002). Kietzmann et.al, (2011) stated that the openness and measurability anyplace of
communication skills allow social media to alter the way of communication among
organizations, communities and people. Yang and Lim, (2009) said that users will belief and
trust organizations as soon as they obtain great level of interactivity in social media;
trustworthiness of social media is vital in developing interactivity among users and
organizations. Dykeman, (2008) stated that social media have the subsequent activities:
publishing inventive contents digitally, distribute and receive real-time feedbacks throughout
online conversation and review, editing digital information. Social media sites nowadays are not
only considered as a set of chat rooms and forums anymore. Jones and Rafaeli, (1999) said that
interactivity is not a characteristic of the medium however; it is the level to which messages in a
sequential transmit to each other. Furthermore, Kaplan and Haenlein, (2010) stated that social
media has numerous advantages such as a near to the ground cost and helps connect businesses
to customers, build up relationships and cultivate those relationships.

11
 Social media sites promote the contribution and feedback from everyone. Interactive
media are internet tools which help users to simply generate communicate information in the
structure of words, pictures, and videos, making people to be engaged into social media ecology
circles (Safko and Brake, 2009). O’Reilly and Milstein, (2009) stated that “the biggest
opportunity Twitter gives you is the chance to show the personality and humanness behind your
organization” (p.197). By promoting the contributions and feedback from interested users, social
media blurs the line that is linking the media and the audience (Mayfield, 2008). Organizations
used social media in order to smooth the progress of customer relationship and to facilitate a
participative culture (Rosso et.al, 2008). In social media participation could be measured through
the engagement of users and the regularity of visits and the duration of visit in the site (Koh and
Kim, 2004).

2.1.3.3 Fun and Entertainment during Use:

Web 2.0 applications help to establish the informal users’ network, promoting the stream
of thoughts and data by generating, captivating, distribution, compiling and the refinement of the
information content effectively and proficiently (Constantin ides and Fountain, 2008). Social
media has for all time been an amusement and enjoyable place to users; users can develop a
personal account to distribute photos, videos, and posts, in addition to hook up with associates
and relatives in an effortless and pleasurable way. Furthermore, Laroche, (2012) said that users
love the thought of contributing, creating, and joining communities to accomplish their wishes of
acknowledgment, enjoying communications with new users with common interests. It was found
that users in the youth community are the majority users in creating and distribute content in
latest media (Pew Research Center, 2005). It can as well be used as a business account to
promote products and services to broadly variety of consumers from diverse cultures around the
world in a fresh and innovative way.

12
2.1.3.4 Ease of Communicating Information to the Public
Users will be able to come across information, thoughts, and make friends with common
interests and communities easily to a great extent and quicker than previous times (Safko and
Brake, 2009). Loads of groups use Facebook or a different social media sites as their key source
of communication. For the reason that anyone can be capable of logging into social media site
such as Facebook or Twitter or any other social media site and ask a question or present a
announcement to a precise user or a general audience, and to obtain feedback or to market an
event. In addition, it encourages buyers to write and share their experience along with their
friends by providing their positive or negative opinions towards a purchased product or service
(Parson, 2013). Social media has as well affect customer actions in a lot of ways such as
beginning from being an information acquisition to post-purchase behavior like frustration
statements or behaviors (Mangold and Faulds, 2009) Data could be effortlessly move among
sources and among users for the reason that social media contains unrestricted flow barriers,
both in applications and technological transferability (Meadows-Klue, 2007).

2.1.3.5 High Credibility:

It has been recommended that the credibility of the medium of communication
influences the discerning participation of the audience with the medium (Metzger et al, 2003).
Accordingly, individual users are showing extra curiosity to the media that they pick out to be
credible. When users rate the medium more extra credible than other media, they aim to rely
additionally on this assured credible communication medium for information search (Kiousis,
2001). Credibility can be pointed in three perspectives of communication: medium credibility,
message/content credibility, and source credibility, Medium credibility is the grasped level of
credibility that users have of a precise medium, like magazines, TV, the Internet, or blogs
(Sundar and Nass, 2001). Message credibility is the grasped credibility of the communicated
message itself, such as informational quality, precision, or currency. Source credibility is the
know-how or honesty of the source as the probability to supply credible information (Metzger et
al, 2003).

13
2.1.4 Challenges Facing Organizations when Adopting Social Media
Various challenges exist in the adoption and use of social media in organizations. Under
this section, these challenges are divided into two categories: internal challenges, consisting of
communication challenges within an organization, and external challenges, which typically relate
to organization’s image, brand or external relations. While several studies have been conducted
on the topic of challenges faced by organizations during the adoption and use of various
organizational communication channels, very few of them relate directly to the challenges of
social media adoption and use. For this reason, the following sections present a review of studies
about adoption and use of social media, Web 2.0 and managerial information systems (IS) in
general.

2.1.4.1 Internal challenges

Fuchs-Kittowski et al (2009) identify a number of internal barriers to the adoption of
Web 2.0 technologies and applications in organizations. They show that the most important of
them is the fact that cost-benefit analyses do provide unclear results. This is because calculating
cost reduction resulting from new technologies is easy. However, future financial benefits are
often uncertain. Similarly, Fuchs-Kittowski et al (2009) believe that Web 2.0 projects are rarely
given high priority by top management, and that the use of Web 2.0 technologies can be seen as
a potential source of distraction for employees.

The above argument is in agreement with the analysis of 33 social media policies collected by
Papworth (2009), which indicates that the main internal challenge perceived by organizations
when adopting and using social media is that of how employees use their working time on
social media. Based on Papworth (2009) several organizations express concerns over
employees using social media more for personal than organizational purposes whereby 30% of
the organization’s guidelines analyzed referencing working time use in some way. Mentioned
as an example, IBM’s social media policy goes as far as to request that employees “don’t forget
their day job” (IBM, 2009).

The above challenges are also facing the use of social media in organizations: although
infrastructure for social media is typically easily available, organizational resistance and the
justification of costs and resource usage are still relevant issues of major concern (Strom et al.,

14
2002). Furthermore, it should be noted that many of the internal challenges faced by
organizations in the process of adopting and using social media are quite similar to those found
in earlier studies related to the adoption of electronic system such as e-commerce, as well as
other types of managerial information systems. The earlier noted challenges do not, however,
cover all the aspects of social media, and so there is a demand for determining the challenges
faced by organizations in social media adoption and use. Also, as Raeth et al. (2010) point out,
the adoption of social media differs from organization’s adoption of other systems in two ways:
in the roles performed by management and the Information Technology (IT), and in the amount
of attention paid to the users, data and technology of the implementation process.

2.1.4.2 External Challenges

External challenges such as those related to organization’s image, brand or external
relations, are also present in the adoption and use of social media in the organizational context.
For example Fuchs-Kittowski et al. (2009) consider the most important of these to be a perceived
lack of control over content in social media and its reflection on organization’s brand image,
coupled with perceived high security risks related to Web 2.0 applications. Similarly, the
analysis of 33 corporate social media policies collected by Papworth (2009) indicates that the
primary external challenge related to social media adoption and use in organizations is the
organization’s reputation management. Reputation was mentioned in 100% of the analyzed
social media policies, with the primary concern being that employee’s status updates, tweets or
blog posts might have a negative effect on the company’s reputation. This observation is also
reflected in Cox et al. (2008) study, which states that employee blogs limit the control that the
organization has on information, and that employee blogs have the potential to damage the
organization’s brand.
Similar to internal challenges, external challenges to social media adoption also share several
traits with the challenges faced by organizations in other contexts, such as e-commerce adoption
and use among corporate companies. For example, Farhoomand et al. (2000) classify external
challenges to electronic commerce into three groups: political issues such as limited access to the
internet in certain parts of the world, cultural issues such as resistance to online shopping in
certain areas and legal issues such as the acceptance of electronic signatures worldwide. While
the examples used are not directly applicable to the context of social media, the classifications
15
behind them still apply: limited or restricted internet access still limits the use of social media in
some parts of the world, for example, and new legal issues such as privacy management and the
use of social networking in recruitment have emerged in the field.

2.1.5 Positive Effects of Social Media on Students’ Academic Life

Organization life has moved to a different dimension since the introduction of these
social media networks and several studies have affirmed that social media plays an important
role on students in higher education including the study conducted by Wheeler, Yeomans and
Wheeler, (2008); Rifkin, Longnecker, Leach and Ortia,(2009). In their study, they recognized
four (4) major advantages of social media usage by students in higher education which included;
enhancing relationship, improving learning motivation, offering personalized course material,
and developing collaborative abilities. Indeed, social media has contributed greatly to facilitating
learning in the 21st century. It is shown that a greater percentage of students including those at
the PhD level commonly use social media to ameliorate their studies (Khan, 2010).

The answers to the causes of flexible studies today across the globe might not be far-
fetched from the great contribution that social media platforms are providing when used
judiciously. Even though, there have been other school of thought that states that social media is
a nuisance to students’ academic life such as Kuppuswamy and Shankar (2010), who argued in
their study that social networks distracts the attention and concentration of the students toward
learning and converts it towards non educational activities such as useless and unnecessary
chatting, there have been several studies conducted afterwards whose findings are contrary to
this claim. For instance, the study conducted by Jain, Verma, Verma and Tiwari (2012), titled
“the impact of social networking in promoting education’’ revealed that students benefit from
chatting with other students, teachers and external sources to acquire knowledge. Also, Yunus
and Salehi (2012), argued in the same direction that students gained more vocabulary, improved
their writing skills and reduced their spelling mistakes through social media usage.

In fact as an educational tool, social media enriches learning by giving both students and
teachers the opportunity to connect in new and very exciting ways thereby encouraging flexible
mode of learning. It is stated that flexible learning expands the choice on what, when and how
people learn. It supports different styles of learning including E-learning which is highly
patronized across the globe (Pappas, 2013). Other scholars; O’keeffe and Clake-pearson (2011),

16
in their study also revealed that social media benefits students by connecting them to one another
on assignments and class projects. It is further buttressed in the study of Arquero and Esteban,
(2013) and Selwyn, (2007) whose conclusions were that social media undoubtedly generate new
opportunities to engage students in higher education as they are remarkably effective at
connecting people and facilitating the exchange of information. It is clear and indisputable from
these studies that social media usage in the educational sector cannot be underestimated since its
introduction.

2.1.6 Negative Effects of Social Media on Students’ Academic Life

Davies and Cranston (2008), enumerated some of the risks associated with social media
which included criminal activities such as identity theft and fake contacts which is prevalent
today, sexual abuse or harassment and unsuitable advertising. On the same subject O’keeffe and
Clakepearson (2011), also mentioned cyberbullying, online harassment, sexting, face book
depression, and privacy concerns as some of the challenges associated with social networking.
Cyberbullying: cyberbullying is a category of bullying that occurs in the digital realm or
medium of electronic text. ‘‘It is any behavior performed through electronic or digital media by
individuals or groups that repeatedly communicates hostile or aggressive messages intended to
inflict harm or discomfort on others’’ (Tokunaga, 2010). Cyberbullying is one the serious threat
in the social media environment and has called for a number of studies to determine its causes.
The causes of cyberbullying according to Calvete, Orue, Estevez, Villardon and Padilla (2010),
was significantly related with the use of proactive aggression, justification of violence, exposure
to violence and less perceived social support of friends.

2.2 Theoretical Clarification

The theories considered most appropriate for this study were: social information
processing theory and media equation theory.

2.2.1 Social information processing theory

Social information processing theory explains online information. The theory was
developed in 1992 by Joseph Waither (Asemah 2011:219). Social information processing theory
is an interpersonal communication theory which suggests that online interpersonal relationship

17
development might require more time to develop than face-to-face relationships, but when
developed, it has the same influence as face-to-face communication. This means, the more
students use social media, the more they influence their disposition to studies, given the fact that
friends from social media will begin to exert influence on each other.

2.2.2 Media equation theory

Media equation theory, as noted by Griffin (2000), cited in Asemah and Edegoh (2012)
was propounded by Byron Reeves and Clifford Nass. The theory proposes that media are equal
to real life and that electronic media in particular are being given human attributes. In most
cases, people talk to computer as if they were talking to human beings. More so, in most cases,
you talk to your television as if you are discussing with human beings, hence you talk to
television sets as if you are discussing with people. That is, people have personalized the media
of mass communication to the extent that they now see them, just the way they see human
beings. Thus, Griffin (2000, p. 273), cited in Asemah and Edegoh (2012), notes that media are
equal to real life. He further noted that what Reeves and Nass’s equation suggests is that we
respond to communication media as if they were alive. This theory says that people now treat
computers, television and the new media like real people and places. Going by the media
equation theory, we tend to give human attributes to inanimate objects in our homes. According
to Griffin (2000, p. 373): “The practical implication of the media equation is that once we turn
on a television or boot up on computer, we follow all the rules of interpersonal interaction that
we have précised throughout life. Thus, the word interface is particularly apt when describing
human media relations. This natural social response goes way beyond occasional words yelled at
the television set or our frantic play for the computer to retrieve lost data. Reeves and Nass
maintain that the media equation is so basic that it applies to everyone; it applies often and it is
highly consequential.”

The above assertion aptly captures how the audience members now tend to engage the
media in a discussion as they do to human beings. The relevance of the theory to the paper
cannot be overemphasized. People treat the media like human beings, so whatever people see in
the media, they tend to believe because they respond to the new media, the way they will
respond to human beings.

18
2.2.3 The System’s Theory (Input – Output Model)
The theory adapted for this study is derived from the System’s Theory Input – Output
model developed by Ludwig Van Bertalanffy and Weihrich, (1988) which postulates that an
organized enterprise does not exist in isolation; it’s dependent on its environment in which it’s
established. They add that the inputs from the environment are received by the organization
which then transforms them into output after processing such inputs. As adapted by this study,
the student (input) are admitted into the school with different intelligent quotient, family and
educational background; when they get into the school system, the school through its resources
(both human and capital) process such students through the learning process which is aided or
made easier through the resources/variables attributed to such school. The effectiveness of such
variables is measured through the output of the student which is measured in term of their
academic performance. Saleem (1997) states that all systems must work in harmony in order to
achieve the overall goal of such system. According to the input – output model, its assumed that
the school with high level of variables will enable the students produce a high level of output
which can be measured in term of their academic performance. Therefore, student will perform
well in an academic environment with the best facilities/variables in term of school size,
ownership, type, structure and location.
2.2.4 Uses and Gratification Theory

Uses and Gratifications Theory, also called Needs and Gratifications Theory is a model

that focuses on why people use certain media rather than on the content. Uses and Gratifications

theory was propounded by Elihu Katz, Jay Blumler and Micahel Gurevitch in 1974. According

to Severin and Tankard (2001), the uses and gratifications theory involves a shift of focus from

the purposes of the communicator to the purposes of the receiver to determine what functions

mass communication is serving for audience members.

One of the tenets of the uses and gratifications theory is that audiences are active, and they seek

to find out the mass media that satisfy their gratifications. The Internet has enabled audience to

find and also have more options from which they are able to select the websites and web pages

19
that satisfy their specific needs. The Internet also allows audiences to be in more control of the

media.

Uwem (2013, asserts that while using the new media, people are actively combining several

motives to fulfill their yearnings and aspirations, properly referred to as gratifications. This also

happens when they are using social networking websites. The uses and gratifications approach is

therefore a good way to find out what other purpose customers use social networking sites .

From a uses and gratifications perspective, social networking sites have a wide range of

information material, thus those who utilize their services and resources should be able to satisfy

a wide array of needs (Uwem et.al:2013).Uses and gratification approach will enable the

researcher to understand what gratification the students seek and whether that gratification is

obtained and what effects of the gratification obtained have on the user of the media (Park

et.al:2009).

The media equation theory will be selected because the theory proposes that media are
equal to real life and that electronic media in particular are being given human attributes and also
that in most cases people talk to computer as if they were talking to human beings, the practical
implication of the media equation is that once we turn on a television or boot up on computer, we
follow all the rules of interpersonal interaction that we have précised throughout life. Thus, the
word interface is particularly apt when describing human media relations. This natural social
response goes way beyond occasional words yelled at the television set or our frantic play for the
computer to retrieve lost data. Reeves and Nass maintain that the media equation is so basic that
it applies to everyone; it applies often and it is highly consequential. Thus, the word interface is
particularly apt when describing human media relations. This natural social response goes way
beyond occasional words yelled at the television set or our frantic play for the computer to
retrieve

20
2.3 Empirical Review
A study titled Impact of Social Media on Students by Abdulwahaab, 2016 opined that
there are a huge number of individuals on the web who are interested to gather information about
others and meet other individuals, to assemble, share data and encounters on many areas and
topics. As a result of this, hundreds of social networking sites have been made, and they have
pulled in a large number of clients in the few short years that interpersonal interaction has turned
into a marvel. The key elements of the social media websites are fundamentally the same, yet
each site attracts variety of clients in a wide range of ways. Many of the social networking
websites aim at gathering huge public, while others draw in individuals based on race, sexual
inclinations, religion, or nationality. The social media websites are additionally different in the
ways in which they appear and join new data and specialized devices, similar to portable access,
blogging, photograph and video sharing. The main aim of this study is to analyze and evaluate
the various impacts of social media on students. Efforts have been done to focus on most
significant impacts with the help of the latest literature review. The detailed study of literature
review revealed that the major factors on which social media has its impact in the life of students
include their academic performance, social behavior, health and privacy issues. The previous
studies have shown that there has been a slight difference in the impacts of social media on both
male and female students. In order to confirm that, major results have been analyzed with respect
to gender as well. Some of the results are similar to previous studies and researches, while some
of the results are contrary to the previous work done in this regard.
Perpetua & Kelechi, (2018), in their study titled Effect of Social Media on the Study
Habits of Students of Alvan Ikoku Federal College of Education observed that there has been
considerable anxiety in society that social media distracts from education and reduces the social
skills of young people. Following this, educators have sought ways to mitigate its negative
effects on educational attainment while incorporating its positive aspects into the learning
process. This study sought to examine the impact of social media on the study habits of students
of Alvan Ikoku Federal College of Education, Owerri. The research design involved survey
technique where questionnaires were used to collect data from a sample of the student
population. Statistical package for social sciences (SPSS) was used to analyses the data.
Spearman’s Rho was the specific tool used for analysis. It was presented in frequency tables and
bar charts. Findings from variables investigated showed that at p<0.5, social media usage had a

21
significant impact on the study habits of students of Alvan Ikoku Federal College of Education,
Owerri. This indicated the need for stakeholders in the community to employ counselling and
other proactive measures to ensure that students maintained proper focus on their primary
assignment for schooling.
Rana & Azhdar, 2017 conducted a study on the effect of social media which tends to
provide a new perspective on the effect of social media use in SMEs. The purpose of this paper
is to investigate the influence of social media on firm performance with mediating role of
marketing capabilities in the UK, hotel industry. In this research, a structural equation modelling
method has been employed for data analysis. The survey data has been collected by mail survey
from a sample of 384 hotels in the UK. Results from the data analysis demonstrate the positive
and significant relationship between social media use and firm performance. However, the
findings highlighted that marketing capabilities, namely branding and innovation, positively and
significantly mediate the association between social media use and firm performance.
Malik, Muhammad, & Atta, 2016 conducted a research study in Pakistan which is
directed to investigate the impact of social media applications on small business entrepreneurs. It
also examines how small business owners are motivated to use social media applications. Social
media has completely transformed the way businesses are done. Social media applications in the
present time have become the most efficient and effective tool for small business entrepreneurs,
and normally all small businesses use social media platforms for the advertising and publicity of
their products and services. They make fan pages for their followers, and they warmly welcome
their suggestions and opinions, which help in improving their businesses. However, based on
literature review, we conclude that there is a positive impact of social media applications on
small business entrepreneurs as well as they are highly motivated to use these platforms.

Ezeabii, Chibuike, & Udeh, (2019), carried out a research study to determine the
influence of social media on academic performance of business education students in public
universities in South-East States of Nigeria. Two research questions and two null hypothesis
guided the study. The study adopted a descriptive survey research design. The population was
397 students of business education programme in the seven public universities in South-East
states of Nigeria. The entire population was used for the study, therefore there was no sampling.
The instrument used for data collection was a 20 items questionnaire structure in four-point
rating scale. The instrument was validated by three experts. The reliability of the instrument was

22
conducted using Cronbach Alpha and it yielded 0.86. Out of 397 copies of the questionnaire
distributed to the respondents 374 was returned representing 94.21% returned rate. Mean with
standard deviation was used to answer the research questions and the null hypothesis were tested
at 0.05 level of significant using t-test. The findings of the study showed that social media
influences the students’ academic performance positively and negatively in business education.
Based on the finding, recommendations were made which include that students should be
encouraged to utilize social media in the way that it will positively influence the academic
performance, and students should be given assignments and research work to keep them busy
away from the negative use.

In view of Adil, 2016 throught his research work titled the effect of social media on
society where he finds out that Facebook, Whatsapp, Youtube and Twitter are amongst the most
popular destinations Social networking sites on the web. No doubt in some cases this has
contributed to Internet Addiction Disorder and fraudulent activities on the internet, but have they
on the whole had a positive effect in our lives? Some believe that the benefits provided by social
network sites such as Facebook and Whatsapp have made us better off as a society and as
individuals, and that, as they continue to be adopted by more diverse populations, we will see an
increase in their utility. Social networking sites, such as Facebook, Twitter and Whatsapp are
examples of communication tools available online. With proliferation of social networking
online comes impact on society; a difference in what people do and how they do it. Changes in
society are simultaneously useful and negative and this is the case with the impact of online
social networking. This paper aims to look at the positive effect that interaction through social
networking sites has on today’s society in relation to the modern media concept of greater
interaction.

A research project carried out in Egypt titled the impact of social media on business
developmenmt in Egypt by Mennatallah, (2017) which first objective is to determine the current
features and status of Social Media tools adoption in the Egyptian small and medium enterprises
(SMEs) in accordance with business purposes. The second objective is to gain a deeper
understanding on the characteristics that drive or inhibit Social Media tools adoption and usage
by the Egyptian small and medium enterprises (SMEs). The third objective is about measuring
the effect of current adoption and the future intentions degree based on the decision toward the

23
usage of Social Media tools on Egyptian small and medium enterprises (SMEs) business
development efforts. Ten hypotheses were suggested to investigate which characteristics drive or
inhibit Social Media tools adoption based on Innovation Diffusion Theory and to measure the
impact of Social Media adoption on business development on the level of SMEs. The research
adopted quantitative methodology and was conducted by arranging paper-based questionnaire
collected from 150 social media actual and future adopters in Egyptian SMEs. The deductive
logic was used to verify the proposed ten hypotheses. The data were analyzed using multiple
regression (Stepwise method) by SPSS software. The findings included firstly a general profile
for Egyptian SMEs adopting the idea of Social Media use in Benha City. Secondly, the
hypotheses testing proved that firstly, social media tools adoption on SMEs level is mainly
supported by the innovation characteristics of business use of Social Media by SMEs owners in
both maturity and intention levels. Secondly, Social Media adoption on both levels of maturity
and intention has a great effect over business development efforts. To sum it all, the conducted
study added knowledge to the indicated information gap in academic literature regarding the
social media usage for business development from the SMEs perspective. It identified the main
characteristics that shape Social Media adoption on both levels of Social Media Maturity and
Social Media Intention and to what extend these levels affects business development efforts.
As opiend by Akash, (2018) through his research work that until the late 1990‘s the only
form of media known to businesses were television, newspapers and radio, however in the early
2000s, a revolution in media was witnessed and the world was introduced to Social Media.
Social Media is a just like any other form of media is a tool used for communication but at the
larger scale for social interaction using highly accessible and scalable communication
techniques. Social media has a positive impact and a positive influence on the company as well
as the customers. Social media is becoming an essential tool for marketers, which is at a very
minimum investment. In todays ‘scenario consumers judge a company based on their online
presence, hence companies can innovate and simultaneously create a strong social presence by
always catering to their customers ‘needs and concerns. Internationally, companies have adopted
Social Media as an essential tool for their marketing campaign; however, the same is not adapted
in India to a large extent. What are the benefits of Social media? What are the examples of Social
media? This study understands the benefits, impact and importance of Social Media on business
performance and growth.

24
 Ahmad, H J and Yazan, A, (2018) suggest that social media is becoming one of the main
sources of unstructured data through their research paper titled the effect of President Trump’s
tweets on companies’ performance. Many financial analysts use Twitter to gather data and obtain
meaningful insights. Recently, high-profile politicians like President Trump have been using
Twitter to communicate with the public. The President’s Tweets are considered to be informative
signals that may influence consumers and affect investors’ decisions in the stock market. The
effect of these signals can be measured by coinciding changes in the stock market or changes in
the share prices of certain companies targeted in the President’s Tweets. The Tweets used in this
research include keywords that are related to finance and economics, public policy, political
considerations, and targeted companies. Event study methodology is used to determine the
relationship between Trump’s Tweets’ content and daily changes in major indexes and targeted
companies’ excess returns. Although many of the recent discussions have indicated that Trump’s
microblogging can affect the financial markets, the results, on average, show no significant effect
of Trump’s Tweets

Raymond & Afua, 2016 conducted a research titled impact of social media on student
academic life in higher education opined that social media is rapidly changing the
communication setting of today’s social world. The emergent of social media is significantly
influencing the academic life of students. Institutions and academician are continually trying
with social media technologies hoping to excite critical thinking skills, collaboration, and
knowledge construction. Today social media has been accepted by higher institution making it a
platform where students connect with their instructors, fellow students and other higher
authorities across the board. This therefore called for the study to explore and examine how
social media has impacted on students’ academic life. The study implored a qualitative approach
in assessing these impacts. Ten (10) participants were conveniently sampled and interviewed
with a period of two weeks. After studying the phenomena that were of interest to the study, and
transcribing the various responses of the participants the results reveals that social media is
widely used by students of higher institution and that participant are in support of the idea that
social media contribute a significant quota to the development of their academic life.
Another research by Zahid, Ahmad, Syed, & Faisal, (2016) whic focus of study is to
determine the effect of growing use of social media sites on the academic performance of the
students of universities and colleges. On the basis of random sampling a sample of 300 students

25
was selected. Questionnaire was used as an instrument for data collection.97% questionnaire
received back from respondents on which descriptive statistics apply for data analysis. Results
indicate that the effect of social media can be positive as in this study closely determined the real
effect of social media sites. In recent time it encourage the carrier and future of students’ .The
social media sites like Facebook, twitter, Google+ .And Skype capture the attention of students
for study and affecting positively their academic Grade points.

A rsearch paper by Sandra, O. M., & Ismail, N. (2016) titlted the impact of social media
on students’ academic performance- a case of Malaysia tertiary institution finds out that social
media are web-based services that gives individual the opportunity to create either a public or
semi-public profile within a bounded system, add a list of others to with they share a connection
and view and transvers their list of connections and those made by others within the system.
Therefore, this study was carried out with the aim of examining the impact of use of social media
on students’ academic performance in Malaysian Tertiary Institution. In other to measure social
media platforms a questionnaire was developed based on past literatures. The independent
variables includes: time appropriateness, time duration, Nature of Usage, Health Addiction,
Friend-People connection and security/privacy problems while the dependent variable was
student academic performance. This research adopted descriptive and explanatory research
design. It also employed the use of cross sectional survey method using survey questionnaires
that contains 42 items with a Likert Scale (Disagree-1 and 5 for Agree). The sample of 102
students from Erican College was selected using convenient sampling method. The data
collected was analyzed using description means and regression via SPSS 21. The Pearson’s
correlation coefficients of four independent are correlated with student’s academic performance
while two are not. However, using the regression analysis four variables is significant which
include: Time appropriateness, people-friend connection, nature of Usage and health addiction
while Time duration and security/privacy problems are not significant. Thus considering the
abnormal use of Social media platforms by students, it is expedient that Universities and colleges
in Malaysia educate their students to positively use these platforms for educational purposes
which will eventually result in a positive impact on their academic performance.
Abdulwahaab, 2016 conducted a research where he opined that there are a huge number
of individuals on the web who are interested to gather information about others and meet other
individuals, to assemble, share data and encounters on many areas and topics. As a result of this,

26
hundreds of social networking sites have been made, and they have pulled in a large number of
clients in the few short years that interpersonal interaction has turned into a marvel. The key
elements of the social media websites are fundamentally the same, yet each site attracts variety
of clients in a wide range of ways. Many of the social networking websites aim at gathering huge
public, while others draw in individuals based on race, sexual inclinations, religion, or
nationality. The social media websites are additionally different in the ways in which they appear
and join new data and specialized devices, similar to portable access, blogging, photograph and
video sharing. The main aim of this study is to analyze and evaluate the various impacts of social
media on students. Efforts have been done to focus on most significant impacts with the help of
the latest literature review. The detailed study of literature review revealed that the major factors
on which social media has its impact in the life of students include their academic performance,
social behavior, health and privacy issues. The previous studies have shown that there has been a
slight difference in the impacts of social media on both male and female students. In order to
confirm that, major results have been analyzed with respect to gender as well. Some of the
results are similar to previous studies and researches, while some of the results are contrary to
the previous work done in this regard.
Perpetua & Kelechi, 2018 coducted a research where they find out that there has been
considerable anxiety in society that social media distracts from education and reduces the social
skills of young people. Following this, educators have sought ways to mitigate its negative
effects on educational attainment while incorporating its positive aspects into the learning
process. This study sought to examine the impact of social media on the study habits of students
of Alvan Ikoku Federal College of Education, Owerri. The research design involved survey
technique where questionnaires were used to collect data from a sample of the student
population. Statistical package for social sciences (SPSS) was used to analyse the data.
Spearman’s Rho was the specific tool used for analysis. It was presented in frequency tables and
bar charts. Findings from variables investigated showed that at p<0.5, social media usage had a
significant impact on the study habits of students of Alvan Ikoku Federal College of Education,
Owerri. This indicated the need for stakeholders in the community to employ counselling and
other proactive measures to ensure that students maintained proper focus on their primary
assignment for schooling

27
 Another research by Gina, (2018) suggest that the Internet and in particular social media
applications such as Facebook, YouTube and many others, are obviously “overtaking the world”
and could be regarded as “a global consumer phenomenon” (Camilia, Ibrahim, & Dalhatu, 2013)
. Social media usage is one of the most common activities among children, adolescents, and
emerging adults nowadays. It offers today’s youth a portal for entertainment and communication
and it is becoming one of the main platforms for accessing information and news. This
aggressive adoption of social media among the younger generation could be attributed to their up
to date knowledge of and comfort with the latest technology and the convenient accessibility to
these social networking tools (Vorderer, 2016). This study aims to shed the light on the social
media effects on the academic performance of university students in Egypt and aims to clarify to
different stakeholders the relationship between the social media usage and academic
performance and to harness full potential of social media. This study examines the role of social
media in students’ academic endeavors and ultimately their academic performance through their
reported perceptions and reflections. It also examines factors that might influence the nature of
this relationship, and its tentative impact on the academic performance of Nile University
undergraduate students. An explanatory sequential mixed method approach is employed in order
to get both quantitative and qualitative data, the responses of 442 Nile university undergraduate
student were collected and were scored, coded and inserted into SPSS, and were analyzed using
multiple statistical descriptive and inferential statistical tests based on the research question and
the nature of the data to be analyzed using frequency tables, crosstabs, Anovas, post hocs and t-
tests. The findings of the study explain the perception of Nile university students of social media
effects on their academic performance, and to what extend do they use social media for academic
related purposes, and it explores the effect of the different academic majors, academic statues
and gender on the social media usage perception and usage. Significant differences in the
behavior of students from different academic majors and different academic status in perceiving
and using social media emerged which might require further investigation.

Othman & Lusekelo, (2018), conducted a research titled evaluation of the impact brought
by social networks on academic performance of higher learning students. Social networking sites
and applications play an important role in the present generation or in today’s society in terms of
communications and learning environment to some extent in which now educators or teachers
are finding the way on how can these social networks be used as teaching and learning tools.

28
Even though they have simplified communications among students and teachers they have also
brought some impact to students in academic performance. The aim of this study was to explore
how the students of State University of Zanzibar are using the social networks and then find out
the impact of those social networks on academic performance of higher learning students in
Zanzibar because no research has been conducted to find out why the academic performance of
students are degrading (or becoming poor) day to day. 160 students from all levels of State
University of Zanzibar (SUZA) were surveyed for the purpose of data collection and the
questionnaires were distributed randomly in the library during academic hours. The data were
collected based on convenience methodology. It was found that the use of social networks
brought negative effects on academic performance of students in higher learning institutions. It
was recommended that for students’ academic performance to improve, strong restrictions must
be placed on the use of social networks during lecture hours, also students must be counseled on
the hours spent on using social networks in the sense that if possible they should be advised to
use one or two hours only per day.
A reserarch work carried out by Agwi & Ogwueleka, 2018 titled impact of social media
on students’ academic performance finds out that social networking has become a common
international trend which has spread its reach to almost every corner of the world. The use of
Social media sites has exploded and evolved into an online platform where people create content,
share it, bookmark it and network at a prodigious rate. Among the prominent users of the social
media are the students. This research assesses the impact of social media sites on student
academic performance in Samuel Adegboyega University. Four research questions and three
hypotheses guided the study. The study adopted descriptive survey design. The population used
as sample were students from Samuel Adegboyega University in Edo state. A validated
questionnaire with 0.96 reliability was used for data collection. Frequency counts, percentage
and mean were the quantitative statistics used. The inferential statistics was applied to assess the
significance of the hypothesis. Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) was the technique of estimation
and the F-statistic was used to determine whether the hypotheses was significant at 0.05. The
result shows that there is significant relationship between time spent on social media sites and
academic works. It also revealed that the nature of social media activities which the student
engages in does not have any significant impact on the student academic performance. In

29
addition, the study also shows that the gender of the student has no impact on the usage and
activities of social media

2.4 Gaps in Literature

Various studies have not come up with a concrete consensus on the impact of social
media networking on performance of computer accessory business till date. This is partially due
to the number of limited studies examining the impacts of social media network on performance
of computer accessory business. In addition, very few studies have examined this research topic
in Africa and specifically in Ilorin, despite the increasing use of these social media, particularly
after implementation of devolution.

This study did not focus on employee, but took the issue as a general view of social
media influence on both the employee, management and shareholder of the selected computer
business accessory. This study will explore the relationship between the effect of social media
networking and performance of computer accessory business. The other reviewed studies dealt
with employee performance but did not focus on organization as a whole. This research work
tends to cover this gaps and look for further suggestion on how effective social media network is
important to computer accessory business.

30
 Chapter Three

Methodology

3.0 Introduction

This chapter will discuss the pragmatic approach to build the inquiry methods that are
best suited to address the topics of the research questions. The chapter will present a review of the
outlines of the methodological view of the research onion; these include research method, research
design, population of study, sample size determination, sampling technique/procedure, research
sample frame, collection of data, research instrument, validity of research instrument, reliability
of research instrument, ethical consideration.

3.1 Research Design

A research design should provide confidence to the scientific community that the
findings derived follows the design that captures the reality and possess high levels of reliability
and validity (Kerlinger, 2008). The fundamental idea of adopting this approach is to give the
management of computer accessories business in Ilorin, a well-structured questionnaire in the
context of how social media network can enhance the overall goal of the organization. Cross
sectional research survey designs have been used by several researchers.

3.2 Population of the Study

The population of interest consists of the staffs and management of Femtech I.T and
Afatech I.T. It is unusual to be able to deal with the whole population in a survey, thus, a sample
is essential. Furthermore (Asika, 2006) state that carrying out a physical census of the entire
31
population could be practically unachievable, especially given the size and diversity of the target
population the population of study for both organization is 500

3.3 Sample Size Determination

Since the population is a finite one, application of statistical formula becomes imperative
in determining the sample size. To study the entire population is not usually feasible due to some
hindering factors such as limited time frame, financial limitation, scarce resources and other
holding back factors.

Using scientific measure in arriving at the sample size. The researcher adopts Taro
Yamane Formula:- Hence the formula entails a 95% confidence level at a point of 5%
assumption

n = N
1 + N (e) ²
Where n = Sample size
N = Population of the study
e = Level of precision or Sampling Error or Tolerable error (5%) is
assumed

For example n = 500

1 + 500 (0.05)²

n = 500
1 + 500 (0.0025)
n = 500
1 + 1.25

n= 500 = 222 n = 222

2.25
3.4 Research Method

32
 For this study the researcher will make use of quantitative method i.e. information will
be collected with the aid of quantitative method and Interview. Data will be collected through a
well structure close ended questionnaire. The questionnaire will be divided into two segments;
the first segments will reflect the demographic information of respondents while the other
segments will show the drafted questions from the research variables. The purpose of adopting
this research method is to generalize from a sample to a population so that inferences can be
made about business strategies characteristics and performance of startups.

3.5 Sampling Technique

The study will adopt simple random sampling, which is a type of probability sampling
technique that enables an equal chance of selecting each unit from within a particular (group) of
the population when creating the sample. The questionnaires will be administered to randomly
selected respondents by the researcher to ensure immediate attention and response from
respondents.

3.6 Method of Data Collection

Primary data will be used for this study and data will be collected through questionnaire
and observation. Primary data will ensure active participation of respondents involved to get
accurate information needed. For the purpose of this study, the questionnaire method will be
used for collecting the primary data. The Likert scale of 1-5 (strongly agree, agree, disagree,
strongly disagree and neutral) will be used. The questionnaires will be distributed to the
respondent within the scope of the study. The questionnaires will be administered using both
personal contact and research assistants who are based in the metropolis.

3.7 Research Instruments

Closed-ended Questionnaire and interview method will be adopted by the researcher to
collect the data. This is done to ensure that the required questions are in accordance with the
stated objectives and also to avoid ambiguities in the questions as well as validate the instrument
to be used. This different way of gathering information will supplement each other, hence boost
the validity and reliability of the research instruments. The items of the questionnaires will be
developed based on the research objectives and hypotheses

33
3.8 Validity of Research

Validity is regarded as the extent to which a measuring instrument achieved its primary
purpose which is to authenticate its correctness and cogency. However, content validity will be
adopted in the research work, as this explains the degree to which a test measures a
representative sample of subject matter and the behavioral changes under consideration. Asika
(2006) stated that validity can be defined as the extent to which a measuring instrument measures
what it is designed to measure. Hence, the study ensures that all variables will be given utmost
and fair representation in the questionnaire as they will be grouped in different subheadings for
clarity purpose.

3.9 Reliability Test

The data will be subjected to reliability tests to check consistency of the measurement set.
Reliability will be operationalized as internal consistency and established through computation
of Cronbach’s alpha coefficient. Reliability of the instrument will be measured using pilot study
and this will be controlled using Nunnally (1978) benchmark of 0.7. So coefficient reliability of
0.70 or higher indicated that the instrument used will be reliable.

3.10 Method of Data Analysis

Data will be analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 20.0
through a combination of both descriptive and inferential statistics. The data preparation will
involve data coding and presentation. Descriptive statistics will be used to analyze data on scope
of operations, number of employees and turnover and the statistics used will be percentages.
Multiple standard regression will provide the proportion of variance in the dependent variable
(Computer Accessory Business) accounted for by the combination of independent variables
(Social Media Network) and for contribution of each independent variable. This will enable the
coefficients to explain the extent to which an independent variable influenced the dependent
variable.

3.11 Ethical Consideration

34
 The ethical consideration will demonstrate the researcher’s commitment to
professionalism by undertaking research practices that develop rapport and build a good
relationship between the researcher and the respondents. The researcher will assure the research
sample of their confidentiality in line with submissions of Creswell (2009). This is to comply
with the guideline and procedure of undertaking research in Ilorin. More so, the researcher will
inform the respondent that the data collected will used for the benefit of knowledge and
academic purposes and will not be used for the manner that the respondents will object to. The
ethical considerations will not only be for the data collection, but also throughout the research
process including in the data analysis and interpretation, the research organizations, potential
readers and the researcher that the research contains fundamental ethical values and practices
which can measure the quality of the research as a whole.

Reference

Adil, J. Z. (2016). Effect of Social Media on Society. International Journal of New Technology
and Research (IJNTR).

Agwi , U. C., & Ogwueleka, F. N. (2018). Impact Of Social Media On Students’ Academic
Performance . International Journal of Scientific & Engineering Research

Abdulwahaab, A. (2016). Investigate The Impact of Social Media on Students . Journals of

Computing & Information Systems .

A KASH, K. G. (2018). The Impact of Social Media on Business Growth and Performance in
Inda.

Ahmad, H J; Yazan, A;. (2018). Using social media analytics: The effect of President Trump’s
tweets on companies’ performance. Accounting and Management Information Systems

Antony, M. (2016). Social media, general business reporting and exploring how people relate to
technology (mord A Bloggers)

Abubakar, A. A. (2011). Political participation in social media during the 2011 presidential
electioneering in Oladokun Omojola et al.(eds.) Media, Terrorism and Political

35
 Communication in a Multi-Cultural Environment: ACCE Conference Proceedings. Ota
(Nigeria): ACCE Loc. Pp. 445-453.

Arreguin, C. (2004). Wikis. In B. Hoffman (Ed.), Encyclopedia of Educational

Technology.Retrieved on 22nd may 2011 from
http://coe.sdsu.edu/eet/Articles/wikis/start.htm.

Constructivist Learning Theory. Retrieved from the World Wide Web November 2, 2002from
http://www.artsined.com/teachingarts/Pedag/Dewey.html

Du, Z. (2012). Proceedings of the 2012 International Conference of Modern Computer Science
and Applications. Springer.
David, S. (2014). Advantages and disadvantages of facebook. Journal of Business Education,
1(2),155-162

Ezenwafor J.I. (2012). Adequacy of exposure to information and communication technology in

business graduating business education students of tertiary institutions in Anambra state.
Business education journal, 8 (2), 45-601.

Ezumah, B. (2013). College Students’ Use of Social Media: Site Preferences, Uses and
Gratifications Theory Revisited. International Journal of Business and Social Science,
4(5), 27-34.

Ezeabii, I. C., Chibuike, V. C., & Udeh, S. O. (2019). Influence of Social Media on Academic
Performance of Business Education Students of Public Universities In South-. British
Journal of Education .

George, J. (2016, January 20). Free subscription for WhatsApp confirmed for UAE users.
Emirates 24/7 Business.

Gina, M. (2018). The Effects Of Social Media On The Academic Performance Of Nile
University Students

36
Global Media Insight. (2015, June 25). UAE Social Media Statistics 2015. Retrieved from
Global Media Insight: http://www.globalmediainsight.com/blog/uae-social-media-statistics-
2015/

GMI Blogger. (2015, June 25). UAE Social media statitics 2015. Retrieved November 5, 2016,
from GMI: http://www.globalmediainsight.com/blog/uae-social-media-statistics-2015/

Gouveia, A. (2016, March 2). UAE Law: mind your p's and q's on whatsapp or face prison.
Emirates Woman.

Ibrahim, L. (2012). Social media and its influence on students’ performance. Jamb News 3(21),
4-5.

Jedidah, C. L. (2013). Social Networking and Academic Performance of University Students In

Kenya: A Case Study of Kenyatta University, Kericho.

Kaplan, A. M. & Haenlein, M. (2010). Users of the world, unitel the challenges and
opportunities of social media. BusinessHorizons,53(1) 59-68.

Kist, W. (2008). I gave up Myspace for lent: New teachers and social networking sites. Journal
of Adolescent & Adult Literacy” 52 (3) pp. 245.247

Krishna, K. P., & Sumana, S. (2015). Effect Of Social Networking Site On Students’ Academic
Performance In Sims, Mangalore: An Investigative Study . International Journal of
Management Research.

Lucky, U. O., & Okereke, C. E. (2014). he Impact of Social Media on the Academic
Performance of University Students in Nigeria . Journal of Education and Practice .

Malik, S. S., Muhammad, S. G., & Atta, R. M. (2016). Impact of Social Media Applications on
Small Business Entrepreneurs. Management and Economics Research Journal.

MehMood, S, & Taswir, T, (2013) The effect of social networking site on the Academic
Performance on students in college of applies sciences, Nizwa, Oman. International
Journal of Arts and Commence. Vol. 2 No. 1 pp 111-123
37
Mennatallah, M. H. (2017). The Impact of Social Media on Business Development In Egypt

Othman, M. A., & Lusekelo, K. (2018). Evaluation of the Impact Brought By Social Networks
on Academic Performance of Higher Learning Students. International Journal of
Academic Management Science Research (IJAMSR)

Owusu, A. E., & Agatha, G. L. (2015). Use of Social Media and its Impact on Academic
Performance of Tertiary Institution Students: A Study of Students of Koforidua
Polytechnic, Ghana. Journal of Education and Practice.

Perpetua, O. E., & Kelechi, E. E. (2018). Effect of Social Media on the Study Habits of Students
of Alvan Ikoku Federal College of Education, Owerri. World Academy of Science,
Engineering and Technology International Journal of Educational and Pedagogical
Sciences, Vol:12, No:1,.

Rana, T., & Azhdar, K. (2017). The effect of social media on firm performance.
www.elsevier.com/locate/comphumbeh

Raymond, O. B., & Afua, A. (2016). The Impact OF Social Media ON Student Academic Life
IN Higher Education. Global Journal OF Human-Social Science: G Linguistics &
Education

Sandra, O. M., & Ismail, N. (2016). The Impact of Social Media on Students’ Academic
Performance- A Case Of Malaysia Tertiary Institution. International Journal of
Education, Learning and Training

Salter, A (2012). Presenting for Twitter at conferences. The Chronicle of Higher Education.
Retrieved from http://chronicle.com/blogs/profhacker/presenting-for-twitterat-
conference/43176.

38