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ABSTRACT
The study focuses on “The place of Twitter as a social media in the modern day mass communication” (A study of Uniport) the main objectives of the study is to examine the role Twitter plays in the social, education and moral live style of Nigeria students since the idea of technology into the business of communication, the students of tertiary institution has continued to utilize the advantage. To get the objective of the study descriptive survey research was adopted. And at of the total population of 2000 students, about 100 people were selected as the sample size through the non probability sampling techniques. The frequency distribution table was adopted to analyze the data. And based on the findings, it was discovered that Twitter as a social medium places a significant role in the day to day lives of students. However, the researcher among other recommendations recommends that students should take Twitter as a major communication means for easy and faster message delivery.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
DECLARATION i
DEDICATION ii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT iii
CERTIFICATION iv
ABSTRACT v
TABLE OF CONTENTS vi
CHAPTER ONE 1
INTRODUCTION 1
1.1 Background of the Study 1
1.2 Statement of Problem 7
1.3 Purpose of the Study 8
1.4 Research Question 8
1.5 Research Hypothesis 9
1.6 Scope or Delimitation of the Study 10
1.7 Definition of Terms 11
CHAPTER TWO 13
LITERATURE REVIEW 13
2.0 Introduction 13
2.1 Review of concepts 14
2.1.1 Information and Communication Technology Era 14
2.1.2 Different Communication Breakthrough Era 15
2.1.3 Origin of Internet 16
2.1.4 History of Social Media 18
2.1.5 Social Media 19
2.2 Review of terms 23
2.2.1 Twitter as a Social Media of Interaction 23
2.2.2 Different Communication with Social Media 30
2.2.3 Benefit of Social Media in this Era 32
2.2.4 Differences and Similarities between Social Media and Traditional Mass Media 33
2.2.5 Negative Effect of Social Media 35
2.2.6 Why Students Prefer Social Media in Society 35
2.2.7 Lost of Privacy and Security on Social Media 36
2.3 Theoretical Frame Work 40
Uses and Gratifications model 40
2.4 SUMMARY OF REVIEW 42
CHAPTER THREE 43
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 43
3.0 Introduction 43
3.1 The Design of the Study 43
3.2 The Population of the Study 43
3.4 The Sampling Techniques Used 44
3.4 Development of Research Instrument 44
3.5 Validation and Reliability of the Research Instrument 45
3.6 Administration of the Instrument 45
3.7 Data Analysis Procedure/Techniques 46
CHAPTER FOUR 47
DATA ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION OF FINDINGS 47
4.1 Presentation of Data Analysis 47
CHAPTER FIVE 58
Summary, Conclusion and Recommendations 58
5.1 Summary 58
5.2 Conclusion 60
BIBLIOGRAPHY 63
APPENDIX 65
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background of the Study
Today, technology has made more universal, the ability to produce media. Printing, radio and television are some examples of mass media in that they are intended to reach vast audiences. But these forms of media previously could not be produced readily by the average person.
The advent of relatively inexpensive, personal media technologies like blogging, podcasting and Internet video allowed the average literate person to do what was theretofore restricted to media companies. These forms of media are still referred to as new but they have become part of society even as much as the traditional media in some parts of the world. In a few years, the term “new media” might not be very suitable because these forms are becoming part of our daily lives and the fusion with traditional media might dilute the fact that it is new.
Social media is a form of electronic communication which facilitates interaction based on certain interests and characteristics. Social media are media for social interaction, using highly accessible and scalable publishing techniques. Social media use web-based technologies to transform and broadcast media monologues into social dialogues. They support the democratization of knowledge and information and transform students from content consumers to content producers.
Origin of Twitter
The first unassisted off-Earth Twitter message was posted from the International Space Station by NASA astronaut T. J. Creamer on January 22, 2010. By late November 2010, an average of a dozen updates per day was posted on the astronauts’ communal account, @NASA_Astronauts. NASA has also hosted over 25 “tweeters”, events that provide guests with VIP access to NASA facilities and speakers with the goal of leveraging participants’ social networks to further the outreach goals of NASA.
In August 2010, the company appointed Adam Bain as President of Revenue from News Corp.’s Fox Audience Network. On September 14, 2010, Twitter launched a redesigned site including a new logo
Growth of Twitter
The company experienced rapid growth. It had 400,000 tweets posted per quarter in 2007. This grew to 100 million tweets posted per quarter in 2008. In February 2010, Twitter users were sending 50 million tweets per day. By March 2010, the company recorded over 70,000 registered applications. As of June 2010, about 65 million tweets were posted each day, equaling about 750 tweets sent each second, according to Twitter. As of March 2011, that was about 140 million tweets posted daily. As noted on Compete.com, Twitter moved up to the third-highest- ranking social networking site in January 2009 from its previous rank of twenty-second.
Jack Dorsey, a co-founder and the chairman of Twitter, in 2009
Twitter’s usage spikes during prominent events. For example, a record was set during the 2010 FIFA World Cup when fans wrote 2,940 tweets per second in the thirty- second period after Japan scored against Cameroon on June 14, 2010. The record was broken again when 3,085 tweets per second were posted after the Los Angeles Lakers’ victory in the 2010 NBA Finals on June 17, 2010, and then again at the close of Japan’s victory over Denmark in the World Cup when users published 3,283 tweets per second. The current record was set during the 2011 FIFA Women’s World Cup Final between Japan and the United States, when 7,196 tweets per second were published. When American singer Michael Jackson died on June 25, 2009, Twitter servers crashed after users were updating their status to include the words “Michael Jackson” at a rate of 100,000 tweets per hour.
Twitter acquired application developer Atebits on April 11, 2010. Atebits had developed the Apple Design Award-winning Twitter client Tweetie for the Mac and phone. The application, now called “Twitter” and distributed free of charge, is the official Twitter client for the iPhone, iPad and Mac.
From September through October 2010, the company began rolling out “New Twitter”, an entirely revamped edition of twitter.com. Changes included the ability to see pictures and videos without leaving Twitter itself by clicking on individual tweets which contain links to images and clips from a variety of supported websites including YouTube and Flickr, and a complete overhaul of the interface, which shifted links such as ‘@mentions’ and ‘Retweets’ above the Twitter stream, while ‘Messages’ and ‘Log Out’ became accessible via a black bar at the very top of twitter.com. As of November 1, 2010, the company confirmed that the “New Twitter experience” had been rolled out to all users.
On April 5, 2011, Twitter tested a new homepage and phased out the “Old Twitter”. However, a glitch came about after the page was launched, so the previous “retro” homepage was still in use until the issues were resolved; the new homepage was reintroduced on April 20.
On December 8, 2011, Twitter overhauled its website once more to feature the “Fly” design, which the service says is easier for new users to follow and promotes advertising. In addition to the Home tab, the Connect and Discover tabs were introduced along with a redesigned profile and timeline of Tweets. The site’s layout has been compared to that of Facebook.
On February 21, 2012, it was announced that Twitter and Yandex agreed to a partnership. Yandex, a Russian search engine, finds value within the partnership due to Twitter’s real time news feeds. Twitter’s director of business development explained that it is important to have Twitter content where Twitter users go.
On March 21, 2012, Twitter celebrated its sixth birthday while also announcing that it has 140 million users and sees 340 million tweets per day. The number of users is up 40% from their September 2011 number, which was said to have been at 100 million at the time.
In April 2012, Twitter announced that it was opening an office in Detroit, with the aim of working with automotive brands and advertising agencies. Twitter also expanded its office in Dublin.
On June 4, 2012, Twitter announced the purchase of Washington, D.C. based web design agency Nclud. Upon the purchase, Nclud’s co-founder and director of brand experience, Martin Ringlein, was named Twitter’s new design manager. On June 5, a modified logo was unveiled through the company blog, removing the text to showcase the slightly redesigned bird as the sole symbol of Twitter.
Twitter Logo
Twitter has become internationally identifiable by its signature bird logo. The original logo was in use from its launch in March 2006 until September 2010. A slightly modified version succeeded the first style when the website underwent its first redesign.
On February 27, 2012, a tweet from an employee that works on the company’s platform and API discussed the evolution of the “Larry the Bird” logo with Twitter’s creative director and it was revealed that it was named after Larry Bird of the NBA’s Boston Celtics fame. This detail had previously been confirmed when the Boston Celtics’ director of interactive media asked Twitter co-founder Biz Stone about it in August 2011.
On June 5, 2012, Twitter unveiled its third logo redesign, replacing Larry the Bird with an updated icon simply named as the “Twitter Bird.” As of this logo revision, the word “Twitter” and the lowercase letter “t” are no longer used, with the bird becoming the sole symbol for the company’s branding. According to Douglas Bowman, designer of Twitter, the new logo resembles a Mountain Bluebird.
1.2 Statement of Problem
Twitter is ranked as one of the ten-most-visited websites worldwide by Alexa’s web traffic analysis. Daily user estimates vary as the company does not publish statistics on active accounts.
It is recorded that at least 2 million and seven hundred Nigerians are on twitter, with a good number of them being young. (Twitter statistics, 2012) However, there is no comprehensive knowledge of their activities as well as how this form of media can impact on various aspects of life this thesis examines the relationship between social media and its usage by Nigerian students.
The study specifically focuses on the usage habits of young Nigerians and how social media has affected their communication and socialization habits.
1.3 Purpose of the Study
- The objectives of this research are to analysis the attitudes of students towards this form of media and its impact on their lifestyles.
- To analyze some of the benefits of tweeter among mass communication students.
- To understand how the use of tweeter has influenced the social cultural behavior of Nigeria students.
- To study the effects of social media on students.
- To highlight the success of using social media in this present ICT era.
1.4 Research Question
- To what extent do students use twitter as a means of communication and interaction?
- How much of time do students devote to chatting and interacting on twitter?
- Why do students prefer using twitter and other social media in Nigeria?
- What activities do students engage in on twitter?
- To what extent is twitter beneficial to mass communication students?
1.5 Research Hypothesis
Fundamentally, it is essential we understand current usage and behavior and identify potential problems so that they can bead dressed. This can be seen in the amount of academic studies on social media within the last seven years.
However, Danah Boyd has gathered a collection of research about social net working sites that lists approximately one hundred and fifty research papers, three books, and seven research reports published in the years 2003-2010. (Boyd, 2010) None of these papers covers Africa. This shows a lack of research that concerns the African region and especially Nigeria where this form of media is greatly used.
Therefore the overall motivation for conducting this study is to contribute to research about social media in Nigeria.
This research should also create a platform for further research in this field and how it affects business processes as well other spheres of life. This research should provide useful data for market researchers, marketing and product development professionals as well as educators as to how they can maximize social media for optimum benefit in their various fields.
1.6 Scope or Delimitation of the Study
This investigation focused specifically on the usage habits of users of twitter among the present day mass communication students era of ICT in Nigerian tertiary institutions using University of Port Harcourt as a major area of study. Therefore, the researcher intends focusing on the students of mass communication; final year students precisely.
Although this study has accomplished the purpose, which it sets out to achieve, one of the very limitations is that the validity of the results or findings is depending on the honesty of the respondents in providing the needed information.
Due to constraint of time and money, it is difficult to carry out the research extensively. This led to the limiting of the scope.
Cognizance was also taken to the fact that the academic calendar was too short and academic workload was enormous, as a result of this, no time to run around for the work.
1.7 Definition of Terms
Social Media: A group of internet-based applications that build on the ideological and technological foundations of web 2.0 and that allow the creation and exchange of user-generated content. (Kaplan and Haenlein, 2010)
Social Skills: Any skills facilitating interaction and communication with others. Social rules and relations are created, communicated and changed in verbal and nonverbal ways through a process called socialization.
Cyberspace: This is the electronic medium of computer networks, in which online communication takes place.
Blogs: A blog (a contraction of the term “web log”) is a type of website, usually maintained by an individual with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video. Entries are commonly displayed in reverse-chronological order.
Vlogs: Video blogging, sometimes shortened to vlogging or vid blogging is a form of blogging for which the medium is video, and is a form of Internet television. Entries often combine embedded video or a video link with supporting text, images, and other metadata.
Instant Messaging: Instant messaging (IM) is a form of real-time direct text-based communication between two or more students using shared clients. The text is conveyed via devices connected over a network such as the Internet.
Twitter: This is one of the social networking service and micro blogging service that enables users to send and read text based messages of up to 140 characters known as twee.