Social media and interpersonal relationships among the employed and the undergraduates of Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka
Abstract
use of internet for socialization with different dedicated websites
such as Facebook and WhatsApp. This form of communication
termed “social media” has become a veritable instrument for
maintaining relationships and meeting new people. Individuals
could go beyond the traditional form of communication and use
social media platforms to meet strangers online to share
interests, business or consolidate existing relationships. It avails
people the opportunity to reach out to anyone in any part of the
world in few seconds. Both the employed, unemployed and
undergraduates patronize and enjoy social media
communication. The flexibility and convenience that social media
communication provides have heightened its importance and
usage. However, the differences inherent in virtual and physical
communication in interpersonal relationship is very critical to
this paper. Virtual communication face different challenges such
as restricted interaction, lack of sincerity and real identity,
anonymity and lack of physical presence. The focus of this paper
is to examine the reasons behind the use of social media
communication and the type of social media channels the
employed and the undergraduates of Nnamdi Azikiwe University
use. The way relationships are maintained or marred via social
media communication is also the thrust of this paper. Findings indicate that Facebook and WhatsApp are the most preferred
social media platforms among the employed and undergraduates.
The employed and undergraduates use social media
communication for different purposes. However, social
communication is the meeting point of both. The research
samples 40 participants; 20 employed and 20 undergraduates
using structured questionnaires and semi oral interview as
instruments for data collection. Social brain theory by Dunbar is
used in this paper as the model of analysis.
Full Text:
PDFReferences
Crystal, David. Internet Linguistics. London: Routledge, 2011.
Crystal, David. LanguageandInternet (2nd ed). Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press. 2006.
Dudeney, Gavin. The Internet and the Language Classroom. New
York: Cambridge University Press, 2000. Print
Dunbar, Robin. “Social Cognition on the Internet: Testing
Constraints on Social Network Size. Philosophical
Transactions of the Royal Society” Biological Sciences, 67
(2011): 1599. Print
Dunbar, Robin. “The Social Brain Hypothesis”.
EvolutionaryAnthropology, 6 (1998):178–190.
Goncalves, Bruno. Pera, N and Vespignani Alessandro.
“Modelling Users’ Activity on Twitter Networks:
Validation of Dunbar’s Number”. Web 23June, 2019.
Herring, S. “Computer-Mediated Discourse”. Tannen, D.
Schiffrin and Hamilton H. (Eds.), Handbook of Discourse
Analysis. Oxford: Blackwell, 2001
Hill, R. A and Dunbar Robin. “Social Network Size in Humans”
Human Nature, 14.1 (2003): 53-72. Print
Hinduja, Sameer and Justin Patchin. “Cyberbullying Among
Adolescents: implications for Emperical Research.”
Journal of Adolescence, 31 (2013):125-146. Print
Jain, R. “4 Ways Social Media is Changing your Relationships”.
Social Media Examiner. 2010 web 24/5/2019
Kansoy, Raygan. “Influences of Social Media on Interpersonal
Communication” A Project submitted to the
Department of Communication and Media Studies, Eastern
Mediterrean University Web 26 June, 2019.
Kaplan, A. M., & Haenlein, M. “Users of the world, unite! The
challenges and Opportunities of Social Media. Business
Horizons, 53 (2010): 59-68.
Kern R. and Warschauex, M. Network Based Language
Teaching: Concepts and Practice. Cambridge:
Cambridge University press, 2000. Print
Kraut et al. “Internet Paradox: a Social Technology that Reduces
Social Involvement and Psychological Well-being”
American Psychologist 53 (1998):1017–1031. Print
Kraut, R., Scherlis, W., Mukhopadhyay, T., Manning, J., &
Kiesler, S. (1996). “A field trial of Residential
Internet Services” web 23/5/2019
Lahiry, Sandeep et al. “Impact of Social Media on Academic
Performance and Interpersonal Relation: A Cross-Section
Study among Students at a Tertiary Medical Centre in East
India” Journal of Education and Health Promotion. web
/06/2019
Leidner, Dorothy and Sirkka Jarvenpaa. Communication and
Trust in Global Teams” Organization Scicence vol.10
(6)791-815
Markus, M. L. “Finding a Happy Medium: Explaining the
Negative Effects of Electronic Communication on Social
Life at Work” TOIS- Special Issues on Social Science
2 (1994):119-149
Owusu-Acheaw, M. and Larson A. Use of social media and its
impact on Academic Performance of Tertiary institution
Students: A study of Students of Koforidna
Polytechnic, Ghana” Journal of Education and Practice,
6(2015):94-101. Print
Refbacks
- There are currently no refbacks.