Attitude of Millennial Generation towards the Usage of Social Media Devices in Nigerian Universities

Abstract

The unprecedented interest of the millennial generation towards the use of social media devices (SMDs) has increasingly become a source of concern to academics in the Nigerian universities. The universities which are cidatel of learning have been observed to be facing serious challenges of poor academic performance of students and gross maladjusted behaviours brought leading to rapid decline in the quality of education. One witnesses a deviation from planned academic culture, distraction and divided attention among the millennials occasioned by their engrossment in the activities of SMDs. Instead of studying and doing their classworks, they spend much time chatting and making friends via SMDs. However, observations have shown that these millennials have either positive or negative attitude towards the usage of SMDs and also different reasons for using them. These uncertainties have formed the bases for the study. The study adopted a descriptive survey design which sought to examine the attitude of the millennial generation towards the usage of SMDs in Nigerian universities. Specifically, the study was carried out in four Nigerian universities in the South-South zone of Nigeria. Four research questions and four hypotheses guided the study. The study also assessed the most frequently used SMDs, and the reasons for using them. The population comprised all the three hundred level students from both federal and state universities numbering 3,960 (from federal = 2,120 and state = 1,840 respectively). Stratified random sampling based on gender, individual consent and three hundred level criteria were used to select the subjects while purposive sampling based on ownership (Federal and State) was used to select the four universities. The total sample size was 482 millennials (Federal = 248; male = 130 and female = 118) and from State = 234 (male = 121 and female 113). These formed the sample size. The instrument used for data collection was a 35 item – questionnaire developed by the researchers titled, “Attitude of the Millennial Generation Social Media Usage (AMGSMU). The questionnaire was trial tested. The reliability co-efficient was computed for the four sections; A = 0.80; B = 0.92; and D = 0.84 using Cronbach-Alpha Technique. The instrument was administered and data were analysed using Mean, Standard Deviation and Rank for research questions, while independent samples t-test was used to test the null hypotheses at 0.05 level of significance. The results showed that the millennials have positive attitude towards the usage of SMDs for social activities but negative attitude for using them for academic purpose. There is no significant difference in their attitude based on gender. WhatsApp, Instagram and Facebook were found to be most frequently used in Nigeria universities. Recommendations were that the millennials should be refocused to using SMDs for academic purpose not just for social activities and the millennials who normally subscribe to WhatsApp and Facebook should be encouraged to also make sure that they make use of the platforms positively.

Key Words: Millennial Generation, Social Media Devices, Attitude and Usage.