INFLUENCE OF SOCIAL MEDIA USES ON PEER-TO-PEER RELATIONSHIPS AMONG STUDENTS.

ABSTRACT

The growth of social networking sites (SNSs) is rising among teen age students in Secondary

Schools in Nigeria. The most common social networking sites include Face book, Twitter, MySpace, 2go, Whats app, and LinkedIn among others. This paper examined if these social networking sites have any impact on interpersonal relationships among teenagers who most scholars argue that they are the most frequent users of the sites. It was guided by three main objectives i) To explore the extent of teenagers‘ exposure to SNSs.ii) To determine the nature/patterns of teenagers‘ interactions on SNSs and (iii) To determine the impact of SNSs usage on teenagers offline and online interpersonal relationships.

It also looked into different scholars‘ views on the impact of social networking on interpersonal relationships among teenagers. It has looked at the term social capital and its relationships with social networking sites; online communication has also been discussed in light to its effect on interpersonal communication.

A descriptive survey design was used which included administering of questionnaires and focus group discussions as research instruments.  The research site was Murang‘a East district where students in boarding schools were sampled because they have access to social networking sites while at home.

Simple random sampling technique was used to select 250 respondents for the research. The selected students were from a population of students aged between 13-18 years of age. The 250 students were selected from five boarding secondary schools each with a sample of 50 students. The researcher analyzed the collected data by the use of computer software called SPSS.

The study found out that SNSs have an impact on interpersonal relationships among teenagers; they mostly improved their relationships among one another thus bridging and bonding social capital. Teenagers prefer interacting via SNSs and they cannot imagine a world without SNSs since they have become part of their everyday activity. The study found that, although the SNSs have helped improve relationships among close teenagers as friends, they have also made the teenagers not to be able to build interpersonal relationships among other friends who are not close to them. They have inhibited the teenagers from being able to express themselves face to face especially to the members of the opposite sex. They are spending a lot of time on their mobile phones accessing the SNSs at the expense of going out to find friends to interact with face to face.

 

 

 

CHAPTER ONE

 

INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND

 

1.0 Background to the problem.

The Internet has enabled new forms of social interaction; this is due to its widespread usability and access. In most third world countries use of the internet has been made even more accessible by mobile phones.

Most people use the internet to access news, weather and sports reports, to plan and book vacations and to find out more about their interests. Today people are using the internet mostly to interact on social media, they chat, message, share photos and stay in touch with friends and relatives worldwide.

Among the new forms of social interactions that have been enabled by the internet are social networking sites. Social network sites (SNSs) such as Friendster, CyWorld, Face book and MySpace allow individuals to present themselves, articulate their social networks, and establish or maintain connections with others. Participants may use the sites to interact with people they already know offline or to meet new people.

Each user of a SNS has a profile so as to enable him /her to be able to link up with other users. Social networking sites allow users to share ideas, pictures, posts, activities, events, and interests with people in their network. (Wikipedia).Face book, for example enables its users to present themselves in an online profile, accumulate “friends” who can post comments on each other’s pages, and view each other’s profiles. Face book members can also join virtual groups based on common interests, see what classes they have in common, and learn each others’ hobbies, interests, musical tastes, and romantic relationship status through the profiles. (Ellison, N.et al 2007).

It is also possible to find existing acquaintances, to allow communication among existing groups of people. Sites like LinkedIn foster commercial and business connections. YouTube and Flickr specialize in users’ videos and photographs. Teens mostly use the Internet for entertainment and for communicating with friends and family. They use social networking sites and to create profiles on those sites. (Jones, Fox, 2009). They send instant messages on chat and keep updating each other on what is happening in their circles of friendship

Social networking communities are here to stay .They have been popular since the year 2002 and have attracted and fascinated tens of millions of Internet users (Boyd & Ellison, 2007). According to social bakers .com the world has over 978 000 000 million users of Face book. One of the most popular social networking sites. In Nigeria alone, ‗there are 2,013,840 Face book

Monthly Active Users (MAU).’

Due to their nature of allowing people to share common interests, photos and linking up acquaintances, people are spending many hours on the social networking sites. The most affected group is the youths and especially high school students who are in their teenage years. This research looks into the impact of the social networking sites on interpersonal relationships among teenagers. The terms teenagers, students and adolescents will be used interchangeably throughout the study. The sample was drawn from secondary school students in Murang‘a East

District who are aged between 13-18 years. It is an attempt to add to existing research on social

             

1.1 Statement of the Problem

Social technologies such as SNSs mediate a significant portion of teenage life. Youths use technology to keep in touch with friends, mediate romantic relationships, organize into social groups, support each other, and develop their own identities (Ito et al. 2010).

An increasing number of secondary school students have joined social networking sites and are actively using them especially when socializing with their peers. The students are spending a lot of time in the cyber cafes and on their mobile phones that are internet enabled accessing the SNSs while at home .They spend hours chatting with friends, improving their profiles and going through profiles of their friends. Given that significant role that SNSs are playing in teenagers‘ lives, adults and especially parents and teachers are understandably concerned whether these online communities have an impact on their interpersonal relationships, both online and offline .and this concern has prompted this research. It will look in to the impacts of these SNSs on the interpersonal relations among teenagers

1.2 Objectives of the Study:

The objectives of this study are to:

1. Explore the extent of teenagers‘ exposure to SNSs.
2. Determine the nature/patterns of teenagers‘ interactions on SNSs.
3. Determine the impact of SNSs usage on teenagers offline and online interpersonal relationships

             

 1.3 Significance of the Study

The study looks at the impact of Social networking sites on interpersonal relationships among teenagers, its findings will be relevant because they will inform parents, teachers, students and all the relevant stake holders on the impact of SNSs on the interpersonal relations among teenagers The result of this study will make the students who in this study are being referred to as teenagers, to be aware of how SNSs influence their interpersonal relations. It will also help their teachers by suggesting some ways in order for them to relate with student‘s social activities especially with regards of using social networking sites. In line with this, teachers, as student‘s second parents, will know a way how to help the students if they will be encountering problems regarding the relationship of their students with other people.

The parents will be helped to understand their children‘s purpose of using social networking sites and for them to be aware of the influence from social networking sites that might affect their children. With enough knowledge, parents can think of possible preventive ways if their child is prone to develop a weak interpersonal relationship with other people because of too much usage and dependence of social networking sites. Finally this study will help the further studies of future researchers regarding the influence of social networking sites on the interpersonal relationship of students.

This can serve as a reference for further improvements to be done in their study 

 

1.4 Limitations of the Study

This study is only limited to and within the reach of all those in the sample population who have access to the internet. It will also only cover students in boarding secondary schools because most of these students are from urban areas and they are familiar with SNSs.

These limitations are due to scarcity of resources both financial and human for the research preparation, data collection and analysis as well as lack of time due to the limited time schedule

INFLUENCE OF SOCIAL MEDIA USES ON PEER-TO-PEER RELATIONSHIPS AMONG STUDENTS.

 

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