INFLUENCE OF SOCIAL MEDIA ON SPORTS PARTICIPATION AND ENGAGEMENT AMONG HUMAN KINETICS AND SPORTS SCIENCE STUDENTS

ABSTRACT

This study was carried out to investigate the influence of social media on sports participation and engagement among Human Kinetics and Sports Science students of the University of Benin. To guide the study, four research questions were raised and four hypotheses were formulated and tested at 0.05 level of significance. The descriptive survey research design was adopted to carry out the study. The population of this study was made up of 200 students. The sample size of 100 was selected using the simple random sampling technique to select 50 percent of students of Human Kinetics. The research instrument used for data gathering in the study was a selfstructured questionnaire. The instrument was validated by the researcher’s supervisor and two other experts in the Department of Human Kinetics and Sports Science. The Cronbach alpha statistics was used to establish the reliability of the instrument. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics (frequency counts, percentages, means, standard deviation) and inferential statistics (Pearson correlation). The findings revealed that there was a significant relationship between social media usage and sports participation among Human Kinetics students. It was concluded that there is a relationship between social media usage and an enhanced social cohesion and optimum sports performance. Consequent upon this, Human Kinetics students have improved significantly. It was recommended that Human Kinetics students should take advantage of modern social media platforms to communicate and learn better while still engaged in their various sporting activities.