UNIVERSITY OF BENIN STUDENT ASSESSMENT OF SOCIAL MEDIA AS A TOOL FOR SOCIAL CONTROL

ABSTRACT

The study examined University of Benin Student Assessment of Social Media as a Tool for Social Control during the Endsars Campaign/Protest in Benin City. It aimed at discovering the extent to which undergraduates of University of Benin make used of social media during the protest and to ascertain the perception/attitude of the University of Benin undergraduates toward the Endsars protest. It also sought to determine the influence of social media on the undergraduates of University of Benin activism. The study was anchored on the Democratic Participant Theory and the Uses & Gratification Theory of Mass Communication. The researcher adopted the survey design method and it was used in gathering the data for the study. The findings revealed among others; majority of the undergraduates of University of Benin make used of social media during the Endsars protest both positively and negatively. It also revealed that the usage of social media influences the undergraduates of University of Benin to become activists during the protest as majority of the respondents agreed that the extent to which they have been influenced to become activists is high. The researcher therefore concluded that social media as a tool for social control influences the choice of undergraduates of the University of Benin to become activists in getting their voices heard. The researcher recommended that as social media platforms have been observed to influence the choice of youths to become activists, students/youths in Nigeria should embrace social media as it is the most powerful tool for them to air their views without fear of threat or sanction. The researcher also recommended that social media users should embrace the usage of social media platforms for social control instead of physical measures as it reduces the risk of violence and managers of social media platforms should create programs to sensitize people on how to engage in peaceful activism, how to organize and also fund it and how to engage in peaceful activism, how to organize and also fund it. Finally, the researcher recommended that government should give attention to the pleas of the Students/Youths and grant them listening ears, as this would encourage peaceful activism on social media platform.