UTILISATION OF SOCIAL MEDIA FOR RELATIONSHIP BUILDING

ABSTRACT

The researcher examined the utilisation of social media for relationship building among students of the University of Benin (Ekenwan campus). The researcher adopted two theories which are; uses and gratifications theory and media dependency theory. Survey research method was adopted using questionnaire as instrument of data collection. Multi-stage sampling technique was used to select respondents and administer copies of questionnaire, the data were analysed quantitatively. Findings of the study revealed that the level of social media usage amongst students is high and Whatsapp, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat are the four most followed social media platform among students. Findings also show that the purpose for which students use social media is for social communication. The study, among other things, recommends that undergraduates showed always try to strike a balance between social media interaction and face to face interaction so as to not miss out on the fundamentals of face to face communication.