PROPOSAL / CHAPTER ONE
1.0 INTRODUCTION
TO THE STUDY
1.1 BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY
The origin of
communication has been traced to the ancient Homo-sapiens i.e. (Neanderthal
man) and it has remained ubiquitous activity which enables us to relate with others
anywhere. For instance, numerous studies have confirmed that an individual, in
his entire life spends 75 percent of each day communicating. One of such
studies cited by Berlo (1960) says “each of us spends 10 or 11hours a day,
everyday performing verbal communication behaviour.
According to
Ugboajah (1985), in his book communication: An Overview. To be is to
communicate, without communication, man is not different from lower animals,
our ability to carry symbols around with us, to interpret them and relate them
around makes us distinct (from the lower animals) without communication, man
will cease to exist as a social creature because communication is a social
affair.
1.1.1 ERA OF SOCIAL MEDIA IN HUMAN COMMUNICATION
The advancement in technology in this
era has improved and enhanced effective communication in our society today
especially among the students.
The unprepared emergence of social
media technology in the face of developing societies has herald change of
status quo within the socio, political and economic ecological setting of any
society. The advent of social networks is a cyber revolution that changed the
course of time.
According to Tom Glocer, CEO of
Reuters, one of the world biggest International News agencies, He believes that
the era when government of a nation would filter the news of what the people
listen to, hear or read is about eroding, because citizens are now part of
information gathering and information dissemination.
Apart from the fact that social media
has been able to break the barrier in news reportage; making people know the
true nature of happenings around them, it is now being use as tool of political
propaganda, sensitization, insurgence and a medium of dissent.
The revolution of social media has
created three basic things:
i.
It
has aided in building a politically conscious civil society over the course of
a number of years prior to the revolution.
ii.
It
has lowered the threshold for engaging in political dissent by providing a
relatively anonymous space for political debate in a country that outlaws
gatherings of five or more people.
iii.
It
has allowed organizers to plan protests more easily and anonymously.
1.1.2 HISTORY OF SOCIAL MEDIA
Before the recent relevant of social
media, this means of communication has suffered years of neglect. The social
network was conceptualized has just a medium of interaction and virtual home to
transfer or extend relationships. In 1978, Ward Christensen and Randy
Suess, computer hobbyists, invented the bulletin board system (BBS).
It was invented to inform friends and
relatives about coming events and share information. This invention marked the
beginning of revolution that change the social and global perspective of reality
and virtual reality. In 1993. The university of Illinois students developed the mosaic, which
was said to gave birth to the world wide web (WWW).these were the inventions
that started the acceleration of social network .Beverly Hills internet launched GeoCities around
this time also. It was a service that allowed for individuals to create their
website. In 1994, the internet got the name information Superhigh way;
signified the advent arrival of internet and a threat for the traditional
media. Blogging also became popular. Within the anal of 1998, GeoCities became
public. It marked the very first social network. It was created by Great
Britain to locate past friends in school. However, Yahoo `bought GeoCities
($3.57 million). In same the steam, google, and AOL started
operation. At the turn of millennium, about 70 million computers were connected
to the world. 2003 marked a revolution with the creation of facebook and
the increasing rate of using other social network; AOL hit 34million users,
friend reunited hits 15million. 2006, a lot of social network companies
line up to buy facebook, Viacom and yahoo were in the lead but the deal fall
through. Between the span of 2007 to 2011, a lot of social networks were
established: twitter, bing, buzz, youtube and so on. About 600million people
worldwide now have a home in the virtual reality.
1.2 STATEMENT OF
PROBLEM
Nigeria, as a nation, has not been
shielded in this global phenomenon. In the weeks past, the nation was in the
waters of dissatisfaction as a result of the deregulation of the downward
sector of the petroleum industries. For the very first time in a long while,
Nigerians were politically awakened and there was an unprecedented grievance
hitting the cloud of Nigeria terrain.
The sudden awaken of Nigerians was
partly to the already poverty searing situation and the ‘cyber revolution’ in
Nigeria. The increase in the use of social media in Nigeria has affected
positively the level of information dissemination, and bridge the gap of lacuna
filtered news.
As it has become a common phenomenon
with the rest of the world, the government of Nigeria seems to be in quandary
about what to do with this cyber revolution. Apart from this, with a country
that just granted freedom of information, it would be logically sarcastic to
restrict the use of social media.
Thus, this research tends to look at
the way and manner citizens of Nigeria’s territory were mobilized for the
protest against the deregulation of the downstream sector of petroleum starting
from January 1st 2012.
Hence, the research looks into the
influence of social media in the mass mobilization of people for the just
concluded “Association of Staff Union of Union” (ASUU) strike: a study of the
students of Osun State Polytechnic, Iree.
1.3 RESEARCH
QUESTIONS
i.
Do
students learn about the strike via socio-media?
ii.
Do
socio media enhance students effective communication at that time?
iii.
Which
of the social networking sites was mostly used by the striking students?
iv.
Did
students reaction on social media influence the major stakeholders (lecturers
and government) to end the strike?
v.
How
credible are sources of information generated and shared by students on social
media?
vi.
What
the problem students faced in using socio media during strike action?
1.4 OBJECTIVES
OF THE STUDY
i.
To
examine whether students learn about the strike via socio-media.
ii.
To
finding out if socio media enhance students effective communication at that
time.
iii.
To
examine which of the social networking sites was mostly used by the striking
students.
iv.
To
know if students reaction on social media influence the major stakeholders
(lecturers and government) to end the strike.
v.
To
examine how credible are sources of information generated and shared by
students on social media.
vi.
What
the problem students faced in using socio media during strike action?
1.5 SIGNIFICANCE
OF THE STUDY
The reaching hand of the social media
purview, within the concept of global village, has given some restrictive
measures to the government of any nation.
This now an open secret that any
anti-people policies will not be condoned by the people and within a split of
minute the world would learn about it.
The increase in the activities of the
internet tools-social networks, emails, and websites and blog sites-are
becoming tools for acerbic criticism as harangue of comments would take no
minute in raining on the faulting government.
Different governments of the world are
becoming conscious of these information communication technologies to be potent
tools that can be explored in gaining the support and ways of bridging the
chasm between the governed and government
According to a popular say
that “ there is a solution to any problem through communication” Thus,
the significance of this study is that it would help the government and the
governed to see a new perspective to the usage of social media; as a tool of
national integration, cohesion unity and communal affiliation.
From the happenings around the world,
social media has re-engineered the thinking of the people and act as a medium
of protest. This study makes a call to duty by government to explore this tool
also as a medium to gain popularity on its ideological stand and policies
alike.
As it has been known that every study
would add to any existing knowledge on any phenomenon, this study would not
cease to do the same by add to the increasing fountain of knowledge in the in
using social media as a political tool and a tool of mobilization.
This study would also imply how the
government can considerably reduce cost of governance by making use of social
networks to communicate with the people. The cost of communicating with people
by the African societies has been snare at because of excessive wastage of
resources. However, social networks can bridge and
reduce cost of communication through conventional method.
1.6 SCOPE OF THE
STUDY
For the simple fact that research has
limitation in different realm, has contributed to the restrictive hands of this
study. This research did not enjoy the luxury of time and space; it would have
helped in the adequate facilitation of more data gathering for and better
research that would enjoy external validity.
It is not strange that the topic
understudy is an analytical study that needs diverse respondents from different
locations. The demography of the respondent was however restricted only to the
confine of the students of Osun State Polytechnic Iree who are to a large
extent youths.
1.7 LIMITATIONS
OF THE STUDY
It is not an overstatement that a work
of this nature cannot be carried out without some hard experience, however
below are some of the constraints to this work.
There are many limitations ranging from
not knowing where to start, not knowing who to consult or approach for
materials not knowing what next to write in various segment of this study and
not actually knowing who to put me through in achieving my work and others are:
i.
Stress
from other academic activities is one of the limitations to the research work
ii.
Financial
constraint to travel to different places.
iii.
Duration
for the research work is relatively short
iv.
Materials
that are available on this topic is relatively small as the concept is new or
people are not written from that angle.
To light another limitation, the
research encountered droughty and arid ground in the area of supporting the
study claim and referencing with necessary materials
Another limitation is that fact that
the materials presented are sourced from the internet, which might not be
trusted some time.
1.8 DEFINITION
OF THE TERMS
Internet- this is interconnectedness of computer
all over the world via a central server
Social media- this is a new media that help in the
interactivity of the people
Social network – these are the networks that allow
for the interaction- facebook, twitter and yahoo
Subsidy- this is the money put into something to
make the cost of production less effective
Arab spring- This was a revolution that happened in
the Arab world-Egypt and Tunisia
Mobilization – this is the deliberate act of
conveying people to support a certain course
Influence – This is the effect of something on
another
