CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

       1.1       Background of the Study

 The phenomenon of human communication continues to develop as man seeks for ways to make life easy. According to Robinson, Patrick and Gustafson (1998:280), the first generation of internet search engines was referred to as Web 1.0, a one-way flow of information, or the read only web. Information was searched and accessed unilaterally as interaction by users was limited. Nauert (2013:23), indicated that in the wake of the Web 2.0 phenomenon, communication strategies are also changing to match the increasingly influential and rapidly evolving social media revolution.

Eysenbach, Powell, Englesakis, Rizo and Stern (2004:1166) noted that over the past few years, there has been a dramatic transformation in the way people communicate with one another through electronic media, with the continued development of Web 2.0 technologies. Drentea and Moren-Cross (2005) added thus;

The Web 2.0 marks a shift from a one-way conversation to a multi-way conversation, in which users participate as both creators and consumers of web contents. Social media structures include size, reciprocity, complexity, density, homogeneity, reachability and geographic dispersion (p.923).

 Rice and Katz (2002:14) asserted that among the variety of places one could find health information is the internet, with as many as four-fifths of users looking for such content online. For instance, a study by Pew Project.com.ng/list-of-project-and-materials/">Research Centre Internet & American Life Project in 2011 shows that 80% of internet users have looked online for information about health topics such as disease and treatment.

Barker (2008:20) indicated that the social media appears to offer many benefits not available through other means as users see digital media as a means to overcome health disparities. In support of the latter, Hardey (1999:820) noted that the sheer volume and variety of information available online is likely much more than most people have available offline.

Berkman and Glass (2000:5) in their study show the linkages among social networks, social support and health.  Through this study, Berkman and Glass indicated how social networks provide opportunities for psychosocial mechanisms, such as social support and social influence, which in turn affect health through health behavioural, psychological, and physiologic pathways.

Access to online information has created an opportunity for non-clinicians and patients to take a more active role in healthcare. To buttress the above assertion, Phelan and colleagues (2004) stated;

Being embedded in a social context where neighbours, friends, family members, and co-workers can generally look forward to a long and healthy life surely contributes to an individual’s motivation to engage in health-enhancing behaviours (p. 267).

According to Cohen and Syme (1985:23), the adoption of social media by health organizations reflects a widespread sense that these tools are increasingly necessary to reach demographics who are abandoning traditional broadcast technologies (e.g., telephones, television) such as teens or a significant portion of the public who are rapidly transforming the manner in which they interact with experts.

Pereira and Bruera (1998:62) noted that social media platforms form an important continuum in terms of how people privately seek health-related information, as well as publicly share such information, respectively. A study by Berger, Wagner and Baker (2005: 1821) shows that the sense of anonymity and privacy that the internet offers leads some internet users to seek sensitive and potentially stigmatizing information through this means.

Ellery and Perlmutter (2001:41) enumerated that a majority of health educators are fast adopting social media. They further emphasised that social media provides an outlet for the publication of health information to consumers, while allowing consumers to respond and contribute to advice that was traditionally only issued by providers.

However, Flanagin and Metzger (2008:14), pointed out that traditional gatekeepers, such as editorial boards, whose task it is to guarantee certain levels of quality in the analogue environment are less important in the online world. This implies that there are a limited number of standards for quality control and evaluation of contents on social media (Dobransky & Hargittai, 2012, p. 335).

Adelhard and Obst (1999:75) observed that dangers associated with using the social media as a resource for health information, most prominently dwell in the areas of accuracy and reliability. Giles (2007:432) suggested that using such health information from the internet for decision-making purposes without expert advice could potentially have a negative impact on users’ health.

Statistics shows that the use of social media is a prevalent phenomenon among youths. A study by Fenichel (2009:3) suggests that between 55% and 82% of teenagers and young adults use Facebook on regular basis. Similarly, a survey by Pew Research Centre shows that 90% of all American teens have used social media.

Given how pervasive social media is today, many parents, educators, and other adults are deeply interested in the role of these media in teens’ lives. Some are optimistic about the potential benefits of social media for learning, development, and creativity; others are concerned about the negative impact these media may have, especially when it comes to teens’ social and emotional well-being. This is because, this technology allows just about anybody to create content without any outside review for validity or accuracy (Kim, Eng, Deering & Maxfield, 1999, p. 647).

       1.2       Statement of the problem

The use of social media is expanding exponentially as the number of social media outlets, platforms and applications available continue to increase. Individuals use blogs, social networking sites, video sites, online chat rooms and forums to communicate both personally and professionally with others.

Eysenbach (2008:54) began using the neologism “apomediation” (apo: separateness, detachment) to describe the way new online platforms allow users to bypass formal intermediaries, expert gatekeepers, or other middlemen. In conjunction with the above, Abehard & Obst, (1999:75) emphatically stated that health information on the World Wide Web is incomplete, contradictory or based on insufficient scientific evidence.

Numerous studies have examined where college students receive health information. It is widely recognized that, in this digital age, the Web has become a leading source for this group. A recent study shows that the percentage of students who used the Web for health information increased from 73% in 2005 to nearly 79% in 2010 (Escoffery, Adame, Miner, Butler, McCormick & Mendell, 2005, p. 183).

Lambert and Loiselle (2007:1006) observed that as the mechanism of seeking and sharing health information on social media continue to grow in accessibility and popularity, individuals utilize them to take a more active role in managing their health. Bearing in mind the delicate nature of human health, this poses a serious challenge to how students, who are the predominant users of social media, handle health care information on social media.These constitute the core problem this study seeks to systematically unravel.

       1.3       Objectives of the study

1. To find out students’ level of access to social media.
2. To ascertain the extent to which students seek health-care information on social media.
3. To ascertain the kind of health-care information students seek on social media.
4. To determine the point at which students confirm health-care information they source on social media with offline health authorities.
5. To determine students’ preference between the social media and offline health authorities

as source of health-care information.

       1.4       Research questions

1. What is the level of students’ access to social media?
2. What is the extent to which students seek health-care information on social media?
3. What kinds of health-care information do students seek on social media?
4. At what point do students confirm health-care information they source on social media with offline health authorities?
5. Do students prefer offline health authorities or social media, as source of health-care information?

        1.5      Significance of the study

 It is apparent that this study will be significant to many set of individuals such as social media users, parents/guardians, health organizations, government agencies, scholars and the society at large.

 

Academically, this study will also improve the vista and volumes of literature available on how much social media has permeated the health-care lives of young adults. The outcomes of this study will serve as reference material for scholars conducting studies or interested in similar area of study. It will also provide grounds for further research.

Theoretically, this study will offer intellectual platform for testing claims made earlier by communication scholars with regards to tendencies of accepting new technologies such as social media and the claims of the possibility of depending on such media for certain gratifications.

The study will enable parents and guardians to understand the rate at which their young adults seek health information on social media. This will enable parents intervene and assist their young adults in making wise decisions with health-care information sourced on social media. In other words, parents could become interested in acting as information gatekeepers between their young adults and health-care information on social media.

The study will aid medical practitioners to understand the rate at which young people seek healthcare information on social media. The study will enable health authorities determine the presence they need to make on social media in order to develop strategy for building trust and blocking anti-health care information on social media.

This study will draw attention of the government to the need to make intense plans on how to regulate uploading and downloading of health-related information on social media and at the same time safeguard the liberty of sharing and accessing of information offered by social media.

 

 

       1.6       Scope of the study

The study is out to measures the level at which students accept and apply health-care information they find on social media. However, it is important to note that this study is not designed to determine if the social media has had a good or bad influence on health care nor the outcome of application of health-care information found on social media.

       1.7       Operational Definition of key terms

1. Assessment: The official evaluation or estimation of the nature and quality of something.
2. Student: A learner who is enrolled in an educational institution.
3. Acceptance: The mental attitude that something is believable and should be accepted as

true.

4. Application: The action of putting something into operation.
5. Health-care: The prevention, treatment and management of illness and the preservation of overall (physical, mental and emotional) human well-being.
6. Health-care Information: Information, whether oral or recorded in any form or medium that is created or received, initiated by health authorities, life insurer, school or individuals in relation to human health.
7. Social media: Social media is the social interaction among people in which they create, share or exchange information and ideas in virtual communities and networks. Kaplan & Haenlein (2010) define social media as a group of Internet-based applications that build on the ideological and technological foundations of Web 2.0 and that allow the creation and exchange of user-generated content.

 

 

CHAPTER TWO

LITERATURE REVIEW

       2.1       Focus of review

This chapter provides an in-depth knowledge of various themes surrounding the study. This review of literature is built to demonstrate and support the research objectives of the study