Investigating Social Media Usage and Addiction Levels among Undergraduates in University of Ibadan, Nigeria

Aim: Social media networks have become popular among the students because of the great potential they have in facilitation, collaboration, communication and sharing among the students while the students’ exposure to social media networks has been found to have the potential to determine the way students would perceive themselves. This study, therefore, examined social media usage and addiction among undergraduates in university of Ibadan, Nigeria. Methodology: The study adopted the survey method of ex-post-facto design. Multistage sampling procedure was adopted to select nine hundred and seven (907) undergraduate students from seven (7) faculties in University of Ibadan. A questionnaire named “Social Media Utilisation and Addiction Questionnaire” was used for data collection. Five (5) research questions were answered in the study. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics and Pearson’s product moment correlation. Findings: Facebook (751 or 90.2%) and Twitter (646 or 77.6%) were the most commonly accessible social media networks. Also, Facebook (695 or 65.2%) Twitter (467 or 56.1%) were the most regularly used social networks while meeting friends (651 or 78.2%), getting news (566 or 67.9%), communication (554 or 66.5%) and online learning (450 or 54.0%) were major purposes for social media usage among the undergraduate students. High level of social media addiction was also established among the undergraduates. Social media usage was found to be positively related Original Research Article Idubor; BJESBS, 7(4): 291-301, 2015; Article no.BJESBS.2015.093 292 to social media addiction among the undergraduates studied. Recommendations: To control high level of social media addiction among the students and guarantee positive usage of social media adequate attention should be given to undergraduates’ level and purpose of social media usage to ensure that excessive and abusive usage are controlled.


INTRODUCTION
The new digital age has brought about extraordinary developments in technology which have altered the way many people access and use information. The social media network is a major technological development altering human social interaction. The large numbers of users and the frequency with which users communicate and use social media suggests that social media are a serious platform that people need to think about. Also, educational institutions are realising that engaging in social media can allow for "highly participative" interaction with students and educators which makes them feel more involved with the institutions [1] just as [2] identified four different social media platforms that are popular among people as Facebook, Twitter, Blogs, and client hosted forums. Over the years, social media networks have become more and more popular among students by allowing students to make connections, not only on campus, but with friends outside of school. Social media networks provide the platform that helps many people feel as though they belong to a community [3].
The emergence of social media has created opportunities to establish peer-support networks among students [4]. Indeed, social media networks are developed by universities to increase connections among students, faculty, and staff across the campus and/or distributed campuses [5]. Social media networks available for use among students include facebook, twitter, linkedln, Myspace, Flickr, YouTube, Mixit etc. These categories of social media have received considerable attention from researchers and the general public alike due to the increasingly large user base that is mainly young adults and students.
Study on the use of social media among students [6] reported social interaction, passing time, entertainment, companionship, communication motives as major purposes for students' use of social media networks. According to [7] majority of students in universities use the social media sites for many purposes; and have realized the benefits the social media sites have to offer the students in their academic activities. The use of social media networks have no doubt impacted greatly on the activities of university students. This is in agreement with [8] who reiterated that the success of interactive web utilisation was very much related to the users' attitude toward the social media networks.
In previous studies, social media has been measured by its frequency of use. Frequency can describe how long the user has been engaged in a social media platform (i.e., how long they have had a Facebook account) or how frequently they log in and use social media in a given day or week. Frequency is an important variable to understand in terms of social media use because it can play a role in an individual's interpersonal relationships. It also may play a role in determining what can be defined as social media addiction in a young adult's life.
Similarly, [9] studied the use of social media by Malaysian students and found that students have been using the Internet applications specifically social media networks for both formal and informal types of learning. The general opinion gathered about the integration of social media tools into learning is positive although some degree of inexperience and hesitancy was noted in particular tools. Students also appear to be passive in the context of content construction but they regularly obtain or download information. The data analyzed raised hope that social media implementation in Malaysia may yield similar benefits with their other counterparts from different countries.
Tukru et al. [10] reported that university students in Turkey use facebook more for communicating with friends, getting information about people and events, entertainment and relaxing as well as messaging. [11] also reported checking of messages, checking of comments / testimonies and playing games as topping the list of purposes for which university students in Malaysia visit social networking sites just as they reported regular use of friendster, tagged and MySpace among the students.
In spite of the fact that the benefits of social media networks have made notable improvements in all fields, some students are becoming preoccupied with the social media networks and unable to control their use of this new technology, thereby jeopardizing their employment and personal relationships. This is known in the literature as Social media addiction. [12] stated that "social media network addiction is an explanation for uncontrollable and damaging use of the technology".
Social networking addiction is sometimes used to refer to someone spending too much time using Facebook, Twitter and other forms of social media etc so much so that it interferes with other aspects of daily life. [13] reiterated that there is no official medical recognition of social networking addiction as a disease or disorder. However, the cluster of behaviors associated with heavy or excessive use of social media has become the subject of much discussion and research. [14] described social media addiction as the centralization of use of social media at the expense of other activities and putting priority on maintaining social media relationships. [15] highlighted traits associated with social media addiction such as excessive use, often associated with a loss of sense of time or a neglect of basic drives; withdrawal, with feelings of anger, tension, and / or depression when the computer is inaccessible; tolerance, with the need for better computer equipment, more software, or more hours of use, and negative repercussions, with arguments, lying, poor achievement, social isolation, and fatigue, as capable of modifying behavior of individuals. This is corroborated by [16] who reiterated that social media network addiction has negative effects such as loss of interpersonal relationships, failure to address responsibilities, distraction from other aspects of life, and poor health.
Social media networks addiction or as many specialists call it social media networks addiction disorder is an aspect of internet addiction that is viewed as a problem that is still difficult to be defined accurately. However, the concept of addiction follows the medical model [11]. [12] described social media networks addiction as an explanation for uncontrollable, damaging use of these technologies. On the other hand, it is a warning sign that a person is having difficulty controlling his or her use of social media networks sites. Likewise, [13] defines a social networking addict as someone who spends excessive time in social media networks that it interferes with the important activities of his daily life. Therefore, it can be summarized that social networking as a behavioral addiction can be harder to resist compared to substance addiction such as smoking and drinking alcohol. This can be explained as to the high availability of social media and the fact that joining social media is far less expensive as compared to buying cigarettes and alcohol.
Based on the past research on social media addiction, it can be concluded that social networking addiction is a term sometimes used to refer to a situation when a person tends to logon his social network at least once a day and then spends long hours on social media networks to the extent that he neglects his daily duties or obligations. There is yet a formal medical discovery that recognizes social networking addiction as a mental disorder or illness [13]. Nevertheless, this type of behavior which is closely linked to extreme or excessive use of social media network has become the topic of much discussion and research among experts and social network users.
In Nigeria, irrespective of age, most university undergraduates now start the day by checking their Facebook accounts [17]. However, this trend can constitute serious academic problems if left unchecked. The frenzy is gradually tending toward addiction as some students cannot do without accessing their accounts with the social media sites they subscribed to. They like to stay up-to-date with the current trends and events in the virtual world of social media networks. The time and attention that undergraduates are giving to this social network site is becoming increasingly alarming because students can access their accounts on their mobile phones. Often, when lectures are going on, students still find time to chat with friends online or respond to notifications at the detriment of their academic pursuit.
The scenario described above can be located within the non-medical term called social media network addiction disorder (SMAD). According to [17], the term was introduced by a U.S psychologist for those who are addicted to social media and their lives are really affected by their uncontrolled activities on social media sites.
On the level of addiction to social media among students, findings from [18] study on the level of social media network addiction among youths in Nigeria revealed that majority of the students in tertiary institutions in Oyo State affirmed that they spend more time on social media and that they felt agitated when they are not able to access their social network at least twice daily. This established a high level of social media addiction among the students. [19] also reported a high level of addiction to social media among college students in Coimbatore, India as majority of the students (98.0%) were found to be addicted to social network chatting. Findings from the study revealed that graduate students exhibit more addiction to social media than undergraduate students.
However, use of the social media networks by students is on the rise, [20] emphasised concerns that heavier use of social media networks by students might interfere with academic achievement, conventional social interaction, and exposure to desirable and undesirable cultural experiences. Early support for the concept of "social media network addiction" comes from [14], who posted a formbased survey on a website that allowed for selfselecting anonymous input from "avid social media networks users". For example, study by [21] reported that 50% of students interviewed after dismissal for academic failure listed excessive usage of social media as a reason for their problems.
As social media networks' use continues to grow and attain popularity among young adults and students in Nigerian universities, its users keep surging daily amidst growing concern over youths' over-dependence or addiction tendencies. This tends to suggests that Nigerian university undergraduates are getting addicted or are at the verge of getting addicted to social media network. Therefore, this study intends to investigate the extent of usage of and addiction to social media networks among undergraduates in University of Ibadan, Nigeria.

Objectives of the Study
The broad objective of this study is to investigate the extent of social media usage and addiction among undergraduates in University of Ibadan, Nigeria.

Research Questions
The following research questions were addressed in the study:

Significance of the Study
This study derives its relevance from the growing literature on the use of new technologies among students and young adults in Nigerian educational institutions. The increasing awareness of the usefulness and relevance of social media among students puts study like this on the research agenda of countries, including Nigeria. This study will thus provide a better understanding of the extent to which undergraduates in Nigerian universities use social media networks and for which purposes do they make use of social media networks. The results of the study will also provide information on the level of addiction to social media networks among the students thereby enabling us to determine the influence of social media addiction on academic and research activities of the students. This study will also provide a basis for decision making recommendations that will improve social media networks use among undergraduates in Nigerian universities. Furthermore, the study will contribute to informed decision making and the basis for recommending effective strategies for social media networks utilisation for educational purposes in universities in Nigeria. The study is therefore significant in that it will contribute to knowledge in the areas of social media networks use and addiction among undergraduates in Nigerian universities.

METHODOLOGY
This study adopted the expost-facto type of survey method. The population of the study comprised all the undergraduate students in university of Ibadan, Nigeria. The respondents were distributed across the thirteen faculties offering undergraduate courses in university of Ibadan viz: Faculties of Education, Science, Social science, Technology, Agriculture and Forestry, Veterinary medicine, Pharmacy, Dentistry, Public Health, Clinical sciences, Basic medical sciences, Arts, and Law that offered undergraduate courses in university of Ibadan (See Table 1).

Sample Size and Sampling Technique
The multi-stage sampling technique was adopted in selecting the sample population for the study. At the first stage of sampling, the simple random sampling method using balloting system was adopted in selecting seven [7] faculties representing (50%) of the total number of faculties in University of Ibadan, Nigeria. The seven [7] faculties selected were, Faculties of Science, Arts, Clinical sciences, Law, The social sciences, Pharmacy, Agriculture and Forestry.
The last stage of the sampling procedure adopted the simple random sampling to select ten percent (10%) of the total undergraduate enrollment in each of the Faculties selected for the study. Thus, a total number of nine hundred and seven (907) undergraduates formed the sample size for the study (See Table 2).

Research Instrument
The research instrument adopted for this study was questionnaire. The questionnaire designed for this study named "Social Media Utilisation and Addiction Questionnaire" (SMUAQ) comprised three major sections aimed at measuring the variables in the study (i.e social media utilization and level of addiction). Section A of the questionnaire was aimed at gathering data on the personal information of the respondents such as name of faculty, name of department, level of study, age, gender, social media use experience, etc.
Section B of the questionnaire was designed to measure the purpose and extent of use of social media networks among respondents. The purpose of use was measured with a checklist for which respondents might use social media networks. The respondents checked for purposes applicable to them from the list given. The extent of use of social media networks by respondents was measured using a modified six [6] point likert scale of 'Daily Use', 'Twice a week Use', "Weekly Use", "Fortnight Use", "Monthly Use", and 'Do Not Use'.' Section C of the questionnaire was designed to gather information on the level of addiction of respondents to social media networks. The level of addiction was measured on a modified four (4)-point likert scale of "Strongly Agree", "Agree", "Disagree", and "Strongly Disagree"

Validation and Reliability of the Research Instrument
The questionnaire, after incorporating suggestions giving by experts, was trial-tested on twenty [20] undergraduate students in the Faculty of Education which was not part of the Faculties selected for the study. The data collected were subjected to Cronbach Alpha reliability coefficient with the results yielding 0.77. This is considered suitable and appropriate for the study.

INTERPRETATION of ANALYSED DATA
A total of nine hundred and seven (907) copies of the questionnaire designed for the study were administered on the undergraduate students, out of which only eight hundred and thirty three were returned with useful responses. This gave a response rate of 91.8% which was considered adequate for the study.

Socio-demographic Information of Respondents
The background information distribution of the respondents revealed that there were more male

Research question 3:
What is the frequency of use of social media networks among undergraduate student in University of Ibadan, Nigeria?

Research question 4:
What is the level of social media addiction among undergraduate students in university of Ibadan?
From Table 6, the Grand Mean of the level of social media addition is 2.96 which is greater than the criterion mean of 2.50 set for a higher level of social media addiction. It can, therefore, be inferred that there is a high level of addiction to social media among undergraduate students in University of Ibadan.

Research question 5:
What relationships exist among social media networks usage and addiction to social media among undergraduates in University of Ibadan? Table 7 presents information on the relationship among the social media usage level and social media addiction level. It revealed that there is a positive relationship between social media utilisation and social media addiction (r = .499; p<0.01). It can, therefore, be inferred that increased social media usage can lead to high level of addiction to social media among the undergraduate students in University of Ibadan.

Discussion of Findings
The study investigated the extent of social media usage and addiction among undergraduates in University of Ibadan, Nigeria. Findings from the study revealed Facebook and Twitter as the most commonly accessible social media networks among undergraduates in University of Ibadan. This is at variance with [22] findings that revealed Myspace, Flicker and Youtube as the most popular social media networks among students. On the purpose of social media utilisation among the undergraduate students, findings from the study revealed the major purposes of social media utilisation among undergraduates in University of Ibadan as meeting with friends, getting news, communication and online learning. This is in support of [6] findings which reported social interaction, communication motives and companionship as major purposes for students' use of social media networks. Also, the study revealed regular use of only Facebook and Twitter among the undergraduates in University of Ibadan. Facebook and Twitter are the only social media being used on a daily basis by the students. This corroborates [21] findings that reported regular use of Facebook, Twitter and Myspace among University students.
Findings on the level of addiction to social media networks among the undergraduates in University of Ibadan revealed a high level of addiction to social media among the undergraduate students. This is in support of [18] study which revealed a high level of social media addiction among students in tertiary institutions in Oyo state. On the relationships existing among social media usage and addiction to social media, findings from the study showed that positive relationship existed between social media usage and social media addiction among the undergraduate students.

SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION
This study has investigated social media usage and addiction among undergraduates in University of Ibadan. The study concluded that Facebook and Twitter were found to be the only social media networks that are popular among the students which may be due to the ease of access. The non-use of other social media networks may be due to lack of awareness about these social media networks or difficulty in accessing such social media networks.
Moreover, communication, socialisation such as meeting with friends and online learning were found to be the major purposes for which social media networks were being used by the undergraduate students while the daily utilization of Facebook and Twitter gives an insight into the importance which the students attached to Facebook and Twitter especially in connecting people and online learning. The relevance of Facebook and Twitter in online learning came to the fore in this study. It can also be concluded from this study that undergraduate students in University of Ibadan are addicted to social media networks in support of what is obtainable with students in other countries and even in other tertiary institutions within Nigeria and in Oyo State in particular.

RECOMMENDATIONS
There should be adequate orientation on social media utilisation and addiction among the students. This will further encourage regular use of social media among the students. Students should also be encouraged towards positive use of social media. The use of social media networks for collaborative learning among the students should be encouraged.
The management of the University should ensure the adequate provision of social media networks for students' usage. However, the use of the available social media should be monitored by the school authority to guide against abuse. Also, the management of the University and Parents should guide against excessive use of social media that can lead to addiction among students and their wards.