STUDENTS, INTERNET USE AND INFORMATION DISSEMINATION IN NIGERIA: TOWARDS THE NEW MEDIA

Abstract

The 2015 MDGs report affirmed that new information and communication technologies provide unprecedented opportunities for data collection, analysis and dissemination. According to Ericsson study released in April 2015, eighty two percent of mobile phone users have access to the Internet with their device on a daily basis. Similarly, forty five percent of PC users and 44 percent of tablet users, the report said do the same (http://www.vanguardngr.com). Indeed the Internet has brought limitless opportunities and the traditional journalism model is almost turned upside down. Today, journalism by the people" seems to be having a swell time all over the world. With a compliant phone in Nigeria, you can upload your information, and within minutes, could be shared worldwide. For instance, the amateur accounts of April 14, 2014, devastating bomb blast at the Nyanya bus terminal close to the Federal Capital Territory Abuja were freely shared on the Internet. So also was the sharing on July 13, 2015, information on the sacking of Nigerian Service Chiefs. Thanks to persistently emerging technologies, all these were impracticable a few decades ago. This paper assesses the use of new media in Nigeria as a growing tool of information acquisition by the emerging social community. The paper takes both qualitative and quantitative approach. Quantitatively, the paper submits that an average Nigerian student spends more time attending to cell phones more than TV and radio. Compared to the mainstream media, many students get hard information (breaking news) first from the Internet. Information is first received by more active users and later shared among friends and relations through popular social channels such as Facebook and whatsapp. Such information is also retransmitted within especially close circles. This paper observes that the traditional media are reinventing in line with the new medium and provides some advocacy on the need to harness the advantages of the new medium.