Influence of Social Media Network Usage and Addiction on Self-Perception of Undergraduate Students at University of Ibadan, Nigeria

Abstract

Students’ self-perception has been described as having the ability to determine their performance in all areas of life. In as much as social media networks have a great potential to facilitate collaboration, communication and sharing of information among students, its usage and addiction have been found to have the potential to determine the way students would perceive themselves. This study therefore, examined the influence of social media utilisation and addiction on self-perception of undergraduate students in Nigeria’s premier university. The study adopted the survey method of ex-post-facto design. Multi-stage sampling procedure was used to select nine hundred and seven (907) undergraduate students from seven (7) faculties at University of Ibadan. A questionnaire titled “Social Media Utilisation, Addiction and Self-Perception Questionnaire” was used for data collection. Three research questions were answered in the study. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics, Pearson’s Product moment correlation and Multiple regression. Findings reveal that self-perception is significantly positively related to social media utilisation just as social media utilisation and social media addiction were found to relatively contribute significantly to self-perception of undergraduate students at University of Ibadan. To ensure development of a positive self-perception of students, adequate attention should be given to undergraduate students’ level of social media utilisation. Addictive behaviours however should be discouraged.