Influence of social media on the reading and writing abilities of undergraduates – case study of students of Federal Polytechnic Nekede

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Abstract

Influence of social media on the reading and writing abilities of undergraduates – case study of students of Federal Polytechnic Nekede. This study sought to investigate the“influence of social media on the reading and writing abilities of undergraduates” using federal polytechnic Nekede Owerri as a case study. The rate at which students spend on various social media platforms is critically affecting their reading and writing as not much attention is paid to their studies. There is no doubt that social media has gained wider acceptability and visibility and is also becoming probably the most important communication tool among students. To this point, this study provides an explanation of how social media usage influences the reading and writing abilities of undergraduate students of FPNO positively/negatively, what the students spend their time doing on different social media platforms, how often they spent on different social media platforms and time spent on studying and to what extent do social media usage influence the reading and writing abilities of undergraduate students of FPNO. The purpose of this study is to ascertain the impact of social media on the reading and writing abilities of FPNO undergraduate students. The study made use of diffusion of information theory and uses and gratification theory. The study adopted the survey method. To select respondents, the cluster sampling method was used to determine the sample size. A sample of 398 copies of questionnaires were administered to respondents, however, 338 questionnaires were returned and evaluated for the study. Findings from the study revealed that undergraduate student of FPNO spent about 5 hours and above on social media and uses it very frequently and also the usage of abbreviations and slang words affect their communication skills with respect to their writing and spelling skills.