1.1 Introduction
Social media, as a means of communication are computer-mediated tools that allow people to create, share or exchange information, ideas, and pictures/videos in virtual communities and networks (Adedeji, 2011). It is the collections of internet websites, services and practices that support collaboration, community building, participation, and sharing (Ndaku, 2013). Social media can also be defined 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. Social media therefore depend on mobile and web-based technologies to create highly interactive platforms through which individuals and communities share, co-create, discuss, and modify user-generated content (Bello, 2012).
As a prelude to other parts of this study, this chapter will discuss the background upon which this study was initiated, the statement of problems that led to this study, the Aim and Objectives of the study. Others are Significance of the study, Scope of work, Research hypothesis and questions, Limitations of the Study and Definition of technical terms.
1.2 Background of Study
In Nigeria, there has been a prevalent rate of insecurity and this is made obvious by the alarming trend of anti-social acts prevalent in the nation (Wali, 2012). Acts of terrorism by the Boko Haram Islamic sect, incidents of kidnapping in the southeast and South-South parts of the country, including agitations by militants in the Niger Delta have become “brands” of crime that have given a negative identity to Nigeria (Ali, 2013). This is in addition to other conventional crimes such as theft, arson, violent ethno-religious conflicts to mention but few, which the law enforcement agents battle daily (Ofuafor, 2008). These acts particularly those that involve threat to life have contributed in creating an alarming state of insecurity in some parts of the country.
The social media is a principal player in the arena of national security (Nwanegbo and Odigbo, 2013). The social media by their nature have the capabilities of educating, informing, entertaining and inflaming the audience (Adedeji, 2011). Above all, they possess a contagious and outreaching influence which the conventional media lack and this potential is most likely what Osahenye (2012) refers to as unstoppable power of the social media. Social media is a double edged sword in that it can be used either in a beneficial or detrimental ways. It is on this thrust that this study was carried out to examine the impact of social media on national security from the standpoint of Nigeria perspective.
A major category of the social media activity is social networking. In the recent times, there has been increasing integration of social media networking tools such as blogs, microblogs, and video-sharing sites into the society (Robbins, 2005). Social networking sites have also enhanced the functioning of the older media of communication (Cranston and Davies, 2009). Social networking websites, such as Facebook, Myspace, and Twitter, have generally become an integral part of the society (Cotton, 2008). Ndaku (2013), posits that social networking which include blogs (political Blog), networks (Facebook, Twitter, etc.), video sharing (YouTube), audio sharing (Podcast), mobile sites (2go etc.), image or picture sharing (flicker), etc. have the capacity of boosting participation of the general public into the nation’s wellbeing because of their open, conversational nature, connectedness and textual and audio-visual characteristic appeals.
Therefore, in Nigeria where the research was carried out, the activities that was conducted is to know the Contributions of Social Media to Security.
1.3 Statement of Problems
Investigation reveals the problems the Contributions of Social Media to Security which entails that social media represents for companies identified internal and external challenges similar to those identified by the above presented authors’ findings. Internal challenges concern resource challenges, ownership challenges, authorization challenges, attitude challenges, and economic challenges. External challenges concern reputation challenges, legal challenges, and identity challenges (Kuikka et al., 2011).
The influence of social media security in today’s world of communication, especially journalism cannot be over-looked. Since its arrival social media have certainly changed the way journalists work, how stories are developed and disseminated. Social media have had positive influences, without doubt, but there are also concerns about their influence on productivity and the disruption it could have on journalists working patterns.
1.4 Aim and Objectives of Study
The aim of the study is to investigate the Contributions of Social Media to Security. In achieving this aim, the following specific objectives were laid out as follows:
- To examine social media contribution to Nigeria security.
- To assess the advantage of social media impact on security.
- To identify the factors instigating insecurity against social media.
1.5 Research Questions
The study came up with research questions so as to be able to ascertain the above stated objectives. The specific research questions for the study are stated below as follows:
- Does social media contribution increases the security rate in Nigeria?
- What are the advantages of social media impact on security?
- What are the factors instigating insecurity against social media?
1.6 Research Hypothesis
In order to pursue the objective of this study, the following generalized statements have been designed to guide and aids in obtaining the result for the experiment to be conducted. For this work, the null hypothesis will be represented with H0 while the alternative hypothesis will be represented with hypothesis H1.
H0: Social media does not contribute positively towards the increases of security rate in Nigeria
H1: Social media contributes positively towards the increases of security rate in Nigeria
1.7 Significance of Study
The following are the significance of this study:
- The results of this study will throw light on approaches to the Contributions of Social Media to Security and how it can be used as a tool for national development.
- This research will also serve as a resource base to other scholars and researchers interested in carrying out further research in this field subsequently, if applied will go to an extent to provide new explanation to the topic.
1.8 Scope of Study
The study focuses on the Contributions of Social Media to Security in Nigeria.
1.9 Limitations of the Study
During the course of this study, many things militated against its completion, some of which are:
- Time Constraint: The time frame given to accomplish this project was very short due to school academic calendar and it was carried out under pressure which made the researcher not to implement some necessary features.
- Research material: availability of research material is a major setback to the scope of the study.
- Frequent power failure: This made the researcher append more money on fuel to ensure sustainable power.
- Financial Constraint: Insufficient fund tends to impede the efficiency of the researcher in sourcing for the relevant materials, literature or information and in the process of data collection (internet).
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