1.1 Introduction
Spiral of Silence is the idea of one-way communication from source to destination, where source considered being electronic media or printing media whereas source destination was individuals who receive the messages from traditional media. Social media networking sites has facilitated communication. These are web-sites where users can create a profile and connect that profile to others to form an explicit personal network. Through social media, people can use networks of online friends and group memberships to keep in touch with current friends, reconnect with old friends or create real life friendships through similar interests or groups.
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
The Spiral of Silence Theory was introduced in 1970s when there were limited mass media channels mostly restricted to radio and television. There was no other channel to involve public to participate and contribute in anysocial, economic or political issue. At that time, radio and television were solid tools to disseminate any news or issue and public were blindly believedon that what they receive by media. The evidence of such effects was in the form various theories such as Magic Bullet Theory and Cultivation Theory. In this modern age of mass media, the medium of communication has been changed due to advancement in technologies. There are many channels of communication with own features that involve public to participate and contribute to express their idea at wide level where there is no boundaries or limitations like were on TV or Radio (Shabir at al., 2014a, Shabir et al.2014b).
Media has molded its shapes andhas prison-redtraditional radio and TV to laptop and cell phones. The invention of new tools and availability of internet in cheap rates has changed the way of one-way communication (Shabir et al., 2015a). Now the communication is a two-way process where any issue is instantly replied by the public and fear of isolation has been disappeared to great extent.In past, only media could validate any issue but now people can validate and can show right angle of any issue. Now, public have more strength over traditional media and has made “spiral of silence model” inversely proportional. According to Spiral of Silence Theory, public was shown as wall of sand that had no resistance against media but now public have strong resistance against any issue.
The speed of Internet has changed the way people receive the information. It combines the immediacy of broadcast with the in-depth coverage of newspapers making it perfect sources for news and weather information. Even with the multimedia excitement of the web, Electronic mail (email) is the most frequently used application of the Internet. Many people, who have access to the Internet at school, home and at work place use the Internet for no other purpose than to send and to receive the mail. It‘s not just friends and co-workers that are receiving email. Wherever you look, the web is providing email addresses. This has made communication between the strangers easier than ever. Chatting is one of the more popular activities on the Internet- people can talk to anyone across the world.
The most popular extra features include music and video sections. The video section can include everything from member generated videos from hundreds of subjects to TV clips and movie trailers (You tube). It is therefore the aim of this study to establish the impact that these social media has on the young individual‘s behavioral change.
Therefore, in Nigeria where the research was carried out, the activities that was conducted is to know the Spiral of Silence of Nigerian Parents towards Abuse use of Social Media among Youth and it's Effect on Nigeria Future.
1.3 Statement of the Problem
This study will try to find out the impact that social media has on the youth‘s behaviour. Technology has many positive aspects but, in the wrong hands, it can become dangerous. For the young people it is experiments to do what they feel is good or exciting to them and the friends and at the same time avoid adult supervision. Livingstone (2008) opines that for teenagers, the online realm may be adopted enthusiastically because it represents their space, visible to the peer group more than to adult surveillance, an exciting yet relatively safe opportunity to conduct the social psychological task of adolescence – to construct, experiment with and present a reflexive project of the self in a social context, as well as, for some, for flouting communicative norms and other risk-taking behaviors.
Technology brought about social media which is a valuable tool but is somewhat misused by today‘s youth. The two main forms that the youth use to access social media are cell phones and the Internet which have brought about major changes in their lifestyle.
With the current exposure and easy access that the youth are able to get out of these mediums, this study will establish the impacts it has have on the youth. Issues that are expected to arise out of this research include exposure to problematic materials, online victimization of youth, exposition to unnecessary online marketing and advertising, exposure to dangerous online behaviours, issues of identity theft, the emergence of digital divide and generation gap between parents and the youth.
1.4 Aim and Objectives of Study
The aim of the study is to examine the Spiral of Silence of Nigerian Parents towards Abuse use of Social Media among Youth and it's Effect on Nigeria Future. In achieving this aim, the following specific objectives were laid out as follows:
- To determine how the youth in Nigeria abuse the use social media in their daily lives;
- To find out the impacts social media has on behavior changes among the Nigerian youths;
- To determine the risks that comes with abuse use of social media on the Nigerian youth; and
- To determine if the youth in Nigeria prefer social media as means of communication as opposed to traditional methods.
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:
- How do the youth in Nigeria abuse the use social media in their daily lives?
- Do the youth in Nigeria prefer social media as a means of communication as opposed to traditional methods?
- What are the impacts of social media on the behavior change of youths in Nigeria?
- What are the risks that come with abuse use of social media among the youths in Nigeria?
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.
Hypothesis One
- H0: Nigeria youths does not abuse the use of Social Media among Youth
- H1: Nigeria youths does abuse the use of Social Media among Youth
Hypothesis Two
- H0: Spiral of Silence of Nigerian Parents towards Abusive use of social media does not impact the future of Nigeria
- H1: Spiral of Silence of Nigerian Parents towards Abusive use of social media impact the future of Nigeria
1.7 Significance of Study
The findings of this study will bridge the gap of lack of sufficient information on the effects of social media on the youth and behavior change. The findings of this study may also be useful to the policy makers in various sectors of the government. For instance, in the educational sector curriculum developers will be informed when developing curriculum for the youth. In the health ministry, it will help doctors especially those dealing with counseling of the youth to know which tools to use to effectively communicate to the youth. The results of the study are likely to influence further scholarly research by other researchers who may be interested in this field of knowledge and initiate appropriate mitigation.
1.8 Scope of Study
The scope of this research is focused on the Spiral of Silence of Nigerian Parents towards Abuse use of Social Media among Youth and it's Effect on Nigeria Future.
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, questionnaire and interview).
