Social Media As; an Agent for Behavioral Change among Young People: Case of Facebook Usage among Mass Communication Students of Uganda Martyrs University

Abstract

Purpose: The advent of internet based technology has resulted into borderless communication. This has led to free circulation of information in the world. Uganda being a free market of ideas attributed partly to internet based technology, the young people constantly participate in the creation, exchanging and sharing different content on social media platforms. Therefore, this paper intends to find out the different kinds of habits youths acquire from consuming social media content, identifies conditions through which youths acquire different habits from social media and examine the kinds of information youths share on social media and give reasons for sharing such information. Methodology: A sample size of 50 students was selected from the department of Journalism and communication studies, Uganda Martyrs University. This was a case study research approach focusing on facebook usage and research methods for collecting primary data included; questionnaires, interviews and participant observation. I majorly used facebook content analysis and descriptive statistics while interpreting the data collected regarding the research questions. Findings: According to the study findings, as the youths become heavy consumers of social media content, they become addicted and develop different habits like; self-isolation from relatives, eating habits, imitation habit, liking habit, and spreading rumour. The habit changes maybe either negative or positive depending on the nature of social media content consumed. Unique Contribution to Theory, Practice and Policy: Facebook gives a wide range of experiences to its users; it allows young people, create and share any information of their choice in actual time.