THE ROLE OF SOCIAL NETWORKING OR SOCIAL MEDIA IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF NIGERIAN SOCIETY

Abstract

This paper explained the role of social networking or social media in the development of Nigerian society. It did not only explain the contributions of social media to the development of the society, but also explained some of the adverse effects of social media to the society and suggested possible solutions to the problems. The advent of social media has revolutionalized the system of communication in Nigeria. It has made the creation, generation, dissemination, evaluation and feedback of information easy. The paper collected information from the internet browser, journals, seminar papers and his own knowledge of the subject matter. Social media have absolutely come to stay in Nigeria and since its benefits relatively outweigh its risks, there are some steps that can be taken by the government, policy executors, media stakeholders, social media entrepreneurs and citizens of Nigeria, to make the social media more productive in our country. The Nigerian government should come up with a body that will be saddled with regulating, controlling and monitoring social media use while formulating policies that will guide them. This will definitely curb the unreliable usage of the social media by some citizens. Service providers should strive to improve their network so as to reduce the frustration experienced by citizens when assessing the social media sites. They should also make effort to extend their reach to the remote parts of the country for all and sundry to gain access.