SOCIAL MEDIA ON FAMILY COMMUNICATION, A STUDY OF ABA METROPOLIS OF ABIA STATE, NIGERIA

Abstract

This study investigated social media and its influence on family communication, a study of Aba metropolis. Four specific purposes and four research question guided the study. The study adopted a descriptive survey research design and was carried out in the three local government area of Aba metropolis namely: Aba North, Aba South and OsisiomaNgwa. The population for this study was 754,927. Simple random sampling was used to determine the sample size of 90 male and females twelve years and above. Questionnaire was used for data collection titled social media on family communication (SMFC). Three lecturers from the department of Home Economics and Hospitality Management Education of the University of Nigeria, Nsukka validated the instruments. Data was analyzed using percentage and frequency. The findings of the study revealed that Facebook and WhatsApp were the mostly used type of social media, 71.1% of the respondents also agreed to use social media daily while 11.1% never use social media. The result also showed that social media imposes problems on family communication. Creating opportunities for talking with family members, eating together and spending time with children individually among others were agreed as the possible ways of improving family communication. Based on the findings of the study, it was therefore recommended among others that parents should carry out periodic checks on their children to know the social media sites they are using and how long they spend online.