SOCIAL MEDIA AND CORPORATE COMMUNICATION IN NIGERIA’S TERTIARY INSTITUTIONS

ABSTRACT

The study examined social media and corporate communication in Nigeria’s tertiary institutions: a case study of the University of Benin (UNIBEN), Benin City. The objectives of the study include the following: to determine if public relations practitioners in the University of Benin use social media in their practices, to identify the aspect of public relations practice in the University of Benin that have been affected by the social media, to determine how the uses of social media have affected the personal lifestyle of the PR practitioners in the University of Benin, to ascertain if public relations practitioners in the University of Benin consciously use social media platforms to improve the global ranking of the university and to proffer viable recommendations to issue of public relations in the University of Benin. The study adopted survey research design. The population of study of this research is made up of all staff at the Public Relations units of the University of Benin, Benin City, Edo State. The sample size of this study is respondents drawn from the public relations departments of the University of Benin, Edo state. The instrument used for the collection of data was the questionnaire which was administered to the study sampled respondents. There was 100% retrieval of all 100 questionnaires distributed. The data collected was analyzed using simple percentage. The study discovered amongst others that, despite the consistent use of social media platforms in the University of Benin, public relations in the University still lacks strong online presence which might hinder the effectiveness of the use of social media for public relations. More so, the study reveals that lack of updating of the social media platforms of the University of Benin, the information on these platforms are outdated and therefore not useful in addressing current issues in the University community. Furthermore, policy recommendations were adopted which include amongst others that, social media platforms of the University of Benin should be constantly updated in terms of content in order to improve information dissemination based on current happenings.