SOCIAL MEDIA USE AND COMPETENCE AMONG LIBRARY AND INFORMATION SCIENCE UNDERGRADUATES IN SOUTH WEST, NIGERIA

Abstract

The advent of social media as both a personal and educational tool for information sharing and social interaction among undergraduates, including Library and Information Science (LIS) undergraduates, has brought about the need to examine their social media competence and use. . This study, therefore, investigated social media use and competence among LIS undergraduates. A descriptive survey research design of the ex-post facto type was adopted for the study. The population of the study comprised one hundred and eighty-seven (187) 300L and 400L undergraduates from selected universities. Simple random sampling techniques using ballot systems were used to capture the students who participated in the study. Data was collected with the use of a structured questionnaire. Results showed that the level of social media utilisation among LIS undergraduates in selected LIS schools in South-West Nigeria was high ( = 2.31). The overall level of social media competence of LIS undergraduates was high ( = 3.02). The challenges faced while utilizing social media are slow internet speed (172, 92.0%), power failure (164, 87.7%), and inability to get required information (164, 87.7%). Social media use and social media competence of LIS undergraduates in selected LIS schools have no significant difference by gender (p = (0.633> 0.05; p = 0.306 > 0.05). The study concludes that the high level of social media use and overall high competence reflect a shift towards online interactions. Hence, recommended that LIS undergraduates should be encouraged to build a social networking identity that would reflect real-world social competence.