Effectiveness Of Facebook In Awareness Campaign Against Coronavirus

This study was carried out on the effectiveness of Facebook in awareness campaign against coronavirus in Delta State. The study was carried out to ascertain the extent covid-19 information was being shared on Facebook, determine whether authentic Facebook campaign against covid-19 was launched in Nigeria, find out whether Facebook campaign enhanced peoples awareness on preventive measures of Covid-19 in Nigeria, and find out whether Facebook campaign helped in improving people"s compliance with Covid-19 prevention measures in Nigeria. The survey design was adopted and the simple random sampling techniques were employed in this study. The population size comprised of Facebook users resident in Asaba, Delta State. In determining the sample size, the researcher purposefully selected 147 respondents and 141 were validated. Self-constructed and validated questionnaire was used for data collection. The collected and validated questionnaires were analyzed using frequency tables. While the hypotheses was tested chi-square statistical tool. The result of the findings reveals that the covid-19 information was highly shared on Facebook. Furthermore, the study revealed that Facebook campaign enhanced people"s awareness on preventive measures of Covid-19 in Nigeria. Therefore, it is recommended that Nigerians should ensure that while consuming health messages from social media, attention should be paid to the sources to ensure that they are reliable and credible. To mention but a few.

Introduction

1.1 Background of the Study

Over time, social media has developed into an active technical tool as well as a news and networking platform for Nigerian people. Access to mobile telephony, especially among technologically savvy youths, has made information transmission as simple as snapping a finger. As the pandemic spreads and emasculates global operations, social media platforms have become increasingly important. In recent times, as the pandemic encroaches on and emasculates world activities, social media platforms have been utilized as an information outlet to citizens. Its significance has gained more recognition owing especially to the fact that the government implemented a lockdown policy to curb the spread of the Covid-19 virus. Thus, it has become an active tool for engagement and communication for the dissemination of plausible information.

Specifically, social media is an offshoot of the Internet and according to DiMaggio et al. (2001), the Internet refers to the electronic network or networks that link(s) people and information through computers and other digital devices; thereby allowing for person-to-person communication and information retrieval. The Internet is a major tool that emerged for the purpose of information dissemination; thus, the media acts as an information hegemony in terms of determining what information is made available to people as well as the impression people have on issues (Savrum & Leon, 2015).

Largely, Social Media is the collection of websites and web-based systems that allow for mass interaction, conversation and sharing among members of a network (Murphy, 2013). Its power lies in live pictures conveyed by video recording of events as it unfolds. The international livestreaming of events is capable of mobilizing a huge population of citizenry for positive or negative end.

The Coronavirus (Covid-19) is an infectious disease causes respiratory infections ranging from the common cold to more severe respiratory difficulties. It originated from the Hunan seafood market at Wuhan, China where live bats, snakes, raccoon dogs, wild animals among others were sold in December 2019 (Shereen et al., 2020, pp. 91-98) and was declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization on 11 March 2020 (WHO, 2020).

Noticeably, Nigeria tried to curb the rapid spread of Covid-19 through various measures.The achievement of these feats can be attributed not just to proper healthcare facilities but also to the impacts of social media in the country. Its platforms: WhatsApp, Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube have became varying means of communication and engagement by not just the government but by the general populace. Specifically, the Facebook was utilized as a means of disclosing news and information.

On many occasions, administrators of Facebook pick up these authentic messages on Covid-19 for spreading across the community officially for the broader public good. In a third way, people post messages related to Covid-19, which may be authentic or spurious or self-made. In view of the aforementioned, this study seek to examine effectiveness of Facebook in awareness campaign against Coronavirus.

1.2 Statement of the Problem

In the face of the fears of the spread of the novel corona virus, social media became a critical tool for disseminating information to the general public. In the case of Nigeria, it is a double-edged sword because it helps people to access information without hindrance. This same method, however, has been used to mislead the public and disseminate unverifiable and misleading messages to people.

Social media platforms in regularly patronized by Nigerians include Facebook among others. However content shared on this platform can play either a negative role or positive role towards curbing or spreading the corona virus. Some of the information spread through Facebook is not based on public health authorities, there are risk of the information being unauthentic, false and harmful. It is common to spread information which looks scientific but without proper evidence. Some of them may even cite authentic sources for such unsubstantiated information.

People may post their own beliefs or forwarded messages on what they believe to be true either due to ignorance or purposefully to create harm. All these and more about these dimensions hindered the effectiveness of Facebook during Covid-19.

1.3 Objective of the Study

This study is set to examine the effectiveness of Facebook in awareness campaign against coronavirus. Specifically, the study seeks to;

Ascertain the extent covid-19 information was being shared on Facebook.

Determine whether authentic Facebook campaign against covid-19 was launched in Nigeria.

Find out whether Facebook campaign enhanced peoples awareness on preventive measures of Covid-19 in Nigeria.

Find out whether Facebook campaign helped in improving people"s compliance with Covid-19 prevention measures in Nigeria.

1. 4 Research Questions

The following research questions will be answered in this study:

What is the extent covid-19 information was being shared on Facebook?

Was authentic Facebook campaign against covid-19 launched in Nigeria?

Did Facebook campaign enhance people"s awareness on preventive measures of Covid-19 in Nigeria?

Did Facebook campaign help in improving people"s compliance with Covid-19 prevention measures in Nigeria?

1.5 Research Hypotheses

Ho: Facebook awareness campaign against coronavirus was not effective in Nigeria.

Ha: Facebook awareness campaign against coronavirus was effective in Nigeria.

1.6 Significance of the Study

This study would be relevant to the general public and also contribute to the body of knowledge. More so it will be a wake up call for social media content developers to enhance their efficiency while developing creative contents in order to curb the spread of corona virus. It will also heighten the awareness of social media users on the need to discard fake and invalid information about corona virus and its mode of infection. The study will enable government and policy makers on the need to monitor content shared on social media platforms in order to avoid sharing panic related message to the reading public as this is detriment to their disposition and could make them loose confidence on the government efforts towards fighting the novel corona virus

1.7 Scope the Study

This study seek to examine the effectiveness of Facebook in awareness campaign against coronavirus. The respondents for this study will be obtained from Facebook users resident in Asaba, Delta State.

1.8 Limitation of Study

Financial constraint

Insufficient fund tends to impede the efficiency of the researcher in sourcing for the relevant materials, literature or information and in the process of data collection (internet, questionnaire and interview).

Time constraint

The researcher will simultaneously engage in this study with other academic work. This consequently will cut down on the time devoted for the research work.

However in the midst above mentioned limitation the researcher devotedly ensured that the purpose of the study was actualized.

1.9 Definition of Terms

Social Media:

This is the collection of websites and web-based systems that allow for mass interaction, conversation and sharing among members of a network.Its power lies in live pictures conveyed by video recording of events as it unfolds. Example of social media include Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, Watsapp and others

Covid-19:

Corona virus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is defined as illness caused by a novel corona virus called severe acute respiratory syndrome corona virus 2 (SARS-CoV-2.

1.10 Organization of the Studies

The study is categorized into five chapters. The first chapter presents the background of the study, statement of the problem, objective of the study, research questions and hypothesis, the significance of the study, scope/limitations of the study, and definition of terms. The chapter two covers the review of literature with emphasis on conceptual framework, theoretical framework, and empirical review. Likewise, the chapter three which is the research methodology, specifically covers the research design, population of the study, sample size determination, sample size, and selection technique and procedure, research instrument and administration, method of data collection, method of data analysis, validity and reliability of the study, and ethical consideration. The second to last chapter being the chapter four presents the data presentation and analysis, while the last chapter(chapter five) contains the summary, conclusion and recommendation.

Title Page

Certification

Dedication

Acknowledgement

Table of Content

List of Tables

Abstract

• Mass Communication Project Topics and Materials