SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORMS AND ATTITUDE TOWARDS COVID-19 AMONG STAFF: A STUDY OF COVENANT UNIVERSITY

Abstract

Social media platforms are now used to pass information from one person to another, over-time it has emerged as the most important channel of information gathering and distribution for people all over the world. On the other hand, COVID-19 is one global pandemic that put the world at a pause because of its nature and how fast it spreads from one individual to another. Covenant University was picked as a case study because of the researcher’s convenience. This study sought out to find out to what extent Covenant University staff have a knowledge about COVID-19, their attitude and practices through the spread of vital information form social media platforms and also with the help of health bodies such as WHO and NCDC. The study also adopted theories which were Framing theory and Agenda-setting theory. The study made use of Multistage sampling technique which consist of Convenience and Purposive sampling technique. The study also employed the use of survey and personal interview with 200 out of 266 respondents who gavefeedback. The collected data was analyzed and the results presented through tables, frequencies, figures and percentages. The findings from the study revealed that most of the staff of Covenant University get their information about COVID-19 through various social media platforms and other findings were also addressed. The study recommended various ways this research can be helpful to other researchers carrying out research on other institutions based on this study, it would also help government come up with policies that will help control the spread of COVID-19 pandemic in Nigeria.