An Assessment of Social Media Platforms as News Sources among Residents of South-east Nigeria

Abstract

The study was aimed at ascertaining the perception of South-East residents regarding social media usage as news sources. The study was anchored on the perception theory. The survey research method was used for the investigation while the questionnaire was utilised as data collection instrument. Residents of South-East Nigeria constituted the population of the study from where a sample size of 381 was drawn using the Creative Research Systems online sample size calculator. The multi-stage sampling technique was used while tables and simple percentages were deployed to present and analyse the collected data. Based on the analysis of data, it was revealed among others that residents of South-East Nigeria do not perceive the social media platforms as credible sources of news. Accordingly, it was recommended that news gotten via social media should be
properly cross-checked for the purpose of authenticity.