THE LEVEL OF WHATSAPP AND INSTAGRAM USAGE AS PLATFORMS FOR INFORMATION DISSEMINATION AMONG UNDERGRADUATES

ABSTRACT This paper has discussed the extent of WhatsApp and Instagram application as information dissemination tools among the university of Ilorin undergraduates, Kwara State. The research was conducted due to the increasing reliance of social media in communication in tertiary institutions and the issues surrounding the effectiveness of the use of the social media in the dissemination of information in academic and institutional contexts. The research questions were to establish the rate and trend of using WhatsApp and Instagram, the kind of information they share, their effectiveness in academic communication, the challenges encountered by the students, as well as comparing the preference of the students in using the two applications. The research design was a cross-sectional survey research design, which was both quantitative and qualitative. The sample was made up of all undergraduate students of the university of Ilorin whereby a sample size of 397 respondents was calculated through the Taro Yamane formula. Structured questionnaires, as well as in-depth interviews were used to gather data. The quantitative data were analyzed using descriptive statistical measures, including frequency counts and percentages, and the interview data were analyzed through thematic analysis to support the survey results.The results showed that WhatsApp and Instagram are highly used and WhatsApp is the most common and preferred choice among the undergraduates in carrying out academic and school related communication. WhatsApp was also discovered to be useful in shared information about classes and departments in the most timely way, whereas Instagram was primarily employed to share visual-based information like flyers and announcements. The study was able to come up with a conclusion that both the platforms taught students a lot about what was happening in the school even though there were some difficulties in the form of misinformation, distractions, and information overload. The paper suggested the use of official and controlled social media platforms to enhance the credibility and performance of academic communication.