SOCIAL MEDIA AND POLITICAL SOCIALIZATION AMONGST STUDENTS OF DELTA STATE UNIVERSITY, ABRAKA

The study examines social media and political socialization among students in Delta State University Abraka. The study adopted the descriptive research designing using a population of 22,000 students of the Delta State University Abraka. A sample size of 393 was derived from the population using the Taro Yamani formula while using the simple random sample technique to ensure an equal representation. The researcher employed the use of a well-structured questionnaire in collecting data from the respondents. The data collected from the respondents were presented table and analysis using percentages. The findings of the study revealed that students use social media for different purposes; Facebook, WhatsApp, Tik Tok, Instagram, Twitter and Snapchat were used frequently; social media influences student political socialization as well as promote political participation of students. Based on the findings of the study, it was recommended that the use of social media for different purpose by students should not distract the students’ primary purpose of academic pursuits and students use should not allow social media to negatively influence them but rather understand basic knowledge about political socialization and political connectivity.