An Evaluation of Social Media Policy Awareness and Compliance at the Nelson Mandela University

Abstract

The use of social media in higher education has both benefits and pitfalls. The Nelson Mandela University in South Africa has implemented a social media policy and a set of guidelines to inform and enforce the acceptable use of social media by its staff and students. In order to know whether staff and students at the Nelson Mandela University are aware of and compliant with its policy and guidelines, their level of awareness and compliance was measured. Within this context, the primary objective of this study is to describe the state of awareness and compliance of staff and students at the Nelson Mandela University towards its social media policy and social media guidelines. The level of awareness and compliance of staff and students at the Nelson Mandela University in respect of the university's social media policy and guidelines was measured and described through the use of a survey questionnaire and statistical analysis of the data collected. The results of the analysis indicated an overall medium level of awareness for both staff and students, with a mean average score of 3.213 out of a possible maximum score of 5; while both groups demonstrated an overall high level of compliance towards the social media policy and guidelines, with a mean average score of 4.256.