APPRAISAL OF THE USE OF SOCIAL MEDIA AS TOOLS FOR PUBLIC RELATIONS PRACTICE IN TERTIARY INSTITUTIONS. A STUDY OF FEDERAL UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY, MINNA AND NIGER STATE COLLEGE OF EDUCATION, MINNA

Abstract

The use of social media tools for public relations practice in Nigerian tertiary institutions has witnessed tremendous revolution in the areas of information dissemination and two-way communication process between tertiary institutions and their publics. This study appraises the use of social media as tools for public relations practice in tertiary institutions with focus on the Federal University of Technology, Minna and Niger State College of Education, Minna. The dialogic theory of public relations was used as theoretical basis for this research work. Survey method of research was adopted with three hundred and ninety seven (397) questionnaire administered to respondents in Niger State, Nigeria. It was found that the Federal University of Technology, Minna has adopted the various social media tools as a channel of communication between the institution and its publics more than Niger State College of Education, Minna. It was also found that both the Federal University of Technology, Minna and Niger State College of Education, Minna mostly used Facebook to communicate with their publics. Therefore, this study recommends the need for public relations practitioners to be well trained on the use of various social media tools for the purpose of information dissemination between their organizations and target audience/publics.