Influence of Social Media Covid-19 Messages on the Lifestyle of Students in Two Nigerian Universities

Abstract

The advent of the corona virus disease has affected every facet of human existence including the way life is lived. To forestall the spread of the disease, lifestyle changes in form of safety protocols were advanced by health and medical experts. These protocols were propagated on the social media seeing that social media have been known to be veritable disseminators of health information. This study was conducted among students of Kogi state university and University of Nigeria to ascertain the influence of social media Covid-19 messages on their uptake of the new lifestyles promoted in form of safety protocols. The survey research design was adopted with questionnaire as instrument. Findings revealed that respondents were aware of the protocols and they made use of Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram platforms more frequently to access Covid -19 messages on the social media. Further findings show that they saw the safety protocols on the social media and their exposure to these messages influenced them to adopt the protocols, hence effecting a change in their lifestyles. It was also discovered that the influence was however not overwhelming as it was mild on protocols that encouraged shaking hands and receiving hugs. This implies a mild change in lifestyle effected b y the social media. It was thus concluded that social media, no doubt, have a role to play in mitigating the contagion rate of the Covid-19. It was thus recommended that health communication planners should engage the social media in coming up with communication interventions for health emergencies. Keywords: Covid-19: Social Media: Lifestyle: Students: Safety Protocols.