Mobile social media for a private higher education institution in South Africa

Abstract

The use of social media is growing exponentially. All kinds of businesses, seeking competitive advantage, are looking at what social media can offer them. The most obvious benefits seem to concern the communication and connectivity of social media. The question is whether private higher education institutions in South Africa are keeping up with these changes. This study investigates whether a private higher education institution in South Africa is using social media for business or educational purposes. The literature states that many businesses and educational institutions are trying to draw on the benefits of social media. The study discovers that there are mixed feelings about using socially-focused technologies for professional purposes, and that technologies are not yet used to their full potential at the institution. The potential benefits that social media hold are recognised, and recommendations for using social media at the institute are made. However, the main challenge is the lack of fixed line Internet connectivity. The study discovers that the use of social media is not linked to the level of IT expertise. Interestingly most people access the social media through wireless connections, with mobile phones being the most popular access device. This is aligned with increasing mobile phone penetration in South Africa. The connectivity mobile phones offer is therefore replacing what would have been done on a fixed line connection. As people are using their mobile phones on a regular basis in South Africa to communicate, their use to access social media comes almost naturally. Using social media on a mobile phone almost makes the use of technology ubiquitous. Combining the benefits of mobile technologies with that of social media - utilising, for example, their communication and connectivity - is a great, and very realistic, opportunity for private higher educational institutions in South Africa which should not simply be dismissed.