Personal Factors As Predictors of Content-Specific Use of the Internet by Ajayi Crowther University Students in Nigeria

Abstract

The individual interest of the internet users on the content depends solely on some factors that are personal to users. These factors are the suspected drives that determine their choice of internet content. It is in this regard that this study examines the composite and relative contributions of personal factors (age, gender, religious background, socio-economic status and; academic level) to the choice of internet content. The survey method was employed in this study. The subjects of the investigation were drawn from the three faculties of Ajayi Crowther University using stratified sampling. Based on student enrolment in each of the Faculties, 10% (200) of the entire student population (2000) was selected. Purposive sampling was used in selecting 100 students from the Faculty of Social and Management Sciences, 70 students from the Faculty of Natural Sciences and 30 students from Humanities. Data were generated with the Undergraduates Personal Factors and Internet Content Preference Questionnaire (UPFICPQ) which yielded reliability co-efficient of .79 (Cronbach Alpha). Data were analyzed with frequency count, percentage, and regression analysis. Findings of the study show that 79 (40.5%) of the undergraduates use the internet for social networking, 64 (32.8%) use it for news and information while 36 (18.5%) use it for entertainment. While all the considered personal factors accounted for 67% ( R square =.67) of the variation in students’ choice of internet content, it was found that only academic level, religion and socio-economic background of the students made significant contributions to the choice of internet content. Key Words: P ersonal factors, Predictors, Content-specific, Internet