Social media usage and adoption of COVID-19 precautionary measures in Nigeria

Abstract

As much as COVID-19 pandemic is real and has claimed a lot of lives as a result, some individuals within the populace still believe that the virus is a farce. To contain the spread, various precautionary measures were recommended by WHO for the masses to prevent contracting the virus. This study therefore set out to investigate social media usage and the adoption or rejection of the measures in Nigeria. the study adopted the Diffusion of Innovation theory as the theoretical framework. Data for the study was gathered from 244 respondents, through a 24-item questionnaire purposively administered online and was analysed using descriptive statistics. Findings revealed that the social media provided detailed information on the pandemic and the laid down precautionary measures. However, many of the respondents think that social media was not so reliable for COVID-19 information because of some misinformation. To some extent, findings revealed that the messages were convincing enough for adoption. It is recommended that health policy makers should harness social media the more for education on health issues and ensure dissemination of accurate information.