Impact of Twitter and Instagram technology utilization on reading habits of undergraduate students in federal universities in South-South, Nigeria

Abstract

The study investigated the influence of Twitter and Instagram Technology Utilization and Reading Habits of Undergraduate Students in Federal Universities in South-South Nigeria. Two research questions and two hypotheses were formulated to guide the study. Literature review was carried out in line with the sub-variables of the study. Survey research design was used for the study. The study sampled 1,315 students out of 6,575 which is 20 percent of the total population of the students registered in 2021/2022 academic year in the area of study. The instrument used for data collection was a questionnaire titled; Impact of Twitter and Instagram Technology Utilization on Reading Habits of Undergraduate Students questionnaire [ITTURHUSQ]. The questionnaire was validated by experts in Measurements and Evaluation from the department of Educational Foundations, University of Calabar, Calabar. The reliability of the instrument was determined using Cronbach Coefficient Alpha Reliability and the variables have an index of .71 and above. One-way analysis of variance statistics was used to analyse the data. Each of the hypotheses was tested at .05 level of significance. The result showed that there was a significance influence of twitter usage and instagram usage on reading habits of undergraduate students in Federal universities in South-south Nigeria. The study concludes that Twitter and Instagram have a significant influence on the students' study habits. Hence, recommended among others that authorities in tertiary institutions should establish rules and regulations that will limit students excessive used of twitter and instagram during school hours.