The use of social media for knowledge exchange in the era of misinformation by the Tanzania Higher Education students

Abstract

Rationale of Study – This paper investigates how Tanzanian Higher Education students utilise social media to share knowledge in the era of misinformation. The study specifically examined whether the chosen higher education institutions (HEI) provide training to help students become skilled information users capable of determining the reliability of the information.

Methodology – This study used mixed-methods research and adopted a convergent research design. Parallel mixed-methods sampling was used to select 239 postgraduate students from four selected higher education institutions in northern Tanzania out of 633 postgraduate students. An online survey was used to collect data from postgraduate students, while interviews were conducted with eight heads of academic departments of the selected HEIs.

Findings – The findings revealed that the HEIs selected for the study provide students with training on information use, copyright issues, avoiding plagiarism, and social media use and its associated risks. Findings further show that training was not regularly conducted. Findings further demonstrate that policies on social media use had been included in other institutional policies and procedures, such as ICT policies, student guidebooks, and internet use policies; however, only some of the selected HEIs had a stand-alone policy on social media usage.

Implications – It is recommended that HEIs in Tanzania formulate policies and guidelines to guide the proper usage of social media. Training should be offered to capacitate students on the proper uses of social media.

Originality – This is part of the broader PhD study submitted at the University of South Africa (UNISA).