2022-Special Issue (Volume 8, Number 1)

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    Analysis of Ethical Concerns in Social Media use among Youth in Nigeria
    (Journal of Communications, Media & Society, 2022-12) Epepe, Umefien Dakoru
    This study sought to analyse ethical concerns in social media use among the youth in Nigeria. The theoretical framework adopted is the Source Credibility Theory. The study employed Critical Discourse Analysis. The population of the study consisted of the top four (4) social networking sites in Nigeria. Out of these, Twitter was purposively selected for its widespread use for youth activism, particularly within the context of the #EndSARS protest; and for being the only social media platform the federal government had temporarily banned for ethical violations. A convenient sample of ten (10) tweets, which included retweets with text and images posted both during and within 18 months after the protest, was used to collect secondary data. Findings demonstrated a mix of ethical and unethical use of Twitter within the context of the protest. The result also revealed that although Twitter is a credible source of information, there were instances of anonymous tweets, which cast some doubts on the credibility of that specific source. The study recommends that beyond social media regulations, there is a need for the promotion of media literacy in Nigeria’s workplaces and educational system. In addition, the form of self-regulation inherent in African ethics should be applied by users of social media to facilitate harmonious communication. This study has made a modest contribution in the area of source credibility theory by proposing a conceptual framework within the context of the study.
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    Exploring MIL Opportunities in Senior High Schools in Ghana: Perspectives from Teachers and Students
    (Journal of Communications, Media & Society, 2022-12) Dzandza Ocloo, Patience Emefa; Ayisi, Aurelia; Oye, Annie
    As young people increasingly conduct both academic and personal activities online, curriculum and extra-curriculum content in the school system are evolving to address their media and information literacy (MIL) needs to position them to become responsible creators and consumers of online content. While this trend is common to the economically advanced world, the same cannot always be said for less-endowed countries. The aim of this study is to explore opportunities available in the senior high school system in Ghana for MIL content infusion. Using in-depth interviews with a purposive sample of supply (school heads, teachers and librarians) and demand side elements (students), the study attempts proposals for interventions in schools and extends the growing MIL scholarship with practical guides for increasing the MIL skills of young people in developing countries.
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    Introduction to the Special Issue: Africa’s Digital Youth and Media and Information Literacy Competencies and Practices
    (Journal of Communications, Media & Society, 2022-12) Kwami, Janet; Yeboah-Banin, Abena A.
    Across Africa, young people are living digital lives that manifest in their growing uptake of digital resources and media for daily routines. Africa’s media landscape is changing rapidly and has been characterized by increased media access among the youth (Silver & Johnson, 2018; Commey, 2020; Boulianne & Theocharis, 2020). The re-democratization and media liberalization wave of the 1990s expanded media availability significantly, bringing particularly radio and TV close to young people. But perhaps the biggest catalyst to the growth in access to, and use of media among young people across the continent has been the significant expansion in internet access and its affordance of access to new media.
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    The Relationship Between Media Literacy and Ethical Usage of Social Media among the Youth in Ghana
    (Journal of Communications, Media & Society, 2022-12) Dadzie, Ramatu Mustapha; Adjotor, Franklin Nkudefe
    The surge in social media platforms has made everyone a creator of content on the online space for both the young and old. This follows the amazingly powerful tools that aid in the discovering, editing and sharing content without the checks and control mechanisms ascribed to the traditional media. Yet, alongside this development and opportunities in the technology has come a rise in inappropriate use of social media. This has become a major social and ethical concern. This paper examines the relationship between social media competence and the ethical usage of social media by the youth. Findings reveal that media literacy skills among the youth in Ghana is generally high but does not correspond to ethical social media use behaviour.
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    Youth and Media Consumption in the Covid-19 Era in Mauritius
    (Journal of Communications, Media & Society, 2022-12) Chenganna, Azhagan
    News diffused across media platforms increasingly form part of youth media consumption. The attention of the youth is continually solicited online and incidental news is constitutive of their everyday practice. In a notable way, Covid-19 and its restrictions have induced the youth to organize their lives digitally in an environment of news abundance. Beyond rational usage which often molds understanding of news and media consumption, this paper asks ‘can an ‘affective turn’ provide insight into youth incidental news media consumption during the Covid-19 pandemic?’ Through the notion of liminality, the paper questions incidental news and media consumption by the youth and the extent to which these are tied to their lived experiences. It delves into the habits of media consumption generally, with a focus on incidental news consumption in the participatory cultures of social media and considers the need to grasp youth media use and consumption as a social experience that is liminal. Through interviews with final year Mauritian secondary school students, this paper argues that the experiences of incidental news and media consumption encompass experiences which are affectively loaded and which evolve around passive and active engagements. It emphasizes the role of the platforms as gateways and gatekeepers. Through a decolonial lens, it makes the case for dialogic perspectives to offset the challenges posed by the platforms.