Social Media Use for Water Conservation Education in South Africa: Perceptions of Raymond Mhlaba Local Municipality’s Residents

2019 ◽  
Vol 55 (3) ◽  
pp. 351-369 ◽  
Author(s):  
Charity Hove ◽  
Oluyinka O Osunkunle
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Social Media ◽  
Water Conservation ◽  
Conservation Education ◽  
Conservation Practices ◽  
Quantitative Methodology ◽  
Media Usage ◽  
Persuasive Strategies ◽  
Social Media Platforms ◽  
Use Of Social Media

Water scarcity is increasing in South Africa and communities need to be educated about water conservation practices. This article investigated the perceptions of Raymond Mhlaba Local Municipality’s residents concerning the use of social media for water conservation education in their community. Through a quantitative methodology, a sample of 383 respondents answered a questionnaire and the main findings were that 75 per cent of respondents did not know about the municipality’s social media platforms. This article recommends that the municipality creates awareness about its social media platforms, increases social media usage and employs persuasive strategies for participation.

Participatory water conservation education on social media in Amathole District local municipalities, Eastern Cape, South Africa

2019 ◽  
Vol 36 (2) ◽  
pp. 181-192 ◽  
Author(s):  
Charity Hove ◽  
Oluyinka Oludolapo Osunkunle
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Social Media ◽  
Water Conservation ◽  
Qualitative Content Analysis ◽  
Conservation Education ◽  
Eastern Cape ◽  
Risk Zone ◽  
Local Municipalities ◽  
Social Media Platforms ◽  
The Government

Social media has been attributed as beneficial by aiding fast and reliable communication which cuts across time and geographical boundaries. In South Africa, reports indicate that most people have access to social media. Such attributes can be harnessed by municipalities to educate about water conservation, especially considering the drought and water crisis that was experienced in Eastern Cape, South Africa. This paper focused on local municipalities in Amathole District in the Eastern Cape Province, which was declared a high risk zone due to the drought that prevailed in 2016 till 2017. The Government to Citizen Model (G2C) was used as a theoretical framework which supports participation. Purposive sampling was used, with water messages being prioritised. Qualitative content analysis was used to analyse content on the local municipalities’ social media platforms. The researchers found that local municipalities in Amathole District, excluding the district municipality, were not using social media platforms for participatory water conservation education.

scholarly journals The Use of Social Media in Public Relations at Non-Governmental Organisations in South Africa

2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (6(J)) ◽  
pp. 150-161
Author(s):  
G. Nchabeleng ◽  
CJ. Botha ◽  
CA Bisschoff
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Social Media ◽  
Public Relations ◽  
Social Networking ◽  
Social Networking Sites ◽  
Instant Messaging ◽  
Public Relations Practitioners ◽  
Social Media Platforms ◽  
Use Of Social Media ◽  
The Way

Social media can be a useful tool in public relations in non-governmental organisations (NGOs), but do NGOs make use of social media in their quest for service delivery in South Africa? Social networking sites, blogging, email, instant messaging, and online journals are some of the technological changes that changed the way interaction between people and how they gather information. Although social media is mainly used for interactive dialogue and social interaction, the private sector soon realised that the web-based technologies (especially Facebook and Twitter) could also be a competitive business tool. Non-governmental organisations (NGOs) soon followed suit however at a slower pace than the general communication growth rate of social media in South Africa. This article examines if social networking sites have any impact on public relations practices of NGOs in South Africa – an environment where both customers and employees still struggle to take full advantage of social media. The critical literature findings increase the understanding of the current and future challenges of social media use in public relations at NGOs in South Africa. The study explores the main differences between traditional and social media, how social media is redefining public relations role, and shed some light on defining public relations practices, identify the uses, limitations and benefits of social media by public relations practitioners in NGOs. Recommendations for future communication research are given. Based on the literature, a qualitative research design collected data using semi-structured, individual interviews. The results revealed that social media platforms such as Facebook do have an effect, and even changed the way in which NGOs communicate. The study also revealed that social media certainly has an impact on public relations relationships. This means that it has become crucial that public relations practitioners at NOGs embrace and take advantage of social media, and that they should also invest in proper electronic platforms to reap the benefits of improved communication internally and externally.

scholarly journals Social Media Usage and Development of Psychiatric Disorders in Childhood and Adolescence: A Review

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ilaria Cataldo ◽  
Bruno Lepri ◽  
Michelle Jin Yee Neoh ◽  
Gianluca Esposito
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Social Life ◽  
Developmental Stages ◽  
Clinical Work ◽  
Childhood And Adolescence ◽  
Media Usage ◽  
Social Media Platforms ◽  
Use Of Social Media ◽  
Multidisciplinary Perspective ◽  
The Impact

Social media platforms, such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, are now part of almost everyone's social life, especially for the newer generations. Children and teenagers grew up together with these Internet-based services, which have become an integral part of their personal and social life. However, as reported in various studies, psychological and psychiatric problems are sometimes associated with problematic usage of social media. The primary purpose of this review is to provide an overview of the cognitive, psychological, and social outcomes correlated with a problematic use of social media sites during the developmental stages, from age 10 to 19 years. With a specific focus on depression, anxiety, eating, and neurodevelopmental disorders, the review also discusses evidence related to genetic and neurobiological issues, together with the implications in clinical work and future directions under a multidisciplinary perspective. While the scientific community has made significant progress in enhancing our understanding of the impact of social media on teenagers' lives, more research integrating biological and environmental factors is required to fully elucidate the development of these disorders.

The Use of Social Media as a Marketing Tool by Tourist Attractions: Influence on Cognitive, Affective and Behavioural Consumer Attitudes

2021 ◽  
pp. 742-758
Author(s):  
Bongiwe Nzeku ◽  
Rodney Graeme Duffett
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Cape Town ◽  
Tourist Attractions ◽  
Media Usage ◽  
Positive Attitudes ◽  
Aerial Cable ◽  
Social Media Platforms ◽  
Marketing Tool ◽  
Use Of Social Media ◽  
Hierarchy Of Effects

Social media has an enormous influence on the manner in which people look for and distribute data, and select a tourist destination. Hence, research was undertaken to ascertain the role of social media as a communication and marketing tool for Cape Town tourist attractions (Cape Point, Groot Constantia Wine Estate, V&A Waterfront, Table Mountain Aerial Cable Way and Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens) via the analysis of tourists’ cognitive, affective and behavioural attitudinal responses. The results revealed that tourists displayed positive cognitive/affective and affective/behavioural attitude associations towards social media usage by the Cape Town tourist attractions. Several demographic and usage characteristics resulted in significant positive attitudes regarding Cape Town tourist attraction social media sites, viz. South African and African tourists; mobile device access; new social media users; daily log-ons; Black, Indian and Coloured tourists; and tourists who used the local Rand currency. The findings could be used by Cape Town tourist attractions to improve their social media platforms, and thereby the effectiveness as a marketing tool. The study makes an original contribution since few tourism-related studies investigated the hierarchy of effects model in terms of social media and most previous research only considered usage and demographic characteristics as descriptive measures.

scholarly journals Affective polarization in the digital age: Testing the direction of the relationship between social media and users’ feelings for out-group parties

2021 ◽  
pp. 146144482110443
Author(s):  
Maria Nordbrandt
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Panel Data ◽  
Media Use ◽  
Digital Age ◽  
Social Media Use ◽  
Media Usage ◽  
Previous Level ◽  
Social Media Platforms ◽  
Use Of Social Media ◽  
The Relationship

There is considerable disagreement among scholars as to whether social media fuels polarization in society. However, a few have considered the possibility that polarization may instead affect social media usage. To address this gap, the study uses Dutch panel data to test directionality in the relationship between social media use and affective polarization. No support was found for the hypothesis that social media use contributed to the level of affective polarization. Instead, the results lend support to the hypothesis that it was the level of affective polarization that affected subsequent use of social media. The results furthermore reveal heterogeneous patterns among individuals, depending on their previous level of social media usage, and across different social media platforms. The study gives reason to call into question the predominating assumption in previous research that social media is a major driver of polarization in society.

scholarly journals A cross-sectional survey of Social Media Anxiety among students of University of Nigeria

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Deborah O. Aluh ◽  
Thelma Chukwuobasi ◽  
Adaobi U. Mosanya
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Social Anxiety ◽  
University Students ◽  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Statistical Significance ◽  
Cross Sectional Survey ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Media Usage ◽  
Social Media Platforms ◽  
Use Of Social Media

AbstractBackgroundSocial anxiety is one of the most prevalent and disabling anxiety disorders with lifetime prevalence rates ranging from 2 to 16% s in different populations. Considering the rising use of social media among university students, it is necessary to assess their social anxiety as a result of the use of social media platforms since social anxiety can affect social interaction in social mediaMethodsThe current study employed a cross-sectional descriptive approach and was carried out among undergraduate students of University of Nigeria, Nsukka. The Social Anxiety Scale for Social Media Users (SAS-SMU) which is a data collection tool to assess levels of social anxiety experienced by university students while using social media platforms was used in the current study. Data were analyzed with IBM Statistical Products and Service Solutions (SPSS) for Windows, Version 20.0.ResultsA total of 228 out of the 380 questionnaires distributed were filled and returned (60% response rate). Social media usage was highest for WhatsApp (4.4±0.902) and Facebook (3.3±1.055). Social media anxiety was higher in females (69.00±12.59) than males (68.42±12.06) although this difference did not reach statistical significance (t = −0.356, p = 0.864). Social media usage was higher in females (35.02±5.04) than males (34.58±6.01) but the difference did not reach statistical significance (t = −0.603, p = 0.314). There was a non-significant negative association between Social media usage and social media anxiety (r = –0.051, p = 0.4450). More than half of the students (55.7%, n = 127) had social media anxiety.ConclusionIn conclusion, there was a negative non-significant correlation between social media usage and social anxiety. Investigations regarding social anxiety in social media are scarce from low and middle income countries and this is the first from an African country.

scholarly journals The Use of Social Media in Public Relations at Non-Governmental Organisations in South Africa

2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (6) ◽  
pp. 150
Author(s):  
G. Nchabeleng ◽  
CJ. Botha ◽  
CA Bisschoff
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Social Media ◽  
Public Relations ◽  
Social Networking ◽  
Social Networking Sites ◽  
Instant Messaging ◽  
Public Relations Practitioners ◽  
Social Media Platforms ◽  
Use Of Social Media ◽  
The Way

Social media can be a useful tool in public relations in non-governmental organisations (NGOs), but do NGOs make use of social media in their quest for service delivery in South Africa? Social networking sites, blogging, email, instant messaging, and online journals are some of the technological changes that changed the way interaction between people and how they gather information. Although social media is mainly used for interactive dialogue and social interaction, the private sector soon realised that the web-based technologies (especially Facebook and Twitter) could also be a competitive business tool. Non-governmental organisations (NGOs) soon followed suit however at a slower pace than the general communication growth rate of social media in South Africa. This article examines if social networking sites have any impact on public relations practices of NGOs in South Africa – an environment where both customers and employees still struggle to take full advantage of social media. The critical literature findings increase the understanding of the current and future challenges of social media use in public relations at NGOs in South Africa. The study explores the main differences between traditional and social media, how social media is redefining public relations role, and shed some light on defining public relations practices, identify the uses, limitations and benefits of social media by public relations practitioners in NGOs. Recommendations for future communication research are given. Based on the literature, a qualitative research design collected data using semi-structured, individual interviews. The results revealed that social media platforms such as Facebook do have an effect, and even changed the way in which NGOs communicate. The study also revealed that social media certainly has an impact on public relations relationships. This means that it has become crucial that public relations practitioners at NOGs embrace and take advantage of social media, and that they should also invest in proper electronic platforms to reap the benefits of improved communication internally and externally.

scholarly journals Social Media Usage in e-Government: Evidence from Suriname

2017 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 75 ◽  
Author(s):  
Muhammad Firdaus Samijadi
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Implementation Strategies ◽  
Successful Implementation ◽  
Online Participation ◽  
Media Usage ◽  
The Social ◽  
Social Media Platforms ◽  
The Government ◽  
Use Of Social Media

Social Media has made its’ way of playing an important role in e-Government implementation strategies. Many governments include social media as a tool to approach and engage its’ citizens, to increase transparency, trust and online participation. Although social media is not yet fully understood by governments on how to effectively utilize social media as a tool to be beneficial to the government and the general public. This research focuses on the Social Media activity of the Government Departments of Suriname. With around 1.9 billion active users, Facebook is one of the largest social media platforms in the world. This study furthers analyzes how active social media accounts are being used by the departments and how online users respond to departmental online activities. In order to achieve the goal of this paper, the 14 social media accounts of Suriname government departments will be taken as a case study. Several accounts indicate that government to citizen engagement show much potential for citizens’ active online participation. While the use of social media in e-Government initiatives is a feasible approach to successful implementation, there are still some improvement governments should take into consideration to increase online participation and fulfilling the needs of their citizens.

scholarly journals Social media in knowledge translation and education for physicians and trainees: a scoping review

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 20-30 ◽  
Author(s):  
Teresa M. Chan ◽  
Kristina Dzara ◽  
Sara Paradise Dimeo ◽  
Anuja Bhalerao ◽  
Lauren A. Maggio
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Knowledge Translation ◽  
Scoping Review ◽  
Steady Increase ◽  
Clinical Environment ◽  
Or Education ◽  
Media Usage ◽  
Transient Nature ◽  
Social Media Platforms ◽  
Use Of Social Media

Abstract Introduction The use of social media is rapidly changing how educational content is delivered and knowledge is translated for physicians and trainees. This scoping review aims to aggregate and report trends on how health professions educators harness the power of social media to engage physicians for the purposes of knowledge translation and education. Methods A scoping review was conducted by searching four databases (PubMed, Scopus, Embase, and ERIC) for publications emerging between 1990 to March 2018. Articles about social media usage for teaching physicians or their trainees for the purposes of knowledge translation or education were included. Relevant themes and trends were extracted and mapped for visualization and reporting, primarily using the Cook, Bordage, and Schmidt framework for types of educational studies (Description, Justification, and Clarification). Results There has been a steady increase in knowledge translation and education-related social media literature amongst physicians and their trainees since 1996. Prominent platforms include Twitter (n = 157), blogs (n = 104), Facebook (n = 103), and podcasts (n = 72). Dominant types of scholarship tended to be descriptive studies and innovation reports. Themes related to practice improvement, descriptions of the types of technology, and evidence-based practice were prominently featured. Conclusions Social media is ubiquitously used for knowledge translation and education targeting physicians and physician trainees. Some best practices have emerged despite the transient nature of various social media platforms. Researchers and educators may engage with physicians and their trainees using these platforms to increase uptake of new knowledge and affect change in the clinical environment.

scholarly journals Gender Differences in the Use of Social Media: Australian Postgraduate Students’ Evidence

2020 ◽  
Vol 3 (12) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ashkan Mirzay Fashami ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Professional Life ◽  
Personal Life ◽  
Male And Female ◽  
Personal Lives ◽  
Postgraduate Students ◽  
Media Usage ◽  
University Of Technology ◽  
Social Media Platforms ◽  
Use Of Social Media

This study investigates the differences between male and female usage of social media in Australia. The sample consists of ten postgraduate students at the Queensland University of Technology who use social media platforms, including six males and four females.Nine themes and 41 codes are identified. This study analyses five major themes, namely, personal life, professional life, sharing, leaders or followers, and competition. Six participants consider themselves as either leaders or followers in their social media usage, making this theme the most acknowledged theme. However, three participants use social media for their personal lives, and social media challenge three participants. Therefore, personal life and competition are the least important cause of social media usage. This study contributes by shedding some light on social media usage among postgraduate students. It helps universities to choose among different social media platforms for their educational purposes for their postgraduate students.

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