Examination Of The Role Of Twitter On Covid-19 Information Dissemination To The Populace

Examination Of The Role Of Twitter On Covid-19 Information Dissemination To The Populace

Chapter One

Preface

Background Of Study

The Coronavirus( Covid- 19) is an contagious complaint causes respiratory infections ranging from the common cold wave to more severe respiratory difficulties. It began from the Hunan seafood request at Wuhan, China where live batons, snakes, raccoon tykes , wild creatures among others were vended in December 2019( Shereen etal., 2020,pp. 91 – 98) and was declared a epidemic by the World Health Organization on 11 March 2020( WHO, 2020). Since its identification, the contagion is said to have reckoned for about 512,311 deaths encyclopedically out of a swooping statistic of positive cases which sorely increases exponentially diurnal( WHO, 2020). The first victim of the contagion in Nigeria was an Italian man who arrived in the country on the 25 February 2020. He was admitted to an insulation Centre in Yaba Lagos after showing symptoms of the contagion( NCDC 2020). latterly, the cases increased.

As the world finds itself in the middle of the COVID- 19 epidemic, social media has come submersed with content associated with the contagion( Hieken 2020). Although all social media platforms(e.g., Facebook, Instagram, blogs) were furnishing propagating information about the Covid- 19 and medical content, maybe no other social media constantly played a more prominent part as at that period than Twitter( Hieken 2020).

Twitter is a microblogging and social networking service where druggies post dispatches using “ tweets ” that are limited to 240 characters. Twitter still promotes commerce and public participation over colorful issues of mortal enterprises. thus, the unchecked interactive nature of Twitter has given vast openings to the public to engage in relations and dispersion of information over several issues( Micheal 2002). For well over a decade, Twitter has come decreasingly used as a platform where individualities change ideas, information, and commentary. The hashtag#FOAMed garners thousands of tweets per hour, and at this momentous period in medical history, no subject is more prominent than COVID- 19. With the free- inflow of dispatches, and information about the world’s drastic measures towards Covid- 19. Hence this delved is geared towards assessing the part of Twitter on Covid- 19 Information Dissemination to the Populace.

Statement Of Problem

In the Nigerian environment, Twitter among other social media is a means of keeping up with circumstances each over the globe and is used to exfoliate light as regards the Nigerian situation. The penetration of Twitter is relatively expansive in Nigeria particularly since the arrival of cheap android smartphones telephony. What’s worrisome is how to sieve authentic information from an avalanche of half- trueness and false information available on Twitter networks.

The Covid- 19 and the lockdown programs introduced by the government made people to be solely dependent on the media, therefore the influence the Twitter had during this period on information dispersion haven’t been attained in any other epidemic. thus it’s upon this note that this study is carried out.

Purpose Of The Study

The study is concentrated on examining the part of Twitter on Covid- 19 Information dispersion to the Populace from Nigeria Perspective. To achieve this, the following objects have been counterplotted out;

To establish whether Twitter played a major part on dispersion of information about the covid- 19 epidemic in Nigeria.

To find out the extent to which the use of Twitter handed information about the covid- 19 epidemic in Nigeria.

To ascertain the extent of genuinity of information circulated in Twitter during the period of Covid- 19.

exploration thesis

Twitter didn’t play any significant part on covid- 19 information dispersion in Nigeria.

Significance Of The Study

This study on the part of Twitter on Covid- 19 information dispersion to the crowd will in no mistrustfulness serve as a applicable material to all individualities, associations and the Governments as it reveals the power of social media in getting information across nations of the world and can be used as a tool to promote and circulate business or no business ideas. This study will also help other experimenters who may for one reason or the other carryout exploration on motifs related the one under study.

Compass Of The Study

This study is only concentrated on the part of Twitter on Covid- 19 information dispersion to the crowd. Hence this study covers Twitter druggies in Dutse, Federal Capital Territory- Abuja.

Limitation Of The Study

Like all mortal endeavours, this exploration work wasn’t without some factors that tended to peril the smooth completion of the study.

One of the factors is on the fact that the period of time allowed for this work was short that the experimenter didn’t have enough time to do a thorough job.

Also the experimenter in the course of data collection, had to put in redundant trouble to interpreting interviews schedule of the repliers, some who fall within the in scrutable age limit.

Above all, there were fiscal and conveyance constraints.

Description Of Terms

Social Media Social media is a computer- grounded technology that facilitates the sharing of ideas, studies, and information through the structure of virtual networks and communities.

Twitter Twitter is a’ microblogging’ system that allows you to shoot and admit short posts called tweets. Tweets can be over to 140 characters long and can include links to applicable websites and coffers.

Dispersion This is the act or process of propagating- distributing, spreading, broadcasting, or dispersing extensively. The word is especially used in reference to the distribution of information, or effects that contain information, like lines and documents.

Covid- 19 COVID 19 coronavirus is an illness caused by a new contagion that’s spreading fleetly across the world. It can affect your breathing system – your lungs and airways. It can be spread from person to person through origins that end up on the hands and on shells when infected persons are coughing or sneezing