Title: Social Media Role in Shaping the Reading Culture of Undergraduate Accounting Students in Nigeria
Authors: Gilbert Ogechukwu Nworie and Ukoro Odah
Volume: 8
Issue: 7
Pages: 363-373
Publication Date: 2024/07/28
Abstract:
Social media platforms tend to be highly engaging and addictive, which can result in students spending excessive amounts of time scrolling through their feeds, which tend to impair not just the frequency of reading academic materials but also the amount of time spent reading. In view of the above, the study investigated the influence of addictive social media usage on the frequency of reading and the time spent reading among undergraduate accounting students in Nigerian universities. A cross-sectional survey research design was employed, targeting a sample of 228 students. Data were collected using questionnaires. Spearman Rank Order Correlation was applied to examine the relationship between social media use and reading culture. The findings revealed that social media use significantly and negatively affects bot the frequency of reading (p-value = .000) and the time spent reading (p-value = .000) among undergraduate accounting students in Nigerian universities. The study is limited to undergraduate accounting students in universities in Nigeria, making its findings non-generalizable to other groups like postgraduate students or those in private universities. The research highlights that students who devote more time to social media tend to read less frequently and for shorter durations. The study recommends that students set specific reading goals and allocate dedicated time for reading to foster a consistent reading habit.