EFFECT OF SOCIAL MEDIA USAGE ON EMPLOYEES COMMITMENT IN BABCOCK UNIVERSITY, ILISHAN, OGUN STATE, NIGERIA

Abstract

In spite of the acknowledged relevance of the use of social media technologies in contemporary world, majority of organisations and institutions do not have adequate policies in place to guide the usage of social media by employees in the workplace, while some that have them lack effective implementation of these policies. Therefore, in response to this lacuna, this study examined the relationship between social media usage and employee commitment in Babcock University with social capital theory and organisational support theory serving as bedrock for the study. The study was descriptive in which a quantitative mode of data collection were engaged. Data was collected through the use of structured questionnaire to Two hundred and sixty (260) respondents which were selected from four divisions of the University. Data collected were analysed using SPSS 20.0 for the questionnaires. Findings from the study revealed that there is a strong, positive and significant relationship between social media usage and employees’ commitment in Babcock University (r =0.917, p>0.05; meaning that social media usage allows for employees’ expression of affective commitment to work at Babcock University. The study concluded that online social networking cannot be stopped in the present day organisation, but it can be managed to yield positive results. Therefore, the study recommended that the management of Babcock University should take advantage of the youthfulness of its employee population by instituting and encouraging work processes models that will effectively deploy social media for productive activities; also, in engendering affective commitment of the employees, the management should strategically utilize social media as a tool for employee engagement in order to enhance workforce productivity facilitated by social media technologies.