Affordances of Social Media among Young Adults in Selected Universities in Kenya

Abstract

The study assessed the affordances of social media use among young adults in selected universities in Kenya. The study utilized a qualitative approach to generate and analyze data. Twenty-two in-depth interviews and two focus group discussions were conducted among university students purposively picked from seven universities in Uasin Gishu County. The universities were conveniently selected. The interviews and focus group discussions were recorded, then transcribed and analyzed thematically. Blogging has become a source of employment for a lot of youth, all they need to do is look for a trending topic write about it and wait for comments and likes that way increasing traffic on their platforms and get paid. Learning opportunities such as cooking can also be learnt online thanks to Facebook for has made the world a global village, you can engage people from far without spending money for travel, and you can make friends overseas in a place you may never visit. You can form a group of special interest and discuss your issues regardless of participants’ location. Users can interact at an affordable rate compared to face to face. Affordance of FB interactions includes its innovative features, memory and storage capabilities and entertainment features. FB is supporting interactions by acting a reliable storage and reminder. FB reminds users of special events in their lives these events are tagged to friends across networks and celebrated online. This unique innovation helped maintain relationships and adds value when people use then well. This study recommends a reconceptualization of the understanding of interactions and relationship formation in the light of contemporary trends in social network sites. Institutions and families be sensitized on the need to engage young people with a view of enhancing the importance of face-to-face communication which cannot be replaced by online interactions.