Suchergebnisse

Abstract
The technological advancement and political situations have dramatically impacted the way traditional and new media have played their role in society, especially in the political development of the country. Studying media use and credibility have been a major concern among scholars to understand audience perceptions and attitudes towards the media and their role in politics. This study investigated the level of media use and credibility among voters and their perception of political efficacy. Drawing on a nationwide quota sampling of 2030 respondents, the findings found voter perception on the media as credible, with the highest trust being on television, followed by newspapers and radio. Internet was found to be the least credible. A factor analysis performed on the political efficacy items extracted three dimensions: Voter Efficacy, Internal Efficacy and External Efficacy. The results of hierarchical regression suggested that traditional and new media use as well as media trust dimensions were significantly correlated with political efficacy but different media use and credibility contributed differently to the various efficacy dimensions. Implications and recommendations are further discussed.

The emergence of new media technologies has redefined how people, particularly
the youth, are exposed to the news. Social networking sites (SNS), in particular,
have widely changed the manner in which news is consumed. SNS platforms have
emerged as news sources where people engage in several activities such as
sharing, commenting and discussing news with peers, acquaintances and family
members. Thus, drawing on the extended version of the motivational model, this
study attempts to determine contributing factors. Using a stratified random
sampling procedure, this study compiles a sample from leading higher education
institutions in a Sub-Saharan African country. The data are then analysed using a
structural equation modelling technique with SmartPLS software and the both the
validity and reliability indexes are reported. The findings suggest that students'
attitude towards news consumption (ATT) via SNS platforms is influenced directly
by perceived usefulness (PU), perceived enjoyment (PE) and subjective norms (SN)
and indirectly by PE and SN factors. In addition, PU and PE are positively predicted
by SN. Furthermore, ATT directly predicts SNS news consumption (SNC), while PU, PE
and SN indirectly contribute to SNC.

This study examines the influence of social media content preferences on political participation in Nigeria's relatively nascent democracy. Due to mixed conclusions on the influence of news and entertainment preferences on political participation, we sampled 434 youths aged 18-35 in a Nigerian northern state, to investigate the differential influence of diverse social media content consumption on political participation. Incorporating the moderating and mediating influences of political efficacy and incidental news exposure, findings confirm that news and entertainment preferences are positive, significant predictors of political participation among respondents. While political efficacy moderated the influence of news preference on political participation, incidental news exposure did not mediate the influence of entertainment preference on political participation. We recommend further investigation into the influence of content preferences on political participation among Nigerian youths who constitute considerable members of the nation's electorate.