User Engagement of Facebook as A Communication Tool by Students of the United States International University- Africa (USIU-A)

Abstract

Facebook as a social media platform has been evolving as an important tool for providing information and is widely being adapted for communication. The purpose and objective of the study was to assess the user engagement of Facebook as an administrative tool used by students and United States International University-Africa (USIU-A) for effective communication. The assessment covered the areas of transparency, access to resources, critical mass tendencies to social media engagement of USIU-A students. Based on the Social Engagement Theory, the assessment focused on (a) how USIU-A students use Facebook platform for engagement, (b) the type of information or contents students post on Facebook to increase user engagement on USIU-A Facebook page. The study used quantitative research to collect, analyze, interpret, and present the results. A questionnaire was administered to a sample of USIU-A students during the period April 2018 and May 2018. The results of the assessment showed a high achievement of objective of the study of assessing user engagement of Facebook as a communication tool by USIU-A students. The further results showed that 70% of the respondents use Facebook by USIU-A, daily/almost daily and weekly basis; 60% of students felt that transparency increased social media engagement of USIU-A students. 61% of the respondents agreed that access to resources increased social media engagement of USIU-A students. Correlation analysis between the four factors investigated were significant at (.000) with a 0.05 p-value. The reliability statistics using Cronbach's Alpha based on standardized items was .908. This study recommends that USIU-A administration promotes user engagement of Facebook as a communication tool to students.