Abstract:
Since its invention, a large portion of millennials now use Facebook as a means of communication. The popularity of Facebook among millennials has grown exponentially, albeit with little accompanying research to understand the motivators towards this engagement by millennials with this technology. The purpose of this study was to establish the uses and gratifications of Facebook among millennials in Kenya, with a focus on students of the United States International University-Africa. The specific objectives were to describe the uses of Facebook among millennials at USIU-A, to identify the underlying motivations for Facebook use among millennials at USIU-A, and to establish the consequences of Facebook use among millennials at USIU-A. The research problem was studied through descriptive research design. The target population was 6,700 students drawn from the four schools in USIU-A, and a sample size of 363 students was drawn using simple random sampling and stratified sampling technique. The collected data was coded and entered into Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) version 24.0. The study found that Facebook is largely used by millennials to connect with their friends, with other people, to upload short articles, videos, photos, and to share information forwarded by friends. The study also found that personal identity, surveillance, social capital/ social interactivity and diversion motivated most users of the Facebook platform. However, Facebook was found to have negatively affected users‘ efficiency in completing class assignments and millennials felt tempted to check their Facebook accounts during class time, which was distractive. The study concluded that uses of Facebook had the greatest effect on Facebook behavioural usage, followed by underlying motivations to use Facebook, while consequences of using Facebook had the least effect on the Facebook behavioural usage among millennials. The study recommends that students should be encouraged to modify their personal time tables, avoid spending too much time on Facebook, and that there should be increased training for students and academic staff on how to use Facebook and the wide range of Internet services/resources available to enhance learning, teaching and research.
