THE INFLUENCE OF SOCIAL MEDIA ON INFORMATION CREDIBILITY ON TOP-DOWN COMMUNICATION

Abstract

ABSTRACT Communication is the engine that drives all the social systems we know of.Without proper communication,systems may crumble.The study focuses on how credibility of information can be affected by use of social media.The type of communication in our study is top-down communication.Social media is a new phenomenon in the country and there has not been effective training of how to handle it as a tool.In organizations,improper use of social media will cause an effect to credibility on the information.We used source and medium credibility theories to investigate the effect of social media on information credibility.Our study was based in Maasai Mara University with a population of 150 where a sample of 50 students were chosen to represent the population.Results were tabulated and presented in tables and histograms.It was found out that there is a relation between social media use and information credibility.Use of social media reduces credibility.Recommendations were given by the researcher that the university should put checks and balances on social media use would increase credibility of social media as a tool.A call for further study was given on the issue of social media and information credibility