The effects of facebook on students interpersonal Communication behavior: a case of maasai mara university; Narok

Abstract

The introduction of social networks, such as Facebook, has created a new and technologically savvy way of communicating with a broad global audience. With the dominant users of this medium being of the youth, online communication skills may not transfer to real-world situations, namely the universities. The use of social networking sites and other mobile applications have been growing intensively, not to mention, several researches indicated that it is one of the factors that impact the relationship maintenance between one another. It is highly desirable for all students to have a good interpersonal communication to maintain and develop further relationships. Bad communication skills may have harmed the interpersonal relationships. On the other hand, when talking about social networking sites like Facebook and what it does to the society, people instantly thought of a smaller world or a communication platform with no boundaries. This paper is aimed at filling the gaps and limitations of previous researches, with qualitative approach by interviews and observations of Maasai Mara University users along with their interpersonal communication skills. Qualitative method was chosen to gain understandings of the underlying reasons and motivations of the users which provide explanations that quantitative method could not do. The interviews will be conducted in both one on one and small focused group, consisting of a hundred participants in total. Results will be that Facebook have both positive and negative sides to the users, while it virtually brings people together but in also drift away their loved ones in reality. There would be certain thoughts and feeling they choose to express on Facebook and texts but face to face is still needed for serious and personal conversations. It is undeniable that Facebook has been with human beings for almost a decade that users have almost forgotten their lives without it. Sometimes, to turn off is to connect with others in order to build strong interpersonal relationships. Due to the globalization of various organizations, greater emphasis and demands are beingplaced on interpersonal competencies. Current research indicates that there is a relationship between the use of social networking sites (SNSs) and various personality and social factors.This article investigates the use of Facebook, and its effects on student’s interpersonal skills.