THE PERCEPTION OF CALEB UNIVERSITY STUDENTS ON THE SOCIAL MEDIA COVERAGE OF COVID – 19 PANDEMIC

The study examines the role of SOCIAL MEDIA COVERAGE in shaping PERCEPTION of COVID-19 PANDEMIC in Nigeria, using Caleb University students as a case study. Health Information and Adaptation are both two factors that must be looked at critically in any Pandemic Situation. During the COVID-19 outbreak in Nigeria, Series of information were spread to students both positively and negatively through social media, Which lead to different views and thoughts on what COVID-19 was about, how its spread and prevented, some misinformation and disinformation were also created which gave students different beliefs on what the virus is. Covid-19 arrived at a time no one expected and caused a change to the lifestyle of students Social Media remains one of the biggest of information source students rely on due to the convinency, speed ,comfort, And how far it reaches a lot of people. Social Media is a means to exact behavioral change and this is critical to addressing among others.
The research question for this work are; What perception does Caleb University students have on Covid-19 pandemic based on their exposure to social media (Twitter)? To what extent has the information from Twitter influence the views and opinion of Caleb University students towards the Covid-19 pandemic? Have the use of Twitter as a platform for information dissemination been able to change and shape the perceptions of Caleb
university students on the Covid-19 pandemic? Survey research method was adopted using a well-structured questionnaire to source for ]responses from selected Caleb university students.