The proliferation of social media in Nigeria has birthed new paradigms of communication and two-way interactions among friends, family colleagues, and business associates. It has equally morphed to become a channel for money generation among enterprising youth across the nation. It cannot be denied that the merits associated with this phenomenon called social media are enviable; however, it is also arguable that cyber security is a key factor to the enjoyment of these attendant benefits. This study is anchored on the protection motivation theory and the technological determinism theory. The study identified some cyber security risks synonymous to the use of social media in Nigeria. To remedy the situation, the study recommends that education and practical training in technological best practices in formal and non-formal school settings will help mitigate the inherent risks discussed. Also, initiatives should be taken by the government and organisations to curb this serious issue.
TopIntroduction
Social media is one out of the platforms provided by the evolution of new media technologies. It is perhaps the most popular and people identify with it owing to its capacity to generate user-defined contents, facilitate two-way communication without the problem of time and boundaries. Social media encompasses all platforms founded of the web 2.0 technology – the technology that expedites the generation and exchange of contents (texts, images, videos, and sounds) by users. It is affirmed that social media hinges on either mobile or web-based technologies to create conversational network/groups where individuals and communities share, comment, discuss and modify user-generated contents (Toivo-Think Tank, 2012) classified social media into six categories, they are:
- •
Social Networks, e.g., Facebook, Google+, Myspace, and LinkedIn
- •
Media Products Community/Content sharing, e.g., YouTube, Flickr, and SlideShare
- •
Blog Services, e.g., Wordpress, Blogger, and Twitter
- •
Information Community/Collaborative communities, e.g., Wikipedia and Wikispaces
- •
Virtual Communities. These are also called Virtual Game Worlds
- •
Link Sharing Services, e.g., Digg and Diigo
Social media exists in the form of smartphone applications and websites and some of the most utilized in Nigeria are Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram, and Telegram. Asides from the ease of communication made possible by the social media, it has also evolved to become marketing channel whereon enterprising Nigerian youths advertise/market their products and services. Thus, the medium is a communication cum marketing platform.
The statistics (2021) estimates that as of January 2021, Nigeria has estimated 33 million social media users. This explains the large number of people who visit social media platforms to link-up with friends and to sustain connections, be it professional or personal reasons. Scholars have argued that as much as social media platforms have provided many opportunities for transformation and advancement of humanity in the society through interactive information exchange, it has also created catalogue of challenges that the society is presently contending with (Agbawe, 2018). Popular among these challenges is the issue of cyber threat, i.e., threats to the safety and security of social media users. These threats can be direct or indirect and they take different forms. Some of the common ones are account cloning, access to private information, hacking, phishing among other things. Social media companies, organizations and individual users are becoming more concerned about how to reduce the risk of unauthorized access and loss of their private information, hence more attention to cyber-security. This discussion will examine social media and its penetration in Nigeria and the cyber breaches common to social media. Two landmark cases of cybercrimes in Nigeria in recent years will be examined, as well as strategies to mitigate against cyber security breaches in a developing nation like Nigeria.
TopResearch Objectives
The underlining aim of the study is to improve the available body of research works related to social media and cyber security in Nigeria. The driving specific objectives are:
- 1.
To review the history of social media in Nigeria
- 2.
To examine cyber breaches common to social media in Nigeria
- 3.
To identify strategies to mitigate against cyber security breaches in Nigeria
TopResearch Methodology
This study adopted the qualitative desk research approach. It critically reviewed secondary data from academic papers and published print materials (online and hardcopy) that are peculiar to the discourse. Eight cases of cyber-related crimes committed by Nigerians were profiled in the study.