The Ethics of Social Media Use Among Nigerian Youth: A Case Study of University Students in Lagos

This study examines the ethical dimensions of social media use among Nigerian university students in Lagos, located in Nigeria's South West geopolitical zone, applying philosophical frameworks of virtue ethics, consequentialism, and deontological duty to assess the moral quality of prevalent social media behaviours. Social media platforms have created new ethical terrains involving questions of honesty, privacy, digital identity, and the social responsibilities of content creators, yet systematic philosophical analysis of these questions in the Nigerian youth context is absent. Using a descriptive survey and philosophical analysis design, the study administered questionnaires to 250 undergraduate students across three universities in Lagos, supplemented by secondary philosophical literature on digital ethics published between 2020 and 2024. The study applies Aristotelian virtue ethics to examine whether habitual social media practices foster or erode moral character, and Kantian duties of truth-telling to evaluate the widespread sharing of unverified information. Findings reveal that a majority of respondents engage in social media behaviours, including identity misrepresentation, cyberbullying, and misinformation sharing, that fail multiple philosophical ethical tests. The study argues that digital platforms intensify existing moral challenges by providing anonymity and removing communal accountability structures. Recommendations include the introduction of digital ethics education as a general studies requirement in Nigerian universities. Keywords: social media ethics, Nigerian youth, virtue ethics, digital ethics, university students.