Social Media Use and Political Awareness Among Undergraduate Students at the University of Ibadan

The proliferation of social media platforms has fundamentally altered the information landscape for young Nigerians, making digital networks a primary source of political knowledge for university students. This study examined the relationship between social media use and levels of political awareness among undergraduate students at the University of Ibadan, Oyo State, South West Nigeria. A descriptive survey design was adopted, with a structured questionnaire administered to 320 students selected through stratified random sampling across eight faculties. The questionnaire assessed frequency of social media use, preferred platforms, types of political content consumed, and political awareness levels measured through a validated 20-item political knowledge inventory. Results indicated that 89.1 percent of respondents used social media for political content, with WhatsApp (67.5 percent) and Twitter/X (54.7 percent) as the dominant platforms. Regression analysis revealed a significant positive relationship between political content consumption frequency and political awareness scores (beta = 0.44; p < 0.001). However, exposure to misinformation was reported by 71.3 percent of respondents, and only 36.9 percent regularly verified information before sharing. Female students showed slightly higher political awareness scores than male counterparts despite lower platform engagement frequency. The study concludes that social media is a significant but double-edged political information source for Ibadan undergraduates. Recommendations include integrating media literacy training into the university curriculum and developing platform-specific fact-checking habits among student populations. Keywords: social media, political awareness, undergraduate students, media literacy, University of Ibadan