Assessment of Extension Workers Use of Social Media for Technology Dissemination in Southwestern Nigeria (Published)
The study assessed extension workers use of social media tools for technology dissemination in Southwestern Nigeria. This was borne out of the need to improve and ensure a viable, effective and vibrant extension and advisory service delivery in the study area. 74 extension agents were selected through a two-staged sampling procedure. Data were obtained through a questionnaire and analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. Results showed that majority of respondents were female (64.9%) with mean age of 40.4 years. Majority sourced information on social media tools through radio (x̄=0.94), used WhatsApp (x̄=1.88) to a large extent and mostly constrained by epileptic power supply (x̄=1.44) and poor network (x̄=1.44) in the rural area. The respondents mostly used social media tools for spreading information (x̄= 1.916) and for getting feedback from farmers (x̄=1.86). Majority of respondents (54.0%) had favourable attitude towards usage of social media tools. Significant relationship existed between respondents age (X2=5.44, p< 0.05), constraints (r= -0.377, p<0.05) and their usage of social media. It is recommended that relevant agencies should strengthen rural network, build capacity of extension workers on the use of social media tools particularly on packaging relevant technical information for dissemination to farmers and other stakeholders.
Keywords: Facebook, Social media, Technology, WhatsApp, extension