CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.0 Introduction

The University of Buea was born in 1993 following wide-ranging university reforms in Cameroon.

Conceived in the English-speaking tradition, the University of Buea seeks to foster the essence of the system, while situating itself within the larger bilingual and multicultural context of Cameroon.

Although the University of Buea draws its students mainly from the English-speaking part of Cameroon, it also serves the other provinces of the country.

Social media can be defined as websites and applications that enable users to create, share content or participate in social networking.

They are also interactive computer-mediated technologies that facilitate the creation or sharing of information, ideas, career interest and other forms of expression via virtual communication and networks. Although social media has the ability to inform, educate, entertain and transmitting of cultural heritage, helps users to connect to one another.

It has become an addictive habit amongst the university of Buea students where they spend most of their school time on social media such as Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp and other social media platforms.

Social media have an ‘unstoppable power’ that can be contagious and dangerous to humanity when using in the negative aspect according to Osahenye (2011).

As it is now many youths, most especially students of the University of Buea use social media for various purposes. Some use it for cyber-crimes, some for entertainment and some for personal interest or further studies.

This is gradually turning youths into an anti-social generation because of its high rate of availability and usage. This promotes cyberbullying, cyber-crimes, moral decadence and reduces the level of cultural practice amongst them.

This research is to know how social media influences moral decadence amongst students of the University of Buea. This survey will be done through random sampling to get results on how social media influences students of the University of Buea (UB).

1.1 Background to the study

The world is today celebrating the improvements in communication technology which has broadened the scope of communication through information and communication technologies (ICTs).

Modern technology in communication no doubt has turned the entire world into a ‘Global village’. But as it is, technology like two sides of a coin, bring with it both negative and positive sides. It helps people to be better informed, enlightened and keeping abreast with world development.

Technology exposes mankind to a better way of doing things. Social networking sites include Twitter, yahoo messenger, Facebook messenger, Google messenger etc. These networking sites are used by most people to interact with old and new friends, physical or internet friends (Asemah and Edegoh 2012).

Historically, it is amazing to find out that the youths of these days are morally bankrupt. Our society has witnessed a tremendous deterioration in its moral, social and educational values, especially among the youths, (Chima 2010).

However, the issue of moral decadence in our society has become a very controversial issue because society seemed not to know the disparity between what is morally right or wrong.

Also, the concept of decadence dates from the eighteenth century, especially from Montesquieus, and was taken up by critics as a term of abuse after DESIRE NISARD used it against Victor Hugo and Romanticism in general.

A later general generation of Romantics, such as Theophile Gautier and Charles Baudelaire took the word as a badge of pride, as a sign of their rejection of what they saw as banal ‘progresses. In the 1880s, a group of French writers referred to themselves as Decadents.

The moral decadence in our society has reached such a level that calls for concern (Abba January 2015). They engage in all sorts of anti-social behaviour injurious to society. Any society that is not morally sound is bound to witness all sorts of social menace.

They consider our indigenous culture outdated and our traditions barbaric. Therefore they queue up to embrace digital culture in its totality; abandoning our indigenous culture and tradition, hereby losing the identity.

1.2 Statement of the problem

The sudden emergence and the fast growth of social media and new technology have changed the level of communication today in the world.

The problem now is most UB students use social media for unreported cyber-crimes, immoral behaviours, other than for communicating and studies.

There has been a high increase of youths always addicted to their phones, giving that most of these students live on their own, they don’t have parental guidance to guide them. Now this research study is to see how social media influence these immoral behaviours and their effects on them.

1.3. General objective

• To investigate and find out on social media influence on moral decadence and social behaviour among the students of the University of Buea
• 3.1. Specific objectives

1. To find out the extent of youth involvement in social media
2. To study the impact of social media on their moral behaviour
3. To find out why UB students use social media
4. To be able to engage stakeholders who are on duty and find ways of pushing these students to be just morally upright.

1.3.2 Research Questions

1. What is the extent of student’s involvement with social media?
2. What are the impacts of social media on their moral behaviour?
3. Why do UB students use social media?
4. What determines the risk that comes with the use of social media on UB students?