Analysis of Social Networks among Students in Abidjan City

Abstract

This paper investigates the social networks usage by students in Abidjan city, Côte d'Ivoire. We focus on a descriptive or quantitative analysis to understand the motivations and how students make use of internet and social networks. More than six hundred forms were distributed to persons we have deemed as students. In return, we received more than 93% of the forms that have been processed. The study highlights the materials and the digital platforms that students used the most. The majority of the respondents reported to have access to the social networks in their mobile phones, with WhatsApp leading this application ranking, followed by Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, and Tik Tok. The survey shows that two third of our respondents are aged from 19 to 25 years old and almost half of the respondents spend daily 2 to 5 hours on digital platforms. The investigation also reveals that the main online activities are the e-commerce, chatting, information, and entertainment. The paper addresses also the online harassment of the students and it shows that more than one tenth of them have been victims of cyber-bullying. This study might be useful for governments, institutions, academia, individuals and professionals in order to communicate efficiently with a given population for a better use of social networks and to prevent students from harassment.