Social media consumption in Kenya: Trends and influence on behavior change in the wake of the Coronavirus pandemic outbreak

• Main Author: Keith Kiswili Julius, E-Mail: [e-mail]
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: International Educational and Social Sciences Association (IESSA) 2020-06-01
• Series: Journal of Studies in Social Sciences and Humanities
• Subjects: social media; trends; consumption; coronavirus; behavior change; kenya
• Online Access: http://www.jssshonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/JSSSH_Vol.6_No.2_2020_66-75_Sr.-No.-3.pdf

Social media plays an important part in national discourse especially during periods of crises such as health pandemics. Consequently, as the coronavirus ravages the globe, Kenyans are increasingly patronizing social media outlets to retrieve information about the pandemic. This study had three objectives; i) to establish the Social media outlets patronized by Kenyans to solicit information about the pandemic; ii) to find out the kind of information Kenyans are seeking about the pandemic; iii) to establish if the consumption of such information is leading to a significant behavior change. The study employed an ad hoc survey methodology using a semi-structured questionnaire for data collection. 144 respondents were randomly drawn for the study from different Email databases and WhatsApp groups. Secondary and primary data were collected for the study. Results from the study show that Kenyans are overly patronizing various social media outlets to seek information about the pandemic. The results also showed that Kenyans are getting valuable information on the pandemic which has had a significant impact on behavior change.