Utilisation of Social Media for Research Communication by Lecturers in Tertiary Institutions: A Study of Polytechnics in Kwara State, Nigeria

Social media is fast becoming an important tool in the research process. This, thus, justifies why this study investigates the utilisation of social media for research communication by lecturers in polytechnics tertiary institutions in Kwara State, Nigeria. This study adopted the survey design. 291 lecturers of public polytechnics in Kwara State participated in the study. However, only 208, representing 70.72% response rates were found usable. Findings showed that the lecturers communicated their research findings through mainly academic social networks (ResearchGate, Academia and others) (𝑋̅ = 2.87) and WhatsApp (𝑋̅ = 2.85) to share journal articles (𝑋̅ = 3.98) and book chapters (𝑋̅ = 3.91) by using PowerPoint presentations (𝑋̅ = 2.81) and brief articles (𝑋̅ = 2.73). Findings further indicated that the research findings communicated by the Lecturers clarified any uncertainties, stating any limitations/weakness relating to the results and their interpretations (𝑋̅ = 2.64) and ensured that the research findings being communicated are relevant, containing the information the recipients needed for understanding the research results (𝑋̅ = 2.59). This study concludes that lecturers in public polytechnics tertiary institutions in Kwara State utilised social media for research communication. The study recommends that managements of public polytechnics in Kwara State, Nigeria, should be supporting their lecturers by posting their research outputs on the polytechnics’ social media platforms.