Abstract:
Abstract
Social media is an internet-based form of communication that allows users to share information,
create web content and have conversations. Some of the popular social media platforms include
Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn, Telegram, Snapchat, etc. This study
aimed to establish how students use social media platforms to access health information. A crosssectional
survey design with a randomized sampling technique was employed. The research was
conducted in 2019. Open and closed-ended questionnaires were used to assess the responses. The
study found that all the 354 (100%) respondents were active internet users with an account to at least
one social media platform. The majority of them had an account on more than one social media
platform. A total of 64 (18.1%) people answered in the affirmative to ever being influenced by social
media to start medication or treatment, while 39 (11%) also responded positively to being influenced
by social media to stop medication or treatment. The study found that out of the 354 completed
questionnaires, only 134 respondents always discussed the authenticity of health-related information
obtained on social media with health professionals. Based on the results of this study, it can be
concluded that majority of university students are active users of social media. Many university
students access health information on social media and a considerable number of them relies on
information obtained from social media to make decisions concerning their health, such as starting
or stopping treatment or medication.
