Uses and Gratifications of TikTok Platform among University Undergraduates

Abstract:

Along with the vast development of social media, such as Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube, more new social media platforms such as Tiktok have emerged in the public domain. TikTok, an application that is available for everyone to publish their videos, which length of the video varies from 15 seconds to 1 minute, has been rapidly used to gain popularity and cure boredom especially among teenagers. The videos include daily entertainment, talent shows, and popularization of knowledge and so on. This study therefore evaluated the uses and gratifications of the Tiktok platform by students of Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu University. The main objective of the study was to ascertain the frequency of usage and the gratifications students derive from using the Tiktok platform. Anchored on the Uses and Gratifications theory, the study adopted Survey Research method to draw a sample size of 400 from students of Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu University, Igbariam Campus using purposive sampling technique and the questionnaire as the instrument for data collection. The study found that there is a high frequency of usage of the Tiktok platform among students of Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu University. Learning new things, obtaining leisure and entertainment, expressing themselves freely and also making new friends are some of the gratifications the respondents derive from using the Tiktok platform. The study recommends among others that students should rather utilize the instrumentality of Tiktok for their academic improvement rather than all entertainment.