ABSTRACT
This study sought to examine the utilization of social media as a communication tool by
co-operatives in Meru County in the dissemination of co-operative information among the
youth. The researcher explored the potential of social media and examined its usage and
barriers as a communication tool among the co-operatives. Largely, the study notes that
the growth and usage of social media has been enabled by the internet and technological
advancement. This thesis aimed at finding out the extent to which the co-operatives in
Meru County use social media as a communication tool in enhancing the uptake of their
services among the youth. The objectives of this study were to assess the communication
tools used by the co-operatives in Meru County, to ascertain the extent to which social
media is being used as a communication tool in enhancing the uptake of co-operative
services and to ascertain barriers to usage of Social media as a communication tool by cooperatives.
This study used positivist paradigm, which is based on facts and considers the
world to be external and objective. The study was conducted in Meru County in Kenya
using mixed methods. Both qualitative and quantitative data was used. The data collected
was integrated in the design analysis by explaining and building it within the large data
framework. The study explored the technological determinism theory and the social
construction of technology theory to underpin and encapsulate how technological culture
can shape the future of the co-operative movement. In this study the researcher
interviewed key informants in the co-operative movement. The study found out that 83%
of co-operatives under study utilized social media as a source of co-operative information.
However, only few youths are members of co-operatives. From this study, co-operatives
in Meru County were found to have huge ICT and communications gaps and risk to
follow economies all across Africa being faced with low-paid, informal work, and youth
unemployment. To address this gap, social media as a communication tool, offers one of
the best solutions in line with the sector’s principles. Co-operatives need to explore how
digital platforms, rooted in the principles of broad-based ownership and democratic
governance, could come to fruition across co-operatives in the county focusing on their
potential and feasibility, global and local contexts, case studies and success stories,
openness and transparency, policy and sustainability; this will further set co-operatives to
radically prepare the social organization of emerging technologies among themselves
aiming to re-design with community wealth in mind. This study strongly tasks cooperative
and communication scholars to link radical democracy and the internet as a tool
for corporate extraction, and how to reverse the process while harnessing the dividends of
social media as a communication tool among co-operatives.
FRANCIS, M (2021). Utilization Of Social Media As A Source Of Co-Operative Information Among The Youth In Meru County, Kenya. Afribary. Retrieved from https://track.afribary.com/works/utilization-of-social-media-as-a-source-of-co-operative-information-among-the-youth-in-meru-county-kenya
FRANCIS, MWONGELA "Utilization Of Social Media As A Source Of Co-Operative Information Among The Youth In Meru County, Kenya" Afribary. Afribary, 08 May. 2021, https://track.afribary.com/works/utilization-of-social-media-as-a-source-of-co-operative-information-among-the-youth-in-meru-county-kenya. Accessed 20 Nov. 2024.
FRANCIS, MWONGELA . "Utilization Of Social Media As A Source Of Co-Operative Information Among The Youth In Meru County, Kenya". Afribary, Afribary, 08 May. 2021. Web. 20 Nov. 2024. < https://track.afribary.com/works/utilization-of-social-media-as-a-source-of-co-operative-information-among-the-youth-in-meru-county-kenya >.
FRANCIS, MWONGELA . "Utilization Of Social Media As A Source Of Co-Operative Information Among The Youth In Meru County, Kenya" Afribary (2021). Accessed November 20, 2024. https://track.afribary.com/works/utilization-of-social-media-as-a-source-of-co-operative-information-among-the-youth-in-meru-county-kenya