An Assessment of Undergraduate Students’ Perceptions of Communication Platforms and Content Used in Communicating Drugs and Substance Abuse: The Case of Laikipia University in Kenya

Abstract

The continued rise in the prevalence of Drugs and Substance Abuse (DSA) among university students has been linked to insufficient communication on the topic. This is in spite of sustained communication by respective universities to promote knowledge and ideal attitude and practices. Correspondingly, Social Networking Sites (SNSs) are increasingly being adopted by universities as platforms for communicating with their students on topical issues, including DSA. Conversely, empirical evidence indicate that audiences’ perception of the media used in specific communication situations can impact on their response to the content and message therein. Hence, employing an institutional based cross-sectional convergent mixed methods design, and Laikipia University as a representative of other public universities in Kenya, this study sought to examine the perceptions of the University’s first year and second year undergraduate students towards the communication platforms and content used by the University to communicate about DSA. The study established that while the students acknowledged the use of both traditional and online platforms by the University, they expressed preference for online platforms and desire for content that met the specific affordances of the SNSs used.