WhatsApp Groups as a Source of Breaking News among University Students: Case of Moshi Co-operative University

Abstract

Social media groups like WhatsApp groups are becoming the fastest way of disseminating information. These media use internet to send messages, images, audios, videos and locations to mention just a few. They also provide users with features like group chatting and voice messages. The University students are among the group of people whose circumstantial evidence shows that they are subscribed to WhatsApp groups. But it is not known to what extent these groups are used as a source of breaking news by students of Moshi Co-operative University (MoCU). So this paper was aimed at answering this question. To accomplish this, a sample of 348 students from certificate, diploma and degree programmes were selected as a representative. The sample was studied and findings showed that more than 89% of all students get breaking news from WhatsApp groups. Moreover, findings showed that, the most shared breaking news were national breaking news (62.6%), international breaking news (28.2%), change in time table (57.5%), excuse from lecturers (90.2%) and emergencies within the University (56.9%). In regard to these findings, it was recommended that, Universities should encourage students to have smart phones and to join various social media groups including WhatsApp groups so as to be in a good position of accessing breaking news.