Abstract

The study is concerned with the impact of Facebook and Whatsapp as an effective interpersonal media of communication with specific focus on the students of Osun State Polytechnic. There is no doubt about the fact that the world is completely in a global village as postulated by Professor Marshall McLuhan, according to him the world is now compressed into a single electronic room where information from far and near can be exchanged with a click of a mouse. However, social media is one of the internet tools that facilitate effective, interactive, interpersonal and immediate feedback in communication among the people most especially in this era of ICT. There is no gainsaying in the fact that facebook and Whatsapp are the most common and effective means which people communicate and interact with one another irrespective of the geographical location and time. A survey method was adopted with the use of questionnaires to elicit data from the respondents. Recommendations are that Nigerian students should make good use of converged media so that they are not limited to one or few sources of information when there are numerous sources. Youth should also ensure they maintain their existing offline relationships while creating value even though these forms of electronic media are available. Future researchers should therefore, conduct surveys that will trigger the students to talk about such personal issue like social identity.