Social Media Monetization, Developmental Concerns and Media Literacy in Nigeria

Abstract

The information landscape has shifted to the online environment, where Internet applications like the social media have overtaken almost all of human engagement. Going forward, the owners of social media platforms offer financial rewards for intensive follower engagement and activity across their various outlets. This trend has increasingly encouraged monetization, which is driving different classes of individuals in society to strive towards reaping the financial incentives available on the various social media platforms. As such, there is hardly any dimension of life that is not dramatized and showcased on social media platforms. Although the monetization created opportunities, unfortunately, the manner in which youths and even adults are pursuing it has raised serious developmental concerns in terms of diverse online behaviour that are at variance with societal values, norms, and culture. These concerns include moral decadence, cyberbullying, addiction and alienation, eating disorders, unrealistic lifestyles, the menace of fake news and misinformation, and the like. No doubt that these issues will continue as long as social media thrives; however, moderation could be actualized by enabling individuals in the society to acquire media literacy skills for accessing, evaluating, and appropriately responding to issues in the social media space. Thus, using the technological determinism theory, this work explored social media monetization and associated developmental concerns, alongside the case for media literacy education as a rescue channel for different levels of individuals in diverse sectors of society.