Social Media for Students’ Employability Skills

Social media for students’ employability skills Social media per l’acquisizione di competenze utili all’occupabilità degli studenti Busuyi Francis Olowo*, Babatunde Akinwande Akingunloye, Omobola Oyinlade Gambo and Olujoke Emily Jembola Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Nigeria, [email protected]*, [email protected], [email protected], [email protected] *corresponding author HOW TO CITE Olowo, B. F., Akingunloye, B. A., Gambo, O. O., & Jembola, O. E. (2021). Social media for students’ employability skills. Italian Journal of Educational Technology, 29(1), 65-77. doi: 10.17471/2499-4324/1185 ABSTRACT Social media may be an important tool for students to develop and improve their employability skills. This paper reports the results of a survey conducted in Osun State Technical Colleges (Nigeria) that investigated the use of social media (LinkedIn, YouTube, WhatsApp, Facebook, and Twitter) and their influence on students’ employability skills. The study adopted a quantitative design approach and involved a sample of 354 randomly selected students. An instrument called “Use of Social Media Platform and Students’ Employability Skills Questionnaire (SMSESPQ)” was used for the purpose. Data were analyzed using multiple regression statistics. The findings showed that the use of YouTube, LinkedIn, Facebook, WhatsApp, and Twitter contributed significantly to students’ employability skills, and that students perceived this same benefit of social media. KEYWORDS Students’ Employability Skills; Social Media; LinkedIn; YouTube; WhatsApp; Facebook; Twitter. SOMMARIO I social media possono essere uno strumento importante per gli studenti per sviluppare e migliorare competenze utili alla loro occupabilità. Questo documento riporta i risultati di un sondaggio, condotto presso il College Tecnologico dello Stato di Osun (Nigeria), che ha permesso uno studio sull’uso dei social media LinkedIn, YouTube, WhatsApp, Facebook e Twitter, con lo scopo di evidenziare come questi influenzino l’acquisizione di competenze da parte degli studenti a vantaggio della loro occupabilità. Lo studio ha adottato un approccio di progettazione quantitativa e ha coinvolto un campione randomizzato di 354 studenti. A tale scopo è stato utilizzato uno strumento denominato “Utilizzo della piattaforma dei social media e questionario sulle competenze occupazionali degli studenti (SMSESPQ)”. I dati sono stati analizzati utilizzando diverse modalità statistiche di regressione. I risultati hanno mostrato che l’uso dei social media, YouTube, LinkedIn, Facebook, WhatsApp e Twitter, ha contribuito in modo significativo alle capacità di occupabilità degli studenti e che essi stessi ne hanno percepito lo stesso vantaggio. PAROLE CHIAVE Competenze per l’Occupabilità degli Studenti; Social Media; LinkedIn; YouTube; WhatsApp; Facebook; Twitter. 65 Busuyi Francis Olowo, Babatunde Akinwande Akingunloye, Omobola Oyinlade Gambo and Olujoke Emily Jembola 1. INTRODUCTION The roles of technical colleges on professional development cannot be overemphasized. In Nigeria, this category of secondary schools focuses on training students in various fields to acquire practical skills, knowledge and attitudes that will enable them to become self-dependant and reliable employees. According to Boyi (2008), the goals of technical college education in Nigeria are to develop constructive skills of benefit both to the students themselves and to society, as well as assets in the labour market. In accordance with the National Policy on Education (NPE) of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (2013), graduates from technical colleges are expected to possess skills in a range of areas: mechanical engineering practice; electrical installation and maintenance work; painting and decorating; plumbing and pipe fitting; furniture making and upholstery; store-keeping and book-keeping; data processing; metalwork; dyeing and bleaching; shoe making and repair; typewriting; stenography; printing practice and cosmetology; auto electrical work; air conditioning and refrigeration; carpentry and joinery; catering practice; radio, television and electrical work; engineering practice; building work; automobile engineering; and welding and fabrication. Those students who successfully complete programmes in the above are expected to be employed in the labour market. The National Policy of Education (NPE) of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (2013) states that completion of technical college programmes should ensure trainees’ employment either at the end of the whole course or after completing one or more modules of employability skill training. NPE further emphasizes that trainees should be able to set up their own businesses, become self-employed and be able to recruit others. This implies that trainees who have successfully completed one or more modules of employability skill training have acquired the ability to think clearly, communicate effectively, manage resources to achieve goals, interact with co-workers and superiors, adapt to the nature of work, and be able to sustain job demands throughout their lifetime. In addition, according to Smith (2004), one major factor that employers usually consider when searching for new employees is their employability skills. This indicates that most if not all employers appreciate and are eager to employ job seekers who possess employability skills in addition to their technical skills. Despite the efforts of Nigeria’s technical colleges of education to develop trainees’ employability skills, most of them remain unemployed. The prevalence of unemployment remains a great challenge confronting Nigerian society and government. This was stressed by Afolabi, Yusuf and Idowu (2014), who reported that among all the problems Nigeria has been facing recently, none is as serious and persistent as the problem of high unemployment among Nigerian graduates, most especially among graduates of technical colleges. In the same view, the National Bureau of Statistics (2011) reports that more than 50% of young people in Nigeria are jobless, while the World Bank puts this figure at 56%. Given this situation, there is a possibility that students do not actually acquire the necessary employability skills, a situation that calls for more research investigation. Some Nigerian scholars and researchers have carried out empirical research and suggested various approaches that could improve employability skills. These include providing mentoring roles for graduates to become self-employed (Chukwu & Igwe, 2012), prioritising agriculture and tourism as sectors for employment generation (Eneji, Mai-Lafia, & Weiping, 2013), empowering the agricultural sector and supporting private sector industries (Ajayi, 2015), developing entrepreneurship and promoting the availability of venture capital (Adawo & Atan, 2015). However, despite the recommendation made in these studies, the problem of developing employability skills persists. Nowadays, social media have become digital tools that are currently used as a pervasive means of interaction among people. Selwyn (2012) considers social media as modern platforms that provide avenues for their users to exchange and interact with one another. He also refers to use of social media to create, edit and share new forms of visual, textual, and audio content with others. Kern (2010) defines social media as 66 Italian Journal of Educational Technology / Volume 29 / Issue 1 / 2021 platforms of modern and electronic communication means through which users create online communities to share ideas, information, personal messages, and other related content messages, as well as to read articles, listen to music, search and save relevant photos and much more. For the purpose of this study, social media are considered as online avenues where users can interact so as to get information which allows them to get informed and acquire ideas that would improve their employability competences. Social media could also be intended as platforms granting users (students) access to information on actual employability skills needed by employers. Access to appropriate information could improve and advance the chances for students to know which employability skills are required in the labour market, thus motivating them to develop these. Nowadays, students are expected to be able to develop skills to plan, organize, coordinate and use resources effectively to achieve their goals. They are also expected to develop skills that allow them to communicate effectively, use their creativity to identify problems and provide suitable solutions, as well as to work effectively both as individuals and in teams. In this light, social media seem potential providers of relevant information about employability skills, not to mention opportunities to develop them. However, there is a lack of research about social media usage in technical colleges and its role in promoting the acquisition of students’ employability skills. For these reasons, this study investigates the influence of social media on students’ employability skills and focuses on the Technical Colleges of Osun State, Nigeria, as a case study. 2. LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1. Employability skills Brown and Hesketh (2004) defined employability as the ability to secure and sustain different jobs. This is an indication that for someone to secure a job, he/she needs to possess necessary employability skills. Munro (2007) regarded employability skills as the ability to contribute to work efficiency in an organisation, combined with good oral, written communication and critical thinking skills, which form the foundation of both academic and workplace success. Overtoom (2000) suggested that employability skills are necessary for success in the job market regardless of the employees’ chosen career path, employment level, or educational background. Employability skills are a group of important skills instilled in each individual in order to be a productive member of the workforce (Kazilan, Hamzah, & Bakar, 2009). Bennett (2006) argued that employability skills include not only the attributes that are desired from prospective employees, but also the basic requirements that an individual needs in order to be considered for employment. Clarke (2013) divided employability skills into categories such as interpersonal skills, personal qualities, system and technology skills, basic skills, information skills and resources skills. In addition, Zinser (2003) equally identified employability skills such as problem-solving, communication, teamwork, acquiring and retaining a job, interpersonal skills and managing resources. From the above definitions, employability skills can be defined as the abilities and actions that enable the job seeker to get employed and to sustain employment through their lifetime. In the technical school context, employability skills are expected to be well known and are taught while the trainees are still in school. In this light, Caleb and Udofia (2013) have suggested that technical colleges in Nigeria need to prepare their students with skills that go beyond getting immediate employment. Therefore, in this context, employability skills are regarded as skills that students need to develop while they are in school to connect or get sustainable job in the future. This implies that students are to develop and acquire employability skills that would convince prospective employers. Such skills will enable the 67 Busuyi Francis Olowo, Babatunde Akinwande Akingunloye, Omobola Oyinlade Gambo and Olujoke Emily Jembola students to plan, organize, arrange, and execute work purposely to achieve goals. Equally, students are also expected to develop learning-to-learn skills, to be creative, able to provide solutions to problems of any given task, to work both as an individual and in team, as well as to communicate effectively. 2.2. Social media platforms for developing employability skills The world has become a global village through which people connect to each other via the internet. This has enabled people from different countries to connect to one another and has equally made it possible to get access to information from different places. Today, social media have become major platforms where people connect to each other to create and share messages, pictures, videos, and other information crucial to their lives. Boyd and Ellison (2007) regarded social network sites as public web-based services which allow users to develop their personal profile, send and receive messages either privately or publicly, and read and react to postings made by other users on the site. To Adaja and Ayodele (2013), social media are web–based and mobile tools that are used to turn communication into interactive dialogue between communities, organizations, and individuals. For the purpose of this study, social media are recognized as online platforms that different users can access and develop skills through exchanging messages, photos, videos and other types of information. Users can easily get information through social media which would enable them to develop their employability skills. The most widely recognized social media tools in Nigeria are Blackberry Messenger, WhatsApp, Facebook, Myspace, Twitter Skype, 2go, Friendster, and others (Embi, 2012). For the purpose of this study, only LinkedIn, WhatsApp, YouTube, Twitter and Facebook are considered. 2.2.1. LinkedIn LinkedIn is recognised as a professional social networking site which provides opportunities to showcase accomplishments, acquire skills, and brand oneself professionally (McFadden, 2014). Historically, LinkedIn was founded by Reid Hoffman and his team members in December 2002 but was properly launched in 2003 and currently has more than 300 million members worldwide (Novet, 2015). The site provides users with opportunities to connect to others and allows for expansion of networks. According to Kelkar and Kulkarni (2013), most of the people seeking jobs are young adults ranging from 18 to 29 years of age. Most of these young adults that are about to enter a competitive labour market can benefit from LinkedIn to acquire skills and showcase what they can offer to the labour market. LinkedIn allows individuals to create a profile which outlines personal information, academic qualifications, acquired skills and experience, and career interests. For effective use, it is important to keep one’s profile up to date, to acquire new skills and showcase competency, as well as highlight individual strengths. While it is easy to connect to existing acquaintances on the platform, it is not common to invite people that one has never met on the platform. However, this can easily be done by asking one’s contact to introduce the user or recommend them. Students can get skills-related information that will enable them to be employable. This can be done when students read the profile of individuals and connect to gain opinions, enabling them to develop their own employability skills. 2.2.2. YouTube YouTube can be regarded as a visual platform which allows users to view and post videos. It contains an extensive array of video content such as television clips, movie clips, music videos and educational videos. The platform was founded in 2005 as has become the world’s most popular online video community, where millions of people can share, find, and watch originally created videos. YouTube provides a forum for people to inform, connect, and inspire others across the globe. According to ComScore (2012), YouTube ranks 68 Italian Journal of Educational Technology / Volume 29 / Issue 1 / 2021 at the top of video Internet viewing sites. Over 800 million users watch videos on YouTube each month, with over 4 billion hours of video being viewed. Registered users can create and upload their own videos, while unregistered users are limited to viewing (most of the) videos and content on YouTube. In addition, registered YouTube users can create their own channel, or YouTube page, which includes a short personal description along with videos. YouTube users can subscribe to other users’ channels, thereby connecting users into a social network. Students can easily search videos on YouTube dedicated to skills that will help them to be employable and also assist them to acquire more practical skills in their job. They can also watch videos to find out more about companies of interest, enabling them to get relevant information on employability skills needed within those organizations. 2.2.3. WhatsApp WhatsApp is a well-known mobile tool which is currently used mainly for instant messaging. Its success has downsized the use of normal phone short messages (SMS) because of its capacity for users to exchange large volumes of messages as well as media files (Church & de Oliveira, 2013). Users can easily send audio, images, video media and text messages. WhatsApp came into existence in 2009, developed by Brian Acton and Jan Koum. Today, the site has become the most popular social media applications currently being used, mostly by young people. WhatsApp is usually download from Apple store or Google Play Store. It can also be accessed directly from the web using a web browser. Once the WhatsApp application is installed, users can create their personal WhatsApp account, which will be visible to other WhatsApp users in their phone contact lists upon synchronization. WhatsApp enables two people to chat and make video or voice calls. It also allows groups of people to make group chats using internet/Wi-Fi connection or data roaming. Students can create their WhatsApp account using a phone that runs any of the main operating systems. All the telephone numbers saved on the phone are automatically be displayed. Mostly, students can use WhatsApp as a means of getting relevant information from contacts. They can create different related job groups and perhaps add known employers to the group. This may give the group members an idea of the skills they need to develop and acquire. 2.2.4. Facebook Facebook is known worldwide as one of the major social network sites that provides users with maximum interpersonal communication capabilities and which places emphasis on mobility and interaction (Paxson, 2010) Facebook is a social networking site launched in February 2004 which is privately managed and operated. It was founded by Mark Zuckerberg and others when they were students at Harvard. Facebook was restricted to Harvard students only when the site was initially launched, but later it was extended to other campuses. A study by Arteaga, Cortijo and Javed (2014) found that adoption of Facebook had positive effects on the purposes users gave for adopting it. This is an indication that all users really appreciated the platform and found meaningful reasons to use it. Facebook functions included messaging, news feed, timeline, groups, photos, pages, subscriptions, and video calling. The Facebook timeline allows users to customize their Facebook page. The news feed presents the pictures, status updates, links, wall posts, and more that the people in one’s network are posting. Facebook members are free to post pictures, messages, links, blogs and videos on the walls and timelines of those in their network. Students can use Facebook to connect with friends and to find more companies of their interest. Some of these companies advertise their employment vacancies on Facebook. When users (students) add a like to the Facebook page of a company, they receive news feeds which keep them up to date with the activity the company posts online. This enables students to see pictures, messages, links, blogs and videos on the 69 Busuyi Francis Olowo, Babatunde Akinwande Akingunloye, Omobola Oyinlade Gambo and Olujoke Emily Jembola walls and timelines of those in their network, which might encourage them individually to acquire needed employability skills. 2.2.5. Twitter Twitter is an online micro blogging and social networking service that enables users to read and send “tweets”, i.e. text messages limited to 280 characters. Twitter was established in 2006 by Jack Dorsey (Rodrigues, Sabino, & Zhou, 2011). It has gained enormous popularity because it offers a range of options such as micro blogging and is widely used by celebrities (Jasra, 2010). While registered users of Twitter can both post and read tweets, unregistered users can only read messages. Users can send text messages directly to/ from a cell phone or mobile device app, as well as through website interface. Twitter provides an avenue for users to interact and communicate freely with each other. Twitter users are able to follow other users and the tweets serve as a source to disseminate and receive information. Twitter allows users to follow individuals, companies, or topics of interest. Its uniqueness is that it allows users to follow people, whether they are contacts or not. Students can also engage with people to build relationship with them. This will give provide students with much required information, especially in sectors such as technology, media and advertising. Engaging different people on the platform would enable students to improve their own employability skills. 3. METHOD 3.1. Research aims The specific objective of the study is to investigate the significant influence of social media (LinkedIn, YouTube, WhatsApp, Facebook and Twitter) on the employability skills of students at the Technical Colleges of Osun State, Nigeria. The research hypothesis is: H0: There is no significant influence of social media (LinkedIn, YouTube, WhatsApp, Facebook and Twitter) on the employability skills of students at the Technical Colleges of Osun State, Nigeria. 3.2. Research design This study adopted a quantitative design approach. The design was considered appropriate for the study because the research data collected were to determine self-perceived influence of social media on students’ employability skills. Moreover, the study focused on two variables and multiple regressions was adopted for the analysis. 3.2.1. Research population and sampling The population of the study consisted of thee 3,029 students at the nine technical colleges in Osun State, Nigeria. The study sample comprised 354 students (11.7% of total population), who were selected using Taro Yamane’s formula to determine the sample size. This formula is n= N / [1+ (Ne2)], where, n=Sample size, N=Total population, e=0.05 (constant) (Yamane, 1967). Simple random sampling technique was used to select six of the nine technical colleges in Osun State. From each technical college, 56 students were selected using simple random sampling technique. 3.2.2. Research instrument An instrument called “Use of Social Media Platforms and Students’ Employability Skills Questionnaire (SMSESPQ)” was used to gather relevant self-perception information from the respondents. The question- 70 Italian Journal of Educational Technology / Volume 29 / Issue 1 / 2021 naire was divided into three sections. Section A gathered information on respondents’ profiles. Section B contained 20 items (four items each for LinkedIn, YouTube, WhatsApp, Facebook and Twitter) regarded students’ self-declared use of social media . Section C (Table 1) contained 10 items (2 items each dedicated to the topics of Planning and Organization; Communication; Initiative and Enterprise; Teamwork; Problem Identification and Solution) concerning students’ self-perceived employability skills. The questions on employability skills were based on the skills students acquired at the schools and during internship. To rate items in SMSESPQ Sections B and C, a 4-point Likert scale of Strongly Agree (SA) = 4, Agree (A) =3, Disagree (D) =2 and Strongly Disagree (SD)=1 was used. S/N ITEMS SA A D SD Planning and Organization 1 I develop skills to allocate and coordinate tasks for myself and others 2 I develop the ability to manage time, organize and work as scheduled Communication Skills 3 I can write, speak, and clearly present ideas to others 4 I patently wait and listen to others’ ideas Initiative and Enterprise 5 I have the ability to map out ideas and to be very creative 6 I easily adjust to new situations Team works Skills 7 I have the ability to work in a team to achieve a common goal 8 I have the ability to support and empower another team member Problem Identification and Solution 9 I have the ability to carry out research and select relevant information to solve problems 10 I am skillful at analyzing issues and their underlying causes, assessing options and propose relevant solutions Table 1. Section C. Students’ Employability Skills. 3.3. Validity and reliability of the instrument The presentation and content of the instrument were subjected to a validity review involving experts’ in the field of Educational Management at Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife. The experts’ comments and suggestions were incorporated in the questionnaire before it was administered to respondents. Internal consistency reliability was tested and ascertained. This was done through administration of the questionnaire to 36 students, who were selected from outside of the sample of the study but within the population. The data collected were analysed through Pearson product-moment correlation. Statistical Packages for the Social Science (SPSS) 20.0 was used to analyse the data. The coefficient of Pearson correlation was .858. The results on the scale of reliability indicated a very high positive relationship among the respondents (Table 2). 71 Busuyi Francis Olowo, Babatunde Akinwande Akingunloye, Omobola Oyinlade Gambo and Olujoke Emily Jembola SECTIONS NO OF ITEMS PEARSON CORRELATION STATUS B 20 .865 Reliable C 10 .851 Reliable Scale of Reliability 30 .858 Reliable Table 2. Reliability test results. 3.4. Data collection procedure Permission was granted by each of the school heads in the sampled technical colleges to administer the questionnaire to their students involved. The researchers administered the instrument over three weeks. The questionnaire was handed over to individual students in each of the schools: some filled it in immediately while other completed questionnaires were collected back later in the day. All the questionnaires administered were retrieved. 3.5. Data analysis process The data collected were analysed inferentially. Inferential statistics of multiple regression was used to analyse the hypothesis. The hypothesis was tested at 0.05 level of significance. 4. FINDINGS In Table 3, the R value .957a showed the correlation coefficient of social media (LinkedIn, YouTube, WhatsApp, Facebook and Twitter) on students’ employability skills. The R Square 0.812 indicated how much variation in the students’ employability skills could be accounted for by social media. This implies that in this study 81.2% of variance in the students’ employability skills can be accounted for from social media. The F value was 22.273 and Degree of Freedom (DF) was 4, 22 (that is Regression was 4 and Residual was 22). The significant level of (.001b) implies that the combination of use of social media significantly (P<0.05) contributed to students’ employability skills. Therefore, social media significantly contributed to students’ employability skills. Model 1 R .957a R Square .812 Adjusted R Square .718 Std. Error of the Estimate .493 F DF Sig. 22.273 4, 22 .001b Table 3. Regression model summary of influence of social media (LinkedIn, YouTube, WhatsApp, Facebook and Twitter) on students’ employability skills. Table 4 presents statistical estimation of standardized coefficients and p-values of the contributors, that is social media (YouTube, LinkedIn, Facebook, WhatsApp, and Twitter) on students’ employability skills. A critical view of Table 4 indicates that YouTube (β= .611, P<0.05) was found to be the strongest significant contributor to students’ employability skills. This could be because the students have access to download the necessary videos and it is easy for them to practice while watching the video, thereby acquiring the related skills for future use. LinkedIn (β= .571, P<0.05) was the second strongest contributor to students’ 72 Italian Journal of Educational Technology / Volume 29 / Issue 1 / 2021 employability skills. This could be because LinkedIn was designed for professional use and it is an avenue for students to build their competency and skills that could make them to more employable. Facebook (β= .487, P<0.05) was found to be the third strongest contributor to students’ employability skills. Facebook has many users and as a platform that accommodates many users to post different kinds of information, it can thereby help students to gain more access to information that may improve their employability skills. The findings in the table indicate that WhatsApp (β= .452, P<0.05) was found to be the fourth contributor to students’ employability skills. The last platform, Twitter (β= .343, P<0.05), was found to be an equally significant contributor to students’ employability skills. As shown in the table, it can be inferred that regression analysis indicated that the combined social media (LinkedIn, YouTube, WhatsApp, Facebook and Twitter) significantly contributed to technical colleges students’ employability skills. Model B Unstandardized Coefficients Std. Error Standardized Coefficients T Sig. Beta (Constant) 1.137 .817 1.121 .001 LinkedIn .140 .052 .571 3.260 .012 YouTube .572 .091 .611 3.270 .014 WhatsApp .185 .069 .452 2.680 .010 Facebook .372 .082 .487 3.221 .002 Twitter .233 .089 .343 2.203 .013 Table 4. Regression coefficients of influence of social media (LinkedIn, YouTube, WhatsApp, Facebook and Twitter) on students’ employability skills. 5. DISCUSSION According to the findings, the F value in Table 3 was 22.273 and P value at 0.001 was less than critical value at 0.05, while 81.2% of variance in the students’ employability skills was attributable to social media in the study area. Given these empirical indications, it is therefore suggested that social media contributed to improve students’ employability skills. It therefore becomes imperative for students to see such platforms as means of acquiring and improving their employability skills. The findings of the study concur with the opinion of Boyd and Ellison (2007), who disclosed that social network sites serve as means for users to develop their personal profile, connect with others, react to postings made by other users on the site, as well as send and receive messages either privately or publicly. This study further indicated that among the social media platforms, YouTube was found to be the one that contributed most to the students’ employability skills. It can be surmised that the students who used YouTube were able to download videos purposely to learn more about employability skills and to know better how to plan, organize, coordinate and execute resources to actualize goals. It also implies that students who watched videos on YouTube purposely to develop their skills might be more proficient in carrying out research and selecting relevant information to solve problems that they may encounter in their future jobs. It is therefore recommended that students use YouTube to download videos that might improve their employability skills. The results corroborate the findings of Duncan, Yarwood-Ross and Haigh (2013), who disclosed the importance of video sharing sites and argued that YouTube is valuable for practice, education, 73 Busuyi Francis Olowo, Babatunde Akinwande Akingunloye, Omobola Oyinlade Gambo and Olujoke Emily Jembola and research. The results are also in line with the opinion of Lange (2007), who recognized YouTube as a video-sharing website that allows users to view and post videos while developing and interacting in social relationships related to learning. This study also found that LinkedIn was a significant contributor to students’ employability skills. This implies that students who were using LinkedIn were able to develop by having access to information that would improve their employability skills. This further indicates that students’ use of LinkedIn purposely to develop their skills enabled them to have access to information regarding the skills that are needed in the labour market; equally, they were able to connect to opinions that enable them to develop their own employability skills. It is therefore imperative for students to know that LinkedIn is a platform granting access to information that will equip them with required employability skills. The results concurred with the findings of McFadden (2014), who found that LinkedIn is a professional networking site which is an acceptable resource for learners as a means of acquiring skills and branding oneself professionally. The study also showed that Facebook significantly contributed to students’ employability skills. This implies that students who use the platform purposely to get access to pictures, messages, links, blogs and videos on the walls and timelines of others might have developed and mapped out new ideas to plan and innovate. It further denotes that checking information on Facebook might have helped students to develop communication skills by improving their writing and reading. It is therefore worthwhile for the students to know that Facebook is a platform which can assist them to be more creative, innovative, and can develop their communication skills. The results concur with the findings of Arteaga, Cortijo and Javed (2014), who found out that adoption of Facebook has positive effects for the purposes of use. Findings further show that the use of WhatsApp contributed to students’ employability skills. This implies that students that were using the platform might have accessed the necessary information to improve their skills on how to plan and work as an individual and as a group. It equally implies that using the platform would have provided an avenue for the students to connect to contacts to get instant feedback and to improve their communication ability through the capacity to clearly write, speak, and present ideas to others. It further implies that the platform might have assisted the students to become more patient when listening to others’ ideas while waiting for them to respond to their message. It is therefore imperative for students to know that WhatsApp in an online platform where they can develop communication skills and get useful information. The study concurred with the findings of Fawzi (2015), who disclosed that WhatsApp has become the most popular social media application that is usually used mostly by young people. The study is also in consonance with the study of Bansal and Joshi (2014), who reported that WhatsApp creates a very positive impact on regular users. Lastly, the use of Twitter contributed to students’ employability skills. The reason for it being the last platform could be because Twitter is mostly used by celebrities. However, the platform also contributed to students’ employability skills by improving their communication skills, giving them initial ideas to be more creative through sharing information with others, developing their team and communication skills, and enabling them to be more creative generally. It is therefore advocated for students to use the platform as a link to improve their employability skills. 6. CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS Social media are an indispensable tool for students to develop their employability skills. The study has empirically proved that social media such as YouTube, LinkedIn, Facebook, WhatsApp, and Twitter may contribute to students’ employability skills in the study area. It can be deduced that the students who are using social media purposely to improve their employability skills will be better than those who do not use 74 Italian Journal of Educational Technology / Volume 29 / Issue 1 / 2021 them at all or not for employability purposes. This makes it imperative for students at technical colleges to be aware that social media platforms are means of accessing information that could improve various employability skills. Therefore, students of Osun State technical colleges, as well as in other technical colleges in Nigeria, are expected to know that social media platforms enable them to have access to information, videos, and pictures which may assist and enhance their ability to plan, arrange, coordinate, communicate, cooperate and execute projects toward achievement of goals. The study implicates that students at technical colleges should appreciate the use of social media such as YouTube, LinkedIn, Facebook, WhatsApp, and Twitter, which could enhance and equip them with employability skills. Based on the findings of the study, the following recommendation is made: students at technical college should learn how to use social media such as YouTube, LinkedIn, Facebook, WhatsApp, and Twitter. They should equally see social media as platforms through which to develop their employability skills and not only for day to day chatting with friends. Students should also create groups on social media platforms for their counterparts as a place to share knowledge among themselves as a suitable way to improve their employability skills. 7. REFERENCES Adaja, T. A, & Ayodele, F. A. (2013). Nigeria youths and social media harnessing the potential for academic excellence. Kuwait Chapter of Arabian Journal of Business and Management Review, 2(5), 6575. 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