Factors Influencing Social Media Adoption and Continued Use in Academia: A Case Study at a Traditional University

The popularity of social media amongst university students, has necessitated traditional universities to incorporate these tools in academia. However, few lecturers incorporate these tools in academia for teaching and learning activities. The objective of the study was to identify factors influencing social media integration and continued use in academic setting at a traditional university in the Eastern Cape. The unified theory of acceptance and use of technology was employed as the theoretical foundation in this study. A quantitative survey data collection method making use of a questionnaire was distributed to all the academics at the university, with a response rate of 39%. From these, data was analysed using descriptive statistics and the Pearson Chi-square test was used to establish the relationship between different variables. The results show that the following factors could influence the adoption of social media in teaching and learning amongst lecturers: Performance expectancy is influenced by the age and gender of the lecturer; facilitating condition is influenced by the faculty that the lecturer is employed in, while social influence was significant for age, knowledge of social media, management and the support from the Department of Higher Education. The study therefore recommends that traditional university management should prioritise the use of social media tools as they may be used as a tool to enhance the throughput in order to address critical skills shortage in the economy.