A study has shown that teenage girls are twice as likely as boys to show depressive symptoms linked to social media use – mainly due to online harassment and disturbed sleep, as well as poor body image and lower self-esteem.
TheNewsGuru (TNG) reports the study analysed data from nearly 11,000 young people in Britain and found that 14-year-old girls were heavier users of social media, with two-fifths of them using it for more than three hours a day, compared with a fifth of boys.
The study also found that 12 percent of light social media users and 38 percent of heavy social media users (five-plus hours a day) showed signs of having more severe depression.
When the researchers looked at underlying processes that might be linked with social media use and depression, they found 40 percent of girls and 25 percent of boys had experience of online harassment or cyberbullying.
Disrupted sleep was reported by 40 percent of girls compared with 28 percent of boys. Anxiety and poor sleep are both linked to depression.
Girls were also more affected when it came to social media use and concerns about body image, self-esteem and appearance, the researchers found, but here the gap with boys was smaller.
Yvonne Kelly, a professor at University College London’s Institute of Epidemiology & Health Care who co-led the research, urged parents and policymakers to note its results.
“These findings are highly relevant to current policy development on guidelines for the safe use of social media and calls on industry to more tightly regulate hours of social media use for young people,” she said in a statement.
She said families may also “want to reflect on when and where it’s ok to be on social media” and consider restrictions on teenagers having mobile devices in their bedrooms.
The study, funded by the UK Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), was published online in the journal EClinicalMedicine on Friday.
The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) said it would continue to encourage research works in line with its mandate of ensuring excellence in all Human endeavors.
Prof. Umar Danbatta, Executive Director of NCC, disclosed this when he received some research projects from Federal University of Technology FUT Minna, on Monday in Abuja.
The projects -Mobile Communication Based Walking Stick and SIMless Data and Voice Connection, using multiple operators enable SIM Card were funded by the NCC.
Danbatta, represented by Mr Ubale Maska, Executive Technical Services of the NCC said the commission was happy with the results shown by the university.
The NCC boss said the commission would encourage the researchers to get investors who would continue to explore the research.
According to him the projects were in line with the mandate of the commission as well as the eight point agenda of the current leadership.
“The project shows that FUT Minna has been able to accomplish every single thing with the grant given by the NCC, and that they were visionary enough to look beyond what we expected them to do.
“You have to consciously choose the SIM you want but the project on super SIM card can automatically select the SIM with the available network based on pre-determined instructions so it is very relevant.
“And the project is in line with the consideration for national roaming that is being promoted now by the commission.
Danbatta said that the project was funded by NCC with about N4 million.
“We had hoped they would do it within a year so that they will get more but it has taken the last three years but we are happy because work like this is usually on-going all times,’’ he said.
Prof. Moses Olutoye, Deputy Director Research, FUT Minna who represented the Vice Chancellor Prof. Abdullahi Bala, said the first project -the walking stick can be used at old age or when you are in danger.
Olutoye said it was designed to look like a walking stick but it is not an ordinary walking stick.
“It is designed to make calls and it has some other device that can detect obstacles in case you are approaching a danger point, it is enabled for the blind and the disabled to avoid obstacles.
Prof. Abiodun Abinu, the Lead Researcher and Head of Department of Mechatronics Engineering, FUT Minna speaking on the second project SIMless Data, said people carry a lot of phones or SIMs as a result of quality of service.
Abinu said using basic engineering and the technology behind mobile phone, the researchers infused in it artificial intelligence system to be able to take intelligent decision.
“With this project, subscribers can enjoy quality of service even without having more than one phone,’’ he said adding that the product will soon hit the market,’’ he said.
The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has given a N50 million grant to nine researchers in Nigerian institutions to carry out research in the telecommunications sector.
Prof. Umar Danbatta, Executive Vice Chairman of NCC, while presenting the award letters in Abuja, said the grant would go a long way in transforming the country’s telecoms sector.
Danbatta said the grant was in recognition of the role of the academia in the development of the telecoms sector.
“Under this project, tertiary institutions submit detailed and well thought out research proposal to the commission on innovative use of telecommunications to solve national problems.
“These prototypes which can be so varied include the development of a commercially viable prototype of their research, ‘’ he said.
He said 56 proposals from the academia were received in 2016 by the commission, with only three selected for grant by the Inter-Agency Committee comprising of the academia and industry members.
Danbatta said 96 proposals were received in 2017 , with six successful after stringent evaluation.
He warned the researchers against showcasing the research work or its prototype to any organisation or at any exhibition until NCC receives it.
“We have set out clear terms and conditions for the grant. We expect you to abide by the terms of the award.
“In addition, we wish to provide a word of caution; you are not under any circumstance to showcase the work or the prototype to any bodies or organisations or at any exhibition until the commission has received the final prototype and signed off on it,” he added.
In his remarks, Prof Muhammad Muazu, the Chairman of the Inter-Agency Committee said the process that produced the nine researchers given grant was thorough and transparent.
NCC gave the breakdown of the N50 million grant and the institutions awarded as Covenant University Ota, (N9,321,400), Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University, Bauchi( N5,916,00) and Enugu State University of Science and Technology (N1, 381,000) .
Also included were Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile Ife(N3,545,266.00), University of Port Harcourt (N5, 265, 000.00), Nigeria Air Force Institute of Technology, Kaduna (N5,000,000.00) and Elizade University, Ilara-Mokin (N5,000,000.00.).
Ahmadu Bello University(ABU), Zaria, got N12,332,000 and N6,995,180.00.
Speaking on behalf of the awardees, Prof. Sani Suleiman of ABU, Zaria, thanked the commission for the confidence reposed in them, urging it to ensure that the laudable initiative was extended to telecoms operators.
Federal Government on Friday in Abuja said it would deepen efforts toward commercialising research results for industrialisation of the nation.
Dr Ogbonnaya Onu, the Minister of Science and Technology made this known at a news conference on the forthcoming Technology and Innovation Expo 2018.
Onu said such effort was needed to promote Nigeria from the comity of developing nations to the group of developed countries in a short while.
He expressed optimism that the outcome of the expo would play a major role toward national sustainability.
“The event will encourage interactions between researchers and investors with a view to commercialising research results, inventions and innovations from Nigeria’s research and tertiary institutions.
“The Expo 2018 will facilitate growth of indigenous manufacturing hinged on Science, Technology and Innovation (STI) as well as generally promoting STI culture in Nigeria.
“It will also fast track the implementation of the National Science, Technology and Innovation Road Map of 2017 to 2030 to bring to fore the capabilities of Nigerian scientists, engineers, and inventors/innovators in contributing to economic diversification of Nigeria,’’ he said.
The minister said the 2018 edition of the Technology and Innovation Expo would feature exhibitions of research and development results, inventions, innovations, STI Products/Services.
Others are researchers/investors forum, technical sessions on emerging issues, Special Days for states, conglomerates, awards of prizes, certificates to outstanding exhibitors and researchers.
According to him, the theme of the Expo 2018 will be “Fast tracking Sustainable Development of Nigeria through Science and Technology“.
The expo will hold from March 5 to March 9.
Onu said the success achieved at the last edition of the expo from April 3 to April 7, 2017 had further spurred the interest of the investors to commercialise research and development results to aid diversification of the economy.
He said this year’s expo would build upon the objectives of the previous one.
The minister said that the objectives of this year’s edition would include follow-up on memorandum of understandings signed as a result of the last expo and promoting collaborations among research institutions and researchers/inventors.
A researcher, Dr Eric Mwangi, has advised researchers to take advantage of the international funding to overcome the critical challenges of funding facing research projects.
Mwangi, who is a lead researcher in Kenyan Ministry of Education, Science and Technology, gave the advice in a paper entitled: “Strengthening Science, Technology and Innovation (STI) between Europe and Africa’’.
He presented the paper at the ongoing First International Workshop on Science Parks and Innovation Eco-system for National Development (SPIE4ND) at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN), on Saturday.
Mwangi regretted that many African researchers were yet to be part of the collaborative and joint international research work that got funding through donor agencies and developed countries.
“Though, we may not have enough money to run serious and far-reaching researches in Africa, we can tap from some existing and functional international funding from donor agencies, foundations and governments of developed world.
“Nigeria and Nigerian researchers must come up and take advantage of these and improve the environment and add value to lives of people in the country,’’ Mwangi said.
Also, Dr Dan-Azumi Ibrahim, the Director-General, National Office for Technology Acquisition and Promotion (NOTAP), said that Intellectual Property (IP) made innovation to work.
Ibrahim said in his paper, “Intellectual Property, Promotion and Protection; Pros and Cons’’ that intellectual property guarantee reward for the researcher after years of sacrifice to get results.
According to him, universities need to partner NOTAP to ensure that their research findings and innovations can transform to business and profit.
“With intellectual property, a university can create wealth and be highly financially independent since innovation from its researches can turn to real-time business and profit.
“NOTAP is always on hand to assist institutions to protect their intellectual works as well as promote them to create wealth and jobs within the country.
“The agency is already developing a website where abstracts of research findings, developed models and innovation can be uploaded.
“They will eventually be showcased for industries, donor agencies and international agencies and government to see,’’ Ibrahim, represented by Dr Isaac Nwaedozie, said.
The workshop, which started on Feb. 21, is organised by UNN, Ideon Science Park, Sweden and LundaVision AB from Sweden.
No fewer than 100 lecturers from Nigerian and African Universities, including investors are attending the workshop.
University of Ilorin’s Institute of Molecular Science and Biotechnology (UIMSB), will be contributing 10,000 genomes to the 100 million genome project in the next five years.
Dr Kolawole Matthew, the Ag. Director of the institute, made the disclosure in Ilorin on Tuesday while declaring open the annual workshop on Biomedical Innovation and Research Commercialization.
A genome is all the genetic information of an organism. For example, the human genome is analogous to the instructions stored in a cookbook. Just as a cookbook gives the instructions needed to make a range of meals including a holiday feast or a summer picnic.
The programme was organised by the institute in conjunction with the Laboratory and the Product Centre of the University.
According to him, the action makes the university to become the first institution in the whole of Sub-Sahara Africa to attain the feat.
The researcher described genome as `a genetic information of an organism’.
He said that the human genome contained all the instructions needed to make the full range of human cell types including muscle cells or neurons.
According to him, the development of new technologies has made genome sequencing dramatically cheaper and easier, and the number of complete genome sequences is growing rapidly.
Kolawole said: “Before the death of the famous Steve Jobs, the Co-founder of Apple, he donated $100,000 USD to sequence the genome of the cancer that killed him.
“About 13 years ago, the United States Government spent about $3 billion USD and produced in returns one trillion US dollars in economic impact to the Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) through the human genome project”.
The director, however, lamented that African research institutes, and Nigeria in particular, had not keyed into these advancements.
He said that the institute was determined as part of its major goals to contribute 10,000 genomes to the 100 million genome project in the next five years, thereby becoming the first institute in the whole Sub-Saharan Africa to attain the feat”.
According to him, this might sound not achievable knowing full well that sequencing a single genome cost about $1,000, and sequencing 10,000 genomes would cost $10 million.
Mathew disclosed that the institute was making frantic collaborative efforts with international bodies and notable organisations like Inqaba Biotech West Africa (Africa Genomic Company) towards making the quest possible.
Earlier, the Vice-Chancellor of the university, Prof Sulyman Abdulkareem said that it would explore new frontiers in the area of molecular biology with a view to producing world class researchers within the next few years.
He observed that recent advances in medicine, agriculture and biomedical engineering were strongly linked to molecular science and biotechnology.
Abdulkareem reiterated that the University was devoting resources to research in those fields to increase the outputs that would provide immediate solutions to the problems of food insufficiency, environmental degradation and health care challenges.
A new study has shown there are four types of Facebook users on the social media platform, revealed in what users display the most, and why they do so.
The researchers from Brigham Young University say 1.28 billion people check in on Facebook each day, and that they each spend about 35 minutes browsing their feeds.
“Social media is so ingrained in everything we do right now,” study co-author Kris Boyle says, adding: “And most people don’t think about why they do it, but if people can recognize their habits, that at least, create awareness”.
The study, published in the International Journal of Virtual Communities and Social Networking, found people generally fell into four categories.
Relationship builders respond to other people’s posts and use Facebook to strengthen real-world relationships. “They use it as an extension of their real life, with their family and real-life friends,” study lead author Tom Robinson says.
Town criers, however, make a distinction between their real and virtual worlds. They don’t share photos or stories about themselves. Instead, they “want to inform everybody about what’s going on” by reposting news stories and announcing events.
Selfies self-promote. They are heavy posters of pictures, videos and updates. But their motive is to get attention, unlike relationship builders. Study co-author Kris Boyle says selfies use Facebook “to present an image of themselves, whether it’s accurate or not.”
Window shoppers are there, but they generally don’t want to be seen. They feel a sense of obligation to see what their friends and associates are saying, but rarely contribute themselves. “It’s the social-media equivalent of people watching,” study co-author Clark Callahan says.
“What is it about this social-media platform that has taken over the world?” study lead author, Tom Robinson asks.
“Why are people so willing to put their lives on display? Nobody has ever really asked the question, ‘Why do you like this?’” he further queried.
The study, he says, goes some way to answering these questions by identifying our human motivations.
While similar categories to ‘relationship-builder’ and ‘selfie’ users have been found by other studies, the researchers say the emergence of ‘town criers’ and ‘window shoppers’ was an unexpected find.
“Nobody had really talked about these users before, but when we thought about it, they both made a lot of sense,” Robinson says.
But the definitions are not always clear-cut.
Many users may identify with more than one category.
Most people have some degree of ‘selfie’ behaviour. But almost all fall more into one category than all the others.
Are you a Relationship builder, a town crier, a selfie or a window shopper Facebook user? Leave a comment below!
The question of when Nigerian universities research works will leave rusty shelves has been asked time and time again with no end seems to be in view, but experts have provided a tech solution, and there is one university in Nigeria that is at the forefront driving efforts in that direction to removing its pile of research works from rusty shelves.
Universities have great data that can benefit the Nigerian economy, and researches kept in rusty shelves if recouped can actually make a lot of money for the ailing Nigerian economy. This was the position held by a panel of experts at the Nigerian International Technology Exhibition and Conference (NITEC) 2017 that held in Lagos recently.
The experts agreed based on the following facts that the Nigerian university community is a critical ecosystem for generating useful data.
Nigeria presently has about 160 public and private universities. About 600 thousand students are admitted in all universities in Nigeria every session meaning that about 3 million students study in all Nigerian universities annually. Factorizing this into a 10-year period, you have 30 million students who pass through the Nigerian universities system.
These students carry out painstaking researches to write assignments, term papers, seminar papers and final year research project. The data so generated are yet to find the light of day and lying in waste in the shelves of Nigerian universities.
Putting into consideration postgraduate students and lecturers who make up the universities ecosystem, and who churn out large amount of research data as well, the university system then become an important point of call in the discourse of big data.
Experts are saying nations of the world making huge impacts are moving away from commodity-based economy to knowledge-based economy, and that huge data being generated by the Nigerian university system can create huge revenue for the Nigerian economy, if the data are properly harnessed.
UNN innovation with Roar Nigeria hub
Professor Benjamin Chukwuma Ozumba, the Vice Chancellor (VC) of the University of Nigeria Nsukka (UNN), who has seen value in the data lying in waste in Nigerian universities, said his institution is already leading the course in harnessing its data for revenue generation, especially with the establishment of Roar Nigeria Hub.
Prof. Ozumba said with Roar Nigeria Hub, UNN is poised to become the first full-fledged technology-embedded university in West Africa.
“We are trying to make UNN a Smart University. Everybody on campus has bought into it,” he said.
The VC, who was a panellist at the NITEC 2017 event, agreed with other panellists that research and data analytics form crucial part in deepening local content in the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) sector of the Nigerian economy.
“Universities are centres for learning, researches and educating the public. We talk about our universities graduating three million students annually; there are lecturers and non-academic staff, who are generating and warehousing data relevant to the society. But have we really harnessed these data? The answer is no! These data exist, but they have not been harnessed,” the VC said.
“We know that most of these data are warehoused in ICT repositories. They use it in ranking universities. They want to know if you are creating output in the numbers of researches published.
“We are working to connect what we have in the library to the main repository. We found out there are issues with that. We have to hire an ICT specialist to fix it, and our university repository shot up immensely.
“There are a lot of missing links. We have to get it right. That is why I am saying I want to make my university a smart university in that direction.
“We know that if these data in the universities are properly harvested and warehoused, and well researched, organizations can buy them.
“Data is a tool for making money. That is why Google is thriving; they harness the data they have to make fortunes out of them. So, we need infrastructure and intelligent use of data,” the VC espoused.
TheNewsGuru tech editor found out from a visit to the UNN recently that the Roar Nigeria Hub was opened to the public with a mission to produce the next generation of entrepreneurs by creating an enabling environment, support systems and relevant skills to succeed with technology entrepreneurship.
“With about 50 kilometres of fibre optic cable connecting the university, we also intend to solve the challenges faced by businesses with available data on the campuses.
“University is where you are taught to explore. There is no infinity to acquiring knowledge. It’s where you get education before exploration to getting problems solved. Exploration requires a lot of components or tools; but in Nigeria where the laboratories are not functional how do you want it done. This motivated us to pursue the meeting — the town and gown — a meeting point of the universities and the industry.
“With the new trends of creating innovation/incubation hubs, such as Roar Nigeria, we will move Nigeria from commodity to a country creating items,” the VC further stated.
The need to rethink Big Data
The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Cymantiks, Mr. Emeka Okoye, who is also a panellist at the event, highlighted the relevance of universities’ researches to the economy, and stressed there need to rethink Big Data.
He said universities’ researches have become more needed as the world enters the fourth industrial revolution driven by Big Data, Internet of Things (IoT), Artificial Intelligence (AI), Robotics and Machine Learning.
“Let’s take ‘big’ aside… data is just an observation,” the Cymantiks CEO said, adding that “When students interact with academic and non-academic staff, they generate data… it dwells down to universities policy on how data are managed. When it is become massive, we now say big data”.
“Focusing on research is actually very huge. We need to understand the current trends. We are about to enter the 4th industrial revolution, and it is driven by data. There are up to 34 disruptive technologies right now — from IoT to AI — and they all feast on data.
“It means that the way we understand data before has got to change; because right now, we need to change by incorporating data into our everyday activities,” he further stated.
Mr. Okoye said it has become imperative for Nigerian universities to rethink on how to commercialize the huge repository of research data developed over the years.
“They ought to make lot of money from data. A university in Kenya is earning close to $1 billion from patents. University as a mini-community is very crucial in research and a test-bed for new technology,” Okoye said.
Also part of the panel was the CEO of Crestsage, Mr. Charles Emembolu, who said value creation should drive universities’ motivation to monetize their data and research works, and assist government’s ideas on local content concepts and development of young people with relevant skill sets.
Mr. Emembolu, who played a pivotal role in the establishment of Roar Nigeria, said research works contain useful facts capable of solving puzzles in the ICT industry and the society in general, adding that “Standardization, skilled professionals are needed in our industry today”.
He further stated that “awareness creation for people to understand the essence of big data must start from the universities” adding that “The Universities boards need to improve the system to further understand graduation and post-graduation achievements of students”.
He, however, advised that students of Nigerian universities must learn to embark on only research works that are capable of generating revenue not just for the university system or the government, but for themselves as well.
Research findings have revealed that 32 per cent of Smartphone users access news, and other content on the Internet in their bathroom/toilet.
Digital News Report 2017 published recently shows that over half (56%) of the population studied, use their devices in personal spaces, up substantially from the figure it published two years ago.
“Almost half of smartphone users (46%) access news in bed and 32% read or watch news stories when they are in the bathroom or toilet,” the research finding reveals.
“It is simply more convenient to pick up the device that is always with you, rather than seek out a computer or tablet in another room,” the authors of the report stated.
According to the report, across all countries surveyed, younger groups are much more likely to use social media and digital media as their main source of news, while older groups cling to the habits they grew up with (TV, radio, and print).
It reveals a third of 18-24s (33%) now say social media are their main source of news – that’s more than online news sites (31%) and more than TV news and printed newspapers put together (29%).
The report also revealed that the top ranking social network for news is Facebook with LinkedIn least used.
Despite the rise of aggregators, social media and search remain the most important gateways to online content, alongside traffic coming to websites and apps.
Video findings reveal that online news scouts consume more videos on social media than on video platforms and news websites.
In the face of rising concerns for fake news, the survey finds a big difference between the news media and social media in their ability to separate fact from fiction.
In countries like the US (38%/20%), Canada (51%/24%), and the UK (41%/18%), people are twice as likely to have faith in the news media. Only in Greece do more people trust social media (19%/28%) but this has more to do with the low opinion of the news media in general than the quality of information in their news feeds.
“The crisis over fake news could be the best thing that has happened to journalism – or the worst. It is certainly focusing minds and wallets. Next year’s chapter in this on-going story will be fascinating to watch,” the report stated.
