Harnessing Social Media Content Creation for Youth Employment in Ogun-West Senatorial District, Nigeria

Abstract

The issue of youth unemployment is a long-term socio-economic problem in Nigeria, prompting youths to focus on the opportunities of digital entrepreneurship. This research examined the role of social media content creation on youth employment in Ogun West Senatorial District, Nigeria. A survey research design was used and data gathered by way of structured questionnaire that were administered to the youths in five local government areas in the district. The Cochran formula was used to determine a sample size of 384 respondent but which only 261 responses were obtained and used in the study. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics, correlation and multiple regression analysis. The findings indicated that there were strong positive correlations between the independent variables and the youth employment. The positive impact of digital skills on the employment of youth was significant (β = 0.348, t = 5.610, p < 0.000). Finance was also important in influencing youth employment (β = 0.279, t = 4.754, p < 0.000). Creativity came out as the best predictor of youth employment (β = 0.481, t = 10.217, p < 0.000). The regression model showed a good ability of explaining a high level of variation (R = 0.815; R2 = 0.663; F = 168.869; p < 0.001) of youth employment outcomes when the predictors were combined. The research concluded that empowering digital skills, access to finance and creativity are key elements that can be used to improve youth employment in the emerging digital economy in Nigeria by creating social media content.