Keyword

1 Introduction

The internet is the fastest growing infrastructure in everyday single day the life in today's world. The internet is basically the network of networks used across for communication and data sharing. The term “Cyber” describes a person, thing, or idea that is associated with the computer and information age. It is relevant to computer systems or computer networks. A computer network is basically the collection of communicating nodes that helps in transferring data across. The nodes at any given time could be computers, laptops, smartphones, etc. The term crime is denoted as an unlawful act punishable under the law. Cybercrime was defined as a type of crime committed by criminals who use a computer as a tool and the internet as a connection to achieve different objectives such as illegal downloading of music and films, piracy, spam mailing, and so on. Cybercrime evolves from the erroneous use or abuse of internet services. According to (Mariam Webster), cybercrime includes any criminal act involving computers or networks (Chatterjee 2014).

Focusing on the case of Lagos mainland L.G.A in Lagos State (Nigeria), this study aims to investigate the impacts of cybercrime on the social life of various social media networks on community users. The study's objective is to find out the variety social media and networking sites community users have access. In addition, to determine how community users got involved in various cybercrime activities and how people prevent themselves from cyber-attack.

2 Materials and Methods

2.1 Design of Research

The design of research that was implemented for this study is a survey research design descriptive. A descriptive survey study is the best method for describing a population that is too large to observe directly.

2.2 Population of the Study

The study was conducted in Lagos mainland L.G.A of Lagos Stateandfocus mainly on community dwellers.

2.3 Sample Techniques

In this survey research, one hundred and twenty (120) people were selected randomly in Lagos mainland L.G.A of Lagos State using a simple random sampling technique 60 male and 60 female. The samples were selected randomly from their different homes. From the above explanation, all the samples were randomly selected according to their population. And the total number that was randomly selected from the L.G.A will make up the total samples that were required for this study.

2.4 Research Instrument

The questionnaire was used as a research instrument for the survey research. The questionnaire was divided into two (2) sections. Section A sought information about Age, Sex/gender; most visited social networks, duration of visitation, hours spent on social networks daily, etc. It was designed to tick the box that corresponds with their opinions on the question asked to express their mind about the subject matter (the question being asked). Section B was explicitly designed to determine the awareness level of students using social media platforms on cyber security.

2.5 Validity of the Instrument

The instrument was given to the expert (project supervisor) for vetting, after which the instruments were collected back with corrections and the proper check was affected before the final copy was produced.

2.6 Instrument Reliability

The instrument reliability was done through the test-retest method. The questionnaires were administered twice on twenty (20) respondents drawn from Alimosho L.G.A, which was out of the sample within two weeks interval. The data collected were correlated using Cronbach's alpha to obtain a standard data range (0.72) that was considered high enough for a study.

2.7 Administration of Instrument and Data Collection

The instruments were administered to the respondents in their different homes, personally by the researcher and were collected back immediately.

2.8 Analysis Method of Data

The data were analyzed using the statistics descriptive of frequency counts and simple percentages.

3 Results

This section is concerned with the presentation and analysis of data on Age, Sex, most visited social networks, duration of visitation, hours spent on social networks daily and students with a gadget that can access the internet.

3.1 Frequency Distribution of Demographic Variables

Table 1. The distribution frequency the respondents by age
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The result from Table 1 shows that the number of respondents between the ages of 21–25 years is more than other respondents between the ages of 15–20 years, 26–30 years, 31 years and above. Out of the 120 respondents, there were 54 respondents representing 45.0% between the ages of 21–25 years. Since the respondents who make up the highest percentage are between the age ranges of 21–25 years, this means that the number of respondents aware of the effects of cyber security on social media platforms are people between the ages of 21–25 years.

Table 2. Frequency distribution of respondents by sex
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The result from Table 2 showed that there is an equal result in the gender of the respondents as arranged in the sampling techniques. Out of the 120 questionnaire distributed, there were 60 respondents representing 50.0% males, while there were also 60 respondents representing 50.0% females.

Table 3. Descriptive statistics of frequency count on most visited social networks
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The result from Table 4 above showed that students visit WhatsApp more than other social networks. Out of the 120-questionnaire distributed, there were 38 respondents representing 31.7% WhatsApp users, 26 respondents representing 21.7% Instagram users, 20 respondents representing 16.7% Facebook users, five respondents representing 4.2.7% B.B.M., three respondents representing 2.5% 2go users. In comparison, there were 13 respondents representing 10.8% Google users. Since the respondents who make up the highest percentage of most visited social networks platforms choose WhatsApp, it means that WhatsApp represents the most visited social network platforms by community dwellers.

Table 4. Descriptive statistics of frequency count on the duration of the visit of social networks site
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The result from Table 5 above showed that social networks are being visited every day by the respondents as it has the highest percentage of choice. Out of the 120 questionnaires distributed, there were 68 respondents representing 56.7%, daily users, 27 respondents representing 22.5% are once a week visitors, 23 respondents representing 19.2% visit twice a week, and there were only two respondents representing 1.2% that never visit therefore since the respondents who make up the highest percentage are those who visit every day, almost all the people with Lagos mainland L.G.A of Lagos state visit one or two social network sites every day.

Table 5. Descriptive statistics of frequency count of students with a mobile phone or any media gadget that can access the internet
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The result from Table 6 below showed that the majorities of students have a mobile phone or social media gadget that can access the internet. Out of the 120 questionnaires distributed, there were 102 respondents representing 85.0% students with social media gadgets that can access the internet, while 18 respondents representing 15.0% students, don’t have access to the internet. Since the respondents who make up the highest percentage are those with social media gadgets that can access the internet, it means that most community dwellers are aware of the effects of cyber security on social media platforms.

3.2 Analysis of Data Related to the Issues Raised by the Study

HOW DO COMMUNITY PEOPLE GET INVOLVED IN VARIOUS CYBERCRIME ACTIVITIES?

Table 6. Table showing how community people get involved in various cybercrime activities
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The table above shows the percentage summation of those who answered “Strongly agree”, “Agree”, “Disagree”, “strongly disagree”, as analysed in the table above.

After the answers on the six items were added, the average percentage was found by dividing the total percentage on the items by six as presented in the table below.

HOW DO PEOPLE PREVENT THEMSELVES FROM CYBER-ATTACKS?

Table 7. Table showing how people prevent themselves from cyber-attack
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The table above shows the percentage summation of those who answered “Strongly agree”, “Agree”, “Disagree”, “strongly disagree”, as analysed in the table above.

After the answers on the four items were added, the average percentage was found by dividing the total percentage on the items by four as presented in the table below.

4 Discussion

The result from demographic variables by age, sex, Most visited social networks, and community dwellers with a mobile phone or any media gadget that can access the internet from Table 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 show that the numbers of people in the community who are aware of the effects of cyber security on social media platforms are people between the ages of 21–25 years, the gender of the respondents are equal which signify that both male and female community dwellers have access to various social network platforms. From the most visited social network platform, Whatsapp represents the most visited social network platform by the people. The result from how often people visit various social media platforms shows that almost all community dwellers of Lagos mainland L.G.A do visit one or two social network sites every day and above on social network sites on a daily basis, while statistics show that large numbers of community dwellers have social media gadget that can access the internet which signifies that majority of them are aware of the effects of cyber security on social media platforms.

The result obtained from Table 6 indicates that social media platforms have no significant influence on how people get involved in various cybercrime activities. This is against (Global Risks 2013) report, which affirmed that the ability of individuals to share information with an audience of millions is at the heart of the particular challenge that social media presents to businesses. In addition to giving anyone the power to disseminate commercially sensitive information, social media also offers the same ability to spread false information, which can be just as damaging. The rapid spread of false information through social media is an emerging risk. In a world where we're quick to give up our personal information, companies have to ensure they're just as fast in identifying threats, responding in real-time, and avoiding a breach of any kind. Since these social media easily attract people, the hackers use them as bait to get the information and the data they require.

The result obtained from Table 7 indicates that social media platforms have a significant influence on how people prevent themselves from cyber-attack. This supports (Okeshola 2013) report, which affirmed that inspecting your mails before opening is a very useful way of detecting unusual or strange activities. Email spam and cyberstalking can be detected by carefully checking the email header, which includes the sender's real email address, internet protocol address, and the date and time it was sent. It has been discovered that cybercriminals can be extremely careless; therefore, it is recommended that the system be reviewed on a regular basis to detect unusual errors. Individuals should also ensure that proper security controls are in place and that the most recent security updates are installed on their computers. Lakshmi (2015) defines formalised formalised formalised formalised formalised formalised formalised formalised formalised formally.