Graduates cautioned against negative social media usage

SOCIAL MEDIA

Graduates have been advised to use social media platforms positively and develop themselves other than attacking people.

Speaking at the 12th graduation ceremony of United Media Consultants and trainers (UMCAT) school of Journalism, Mass Communication and Business studies in Kampala recently, Noah Kiyimba the spokesperson for Buganda kingdom said most youths use social media platforms to abuse people which destroys their integrity.

Kiyimba urged the youth to use social media to address the urgent needs of people in the field of journalism, especially in traditional media.

"Social media has changed traditional media, by the time you tell someone to read a paper, they have already seen the headlines on social media and don't need the paper, you should be creative and innovative and use social media to fit in this kind of challenging media environment to serve the needs of people," Kiyimba noted.

He challenged them to use social media to market and promote themselves in various groups they subscribe to instead of wasting time discussing unproductive topics.

"If you're to do research, you will be surprised when you find out that 80% of youth use social media for chatting yet they are to exploit those platforms, they can use them to do a lot of important and productive things that solve society problems," Kiyimba added.

The director of UMCAT School of journalism and mass communication Charles Ogwel urged journalism teaching institutions to address the issue of social media and integrate it in the curriculum, adding that social media will have a negative impact on the youths if they are not advised on how to use the information found on social media platforms.

"We realise that we must shift our concentration from teaching students how to only write good stories to producing students who are problem solvers in embracing new technologies and making them concentrate on only using good information which is at their fingertips," Ogwel said.

Ogwel said most social media networks is infiltrated by false information, which he termed as rumours; that people are basing on to make decisions which is creating a shift and conflicts in the country.

 "Wherever you will be placed, once you get a commitment, do it to your best and produce good results, the money will look for you," Ogwel noted.

The institution graduated 447 students in fields of journalism, communication and business studies where Idrisa Kirumira was the overall student with grade point average (GPA) of 4.83 in diploma in Journalism and Mass communication, followed by Julius Ben Opolot with GPA of 4.80 in diploma in business administration.

Kirumira attributes his success to hard work

Ogwel urged graduates to aim at building their careers instead of chasing money.