Social media entrepreneurship as an employment creation strategy: a case study of students in Durban, South Africa.

Abstract

The study was motivated primarily by the realisation that the issue of youth unemployment, which has long perplexed both developed and developing countries, has reached new heights, particularly in South Africa. Nevertheless, it was acknowledged that there appears to be a much-needed shift in how young people use social media to combat this issue. The overall aim of the study is to shed insight into the youth’s social media usage as an employment creation strategy in Durban, South Africa. The study aimed to explore social media usage as an employment creation strategy among students in Durban, while ascertaining student’s perspectives and experiences of social media as an employment creation strategy. It also wanted to explore the opportunities and barriers of using social networking as an employment creation strategy. The study asked how social media is used as an employment strategy among students. This study collected data using telephonic interviews with 20 participants, who were students in various higher education institutions in Durban. The study found that the social media entrepreneurs interviewed, did not make money through being online like how bloggers, social media personalities do but they used social media for advertising their businesses. The study also found that the ‘studentrepreneurs’ utilised social media because it is cheaper than the traditional way of advertising. Despite the numerous advantages found, such as helping entrepreneurs to collaborate with other small business owners, time efficiency and target market availability, social media was also found to possess its own disadvantages. A few of those disadvantages included finance, COVID-19, the fast paced and forever changing customer interest and many others mentioned. It was reported in the study that each time the participants conducted business online, they stood a chance of being victims to hackers, fraudsters, perverts and bullies. The study recommended that youth entrepreneurs should employ various social media sites to cater to various consumers. This was recommended to be done after noting the different participants' complaints of being victims of cyber-crimes. The study also suggested that whenever a corporation has implemented social media entrepreneurship, those who are in charge must devote enough time to it and should be willing to participate in social media to improve interaction between the company and its customers as this would help with relationship building. The study also recommended a collaboration between the government and the private sector or the private sector and NGOs, which would connect the youth to the preconceptions of the private sector.