Social Media as Communication Channel for Innovators: a Case Study of Innovators in Nairobi County

Abstract

This was a case study examining the use of social media by innovators in Nairobi County. The general objective was to establish how social media is adopted as a communication channel on innovations, and the specific objectives were: (1) To establish how innovators use social media platforms as a communication channel, (2) to examine the challenges innovators face in using social media as the medium of communication in innovation, and (3) to explore the most preferred social media channel of communication among innovators. As a case study, primary data was collected using questionnaires administered to innovators and interviews were conducted to incubation managers. Under findings, first objective, the outcome was that innovators used social media for communication, networking, sharing ideas and challenges, conducting research, online mentorship and training, and soliciting raw innovation support for their ventures. As such, social media has become an important aspect of life and impacted different facets of businesses, including new ventures. In the second objective, under findings, innovators faced several challenges when using social media as the medium of communication in the innovation process - Internet downtimes, poor access in certain parts of the towns(s), and expensive Internet packages. Lastly, objective three findings revealed Facebook as the most prevalently used platform followed by Instagram, LinkedIn and Twitter, then YouTube, and TikTok.