**9. Conclusion**

Sub-Saharan Africa, is an African continent situated in Sub-Saharan with a population of 1.1 billion. The continent has recorded a tremendous increase in usage of social media technologies since the advent of Web-based technology. The various definitions of the concept revealed that social media is a Web-based technology that allowed content creation, modification of content, dissemination and sharing of information, group discussion, etc. in accelerated speed globally. There are several types of social media (Wiki, Bloggs, Twitter, Facebook, etc. used for diverse purposes such as promoting library products and services, disseminating research outputs, sharing relevant agricultural information, exchanging ideas, etc. in society. The paper revealed several benefits of social media which include; decrease marking cost, accelerated sharing of ideas, easy identifying of target audience and reaching out to

## *DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.108473 Perspective Chapter: The Use of Social Media in Sharing Information in Sub-Saharan Africa…*

new ones, showcasing of organizational culture and value, etc. Despite these benefits, several challenges (poor ICT infrastructure, lack of Internet connectivity, lack of access to technology devices, etc.) were identified to be hindering wider and more effective usage of social media in Sub-Sahara Africa.

Some ways to improve social media use in Sub-Sahara Africa were identified to include: the provision of adequate and workable Internet connectivity, the need to create more awareness programmes on the benefits of using the social media network in the library and other institutions, the need to organize conferences/workshops as regards the importance and relevance of social media in all sectors among others.
