Purpose This paper aims to investigate teacher students’ perceptions, intentions, experiences, attitudes, opinions and barriers concerning social media use and impact of social media on their learning process. Design/methodology/approach A stratified sampling technique was applied to draw the sample, and 242 teacher students were selected as a sample from three higher educational institutions in Gombe State, Nigeria. A questionnaire survey method was used to collect the data. Data analysis was by means of simple and inferential statistics. Findings The students widely used mobile phones to access social media, and social media was extremely popular for education, entertainment and communication among them. Educational and informational communities were also preferred by students to other social media communities. The study further revealed that effective social media usage among students enhanced their different types of skills including learning. Unstable electricity connections, security and privacy issues, internet costs and unreliable internet connections were recorded as some barriers concerning students’ social media use. Originality/value The outcome of this study will be a unique contribution because the pertinent literature provides little evidence or research highlights concerning teacher students’ social media use. Even more, the results of the present study may be a useful resource for university administrators, education policymakers and innovative teachers in universities – especially in developing countries and particularly Nigeria – when considering integration of modern techniques and technologies with university teaching and learning.

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