A Moi University lecturer has won the Facebook Research Award emerging top in the globe.
Dr. Dan Omanga, Head of Department, Publishing and Media Studies, School of Information Sciences bagged the award worth $50,000 (Sh5 million).
According to Daily Nation, the award was presented by the social media giant under the Facebook Protect and Care Research projects.
Going forward, the proceeds of the award are expected to conduct an extensive research on how the people’s lives have been impacted by use of Facebook.
“He will use the grant to run a project in Kayole, Umoja and Huruma Estates of Nairobi, in seeking to probe the intersections of journalistic routines, community policing and Facebook, by way of an investigation of the life-worlds and discursive practices that locate criminal gangs, digital publics and the police service in one social media space,” a statement from the University read.
Dr Omanga is set to fly to Menlo Park, California in the US where Facebook headquarters are located. His trip has been paid for.
He said on Tuesday he is ready to conduct the research after his application was reviewed and emerged the tops.
His research will focus on how Facebook has been used to fight crime in Nairobi-particularly, some estates in Eastlands.
“I will have to pick two masters students to work with on this project and they will do a thesis on this subject,” he told Daily Nation when contacted.