SOCIAL MEDIA AND MANAGEMENT OF COVID-19 INFORMATION IN NIGERIA
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SOCIAL MEDIA AND MANAGEMENT OF COVID-19 INFORMATION IN NIGERIA
Chapter one
INTRODUCTION
Background of Study
Social media has evolved over time into an active technological tool in Nigeria, as well as a news and communication medium for the country’s citizens. Access to mobile telephony, particularly among digitally adept youths, has made information transmission easy as a snap of the finger.
In recent years, as the epidemic has encroached on and weakened global activities, social media platforms have been used to provide individuals with information. Its relevance has grown, particularly after the government established a lockdown policy to combat the spread of the Covid-19 virus.
As a result, it has evolved into an active tool for engagement and communication, disseminating both reasonable and disbelieving (mis)information.
There is an increasing corpus of literature on social media. A critical investigation demonstrates both change and continuity in communication and information technologies. Let’s look at some of the difficulties.
Social media is an offshoot of the Internet, which, according to DiMaggio et al. (2001, p. 307), is an electronic network or networks that connects people and information via computers and other digital devices, allowing for person-to-person communication and information retrieval.
The Internet is a key technology that evolved for the purpose of information transmission; hence, the media works as an information hegemon in terms of controlling what information is made available to individuals and how they perceive issues (Savrum & Leon, 2015).
Social media is broadly defined as a collection of websites and web-based platforms that enable mass contact, conversation, and sharing among network users. These many media sources and communication networks were essential in aiding upheavals such as the Arab Spring (AlSayyad & Guvenc, 2015, p. 2025).
Its strength comes in the live images presented by video recordings of events as they occur. International livestreaming of events has the potential to mobilise a large audience of citizens for both positive and negative purposes.
Furthermore, it has played a significant part in destabilising autocratic regimes. Unfortunately, these numerous outlets have been exploited as unscrupulous persons use their anonymity to scam or spread false information.
As the general population recognises the importance of social media for information engagement, no careful observer can overlook its abuse in Nigeria, particularly during this emergency period. As a result, this study highlights both its merits and disadvantages.
The Coronavirus (Covid-19) is an infectious illness that causes respiratory infections ranging from a typical cold to more serious respiratory issues.
It began in the Hunan seafood market in Wuhan, China, where live bats, snakes, raccoon dogs, and wild animals were sold in December 2019 (Shereen et al., 2020, pp. 91-98), and was declared a pandemic by the World Health Organisation on March 11, 2020.
Since its discovery, the virus is believed to have caused approximately 512,311 deaths worldwide, out of a total of 10,514,028 positive cases, which unfortunately grows exponentially every day (WHO, 2020).
The first victim of the virus in Nigeria was an Italian man who arrived on February 25, 2020. He was admitted to an Isolation Centre in Yaba, Lagos, after exhibiting viral symptoms (NCDC 2020).
As a result, the number of cases rose, and as of the time of writing, over 28,711 positive cases and 11,665 recovered individuals had been detected (NCDC, 2020).
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