PROPOSAL ON SOCIAL MEDIA USAGE AMONG STUDENTS DURING ENDSARS PROTEST
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PROPOSAL ON SOCIAL MEDIA USAGE AMONG STUDENTS DURING ENDSARS PROTEST
Literature Review
Conceptual framework
Social Media
This new medium uses digital channels to raise awareness and encourage social participation. Social media can be used to provide information, education, and entertainment.
According to Al-Harrasi and Al-Badi (2014), social networking sites have become a standard part of students’ everyday routines. They use many social networking sites, including Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Academia, and MySpace, and spend a significant amount of time on them.
Social media is employed not only in students’ daily lives, but also for economic transactions, advertising, and social movement activities. This is ‘a two-way digital system’ (Biagi, 2013). In other words, interactive systems allow users to provide feedback.
However, there is a divide between digital users and non-users, which may be due to social inequality. Technological advancements enable social media users to communicate their emotions and thoughts in any situation. Users may rapidly spread, share, and retweet messages via social media networks.
Social media plays an essential role in connecting people from all over the world. It helps to blend other people’s cultures, and because of the time spent on social media, users see many issues and share their perspectives on them.
Because social media has become a habit for many users, it can influence how they perceive an incident (Barkan, 2016). Social media is particularly important for campaigns since it allows individuals to communicate quickly and easily.
Social protests
People today rely not only on political parties and the electoral process to voice their preferences, but also on rallies, protests, campaigns, petitions, marches, and organisations to assist them achieve their social change objectives (Johnston, 2011). The opportunity structure must consider how a social movement is motivated by grievances (Lopes, 2014).
These grievances might stem from a shift or deterioration in political, social, or economic conditions (Lopes, 2014). Social movements rely on print and online media to mobilise and obtain public support, much as movements rely on the media to elicit compassion for their problems (Lopes, 2014).
People can now move and organise themselves because to advancements in technology. Social media platforms including Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, email, text messaging, and photo sharing have improved social connections, communications, and public participation in social movements.
Overview of the Endsars Protest
#EndSARS began as a campaign to dismantle Nigeria’s Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS), a unit of the Nigerian Police Force known for its brutality and human rights breaches.
It was initially used in 2018 to raise awareness to claims of brutality and exploitation by SARS officials. The government announced structural improvements to SARS, but claimed human rights breaches and exploitation persisted.
SARS personnel shot a youngster in the streets of Delta State without provocation in October 2020, according to social media accounts.3 Although the Nigerian Police denied the shooting in this case, this was insufficient to quiet popular outrage, as further recordings of police shootings were published on social media sites.
Celebrities and activists rallied for support on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook, and in only a few days, demonstrators packed the streets of Lagos and Abuja demanding an end to SARS. Pressured by the protests’ notoriety, the Nigerian government quickly announced the disbandment of SARS.
This step, however, was insufficient to pacify the demonstrators, given the government’s earlier comments. For example, in December 2017, the Inspector General of Police (IGP) declared that SARS had been barred from performing stop and search operations due to many accusations of harassment.
The IGP openly re-announced this restriction in 2018 and 2020, indicating that previous orders were unsuccessful. Similarly, in 2018, Nigeria’s acting president promised a reform of SARS, indicating that the National Human Rights Commission would look into cases of abuse.
This declaration was quickly followed by the establishment of a centralised FSARS (Federal Special Anti-Robbery Squad) that would report to the Inspector General of Police, as opposed to the previous version, which was overseen by state Commissioners of Police.
Only a few weeks later, the IGP stated that FSARS would be disbanded, with the unit returning to decentralisation and state commissioner command.
In light of previous practices and disappointments, demonstrators added to their list of demands, requesting reparations for victims of SARS brutality, police officer retraining, and the trials of indicted authorities.
Theoretical Review
The Public Sphere Theory by Jurgen Habermas.
Jurgen Habermas’ The Structural Transformation of the Public Sphere serves as a foundation for conversations about the public sphere(s) and, as a result, influences political activity.
Harbemas (1989) defines the public sphere as an area inside social life where public opinion is produced in a way that is open to everybody.
The theory’s proponent contends that social class statuses are meaningless in this area, and that relationships between activists in the public sphere are built via a common desire to participate in issues that affect the entire society.
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