USE OF SOCIAL MEDIA IN POLITICAL MOBILIZATION DURING THE 2019 GENERAL ELECTION IN NIGERIA
Need help with a related project topic or New topic? Send Us Your Topic
DOWNLOAD THE COMPLETE PROJECT MATERIAL
USE OF SOCIAL MEDIA IN POLITICAL MOBILIZATION DURING THE 2019 GENERAL ELECTION IN NIGERIA
1.0 General Introduction
Since the Obama election campaigns of 2008 and 2012, as well as the Arab spring that swept across North Africa, the role of social and digital media (web 2.0) has grown to become a true tool in boosting social transformation and political engagement. Indeed, media communication has always been essential to democracy and its institutions.
Scholars in the fields of media, political science, and information communication, such as Garrett (2006), Castells (2012), Morozov (2015, 2012), Bennett and Segerberg (2012), and Bosch (2017),
have emphasised how social media has aided in social and political movements, facilitating and promoting democratisation, reinforcing social change, and government commitments.
The introduction of the Internet as the new mass medium of the twenty-first century has significantly altered the mass media. As a result of the fast speed, low cost, and broad scope of information distribution, there is equal access to the production and consumption of news (Prat and Strömberg, 2015).
The 2019 general elections in Nigeria marked a substantial break from the norm in Nigerian political history. It was the first time a ruling party had been deposed. It was also the first time when more than three of Nigeria’s largest opposition parties and a group of a fourth joined forces and successfully created a unified political party (merger) to unseat an incumbent government, People’s Democratic Party, PDP.
The All Progressives Congress, APC, which won the 2019 presidential elections, was formed in February 2013 by a merger of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC),
the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP), and a faction of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA). It was also the first time an incumbent president conceded defeat and bowed out in a calm and mature transition.
While any of the variables stated above, as well as many more, may claim sole credit for the unprecedented success of the 2019 general elections, the reality is a combination of several factors, one of which is the openness and transparency made possible by digital technology.
As political and electoral events unfolded, social media was utilised in unprecedented ways to publicise, campaign for, and disseminate information online. Both politicians and voters used social media extensively to achieve their objectives. It is thus more accurate to say that the opposition politicians’ tactical strategy of using all means,
including the internet, to defeat the incumbent administration on one side, as well as the electorate’s determination to use whatever channel is available, including social media, to ensure their votes counted in the 2019 general elections, was much more pronounced than in any previous election.
The recent election of Muhammadu Buhari as Nigeria’s president has been lauded internationally as a historic transfer of power for Africa’s most populous country, with social media having a larger part or influencing the fairness of the election. With all of its problems, social media had the potential of immediacy.
They are also extremely participative. They were also delivering news and information about the elections in an election where residents were participating. People were empowered through their votes as well as their ability to share information. That’s not to suggest traditional media didn’t have an impact. However, the involvement of social media was crucial.
The power of the Internet is connecting the world; Facebook created internet.org, an attempt to provide even the most remote corners of society access to the World Wide Web. Political movements have begun to regard social media as a major organising and recruitment tool, and society has done the same.
Because social media is inherently a two-way communication mechanism, it provides all of this. Instead of receiving marketing messaging, you receive recommendations from friends in the form of re-shares and suggested posts, which de-commercializes the brand message.
Social media is that area, with its various tools that enable to amplify the voices of regular Nigerians, taking ordinary voices and turning them remarkable by bringing them to homes, offices, and places most of them would never have reached under different conditions.
It began as a playground for largely young unemployed individuals. It is now the battleground for what is likely Nigeria’s most competitive election in its history.
The introduction of the internet and technology has exposed the majority of the world population to many interactive platforms on which various types of information are exchanged, which may have a considerable impact on human behaviour,
decision-making, and judgement (CES,2012). Social media are new information networks and information technology that use a type of communication based on interactive and user-generated content to develop and maintain interpersonal relationships.
Eugene predicts a year in 2019. The use of social media platforms to get political news is becoming increasingly widespread. According to a 2014 research, 62% of web users use Facebook to find political news. This social phenomena enables political information, whether real or false, to flow fast and easily throughout peer networks.
Furthermore, social networking platforms are now encouraging political participation by bringing together like-minded people, reminding users to vote in elections, and analysing users’ political affiliation data to discover cultural similarities and contrasts.
As social media grows in popularity and reach, its influence on voters’ political and cultural opinions cannot be overstated. Social media practically changes how users connect, communicate, and make decisions on social, cultural, and political issues in today’s world.
Because of its ability to provide immediate and affordable access to the production and consumption of current information in any area of the world without editorial screening, social media has become a strong medium that may influence voting behaviour (Sunstein, 2001).
Social media not only gives information on political affiliations, candidates, and party manifestos, but it also provides a venue for voters across cultural barriers to relate to and interact with themselves on problems concerning these candidates. Social media may swiftly damage political personalities’ reputations with information that may or may not be true.
Information spreads like wildfire, and before a politician has a chance to address it, either to confirm, deny, or explain it, the public has already formed an opinion about the politician based on that information. However, when done on purpose, the spread of information on social media for political purposes may be extremely beneficial to campaigns.
Online open forums have also been the source of both harmful and beneficial political consequences. Some politicians have made the error of attempting to reach a larger audience and consequently more prospective votes through open forums. What they failed to consider was that the forums would be open to everyone, including opponents.
Having no control over the comments posted, whether positive and bad, has proved detrimental for some. Furthermore, one limitation of social media as a vehicle for public political discourse is that authoritarian governments recognise social media’s power to effect change.
Almost every political party in the country used social media to promote and advance its plans, messages, and manifestos to followers, including advertising, mobilisation, and organising in all 50 states, and even funding.
Facebook, YouTube, and especially Twitter were utilised to inform voters about how each party or specific candidate felt about critical national problems ranging from security to power.
As a result, social media grew powerful enough to influence voter decisions and choices, as many voters who had made up their minds and consciences to vote for a specific party or candidate began to change their minds depending on information or ideas they found online about the party or candidate
The information obtained by a certain voter was also not static, as the same voter would use various online tools and buttons to broadcast the same message to other voters like him via mediums such as blogs, Facebook, Nairaland, chat rooms, and so on in order to influence them.
Need help with a related project topic or New topic? Send Us Your Topic