The Role of Social Media in Voter Sensitization in Nigeria

Iris Publishers LLC, 2019

Social media has become a prominent and a powerful forum for voter enlightenment, political activism and fastest means of information dissemination. Social media platforms, such as Instagram, Twitter, Facebook and YouTube help to activate citizens’ engagement in political life. The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) saddled with the responsibility of educating voters on their electoral roles and responsibilities unfortunately doesn’t have pronounced presence in the social space. This paper analyses the roles of social media in voters’ education and how INEC can make itself more active on the cyberspace for effective information dissemination and voter education.

2017

The 21 st century can be described as the age of information technology. Technology runs almost all human endeavours, including politics. In recent times, politicians have swerved from the use of traditional media (broadcast and print) to the use of social media to carry out their political and electoral campaigns in order to realize their political ambition. One of the major challenges of electioneering in the 21 st century is that, due to the faceless nature of the internet, social media spreads propaganda, false information, and hate speeches about an electoral candidate. These go viral and are used to manipulate the electorate. This paper examines the role of social media in the awareness, participation, and possible influence on the Nigerian electorate in their decision or choice of leadership during the 2015 presidential election. Findings show that the social media played a major role in mobilizing people, creating awareness, as well as participation and circulation of information about candidates. It therefore recommends, among other things, that regulatory methods on what should and should not be posted on social media should be put in place by the governing bodies of various social media platforms. This will help to censor and check information that spread on social media platforms. This way, campaigns that use and encourage hate speeches or instill violence will not be posted or published. The method of analysis is descriptive and the data are largely drawn from secondary literature.

IOSR Journal of Humanities And Social Science (IOSR-JHSS), 2016

The place of social media to rally political support is no longer in doubt. To advance the conversation and mobilize political supports, social media has become a critical political tool for campaign planners. The 2011 general elections in Nigeria arguably marked a significant milestone in the use of social media for political communication in the country. Motivated by President Barrack Obama's successful use of Facebook to win the United States elections in 2008 as the first black American president, Nigerian politicians are indeed, gradually taking their campaigns to the social networking sites and other online platforms. Within the election period, political aspirants were disposing of all means to gear up their support base, following the realization that electioneering requires more than just handshakes and physical persuasion. This study is anchored on the theoretical frameworks of technological determinism and social judgment theory which suggest that exposure to Political campaigns encourages people to "assimilate" or equate their feelings about related target attitudes. Using electorates in the SouthEast of Nigeria, the paper explores the extent of youth involvement with the social media for electioneering process. The data generated were analyzed using frequency distribution and simple percentage. The findings indicate that the political campaigns through the new media had significant effect on the electorate's decision-making and participation in Nigerian elections. The study therefore recommends the embracing of social media for successive political campaigns that grants the electorate the interactive opportunity with the political candidates.

This study is a qualitative survey, a sequel to an earlier paper by the same scholar seeking to understand the influence of social media use on the 2015 general election in Nigeria. While the earlier paper focused on fully supported observations plus theoretical challenges that social media use poses to scholars of mass communication, this paper measures (a) what specific role did social media play in Nigerian youths political awareness and participation in the 2015 general elections; (b) the depth and frequency in percentage terms of social media use among the youths; as well as (c) the impact of social media on Nigerian youths political awareness and participation. The results show significant usage with an overwhelming majority of respondents admitting to visiting social media sites several times a day. It however shows social media use is limited to news and information discussions and opinion formations, rather than relying on it as the major source of credible political news, or information. Table II shows that for an overwhelming majority, the primary source of political information remains radio and television.

SAU JOURNAL OF MANAGEMENT AND SOCIAL SCIENCES, 2021

This study analysed how social media were used for the political mobilisation of voters during the 2015 general elections in Rivers State. To accomplish this purpose, mixed research method was adopted; this includes survey research method and indepth interview. For the survey, 384 copies of questionnaire were distributed to 354 party leaders and 30 INEC staff members. Out of this number, only 350 copies of the questionnaire were duly filled and returned forming the basis for the analysis. For the interview, 3 publicity secretaries from the select political parties participated in the study. The data collected were analysed using frequency tables, percentages and the Four-point Likert scale while the interview data were analysed thematically. The findings showed that social media contributed to the voting strength of the 2015 general elections in Rivers State. Also, the most preferred social media platform during the 2015 general elections in Rivers State was Facebook. Furthermore, political parties as well as INEC encountered the issues of lack of sufficient funds, inadequate manpower and insecurity during the 2015 general elections in Rivers State. It was concluded that the social media played an effective role during and after the elections which culminated in electoral victory. It was, therefore, recommended that INEC should begin with physical campaign for voters' participation for a long time before electioneering period to give the electorate first-hand information and trainings on the voting process. Also, the use of social media should be intensified during elections.

International Institute of Academic Research and Development , 2023

This study is premised on the impact cum relevance of social media on elections in Nigeria, with a special focus on the 2020 gubernatorial election in Edo State, Nigeria. The social media has revolutionized the landscape of political interaction globally, and Nigeria being a key player in the scheme of things, has not been immune to this transformative phenomenon. Owing to her large population cum growing digital connectivity, the social media has emerged as a very powerful tool for disseminating information, informing public opinions, as well as mobilizing citizens during electoral processes. We made use of Max Weber (1964) Theory of Social Action. The social action theory is pertinent to this study as it takes into account both external factors (institutional factors) and internal factors (such as age, gender, religion, ethnicity, education, and perception) in explaining the voting behavior of the electorate. We also made use of both the qualitative and quantitative Method in this study. The survey method was used in the presentation and analyzing of the data. From our findings, it is evident that the role of the social media on elections in Nigeria cannot be over emphasized. Also, the usage of the social media varies among age groups. The younger generation engage these tools (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc) more. Submissively, we recommend that the government should improve on the awareness of digitalization, develop different strategies for the various locations, ages, sex, and etcetera.

2018

The use of social media in politics has continued to grow in recent times. Since Barack Obama broke the world record in the history of social media use for political purpose during the 2008 US presidential elections, many nations and politicians across the globe have continued to embrace the platform to mobilise their citizens and candidates towards active participation in the political process. Nigeria had the first real test of social media use for political participation during the 2011 General Elections. This study examines the experiment of social media use for political participation in Nigeria. The study was anchored on the Uses and Gratifications Theory. Findings show that the use social media has grossly affected the participation of individual in the day to day political process. As a developing country, Nigeria must embrace this platform in other to ensure greater participation of her populace in government activities.

INTERNATIONAL INSTITUTE OF AFRICAN STUDIES, 2018

Today, social media have become a natural part of the everyday lives of people all over the world. More than 800 million people worldwide are members of the Facebook network while Twitter counts more than 200 million accounts in total. The study examined the influence and role played by social media in ensuring free, fair and credibility of 2015 presidential election in Nigeria. The 2015 presidential election marked a turning point in the history of Nigerian elections. The study adopted Uses and Gratification Theory. The study utilized only secondary sources of data. The data collected were analyzed using content analysis. The finding of the study revealed that the 2015 presidential election in Nigeria was free, fair, transparent and credible as acknowledged by the Local and Foreign observers. The 2015 presidential election mark the turning point in the history of Nigerian elections, where election was characterized with little irregularities. The study also found out that mal-function of the card readers in some units, inadequate electoral materials, lack of trained personnel and late arrival of material and electoral official among others were the major problems associated with 2015 presidential election in Nigeria. The study concludes that the success and credibility of the 2015 presidential election is attributed to the role of social media by reporting and covering every elections event before, during and after election. The social media platforms provide an accurate calculation of the election result before even INEC announced the winners. The study recommended that there is need for adequate awareness, social media censorship and legislation against hate speech in social media

Advances in information and communication technology are impacting the way we receive and process information. At the forefront of this development is the increased use of the social media. Social media applications like Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp, YouTube and a host of others have not only become an essential feature of people's daily lives it has also influenced the way people receive, process, disseminate and share information. The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of the social media on the 2015 presidential election in Nigeria. A qualitative study design was employed in the research problem. A non-probability sampling procedure was used to draw samples for the study. Data were analyzed through thematic categorization. Emergent themes were delineated and categorised in relation to identifiable variables on social media influences on the 2015 presidential election. The results suggest that the social media has created a platform for more democratic participatory citizenry and contributed to the outcome of the 2015 presidential election in Nigeria. The results of this study are significant for political parties, those seeking political office, media practitioners, social media users, policy-makers and the general public.

The election of 2015 has demonstrated the efficacy of social Media use in electioneering campaigns, virtual monitoring of election conduct across various polling units, and the dissemination of post-election results. The principal difference that enhanced its performance seems to be its ability to present fully interactive fora for political discourse, for both candidates and their electorates. It also provided platforms whose manner of use readily challenged two basic theories of journalism and mass communication, i.e. the agenda setting theory as well as gatekeeping theory. The end result appear mixed as far as positive and negative consequences of social media use in political circles. But as this paper will exemplify, without doubt, social media has played the greatest role in the just concluded 2015 election that ushered in the present administration of President Muhammadu Buhari, more than any other Nigerian election before it.