IMPACT OF THE SOCIAL MEDIA ON THE VOTING PATTERN

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THE IMPACT OF THE SOCIAL MEDIA ON THE VOTING PATTERN OF SOKOTO PEOPLE IN THE 2019 GENERAL ELECTIONS IN SOKOTO STATE

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

The  role  of  the  social  media  in  political  mobilization  and  participation  across  the  globe  cannot  be overemphasized.  Of  recent,  the  social  media  have  been  playing  a  leading  role  in  mobilizing  support  for  or against  unpopular  leadership.  Recent  happenings  in  the  especially  in  Nigeria has  clearly  demonstrated  the  effects  of  the  social  media  on  political  mobilization  of  the people  to  effectively checkmate leaders thus leading to their enthronement or dethronement. It  is  also  on  record  that,  the  recent  election  that  took  the  Nigeria by  storm  were  hinged  on  the power  of  social  media.  Equally, the current deputy governor in the sokoto gubernatorial election effectively  used  the  social  media  channels  like  the  Facebook,  Twitter,  You-Tube  etc to mobilize electorates particularly the youths to support their political aspirations.  

According  to  Narnia,  B.  and  Charl  ,V.  (2011:2)  “the  term  social  media  refers  to  web-based  tools  and services  that  allow  users  to  create,  share,  and  search  for  content  and  information  without  having  to  log  on  to  any specific  portal  site  or  portal  destination”.  These  tools  have  become  „social‟  in  the  sense  that,  they  are  created  in ways  that  enable  users  to  share  and  communicate  with  one  another.  Social  media  are  media  for  social interaction,  using  highly  accessible  and  scalable  publishing  techniques.  Social  media  use  web-based technologies  to  transform  and  broadcast  media  monologues  into  social  dialogues.   According  to  Amaefule  (2011:20)  “The  Facebook,  which  is  one  of  the  first  social  media  tools  was launched  in  2004  and  has  over  664.03  million  users  in  about  233  countries  worldwide”.  Since  Facebook  was launched,  there  has  been  massive  interest  from  Africans such as Nigeria  to  use  the  medium  for  different  purposes  especially among the youths. This observation has been echoed by Narnia Bohler and Charl (2010:12) thus: Facebook  is  currently  the  most  visited  website  by  internet  users  on  the  African  continent  and  currently 17  million  people  on  the  continent  use  Facebook.  This  may  appear  to  be  a  small  percentage,  considering  that the  population  of  Africa  which  stands  at  over  1  billion,  although  it  depicts  an  increase  of  7  million  from  2009. The  rapid  growth  of  social  media  activities  especially  over  the  last  three  years  is  indicative  of  its  entry into  mainstream  culture,  and  its  integration  into  the  daily  lives  of  many  people  especially  the  youths.  

In  the Nigerian  political  process,  the  use  of  social  media  became  more  pronounced  in  the  2019  General  Elections especially  among  the  youths.  Most  political  aspirants  in  Nigeria  including  President  Muhammad Buhari,  Aminu Woziri Tambuwal,  used  Facebook, Twitter,  Naija  Pals,  Nairaland    among  others    to  engage  the peoples in  discussing their political programmes and policies.  

In  Sokoto  State,  Facebook  was the  most  dominant  social media  channels  used  by  the  two  dominant  political  parties. The  All Progressive Congress  (APC)  and  the Peoples  Democratic  Party  (PDP)  to  send  their  campaign  messages  and  interact  with  potential  electorates  during the electioneering period.  On  Facebook,  groups  like  Neighbour  2  Neighbour  (n2n),  Alliance  for  Good  Governance,  Arewa‟  Initiative Group  (ACG)  among  several  others,  were  some  of  the  most  popular  political  groups  found  on  the social  media  network  during  electioneering  campaign  in  Nigeria.  The  influence  of  social  media  on people‟ mobilisation  is  also  captured  by  World  Youth  Report  (2005:13)  thus: It  is  becoming  increasingly  apparent  that  through  modern  day  media,  ICTs  and  global interconnectedness  have  combined  to  influence  the  lives  of  young  people,  creating  what  is  referred  to  as  global media  driven people culture. The  above  statement  shows  the  rate  and  speed  at  which  the  social  media  have  taken  a  firm  grip  on  the people  generally  and  will  continue  to  influence  their  thinking  pattern  including  political  decisions.  The relevance  of  the  social  media  in  our  contemporary  society  is  such  that  most  leaders  now  maintain  a  Facebook, Twitter,  2go  and  Youtube  account  or  even  both  to  interact  with  the  masses  regularly.  Today, President Muhammad Buhari  and  a  most  of  other  presidents  are  on  the  Facebook  for  constant  interaction  with  their subjects.  

However,  it  is  not  out  of  place  for  someone  to  ponder  on  the  feelings,  perception  as  well  as  reactions  of the  public  over  the  new  interactive  strategy  employed  by  many  world  leaders  in  reaching  the  general  public especially the youths. Again  it  is  observed  by  scholars  like  Durkheim,  E.  (1982:13)  that,  in  many  social  change  experiences, the  peoples  are  mostly  prone  to  reacting  to  change  in  two  ways  (i.e.  acceptance  or  rejection)  than  other  age categories  of  people.  Therefore  the  introduction  of  social  media  in  the  political  process  is  likely  to  be  greeted  by people’s  reactions  either  positively  or  otherwise.  The  thrust  of  the  paper  therefore  is  an  Assessment  of  the Utilisation  of  the  Social  Media  on  Political  Mobilization  of  Nigeria’s  Youths  in  the  2019  General  Elections:  A Case Study of Sokoto State.

THE IMPACT OF THE SOCIAL MEDIA ON THE VOTING PATTERN OF SOKOTO PEOPLE IN THE 2019 GENERAL ELECTIONS IN SOKOTO STATE

THE IMPACT OF THE SOCIAL MEDIA ON THE VOTING PATTERN OF SOKOTO PEOPLE IN THE 2019 GENERAL ELECTIONS IN SOKOTO STATE




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