There is a
debatable notion that nothing big and relevant happens in Africa without the
influence of social media. While this assertion may not be absolutely correct,
we are reminded of series of events that have unfolded mainly through and on
social media platforms across the political, health, commercial and
developmental landscape of the continent.
Fresh on many minds is the role of
social media in curtailing the spread of Ebola in the Western region of Africa,
the widely-reported resignation of Burkina Faso’s President Blaise Compaore on
social media, the Occupy movement which trailed across the Northern and Western
regions of the continent, amongst other citizen led campaigns driven almost
solely first on social media platforms before taking root in the offline
society.
This year,
about fifteen African countries will be at the polls. Only last two weekends,
Africa’s most populous nation, Nigeria, held its presidential and national parliamentary
elections, and expectedly, social media played a remarkable role in defining
and redefining the concept of politicking and campaigning in a digitalized
world as political parties and aspirants had a good run for their money online.
Prior to the
general elections, which saw the emergence of General Muhammadu Buhari of the
All Progressives Congress as the winner of the contest, several opinion polls
were conducted on social media on the likelihood of whom will emerge Nigeria’s
next president.
Interestingly, about 70 percent of the polls reported that the
General will most likely win. Today, General Buhari is the President-Elect.
This is a testimonial that social media cannot be undervalued in any political
contest or social context. To say the least, social media is here to stay!
The place of
social media in Nigeria’s politics
Politics
just as social media is a game of numbers. Nigeria has a huge population of
young people constituting about 70 percent of the country’s average as well as
the voting demography. Nigeria’s online population is also dominated by young
people with varying degrees of interest, hence, to connect, engage and win
young people, politicians saw the need to join the social media which is
perceived to have an uninhibited communication process.
If anything,
social media created an atmosphere of real-time communication flow, thus,
allowing candidates to directly interact with voters and key influencers. In
the Nigerian case study, we saw series of TweetChats, Hangouts, amongst other virtual
events as audience engagement strategies. Whether or not the conversations were
in most cases valid and successful remain an exploration for the nearest
future.
The
influence of social media on mainstream media is yet another reason political
actors joined the social media conversation. In order to compete in a
fast-paced media-based network of communities, journalists increasingly relied
on political blogs, twitter conversations and various video and photo content
as sources for their stories. Features such as iWitness reporting, citizens’
journalism on traditional media created a connection point for both the
traditional and new media.
Comparatively,
social media afforded stronger and better message delivery at relatively lower
rates when compared to the cost of advertising on traditional media.
Given the
extensive and multiplier effect of social media, there is no doubt that social
media has clinched a formidable spot in nascent democracy and advancing
politics and governance in Nigeria.
For one, I
had a filled experience of virtual campaigning premised on interesting social
media marketing ideologies. Tweetmeets, Hangouts, were the in thing within
Nigeria’s online socio-political networks. Hashtags such as #MeetGEJ,
#Febuhari, #MarchOutJonathan, #WhyIWillVoteGEJ, #MarchForBuhari, #GMB15,
#LagosForYou, #iHaveDecided, were promoted by politicians and their supporters,
while #NigeriaDecides, #Nigeria2015, #iPledgeToVote, #MyPVCNow #GoVote
#VoteNotFight #CourtNotStreet, were
promoted by civil organisations to increase citizens’ awareness and
participation in the electoral process.
Also worth
noting is the idea of crowd funding via social media for political aspirants
and their parties. This is indeed a trend to sustain and improve upon.
While social
media allows multiple conversations of diverse focus at the same time, the
Nigerian election has seen a shift in the level of discourse that has shaped
the electioneering period. Through social media platforms, issues have come to
the fore, though not explicitly ironed out; allegations and counter-allegations
have been made, supporters of various political parties have probed various
ideologies and campaign promises especially those of opposing parties whilst
also making the conversations around the 2015 elections more engaging.
These
certainly provided a shift from what obtained during the 2011 polls.
Unfortunately,
there were instances of inciting and hate speeches, which were not in the best
interest of the country. In spite of the rapid growth of the social media space
in Nigeria, anonymity is exploited and integrity not upheld therefore these
gave room for the promotion of hate speech. In order to promote campaigns many
faceless or anonymous handles were created littering the platforms with many
profiles, which did not exist prior to the period in context. In some cases,
real-time reportage suffered due to the promotion of half-truths and inaccurate
information.
More
worrisome was the coverage of election results and votes from polling units.
These turned opposing individuals against one another in a rare display of
intellectual arguments and numerical skills.
There is no
gainsaying that the electioneering period has enhanced the financial base of
most digital advertisers and many others involved in the value-chain of
communicating and engaging the electorate in meaningful conversations online. From the marketer, to the publisher, writer, designer, et al, this
electioneering era will sure be one to be remembered, if not for the financial
benefits, at least for the experience and fun of the season.
A revolution
is midway, social media has taken in the heart of Nigeria and Africa’s
political and electioneering processes – all interested parties need to get
rightly positioned.
