Social Media and Governance in Africa

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.

Accordingly to recent statistics released by We Are Social  – a global digital outfit, Africa, has about 293million active internet users , and about 103million active social media users across the continent.  While the latter figure may seem very large, it only represents 9 percent of the continent’s over 1.1billion offline population.

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.

The Power Of Networks

In recent times, the Internet has profoundly altered business operations across the globe more than ever in the history of mankind, making the art of social networking the next gale that will blow us forward.

Today, a generation of online tribes, cliques, communities, social spheres, lists, groups and circles, amongst others, describe and define online networks of interest and following.

As people connect with one another on Instagram in South Africa, others are navigating Facebook in Nigeria. Daily, large numbers of Africans and, indeed, the world are logging into thousands and perhaps millions of social networking platforms.

Social networks are predominately redefining our personal and business relationships with the world around us. From music to marketing, consulting to fashion, creative to communications, and education to engineering, there are available networks for every individual and professional to establish, join and develop for personal influence and brand benefits.

Human beings do not exist in isolation; they operate in circles of interests and relationships which, when virtual, can be referred to as networks. Networks exist both in business and social interactions, thereby making possible new avenues for insight and information sharing.

A network affords individuals and brands the opportunity to maintain stronger relationship with other individuals and brands of connected interest. It sets you up on knowing your customers and competitors, gives you the foresight to think, plan and execute any network-focused agenda while leveraging virtual reality.

One more trend is obvious: more offline relationships and networks are now migrating online and brands, just like individuals should position themselves for these opportunities. As an Internet and social media user, building networks and harnessing their benefits should depend on the platform in consideration. For instance, a photographer may find Instagram a better platform to build more viable network due to the fact that photos are better appreciated on Instagram or Pinterest.

In the same vein, a writer may find Tumblr or Twitter more interesting due to the opportunity to create long- or short-form essay. While this sounds like good advice, the popularity, acceptance and prevalent use of a network in a particular country is to be considered. A photographer on Instagram in a country where Facebook records the highest users may make the best use of the platform but lose out on business opportunities because many potential clients and customers are on other platforms.

To build a network for your brand is, perhaps, one of the most productive ways to constantly create relevant market buzz about your products and services. Network building goes beyond executing a one-off marketing campaign to helping your brand through its life cycle. In order to achieve this, it is crucial to look before leaping.

This second check will help in carrying out quick checks on competing brands already playing in your network and desired platform. It also gives opportunity to map out individuals who will be interested in your brand and how best to reach them.

The best place to begin when building a network is among friends and family members. These individuals will support you and offer positive reviews (at no cost or need for incentive). Thereafter, tap into their networks to reach more people. Leveraging connections from these two groups is often a good way to strengthen connection ties for stronger penetration. With second-degree connections, the first hurdle is crossed successfully.

Creating a communication or engagement structure by being sociable is at the heart of building and maintaining a valuable online network. Think of the external activities of the organisation promoting the social being of the brand, where customers can get a shareable message on subscribing for a particular service, purchasing a product or enjoying a specific service as well as receiving shareable birthdays or wedding anniversary messages from the organisations you patronise. These random and often-ignored activities greatly expand visibility, reach and size of networks.

Most importantly, it is vital to remember at all times that advocates – and not members – grow networks. So, having over 2,000 new followers is not a guaranteed network builder. Focus should be on having a trusted, valued and engaging community of people. These advocates constitute the surest way to build a network.

According to a consumer peer-influence report by Nielsen Study, 90 per cent of consumers trust peer recommendations, while only 33 per cent trust online ads. As a network manager, it is essential to find advocates for your brand and recruit new members to your social community aggressively, yet manually. Every new member is a potential community advocate if well engaged.

In growing a network, the concept of advocacy, as against influence(r), holds much value as influencers are paid for a one-off buzz, while advocates are life-long conscious ambassadors of the network or brand which, most times, comes without much financial constraints.

Hosting conversations on your social network is a sure way to engage, sustain and maintain your community of followers and advocates. Social conversations increase your network statistics, while positioning you as a thought leader and influencer within your industry.

You can embed social network feed widgets on your website to help visitors track activities on your social network without exiting your website. Tools such as Spot IM, Buffer and some browser extensions can help monitor and manage conversations on your social networks.

Giving back while giving a voice to your network members and advocates is crucial in winning them as well as winning with them. Create avenues for them to express their concerns and give back to them as a way of encouraging loyalty, support and partnership.

As with offline network creation and building, online networks require originality, conscious effort and creativity to win the time and treasure of potential members and advocates towards developing an empire of valuable individuals and brands for mutual excellence.

Networks are the most powerful characteristics of social media branding and profiling; therefore, build your networks deliberately.

In marketing campaign, clout could be deceptive

The Internet and social media provide the most impressive statistics about users. It is easy to get carried away by the figures and to dream of likes, follows and clicks when you are a regular user. Every brand visionary or social strategist thinks of opportunity the minute large numbers are mentioned.

The first thing to note is that the social media space – across all platforms – is a large interconnected network of individuals. Hence, the ‘social’ in the phenomenon called social media.

Just as observed in real life, people congregate in places that reflect common interests, associate with those who have similar values and bond with those they like.

It may, therefore, be a no-brainer not to notice that on every social media platform there are clouts. A clout refers to a circle of influence wielded by a personality or, in the case of virtual life, a profile or account. Clichés abound on the relevance and importance of clout and following in life. Every adult is sufficiently schooled on the importance of network in relation to friendships and character.

Many brands have followed this dogma hook, line and sinker; forgetting that business strategy should also consider reversing those thoughts.

A critical look at this implies that the peripheral overview of the strategy is to align brands with influencers – mostly celebrities – and trust their clout or influence to deliver attention, engagement and awareness for specific campaigns. This is where clout deception is revealed.

The concept of clout deception refers to the façade created largely by social media influencers who only have relative clout influence over a closed circle of networks.

The concept of social networks (which will be treated in subsequent articles) demystifies the impression that an account’s following or influence rating is all that is required to deliver campaign success. Clout deception is seen with brands that have adopted social media influencers as PR consultants or campaign drivers in order to deliver campaigns that otherwise should be wider and more pervasive in reach.

Look at this: An influencer of 500,000 followers may belong to more than two or three networks, such as brands, news/media and sports. In each of the networks, the actual clout power may be just average or even below average. While the overall clout counts, which is a different assessment from engagement, may be impressive, the capacity of the influencer to deliver the campaign is hampered due to the relatively low influence in each network.

This relationship explains the reason why much-anticipated campaigns fall flat, despite efforts to promote them. Clout deception happens daily on social media, just as the brand ambassadors often fail to deliver the needed results.

It is advisable for brands to consider both offline and online ambassadors for campaigns, while including influencers – who often do not have commensurate ‘star power’ to match the required attention. A clear delineation between being an ambassador and an influencer who only promotes a campaign should be made.

Increasingly, brands engage influencers to promote but expect activities of an ambassador and vice-versa leading to results that are far below expectations.

Clout deception is most experienced when influencers and their close circles ‘close trend’ a campaign, thus making it a trending topic albeit within closed circles.

For instance, while #thedress, #askhermore and #JeSuisCharlie trended globally, there was a thousand and more campaigns that trended locally yet delivered great results, though they made rounds in very few circles.

Brands must attempt to follow through their strategies by pinpointing campaigns such that they permeate many circles such as students, sports and professionals, not just a few circles.

The question any professional would ask is that the campaign strategy should have clear targets. And if these targets have been reached, it is expected that it will achieve an ‘agenda-setting’ objective.

This is mostly not the case because many other factors influence the capacity of a campaign to go viral.

According to Tai Tran, Social Media Marketing Manager, UC Berkerly/Haas School of Business, “Nobody actually knows what issue or campaign will go viral”.

It is important for brands to seek out and permeate a sea of opportunities in first-timers or newcomers on social media. The longer people exist (and actively too) on social media, the better they prioritise their attention, sieve through interests and cultivate preferences. Hence, rather than going after influencers and clout deception, reaching for ‘laggards’ according to Malcom Gladwell’s hierarchy of social adoption, costs much less and delivers greater results.

Another case in point is Ndani TV. With the seeming success recorded online, one should interrogate the essence for making the show an offline on television about two seasons after it commenced. The sheer reason of relatively poor Internet quality and paradox of Internet penetration may be obvious reasons that informed the need to maximise the investments made in delivering unique audiovisual content.

Is this strategy sustainable? Would a brand constantly go after new comers on social media to influence brand awareness and deliver campaigns? What happens to word-of-mouth and the seemingly large influence of influencers and celebrities on social media?

Remember, influencers exist to swing popular opinion largely from new comers.

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First published on iPunch

Active Citizenship;Key to Development

Individuals make up a society. While the constituted authority of the society leads, the people feel and follow the constituted authority for a smooth sailing society, a public perquisite for all stakeholders.

“Around the world, a growing crisis of legitimacy characterises the relationship between citizens and the institutions that affect their lives. In both North and South, citizens speak of mounting disillusionment with government, based on concerns about corruption, lack of responsiveness to the needs of the poor and the absence of a sense of connection with elected representatives and bureaucrats”. (Commonwealth Foundation 1999)

Active citizenship as a socio-political ideology, advocates that members of a community have certain roles and responsibilities to the society they belong, although those members may not have specific governing roles. The ideology posits that an active citizenry will bring about productive governance structure either at the local, state, national or international level.

With over 160million individuals on its population register, Nigeria is yet to experience a robust and dynamic citizens involvement in crucial areas of its social life. Until recently, government and the people had no connecting point, but the turn of events in the country has revealed that the active citizen participation positions government and whilst engaging the citizenry.

Who then is an active citizen? Although, there is no universally accepted definition of who an active citizen is, yet there is a general agreement that active citizens are those individuals who get involved in public life and affairs, particularly at the grass-root level. They are citizens who become actively involved in the life of their communities, tackling problems or bringing about change or resisting unwanted change.

They develop requisite skills, knowledge and understanding to be able to make informed decisions about their communities and workplaces with the aim of improving the quality of life in the society. In all, they constructively engage the society for the betterment of lives.

Since the 2011 general elections in Nigeria, citizens’ participation has assumed a more impressive dimension particularly at the national level, as citizens now ask questions on various issues and answers are being questioned on policies and arrangements that affect their existence. This was further demonstrated, by what analysts call the "Nigerian Spring", a protest that grounded economic activities in Africa's largest oil producing nation for couple weeks in January 2012.

While the passion and pursuit to engage the government especially at the national level has increased amongst citizens in recent time, there is however, the need to assess the level of citizens’ participation at the grass-root level.

With Nigeria's structure of a three-tier government, the local government tier is supposed to be the closet to the people, as such should be the most impactful (socially and politically) on the people. Unfortunately, the situation leaves much to be desired.

Whilst local government authorities, make no concerted effort to create a working connection between the people and itself, the people themselves, find no reason to engage the local system, rather they find solace in being their own local authority as such, heaping cosmic pressure on the national and state government, whilst absorbing the local government of its responsibilities.

Apparently, the dearth of active citizenship at the grassroot level is the hallmark of the many woes the Nigerian society is experiencing today.

At the moment, Nigeria is grappling with high level of terrorism and insecurity, an unfortunate situation which experts have linked to unchecked youth unemployment and high illiteracy level, resulting from a weak local engagement and empowerment.

If societies must function well, citizens must engage well. A bad citizenry elects a bad authority, which will in turn govern in a bad manner. Citizens’ participation brings about citizen power.

Our concentrations on national affairs are rather too extensive for us to know what malfeasance are being perpetuated right under our nostrils, all in the name of local government administration. I might not be too wrong to posit that the most corrupt tier of government in Nigeria is the local government, yet Nigerians find no point in tackling such.

Lets face it...Do YOU know your ward councillor? What is the name of your Local Government (LG) Chairman? Where is your LG Council located? This is a great way to check our level of participation at the local level.

It is golden and divine to speak up when things are going wrong and not when things are at already a nonredeemable stage. Nigerians at all level must begin to speak up more loudly on issues that affect them and their society starting from the local government level. The social media provides anyone and everyone the platform to express his or her thoughts on diverse issues as they so choose. Lets drive our society to our desired destination through constructive criticism and enlightened engagement.

Other indicators for active citizenship include demonstrated interest in socio-economic, political matters, volunteering with organisations and networks, organising activities for the community, voting in elections, participations in political parties, participation in interests groups, participation in forms of peaceful protest, participation in public debate, et al.

Societal successes are not achieved by the sole effort of the constituted authority but by the collaborative effort of the citizens and the government. Though such collaborations could be achieved through forceful means, in as much it is aimed at improving the society, such is encouraged.

Nigerians, let us rise with knowledge and sincerity to play our roles and responsibilities as active citizens of this great country.

Tayo Elegbede JET,

Twitter Handle- @tayojet1